Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.
Preparation
Transcript
Ali: Hey, you guys, I've been looking for you. I've got an idea – a study group. What do you think? Are you interested?
Dina: Yes! I need a study group, in a big way.
Bea: Me too.
Ali: Do you think we have enough people here for a study group? I mean, there are only four of us …
Bea: Sorry. Three of us. Chris can't do study group. Right, Chris?
Chris: Yeah, there's no way I can do a study group. I have an assignment and then I'm too busy. But I'll stay for this first meeting.
Ali: Should we try and get another group together with us for this?
Bea: No, I don't think so. I think three is fine. Ideal size, really.
Dina: Me too.
Ali: OK, three people then. Four people for the first meeting. What next?
Bea: What about a meeting place? We can't meet here in the library …
Ali: It's not too bad, especially if those other people would go away.
Bea: But we can't exactly ask them to leave, and people might get annoyed with us talking.
Dina: Can I say something here?
Ali: Sure, go ahead.
Dina: There's a study hall next to the cafeteria. It's almost always empty. Could we meet there?
Ali: A study hall?! Who knew? Well, it sounds good to me.
Bea: Yeah. I've never been there but …
Ali: So, we ought to decide how long for and how often.
Dina: I read somewhere that you should make the meeting at the same time each week. Like a seminar. That way we'd take it more seriously.
Bea: We may as well make it for this time since we're all here. Is this time OK?
Dina: Works for me.
Ali: Me too.
Chris: Hang on just a minute. I know I'm not going to be in this group, but aren't we supposed to have a seminar at this time every other week?
Dina: Umm, no.
Bea: Thursday, no?
Ali: No, that's on Thursday.
Chris: Sorry. Forget I said anything.
Ali: Don't worry about it.
Bea: So everyone agrees that this time is fine? Every week?
Ali: How long should we make it?
Bea: An hour?
Dina: Could we find a way of making it two hours?
Ali: Two hours seems a bit like … too much. To start with then?
Bea: Ninety minutes? Compromise?
Ali: Is that OK with you, Dina?
Dina: Fine by me.
Ali: OK, so I guess all we have left to decide is exactly what we'll do when we meet. The final exam is a way off. I guess we could review our notes, or practise learning things by heart.
Dina: I have a list of dos and don'ts actually that I got online. I could be a moderator, and we could use the ideas as a starting point …
Have you ever created a study group? What are your tips?
I have never created a study group, but I really want to. In my point of view, as a Vietnamese student, study group isn't really popular in Vietnam, we usually review and do homework by our own, you know, there're a big numbers of assignments that we need to do after class so it's faster if we can focus on it and being alone is a great to be. Furthermore, Vietnamese students or even workers are not good at working in group, there's a lot of reasons explaining why but bassicly, we just lack of skill of group-working.
I have never created a study group, but I really want to. In my opinion, as a Vietnamese student, study groups aren't very popular in Vietnam. We usually review and do homework on our own. You know, there are a large number of assignments that we need to complete after class, so it's faster if we can focus on them individually. Being alone is a great way to concentrate.
Furthermore, Vietnamese students, and even workers, are not very good at working in groups. There are many reasons explaining this, but basically, we just lack group-working skills.
I've never created a study group before, but think with being in a study group I'll gain more skills and improve my knowledge. Furthermore, I will be able to compromise with others, share my ideas, and my opinion. Moreover, study groups help us to learn how to communicate with others, be more active and creative. I strongly believe that, the study group will have a beneficial effect on the group members, if there are a good tips. In addition i suggest these tips, to start with, the members amount must be three to four, to stay away from any distractions and to be able to focus on the work. Besides, the study hours must be two hours and a half or three hours at maximum and that to have much time to discuss and solve problems with no time pression which helps to maintain high work quality, Further, the workspace must be carefully chosen, it has to be a cozy coffee shop for example. To finish with, the most important tip is to plan for the work before the team meeting and put a goal to achieved to feel that we're productive.
Overall, study groups have a crucial impact, helps to gain a lot of experiences and develop ourselves.
Hi
No, I have never taken part to a real study group, but I believe it can be a very useful tool to improve you performance at school or university. My personal tips for an efficient study group are the following. First of all, it has to be of a small size, three or four people at maximum so that to avoid chaotical situation. Secondly, I think it is much better if the students do the meeting only after they've learnt the topics of the discussion earlier, by attending a teacher lesson or by studying on books. Thirdly, it should last not more than two hours and scheduled every two or three weeks, but it may last even three hours if part of the meeting is used to solve some problems in scientific subjects that usually require a long time to be solved, if not trivial. I think study groups work well both with scientific subjects and humanistic ones. It gives you the possibility to test if you are able to explain clearly what you have learnt and, as Albert Einstein said, if this is not the case it means you need to revise the concepts you have misunderstood by the help of your classmates. Last, but not the least, study groups can transform the study experience into something more pleasant to do, and above all, helps you to develop emotional intelligence because you need to be empathetic with the other students.
I have never created one, but I tried it just this year. There are some topics that are very closed to me and a person I met a months ago. He knows people who are interested as well and I told him to create a study group. He accepted, but he does not show interest on it more than just create the WhatsApp group.
I truly believe that it is important to have an agreement with your classmate in order to create a study group. There is a lot of tips that we can talk about, nonetheless in mi opinion it is to have a commitment about in which place there will be the study group, such as make sure to be on time, be prepared for to share important information about the topic or subject that the group is going to study and discuss, etc. Even though we can put in practice those tips, in mi opinion the best thing that we can do for having a success study group is to be committed to learning.
Personally, I have never felt comfortable in study groups because I always prefer studying in my room and I am used to listen LoFi while I'm doing it. And when I have to study in group, I usually have need to understand the concepts before going to the study group so in the end I end up studying by myself anyway.
I remember making a study group in my school and we made it in a secret hiding spot to talk in private and in peace and there were four or three people minimum
I really love to do these exercises. They are well designed and increase my motivation to study English.