Conversation
After a quick greeting, use the following questions as a guideline to form an interesting conversation with your tutor. Feel free to diverge from these suggestions if anything interesting comes up.
- Some universities require students to take classes in many subjects. Other universities require students to specialize in one subject. Which is better? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
- What are the benefits of taking classes in many subjects?
- What are the benefits of taking classes on just one subject?
- What may students be missing out on in just taking courses on one subject?
Vocabulary
Skip this section if you have 15 minute plan. Read the word/expression and definition out loud, and your tutor will go over anything you do not understand. Practice creating a sentence or two to make sure you know how to use the word/expression properly.
Vocabulary/ Expressions
| Expression | Definition |
| elective | (n) course chosen by the student He appreciated that he could choose his own elective courses. |
| obligation | (n) action someone is bound to She didn’t like to be restricted in an obligation about what she should study. |
| required | (adj) considered essential Most students enjoyed the required courses as part of their program. |
| optional | (adj) able to be chosen but not required Elective courses are those that are optional. |
| diversify | (v) to become more diverse or varied Allowing students to choose courses may help them to diversify their skill set. |
| review | (v) examine or assess something He spent hours trying to review the list of classes that he wanted to take to narrow down his selection. |
| think over | (expression) consider She had to think over which courses she thought would be best for her future career. |
| clear up | (expression) solve a problem or misunderstanding The school administration had to clear up any problems about class selections. |
| go about | (expression) take the necessary steps to get something done He wasn’t sure how to go about choosing his courses. |
| learn the ropes | (expression) to learn how to do a new job Although she had never done it before, she had to learn the ropes of waitressing. |
Something Extra
Read the following quote out loud.
“Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.”
― William Pollard
Cambly Content 