B2 First Speaking: test de práctica 1

I'm really into hiking. Most weekends I go to the mountains near my city with a couple of friends. It's a great way to disconnect after a busy week.

My history teacher at secondary school was amazing. She made every lesson feel like a story, and she's the reason I started reading so much.

I'd say a small group. With three or four friends you can have proper conversations, whereas in big groups people tend to split up anyway.

Both photographs show people learning a new skill, but in very different situations. In the first one, there's a group of adults in a cookery class with a teacher, whereas in the second, a teenager is learning the guitar on his own with a video. The people in the cookery class might find it hard to keep up if the teacher goes too fast, or they might feel a bit embarrassed making mistakes in front of others. On the other hand, they can ask questions immediately. The boy with the guitar can learn at his own pace, but he probably finds it difficult to know if he's doing things correctly, because nobody is there to correct him. He might also lose motivation more easily.

I'd prefer learning in a group, because I need someone to tell me what I'm doing wrong, and it's more fun.

Shall we start with work opportunities? I think that's probably the most common reason, because salaries can be much higher in some countries. What do you think? … That's true. And learning a language is related to that, isn't it? If you live in the country, you learn much faster. … I'm not so sure about the weather. Maybe for retired people it's important, but young people usually move for work or studies. … Let's move on to the cost of living…

So, which one shall we choose? I'd go for work opportunities, because it affects all the others. Do you agree? … Great, so we agree on that.

I partly agree. Living abroad forces you to use the language every day, so you improve much faster. However, I know people who speak excellent English and have never left Spain, because they read, watch series and practise online. So I'd say living there helps, but it isn't the only way.