First Certificate in English (FCE)- Speaking about the Future and Technology

Cambridge First Speaking on the future and technology

FCE Speaking Parts One and Four-style questions on the future and technology

Take turns asking and answering questions from the list below.

• What was your most recent electronics purchase? (Why did you choose that thing?)
• Are you loyal to any particular technology brands? (Why/ Why not?)
• How has technology changed your life in the last 15 years? (Do you think that is an improvement?)
• What piece of technology could you least live without? (Why?)
• Do you think that inventors have a bigger impact on our lives than businessmen and politicians? (Why/ Why not?)
• How knowledgeable are you about technology?
• How interested are you in new electronics?
• Are you a technophobe or a technophile? (Why do you describe yourself that way? Why do you feel that way about technology?)
• What is the most positive thing about modern technology, in your opinion?
• What piece of new technology in the last five years has most impressed you? (Why?)
• Are there any pieces of technology that you are thinking about buying? (Why haven’t you bought that yet?)
• How do you picture daily life in 2050?
• What recent invention or piece of technology will have the most impact on our lives, do you think?
• Do you think most of us will be driving electric cars in 2030?

 

Future language presentation

What future tenses would you use to talk about these things?

• Future purchases
• Changes in technology
• Confident predictions
• Things in progress at a certain point in the future

What are the structures and meanings of these tenses for the future?

• Going to
• Will
• Present Continuous
• Present Simple
• Future Continuous
• Future Perfect
• Would like

 

Future forms speaking practice

Plans arrangements and predictions

Tell your partner about one of your plans or arrangements, and they will predict something about it. Tell them how accurate you think their prediction is.

 

Examples

A: “I’m going to move to England”

B: “You’ll hate the weather”

A: “I think you are right/ You could be right/ Actually, I love the rain”

 

A: “I’m going on a blind date”

B: “I think you’ll be quite nervous”

A: “I’m sure I’ll be VERY nervous”

 

Possible plans and arrangements to talk about

Cinema              Shopping/ Purchases    Meeting people

Business meetings         Dates                                              Appointments

Eating out                        Going out                                       Exercise

Travel                               Study                                              Work

Weekend                         Evening                                         Birthday and other celebrations

Homework                       Housework

 

Possible predictions about those things

Success/ failure              Feelings                                         Length of time

Amount of money           Conversations

 

Guess which kind of future game

Say one thing about your future without using a full sentence, e.g. “Get my hair cut”. Your partner will try to guess if that is an arrangement (e.g. you have an appointment), a plan (= you have decided to do it) or just a prediction (= your picture or imagination of the future). When they have guessed correctly, they will try to make a true sentence in the right tense, e.g. “You are getting your hair cut some time this week”.

 

Cambridge First questions about the future

Ask each other future questions about these typical FCE topics:

• Languages
• Education
• Family
• Home
• Free time
• Work

Look at the examples on the next page. Did you think of any different ones?

Ask any questions from that list that you haven’t yet.

Future questions about languages

• Do you plan to learn another language in the future?
• Which other languages do you think will be most useful for you to learn?

 

Future questions about education

• Is there something new you’d really like to learn about? (Why?)
• Would you like to study full time?

 

Future questions about family

• Would you like to have a large family? (Why/ Why not?)
• When will you next meet up with your extended family?

 

Future questions about home

• Would you like to live in your hometown when you retire?
• What type of house would you like to live in in the future?
• When do you think you will next move house?

 

Future questions about free time

• Do you have any plans for this evening?
• Have you got any plans for this weekend? (What are you going to do?)
• Are there any new hobbies that you’d like to take up?

 

Future questions about work

• Do you have any ambitions?
• What would be your perfect job?
• What type of work would you like to do in the future?
• What qualifications do you think you’ll need in the future?
• What job do you hope to do in the future?