You are standing outside the Palace, at the corner of Birdcage Walk. You want to get to (go to) Victoria Station.
Excuse me, how do I get to Victoria Station ?
Walk straight down Buckingham Palace Road. Walk across the street and you can’t miss it (you will see it easily).
You are outside the front door of Harrods and want to visit the Royal Albert Hall
WELCOME TO LEYTONSTONE
Leytonstone is an area in east London, and was the birthplace of the film director Alfred Hitchcock, footballer David Beckham and singer Damon Albarn of the band Blur.
Damon Albarn showing where he lived in Leytonstone
Next, asking for local directions:
Sorry to bother (disturb) you, but I’m looking for a pub. Is there one near here ?
Yes, there is one quite close, ‘The Birkbeck Tavern’, maybe five or ten minutes’ walk away. Turn left until you come to Bridge Street. Turn left again, and keep walking, past the park, until you reach the bridge. Cross over, and Bob’s your uncle (there you are). It’s on the corner, you can’t miss it.
NOW: A local map
You are in LISTER ROAD (at the bottom) and want to get to GROVE ROAD.
Take turns asking each other questions.
The red circle with a blue band is the symbol for an underground station, which we call ‘The Tube.’ Here is Leytonstone Tube:
Plan a day
What would you like to do, where would you like to visit ?
Things to consider:
Time / lunch / travelling around / a variety of activities
In the early 1990s, I inherited an 8mm Bell & Howell cine camera and, with my flatmate Martin O’Shea as actor, began making short films in the East End of London.
8mm cine camera late 1950s / early 1960s
We had a two-bedroom flat near Mile End Tube Station (which we could somehow afford on a student grant), walking distance to Bethnal Green, Brick Lane and Limehouse, areas synonymous with names such as Hawksmoore (the architect), The Kray Twins (local crime lords) and Jack the Ripper (local ripper).
St George in the East, a Hawksmoore church
The area is incredibly historic, and well worth a walk for local historians, psychogeographists, or anyone with a passing interest in this less salubrious quarter of London.
Ragged School Museum, Mile End
Walk is what we did, one Saturday night, up to Victoria Park, down to the street markets of Brick Lane and back home via the city farm at Stepney and a visit to St Dunstan and All Saints Church, where we had a lovely chat with the vicar. He was in his working outfit, white, pressed and clean … us, none of the above.
This was where we decided to film what was, I believe, our first film together, ‘A Day Well Spent’, and I think this would be Spring 1992.
St Dunstan and All Saints Church, Stepney, East London
Now the technical side. 8mm film lasted four minutes in total. The film had to be thread, in a figure 8 shape, in the camera, then reversed after 2 minutes. This meant keeping careful time, and not shooting anything vital in the dying seconds before the film ran out.
The film was silent and the camera, I believe, had no zoom and no auto-aperture; the light had to be set manually. Basically, it was a ‘point and shoot’ affair. Close-ups had to be physically close, long-shots, far away.
So, we had four minutes to tell a story, beginning, middle and end. Martin plays a tramp, a happy-go-lucky, Chaplinesque character. He awakes, on a rubbish heap, scratches himself, looks around and gets up. He wanders through the City farm at Stepney
Stepney City Farm
Naturally, he’s hungry and seeing the chickens gives him an idea; he has to ‘procure’ an egg for breakfast, without being detected or suffering an avian assault. With his cunning and agility, he is successful, and celebrates his victory by holding his prize aloft as he runs past St Dunstan’s.
However, when he searches his pockets, he only has a fork with twisted prongs … not a suitable implement to eat his breakfast. Disappointed, he throws the egg away, and decides to go back to sleep.
We also had a recurring event, namely a visit from the rozzers (London slang for police). One burly boy in blue was curious what we ne’re-do-wells were up to in his manor. To see a young guy, in trenchcoat, asleep on a rubbish tip alerted his instincts. And we had a recurring escape, namely I showed my camera and all became clear … “Oh, they’re making art,” heavy irony on the pronunciation of ‘art’, and that sarcasm has repeated through the years.
Or maybe, like most people of my generation, he would have seen some short compilation films on BBC1 after 5.30 pm and before the 6.00 pm News. This was how so many of my friends were introduced to the world of Harold Lloyd.
Everyone knew Chaplin, most people had heard of Buster Keaton, but Mr Harold Lloyd was totally unknown. That all changed with a series of 20-minute programs featuring scenes from his silent films … and all my school-friends were knocked out by them. You would even hear people shout out as they left school, “Don’t forget to watch Harold Lloyd.”
Harold Lloyd, referred to as ‘The Third Genius’ was, and remains, a major influence, especially in how to tell a story by images alone and how comedy works. This photo from ‘Safety Last’ (1924) is iconic … and even more amazing when you know that Lloyd lost a thumb and finger in an accident on a film set.
His films and many clips are available on YouTube. I used to show them during break time to my Kindergarten class, and they loved him … I was able to silence 15 hyper-active kids with a silent movie star.
Meanwhile, Mr O’Shea is busy in Berlin with a massive project: to put all our 8mm and Super 8 films onto computer, add commentaries and upload them on social media. Wish him luck, and take some time to watch Harold Lloyd … you won’t be disappointed
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 !
Moscow – it’s winter and it’s snowing heavily. It must be night time because the streetlights are on. There is nobody on the street, it is deserted (empty).
London, on the other hand, is in summer or maybe / possibly spring. The blue sky without a cloud looks very beautiful. There is also a famous red bus, a double-decker. We can also see the London Eye.
Hello, my name is Paul and I’m from London. I’m an English teacher, and I have been in Vietnam for about 2 years. My hobbies are reading books, watching films and listening to music. In Vietnam, I have been to Ha Noi and Hue and I really want to visit Hoi An and Halong Bay.
about: with time. I have been studying English for about 6 months.
really: adverbs I am happy / I am really happy – stronger and more interesting
continuous verbs: I like to read / I like reading / She likes to read
She likes reading
They like watching movies
She likes listening to music
Introduce yourself, and answer the questions:
Name
What is your hometown ?
How long have you lived in your town or city ?
What are your hobbies ?
Where do you want to visit ?
Istanbul, Turkey
present perfect:
sub + have/has + verb 3 (past participle)
I have visited Ha Noi
She has eaten Thai food
We have seen Barcelona play football
She has eaten Thai food
Look out for plurals and 3rdperson verb endings
I like sports / he loves cooking /
I don’t like smoking / She doesn’t like smoking
I like playing computer games/ reading books/ watching films.
He likes playing football / going to the park / studying English
The number of tourists visiting China is … more than those visiting Vietnam
Discourse Markers
Additionally / as well as / furthermore / moreover
Therefore / consequently
On the other hand / having said that / although / despite
Describe this Korean lady using at least two discourse markers.
Expressions / chunking phrases
At the end of the day / Am I pronouncing that correctly ?
Turn a blind ear / it fell on deaf ears
Friends and family / According to …
Same thing, day in, day out / You get what you pay for / a waste of money
How does this man feel about his job ?
Like / Dislike
Like:
I absolutely love … / I’m crazy about … / I (really) like / I’m into / I haven’t heard (seen/read) this before, but I think it’s great / I’m a big fan of … / I’m quite keen on /
No strong opinion:
I don’t mind / I have mixed feelings about …/ It’s OK / I don’t really have any strong views / feelings either way
Dislike:
I hate / I can’t stand / I don’t really like / I think it’s awful / I detest / I’m not a big fan of … / I’m not that keen on …
What do you think of:
T-ara from South KoreaThe sport cricketLitter, trash, rubbish on the streets
To buy time
Remember … never leave silence; use these time-fillers:
That’s a good / interesting question
Let me think …
Well, I would say …
How can I put it … ?
Sentence building
Use adjectives to describe nouns
adverbs to describe adjectives and verbs – give more information
opinion phrases
linking words to connect positive to positive or positive to negative
reasons why an action is being done
I like coffee
I like coffee so much because it tastes great and makes me wake up although too much will stop me from sleeping at night but, in my opinion, the benefits far out weigh the disadvantages.
Using Relative Clauses
who For people: This is the man who sold me the fake Rolex !
which For things: We tried fish and chips which is delicious.
where For places: Let’s go to the shop where we saw the great bargains.
Whose Possessive: That’s the singer whose record we heard last night.
The car, whose driver was young, won the race.
Exercises
We arrived at a nice beach ______ we could swim and lie in the sun.
A man ______ mobile phone was ringing did not know what to do.
The patient, ______ had a serious disease, was taken to hospital immediately.
Smithsfield is a small village ______ people live a quiet life.
A boy ____ sister is in my class was in the bank at that time.
I know a person ____ can speak seven languages.
We visited the church _____ is in the middle of the square.
It is a protected area of land _____ you can see a lot of interesting wildlife.
This dress is made of silk, _____ is a very expensive and delicate material.
A police officer _____ car was parked at the next corner stopped and arrested them.
Listening Websites: A list with links can be found on this page:
A new class, so I have to assess their ability, motivation and potential.
Let’s kick off with a Family Fortune game – I give writing boards to the class, arranged in small groups, and ask for four answers to basic questions.
Example : Four places I’ve been to in Viet Nam / Four things I love about Viet Nam / Four things I hate / Four instruments I can play / Four languages I can speak. To test general knowledge, Four countries in Asia or capital cities / Four countries in Europe / Four cities in the USA
Next up, I want to get the class speaking as soon as possible so, they can interview each other asking basic questions. No one speaks alone, so this helps to cover any shyness as all the class are speaking at the same time.
Why are you studying IELTS ? /
Do you think IELTS will be difficult ? / Why ?
Do you use English at school or work … how ? /
What do you do in your free time ? /
What do you do or what do you study ? / Would you like to live in USA or UK ?
Moving on, time to explain the importance of sentence building. We would expect new IELTS students to be able to speak quite fluently, in reasonable long sentences. If students answer in four words or under, or even single words, then the teachers know we have a ‘difficult’ class.
To give an example, I’ll introduce a standard IELTS-style question:
Where would you like to visit in Viet Nam (or your own country) and why ?
Example Answer:
I show them a plan:
Introduction / First good point / second good point / something bad / conclusion.
I choose Hoi An
Introduction: DON’T answer immediately but introduce the answer by repeating or rephrasing the question:
Vietnam has many beautiful places but my choice would be Hoi An.
First Good Point:
Firstly, Hoi An is a historical city with a wonderful Japanese bridge and lovely old shops. At night, the shops use romantic lanterns.
Second Good Point:
Hoi An is close to Da Nang, so I can fly there easily and quickly. There are many things to see and do in the local area.
Now, something negative
However, Hoi An is very small and can be extremely crowded in summer. Maybe it will be difficult to find a hotel or a table at a good restaurant.
Conclusion
In my opinion, Hoi An is a very special place to visitbecause it is a town of Vietnamese culture.
How to build sentences:
Use adjectives to describe nouns (beautiful, historic, romantic)
adverbs to describe adjectives and verbs – give more information (very, easily)
opinion phrases (in my opinion)
linking words to connect positive to positive or positive to negative – discourse markers (however)
reasons why an action is being done (because)
Now – your turn:
Where do you want to visit ? This can be in Vietnam or anywhere.
At IELTS level I would expect the students to form basic sentences such as:
“In my opinion, he is … “
“For me, he looks like … “
“He seems to be a … “
It will probably be a mixed-ability class, so I shall encourage the top learners, asking them to describe the photos, using as many adjectives and adverbs as they can.
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Thay Paul's Notes 