Fjord in Norway, north EuropeShopping mall in SingaporeDisneyland, USASt Petersburg, Russia
Name
Which site do you want to visit most
Why ?
What is the weather like there (use adverbs)
What can you do there ?
What could be a problem ?
I would like to visit all the sites. However, if I have to choose one, I will visit St Petersburg in Russia.
St Petersburg is a very beautiful city, with many amazing buildings. The city is very famous, and I have read about it in many books.
I think the weather is quite hot in summer, and also it stays very light, even at night. However, it can be extremely cold in winter.
St Petersburg has so many museums and galleries. I want to see all of them. Also it would be fun to walk around and take many photos.
I don’t speak Russian so that could be a problem if people can’t speak English. Also, it may be extremely cold, so I will need a lot of thick clothes. Finally, I will need to buy some Russian money.
A major problem for students is pronunciation and also, in some classes, it can be rather tricky to get the students talking. Obviously, many learners are scared of mispronouncing and ‘losing face’ by their mistake.
This activity helps with both issues.
Arrange the class in small groups and hand each member an card. The students have to read out the information, while the other write down what they hear. Many of my students feel that work is something to be done as quickly as possible, but that will not work in this situation.
Instead, the other team members will need to check what is being said. This encourages slow, clear and careful pronunciation. To assist, use expressions such as:
Can you speak slower, please.
Would you mind speaking slower, please.
How do you spell that ?
Could you repeat that, please.
Sorry, I didn’t catch the phone number.
Let me confirm …
Is that ‘b’ as in blue or ‘p’ as in pink ?
Teachers: adapt to suit the level of your class. Add email address, specific requests etc
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These blogs are for education use, and are not monetised. No copyright infringement or personal offense is intended at all.
If I have included your image, please accept my sincere apologies, and I shall remove the picture.
A lesson to suit all palates (to suit all tastes). Let’s kick off with a brief overview of some UK food.
Young learners can look at the pictures and see food from the UK, and adults can talk about which food they would like to try.
IELTS students require something more challenging, so this can be utilised as an exercise in building complex sentences.
And now, without further ado …
UK food
Toad in the hole
Sunday roast
Full English breakfast
Fish and chips
These are cooked by different methods:
which is which ?
frying
baking
deep frying
roasting
The answers:
Toad in the hole is sausage in batter, baked in the oven.
Traditional Sunday roast lunch is, of course, roasted in the oven.
Full English breakfast in mainly fried.
Fish and chips is deep fried … and delicious.
IELTS questions:
Part 1: Have you ever tried British food ?
Try to speak for at least 30 seconds
Part 2: What problems would you have with the food if you lived in the UK ?
You should say what UK food you know, if you have ever tried it, if you have ever seen it and if you think you would enjoy it … and why (or why not). Try to speak for the full 2 minutes.
Part 3: Do you think that western people eat very unhealthy food ?
Use your language skills to tackle this question. Give a great introduction, then explain how it is a very general question, so you will only answer based on YOUR experiences or opinions.
Try to speak for a minute, focusing on intonation and stress, as well as fluency. Check that you are not repeating yourself, or leaving too many pauses.
TIPS
What L-FWs or idioms could you use ?
Food can be:
mouth-watering / nutritious / filling / spicy / bland
Spice up your answer with adverbs.
Idioms – think about the cost of food in the UK, especially in a big cities such as London, Edinburgh or Manchester:
prices can be sky-high / cost an arm and a leg / astronomical
I’ll give sample answers in the next blog – stay tuned !
Working in pairs or small groups, gather information about these countries, then make a presentation. Add something about yourself ;would you like to visit these countries ? Why ? What would you do there ? What would you eat and buy ?
Capital cities
Brasilia (Brasil) Seoul (South Korea)
Ottawa (Canada) Egypt (Cairo)
Seoul, South Korea
Population
Brasil 183 888 841 // South Korea 51 047 000
Canada 37 000 000 // Egypt 97 055 000
Brasilia
Language
Brasil – Portuguese // South Korea – Korean
Canada – English & French // Egypt – Arabic (EgyptianArabic)
Today, I was very successful at work because I got my salary as well as a bonus (extra money).
When do you get your salary ? When do you get paid ?
Salary = career, professional job – usually once a month
Paid – for a job, can be daily, weekly, monthly – low-income job
Building longer sentences:
I teach at public school which can be extremely tiring because there are many students who, I feel, do not want to learn. Having said that, there are also many wonderfully gifted students who make me feel happy.
Relative pronouns– who (person), which (thing), where (place).
Adverbs– add information – extremely, wonderfully
Opinions– I feel, I believe, in my opinion, from my point of view.
Turn and link – although, despite, however …
VOCABULARY
gifted – talented, skilled- natural talent
You have a gift for …. music, laughter (laugh – larf), accounting, singing
Noun there was laughter NOT there was laugh
For example – we had karaoke – there were many people singing; some were extraordinarily gifted while others were … not so talented ! There was a laugh of smiling and laughter.
Extraordinarily – very special
Now … Your Turn
Tell your neighbour or the class about your job
Where you work
The good things
Anything bad
How do you feel
I went to the office where I work and I had a very busy day. However I think it’s good because I can finish my task. I was really excited and happy because today is the last day of the month so I got my salary and holiday bonus. I want to spend my salary for traveling or on clothes.
GRAMMAR
I can finish subject + modal verb (can, could, might) + main verb
I got my salary I was paid so we use past tense ‘got’.
I want to spent subject + helping verb (want, like, need) + infinite (to + verb)
Today, I went to my company where I met everyone in the office. After, I worked with my customer, who is very pleasant, and we spoke about payment. Later, I went to the bank where I withdrew a little money from the company account. It was an ordinary day but interesting because today is payday !
An exercise for lower-intermediates. Help to use basic verbs, and to build long sentences.
We can see five people:
Andrew, Fiona, Helen, Mark and Tina
We see what they eat (dinner), their job (occupation), what they do in their free time (hobby) and what that do on Saturday and Sunday (the weekend).
For example, Andrew likes to drink beer, Tina like to do karate
What do they do ?
Name // dinner // occupation // hobby // weekend
Andrew
steak and chips spaghetti
brewer
football & beer
sports & cinema DOESN’T like shopping
Fiona
tuna salad soups
accountant
reading driving
visits family & shopping DOESN’T like sports
Helen
sushi Korean BBQ
marketing
yoga & keep fit craft beer
exercises & cinema DOESN’T like loud clubs
Mark
fish and chips kebabs
civil servant
cars and bikes sports
fixing cars & drinking beer DOESN’T like loud clubs
Tina
pasta pizza
dentist
karaoke clubs
shopping and meeting friends DOESN’T like beer or sport.
Andrew likes to watch football but his girlfriend does not (doesn’t)Fiona is an accountantHelen likes to eat sushiMark likes to ride a bicycleTina likes to do karate
Make sentences
Use so does with positives, neither does with negatives.
EXAMPLE:
Mark eats chips and so does Andrew.
Helen doesn’t drink beer neither does Tina.
Tina likes shopping …
Mark doesn’t like loud clubs …
Make questions
EXAMPLE:
Who likes beer ? Who eats Italian food (pizza, pasta, spaghetti) ?
Thay Paul's Notes 