IELTS LISTENING
‘Student Life’. Video Project
TUTOR: First of all I’d just like to say, Cristina and Ibrahim, that I really enjoyed watching your video about student life last week, and I could see that the rest of the group did too. You did really well, and I hope that you got a lot out of it. I’d like to use this tutorial as a feedback session, where you reflect on the experience of doing the project. So, Cristina, I was wondering, what did you enjoy most about making the video?
CRISTINA: I liked using the camera.
Attempt full listening test…
TUTOR: Is it the first time you’ve operated one like that?
CRISTINA: Yes, it is.
TUTOR: Well the results were very good! Anything else?
CRISTINA: I also enjoyed visiting one of the British students we filmed. I’d never been inside a British Q21 home before.
TUTOR: OK Cristina, thanks. What about you, Ibrahim? What did you enjoy?
IBRAHIM: Well for me it was a very good chance to get to know students who are on other courses, because everyone in our group is studying English, and we don’t usually have much to do with the rest of the college.
TUTOR: Yes, good. Do you think you’ll maintain the contact now?
IBRAHIM: I hope so. I’ve invited three of them to have Q22 dinner with me next week.
TUTOR: Great! If you haven’t decided what to make yet I can tell you they’ll love trying Arab dishes. And of course, it’s good for your English too. Cristina, what did you find? What was the most useful aspect of the project from the point of view of the English practice?
CRISTINA: I think, when we were being shown how to edit the film, we had to follow the instructions. And that was very good practice for me. And I also learned some Q23 technical words that I hadn’t heard before.
TUTOR: What about you Ibrahim? What was the most useful for your English?
IBRAHIM: It was listening to the British students because they don’t speak as slowly as most of the tutors on our course. I think they speak at natural speed, so it forces me to get used to it. And they use a lot of Q24 slang.
TUTOR: So you learned some new words which will be useful?
IBRAHIM: Yes.
TUTOR: Good. I’m glad it helped. Well, we’ve talked a little bit about enjoyment, and about language practice. Were there any other benefits? What else did you feel you’d learnt from the project? Was it useful in other ways?
CRISTINA: Yes, well firstly, I learned how to use a video camera. And also, I think I really learned a lot about working together with other people. I’ve never done anything with a group before, and we had to find ways of Q25 cooperating, erm, and compromising, and sometimes Q26 persuading people, when they don’t agree with you.
TUTOR: Yes, that is a very useful experience, I know.
TUTOR: What about you, Ibrahim?
IBRAHIM: Well, I think I learnt a lot about how important Q27 editing is. When you’re filming you think that everything’s going to be interesting, but in fact, we cut around half of it in the end, and then it was much better.
TUTOR: Good. Well, one last thing I’d like to ask. What mistakes do you think you, as a group that is, made? I mean, to put it another way, if you had to do it all over again, is there anything you’d do differently?
CRISTINA: We didn’t plan very well. For example, we didn’t decide on dates when we’d Q28 complete each separate step of the project, and we should have agreed about that in the beginning, because we were always late with everything!
TUTOR: Right. Anything else?
CRISTINA: I think we should have tried to Q29 experiment more with the camera. I mean with angles, and the focus and that kind of thing.
TUTOR: So you should have been more ambitious? Do you agree, Ibrahim?
IBRAHIM: Not really. In fact, I think we were too ambitious. We were inexperienced, and we didn’t have a lot of time, and we tried to do too much, to make a Q30 long film.
Next time I would make a shorter one and try to get quality better.
TUTOR: Well, that’s very interesting. Next semester we will have another video project – with different content, of course – but you’ll have an opportunity to put into practice what you’ve learned this time. Do you have any ideas about…