CUE CARD: A SKILL

Đề: Describe a skill that takes a long time to learn.

You should say:

• what the skill is

• how useful that skill is in our daily life

• why it takes a long time to learn

and explain how you can learn that skill.

Model Answer:

Trying to learn a new skill can be rewarding as well as frustrating, depending on what kind of skill it is, and what we want to use it for. While we can learn some of the skills easily within a short period of time, we can’t say the same for the others which can take a considerably longer period of time to learn. Please allow me to talk about such a skill that can surely test our patience to the max. I am talking about how to learn using a computer at home, a skill that certainly can prove out to be useful in our daily lives.

I think that many of us know how we feel when we are asked to write a certain letter or application for our works/schools on our computer, and we just don’t know how to even launch the writing software. We also know how frustrated we get when we can’t even do some simple math on an excel sheet, let alone troubleshooting the PC, turning on a webcam for the purpose of doing a video chat with a close friend who is living in a different country or making a PowerPoint presentation. But, unfortunately, getting frustrated doesn’t exactly solve our problems, learning and mastering the skill does.

Learning how to use a computer can be a time-consuming matter since it involves a lot of things; starting from how to find the right computer application on a desktop to typing on a computer keyboard to understanding the issues of a blue screen and internet connectivity problems, learning them requires a great level of attention and enthusiasm. Besides, there are so many other things that can go wrong with a computer which even an expert struggles to understand sometimes.

Anyway, we can try to learn how to use a computer in the best way from our friends/family members who know about computers. But, if you are not really that much into “divulging your weaknesses’ to others, then it is better to buy a good book that explains things in easy terms for your understanding.

However, sometimes, neither a good book nor our friends/family members are enough, in spite of their best efforts and support, to turn us into skilled computer users. And, should that be the case, we may want to join a computer training centre that specializes in teaching not only the computer basics but also the more advanced stuff. It might take a while to learn a particular computer software but becoming a skilled and advanced computer user takes years.

TỪ VỰNG CHỦ ĐỀ “SKILL”

• Great at: giỏi về

• Brilliant at: xuất sắc về

• Expert in: chuyên gia về

• Terrible at: tệ về

• Hopeless at: không có hy vọng về

• Physical skills: kỹ năng thể chất

• Practical skills: kỹ năng thực hành

• Skills and qualities: kỹ năng và phẩm chất

• Consummate skill: kỹ năng hoàn hảo

• Utmost skill: kỹ năng tối ưu

• Acquaint yourself with something: làm quen với một cái gì đó (to make an effort to learn about something)

• Master new skills: thành thạo kỹ năng mới