Lesson 5 12:30 pm C1 Class New Vocabulary to frown to showboat a kickabout- an informal game of soccer. (football) pitch Sentence Transformation Corrections Phrasal Verbs The Structure of Phrasal Verbs - 4 Types to turn up to go down (well/badly) to pick up to get over to split up to get along/get along with to put up with
Homework
Worksheet - Patterns of Reporting Verbs/Sentence Transformations
2:00 pm C2 Class Vocabulary - Words of the week: (1) To Swear off
to promise to abstain from (something) to swear off drink
Speaking Skills Part One Task - Talking about your language learning experience Vocabulary to put someone through their paces on the back of someone/something to build up to hit a wall to bluff your way through to get by to give something a bash to take the Mickey out of someone For the origin of this phrase see: https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/344000.html Listening Skills: How To Learn A Language (More or Less 19/01/18) Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05vgzm0 The item starts at 19:20.
Homework
(1) Listening: Look at the phrases from today's vocabulary list - listen to the podcast again and tick them off as you hear them.
Introduction to contract
Elements: Offer + acceptance + consideration = contract
Essential terms e.g. price, subject matter
Defences to contract formation e.g. duress, lack of legal capacity
Third party rights (delegate, assignee)
Form - written or oral
Text Analysis - Understanding contracts - examples of clauses
Lesson 4 12:30 pm Level B2 Class
The link between grammar & pronunciation
Utterance Stress
English is stress timed - stressed syllables are spaced evenly in time and unstressed ones are rushed through (c.f. Italian which is syllable timed).
Potential maximum of utterance stresses is equivalent to the number of lexical words but in reality there will be about 2 or 3 utterance stresses in each sentence.
English clauses have an information structure that places new i.e. the most important information at the end of a clause. Neutral utterance stress follows this pattern.
When utterance stress is moved it is called Contrastive stress and implies something is being rejected
Homework
Choose one of the podcasts on the list to listen to. Report back to the group next week about its usefulness and difficulty.
2:00 pm Level C1 Class
Speaking Skills - Collaborative Task - producing a podcast on a historical figure.
Listening Skills - These Words Forever from The Memory Palace
Speaking - discussion - extreme weather and car trouble
Writing - formal and informal emails at work. Identifying sender and reader
(Source: Business Advantage p. 116)
Vocabulary
Lexcial Set - Weather Conditions
Snow
Rain
Hail
Sleet
All of these can be used as nouns and verbs.
Lexcial set - Changing a tyre
Spare (tyre)
Jack (noun), to jack (up) (verb) = machine for lifting heavy objects.
(Gas) tank
Bolt
Spanner
Phrases from the emails
To mess someone around
The drinks are on me = I am paying for the drinks
Give us a ring = phone us
Corrections
Pronunciation
Damage /dæmɪdʒ /
Note that the stress falls on the first syllable.
Uncountable Nouns
Luggage
They had a lot of luggage
They had 3 pieces of luggage: a backpack, a trolley and a suitcase. (use a piece of luggage to express countability)
Practice
I've done a lot of practice this week.
I went to three practice sessions. (Here practice is an adjective. Practise - note the change in spelling - is also a verb so when you hear He practises many times during the week it is the third person singular being used not a plural noun)
Homework
Continuing on from last week - choose another podcast and prepare a short report on your experience and its effectiveness to present to the rest of the group.
I like paying less than other people. I prefer reading about an exhibition before I see it. I can't bear sunbathing when I'm on holiday. I don't want you going there every night
Gerund for generalisations and describing activities in general.
I like to pay bills at the start of the month. I'd prefer to read about the exhibition before I see it. I can't bear to sunbathe today - it's too hot! I don't want you to go there tonight.
Infinitive and simple forms for specific situations.
What were the other tendencies that gerunds and infinitives show? Which looks back? Which looks forward? Which describes a purpose? Which describes finished/unfinished/repeated actions?
Homework
Do the sentence transformation task on the photocopy. Read the instructions carefully and correct the mistake in the example. Which questions tested verb structure?
2:00pm C2 Class 1. Reading & Discussion - Italian Identity
Elena Ferrante
Source:
Presenter: Tim Harford
Interviewees:
Dr Leslie van der Leer, Psychologist, Regents University, London.
Sir David Spiegelhalter, British statistician and Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory at the University of Cambridge
Dr James Corbett, Marine Policy & Professor, University of Delaware. Vocabulary
Check you know the meaning of the following key terms, phrasal verbs and fixed expressions: confirmation bias, thought experiment, backstory, accepted wisdom, world view to have something to hand to tear apart to pass something on - 2 meanings to take something on board to dress to impress to cut loose to pin something down to overarch Listening
1. Introduction (00:00 - 1:10)
What is the effect of the holiday metaphor? How is it sustained throughout the introduction?
Why is it important to challenge the things we read or see in the media?
2. Now listen to the rest of the programme making notes on each of the 6 steps that Tim mentions. Discussion
Can you apply these examples to issues surrounding the election?
Lesson 17 12:00 pm Level B1 Class
Writing & Discussion:
Choosing the best medium for workplace communication (phone, message, email)
Deciding on the formality of an email
Vocabulary
False Friends Process or Trial/hearing? Court or Tribunal?
Homework
Write 2 (or 3) emails replying to your boss's request and contacting the client adapting the material on p. 117 as far as possible to your own working situation.
1:30pm Level C1/C2 Legalese 3 Class Solving Structural Problems
Keep the subject, verb and object together at the beginning go the sentence.
Use strong, precise verbs. Minimize is, are, was, and were.
Turn -ion words into verbs when you can.
Simplify wordy phrases. Watch out for of.
Make everything you write “speakable”.
Corrections alleged alleged informal informal advices advice depends from depends on Vocabulary alas
Homework
Look at the final question on passive/active voice. How many passive forms can you find? How many of these could be changed to the active voice? What effect does this have on the writing?
I am a freelance teacher based at the British Council in Rome. This is a Blog for my students, not only to keep up with what we are doing in class but also to ask questions, share ideas and practise English.
