During the first cycle, many classes watched this video :

In groups, you wrote down the tricks you could remember.  We discussed why this task was difficult.  Important things we noted were:
1. In the Speaking exam, it is important to pay attention to what the others are saying.  Do not sit there thinking about what you are going to say next.
2. VOCABULARY is very important.  If you don’t know the words, it can be hard to say anything.  If you are taking too long to think of a word, it will effect your fluency.
3. Spelling doesn’t matter in the Speaking exam.  Your notes should be short and readable.
4. Get over your bad HABITS.  Habits are things we do regularly and often without thinking.  Make sure the habits you have for your speaking exam are good ones.

At this site, you can find many talks on some curent topics and great ideas.  AND ….  the talks have subtitles in English.  Many are also subtitled in Chinese. 
Start by looking at this one about “English Mania“.  You can watch here, but to get the subtitles, you must watch it on the TED site.  (click the link English Mania“.)

1. Watch the video WITHOUT subtitles.  Try really hard to listen to the words and understand.
2. Watch the video again – WITH subtitles.  Be aware of the words you missed before.
3. Watch the video again – this time with Chinese subtitles.  Take note of any important words you didn’t know when you watched the first two times.

Choose two words to learn really well – definitions, related words, pronunciation!  We will discuss some of these next year in class.  Think about them now and the class discussion will be so much easier!

And while we are on the subject of English, if you missed the Pearl Report on June 27 about English in Hong Kong, you can catch it here : http://programme.tvb.com/news/pearlreport/episode/  along with other past episodes that will develop your knowledge about many things in Hong Kong!