Young Learners, Level 6: adjectives and adverbs review.

8th April 2021

A typical Vietnamese breakfast; pork, noodles, fresh vegetables and noodles.

Objectives:

Encourage students to speak in long, interesting sentences.

Making the use of adjectives and adverbs a natural part of their English

Develop their ability to express themselves, giving reasons (because) and examples (like, such as)

Show them how much fun English can be by the use of idioms (once in a blue moon, it’s raining cats and dogs)

VOCABULARY BANK

Match the word(s) to the meaning

gigantic / enormous __________ everywhere

tiny / petit _____________________on time

delicious / mouth watering ___very rarely

difficult ________________________ yummy / tasty

once in a blue moon ______ big / huge

punctual______________________ clever

intelligent ____________________ hard

ubiquitous ____________________ very small

IDIOMS:

once in a blue moon

piece of cake (very easy, no problem)

it’s raining cats and dogs (very heavy rain)

NOW … practice:

Street food in Vietnam is (everywhere) ___________________ .

Fish And Chips Là Gì? Xuất Xứ Của Món Ăn Đặc Sắc Này

The British love fish and chips because it is (yummy)_________________ and _____________________. However, it is not very healthy eat it __________________________________________(very rarely)

The man is (very big) however the lady is (very small)

Dolphins that swim up to humans mostly saying 'f*ck off' | The Daily Mash

The young lady is saying hello to the dolphins which are very (clever) __________________ animals.

This rabbit is always (on time) _________________

Is it (hard) ____________________ for a gorilla to play drums ? No, it is easy – it’s a piece of cake.

Don’t believe me … OK, just watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La7B8mBnTXs&ab_channel=TomSinger

The capital city of Viet Nam is _____________ . It is a large( very busy) city. Motorbikes are (everywhere) ___________________. Street food is cheap and (yummy) __________________________.

However, sometimes it rains very heavily. In this photo, people are (not happy) because ____________________________________.

Adverb practice

always

usually // often // normally

sometimes

rarely

once in a blue moon

never

EXAMPLES:

Eating fruit and vegetables has this unexpectedly good side-effect - Mirror Online

I always eat fruit because it is extremely healthy

I usually read a book when I drink coffee because I love reading.

I sometimes drive my car to work because it is fun. However, driving in Viet Nam is ________________________.

I rarely go to Singapore because it is extremely expensive.

I only go home to London once in a blue moon because it is so far away

I never smoke because it is extremely unhealthy !

NOW … your turn: tell me what you do and why.

I always … because …

I usually … because …

I sometimes … because …

I rarely … because …

Once in a blue moon I … because …

I never … because …

See you next week

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Phrasal verbs and idioms: Dialogue practice

15th June 2020

Continuing the series of short dialogues, to help students see how idiomatic language can be used in everyday conversation.

Depending on the students’ motivation, these scenes can be acted out, which is generally more fun than simply learning from text books.

I have included many expressions and idioms – ask your teacher for the meaning or look up the answer online.

To warm up, elicit some collocations with ‘take’ and ‘make’ then ask the students to listen out for which ones are featured.

Two asian muslim woman standing and talking in the office with a ...

Dialogue: Bear with me

To practise simple past/ past continuous and collocations with ‘make’and ‘take’.

A: How’s it going ? You look busy.

B: Sorry, can you bear with me a moment ? I just need to finish off this report. Take a seat.

A: Sure, take your time. I was making plans with John last night.

B: Really ? What did you decide to do ?

A: We couldn’t make up our minds. I wanted to go to the cinema, he wanted to stay home.

B: There ! All finished. Now I’m going to take a break.

A: Good for you !

Two asian business women having a meeting with laptop in modern ...

A: Did you go out ?

B: We were leaving when it began to rain cats and dogs. Also, the traffic was chockablock.

A: So what happened ?

B: We stayed in and ordered take out. We tried English food.

A: Was it delicious ?

B: It was OK, nothing special. The menu was in English … I couldn’t make it out.

A: You should have taken a photo of the food.

Top 10 famous English foods - By food author Howard Hillman — Traditional British food – fish and chips

WATCH: Can this viral Swedish fika hit create world peace? - The Local — Fika – coffee and cakes in Sweden

A: I was thinking about ordering some food. Have you had lunch ?

B: No, I’m starving … I could eat a horse.

A: Let’s go eat. After, we can check out the stores. I’m on the lookout for a pair of trainers.

B: OK, I’ll take my break now. We can take a taxi to SaiGon Centre.

A: Super ! So many shops … but I won’t be able to make up my mind.

B: I’ll help you – piece of cake.

Saigon Centre Tower 1 - The Executive Centre

Adult Speaking Class, Level 3: Food

19th April 2020

To whet your appetite, have a look at these traditional British dishes. Do you know what they are ?

Top left: Sunday roast – roast meat, potatoes, vegetables and yorkshire pudding.

Top Right: cornish pasty – baked pastry filled with meat, potatoes and carrots.

Bottom Left: traditional English breakfast – fried bacon, sausage, egg, tomato and mushrooms, with baked beans and toast.

Bottom right: fish and chips, with mushy peas (the green paste in the small bowl).

Idioms and collocations

Food Idioms Bulletin Board Kit by Apples to Zippers | TpT

tea / cherries / nutshell / cucumber / carrot

Growing up is hard, life isn’t always a bowl of _________ .

He walked in, as cool as a _________ , and told the boss he wanted a pay rise.

We’re going to try using a _________ and stick approach

I’m not a fan of karaoke, it’s not my cup of _________ at all.

To put it in a _________ , philosophy is very difficult.

Answers at end of the blog

Language

Prefer and rather

Which do you prefer ? Which would you rather eat ?

Spicy Chicken Curry for the Slow Cooker | A Glug of Oil

20 Meat and Potato Dishes You Need to Make This Father's Day

I prefer Indian food to English food. I’d rather have a good spicy curry than boring old meat and potatoes.

Now you try: Which do you prefer … which would you rather have ?

Greek Salad Recipe (VIDEO) - NatashasKitchen.com — Greek salad

Korean Spicy Beef Ramen Recipe & Video - Seonkyoung Longest — Instant Korean noodles

Traditional British Christmas. What do you think of this food ?

Christmas menu: Classic dinner - BBC Good Food

Roast turkey with stuffing, roast vegetables (sprouts, carrots, potatoes, parsnips), baked ham

Traditional British Christmas Pudding (a Make Ahead, Fruit and ...

All Professional English: Traditional British Christmas Foods

Christmas pudding with brandy cream, mince pies, gingerbread men

What traditional food do you eat in your country ?

Sentence building

What is the most unusual food you have tried ?

Challenge Your Taste Buds With Beijing's Top 10 Most Unusual Foods ...

As a Brit abroad I have often had comments and questions, such as, ‘So what do you actually eat ?’, ‘I hear British food isn’t so great …’ or ‘Do you even have a traditional meal ?’ At first I thought this was just a stereotype that existed in Europe, but I have recently begun to ask myself, is our food really that bad?

In comparison to our neighbours, British food has never been seen as a delicacy like French cuisine. Perhaps when people think of British food they think of sandwiches, or the simple and unhealthy fish and chips. Although perhaps simple and unhealthy, fish and chips is delicious, as is a cornish pasty(meat and vegetables in pastry).

We have a meal for breakfast: the incredible combination of eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, mushrooms and bread (the cooked Breakfast), we have a meal for Sundays (roast lunch) with meat, vegetables and gravy (sauce), and we even have a tradition for between lunch and dinner (afternoon tea) with the two best things: cake and tea.

So it may be because I’ve eaten British food all my life, but I personally think that it is much better than its reputation!

4 Best Afternoon Teas in Hong Kong - Where to Go for High Tea in ...

Vocabulary to learn: look these up if you don’t know the meaning.

in comparison to …

stereotype

delicacy

cuisine

combination

reputation

Idioms:

bowl of cherries / cool as a cucumber / carrot and stick / not my cup of tea / in a nutshell.