Lombardi Segni & Associati - Legal English Course - Lesson 9

12:00 pm Level B1
Class

• Discussion: Music, books, film and digital technology. using these resources for improving your English.
• Grammar - Verb Structure: stop to do or stop doing? See the notes on verb structure here: http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/25080022/Verb%20Structure Look at the following examples how are they different? (1) Stop biting your nails, it's a disgusting habit. (2) He was working all day and only stopped to have lunch. (3) I stopped going to the cinema when my daughter was born. (4) I stopped to buy groceries on the way home. 
• Pronunciation: The importance of voiced and unvoiced consonants - How to pronounce the ed endings of regular past tense verbs. 

Vocabulary

to cherry-pick (tracks off an album) 

turntable

trendy (adjective)

Corrections

pronounciate - pronounce

1:30 pm Level C1/C2

Class

The importance of aspect in choosing tenses in English. See notes and examples here: http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/11442655/The%20English%20Tense%20System

SIMPLE  - complete, finished, permanent, emphasises amount, neutral, formal

CONTINUOUS – duration, in progress, temporary, changing situation or trend, personal feeling (e.g. surprise, irritation, criticism), informal

PERFECT – an action completed before another time or an action producing a result relevant to a later situation. Shows the relationship between different times.

          e.g.      I've read the book. 

                    action             result

                    reading          knowledge

                    past                 present

 

Each of these aspects adds another layer of meaning to the verb.

Choosing the right tenses depends on many factors not a set of grammatical rules. 

Lombardi Segni & Associati Legal English Course - Lesson 8

Lesson 8

12:00 pm Level B1
Class

• Learner training - Using the phonemic chart - the pronunciation of "ea"spelling
• Listening & Speaking Skills - Corporate & Social Responsibility: Supporting the speaker/active listening/opening telephone conversations (source: Business Advantage CUP (2012, p. 124))

Vocabulary

breathe (verb)

breath (noun)

bead 

knead

yearn

Homework
Self study listening from the podcast list

1:30 pm Level C1/C2
Class

• Grammar audit - same sentence different mistakes
• Introduction to English Tenses - The importance of aspect: Simple vs Continuous, Perfect vs Non-perfect

Source: 

http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/11442655/The%20English%20Tense%20System

Homework
Reflect on which tenses or structures (e.g. modals) you are not so confident with.

All Students - Vowels Sounds & Accents - A Very Merry Mistake #MirryChristmus #AirNZXmas

We have been talking a lot recently about the vowel sounds in English and how many accents do not follow the standard patterns described in the phonemic chart based on Standard British English. In their new Christmas advert, Air New Zealand poke fun at the New Zealand accent and how it is often misunderstood. What does the advert tell you about the vowel sounds in New Zealand English?

Lombardi Segni & Associati - Legal English - Leson 7

12:00pm Level B1

Class

• Podcast resources for self study
• Discourse markers in telephone conversations - jigsaw exercise
• Using the phonemic chart - hidden names

Going further

Telephone language: http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/32872816/Using%20The%20Telephone

Pronunciation: http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/11442648/Pronunciation

Homework

Spend some time exploring the phonemic chart. Which sounds are the most difficult to distinguish? Which sounds are the most difficult to reproduce?

1:30pm Level C1/C2

Class

• Discussion and reading - the pros and cons of DPAs
• Listening for structure - the third conditional

See last week's listening at 13:40

"So if they hadn't given you information voluntarily, you might have found out what you needed and you might have prosecuted them and then they would have been convicted, perhaps."

Note the use of multiple result clauses with the same condition clause and how perhaps is used to soften would to suggest a possible outcome as opposed to a certain one. 

Vocabulary

To raise (your) eyebrows - to show surprise or disapproval

To shut the barn door after the horse has bolted

To flag up

To put right

To go some/a long way to doing something

To tackle (something difficult or negative e.g.a problem)
To make a mockery of something 

To rig something - to manipulate fraudulently

To go easy on someone/something

For a pittance

To kick off

Softball, toothless, declawed - lenient, ineffective

Homework

Read your partner's article on DPAs - use the links below:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/nov/13/us-justice-department-criminals-juvenile-offenders
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=ad04ae0c-845d-4690-98f4-faea033fe971

Lombardi Segni & Associati - Legal English - Lesson 6

12:00 pm Level B1
Class

• Listening Skills: prediction, note taking
• Telephone Language 
• Expressions with get
• Present Continuous for future arrangements (The meeting is taking place on 23rd October), actions in the (general) present (I'm calling about the meeting, I'm putting togetherthe agenda for the meeting), hedging (I'm proposing a 10 o'clock start)
• Reflection on lesson aims

Vocabulary
I've got it  = I understand 
let me just get my diary
I'm getting back to her with some prices

fly into (an airport) 
check out (information)
go for = choose
put together = organise

Is that (name)?
Yes, speaking
How can I help you?
I'm calling about (noun/-ing)
By the way
Could I speak to (name)?
I'm afraid she's not in the office right now
Can I take a message?
Sorry can you spell your last name please?
One other thing
While I've got you on the phone there's one other thing
Could you let him know which/what/when/where/who/how
I hope you can manage to reschedule your other commitments

Corrections
quite nothing almost nothing
used to do (past habit), used to doing (current habit which was difficult at first)
I have a difficult difficulty with 
an information, informations information is an uncountable noun and therefore always singular.
pass the caller transfer the call
I felt really stress stressed
which (for things), who (for people)

Homework
Read the audio script again and decide which language feature (e.g. functional language for telephoning, phrasal verbs, expressions with get, uses of the present continuous) you would like to focus on for your self study.

1:30pm Level C1/C2
Class

Listening Skills: Using podcasts to work on lexical (collocation) and grammatical (3rd conditional) features

Source: Law in Action 21/03/2017

Deferred Prosecution Agreement 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08jb9nl

Item starts at 11:40 and runs to 19:00

Vocabulary

To turn (someone/yourself) in

To get off

To get off lightly

To get away with something

To do a deal

In the pipeline = on the way, expected, coming, close 

harm = injury

Homework

Listen to the podcast again noticing how the vocabulary and grammar is used in context. What do you think about DPAs? We will discuss this issue in class again next week. 

Corrections

condemned - convicted

Going Further

How To Get Away With Murder

ANIA Group Courses

2:00 pm Group 8, Level B2

Lesson 26 (last in the cycle)

Class
Listening Skills - podcast On Point

InsureTech: ‘A Tool, Not Something to Fear’

Source: https://www.insurancejournal.tv/videos/15530/

Key vocabulary from today's listening
to play a leading role
to bridge the gap
independent agent/broker versus captive agent (U.S. law)
persona/pen portrait
hype/buzz
a knee jerk reaction
a clean slate
a rash decision

Corrections
time countable and uncountable meanings:
I have gone there many times (c) = frequently
I have spent a lot of time there (u) = duration

Lombardi Segni & Associati - Legal English - Lesson 5

12:00 pm Level B1

Class

Listening/Pronunciation Skills - Utterance Stress

(1) Neutral Utterance Stress

Past or Present? 

Noticing features of fast connected speech: assimilation, elision, intrusion

(2) Contrastive Stress

Intonation directions - signpost

Source: http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/11442648/Pronunciation

Vocabulary
utterance
to cycle

Homework

Do some listening practice this week from a t.v. show or podcast. What do you notice about the stress or intonation? Can you find any examples of contrastive stress? 

1:30 pm Level C1/C2

Class

Listening/Pronunciation Skills - Utterance Stress

(1) Neutral Stress

Third Conditional

Noticing features of fast connected speech: assimilation, elision, intrusion, strong/weak forms.

Noticing the pronunciation of grammatical structures

(2) Contrastive Stress

How intonation affects meaning

Intonation directions - compass

Sources:

Conditionals in general: http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/11442621/Conditionals

Third conditional pronunciation exercise: http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/32174148/Conditionals%20and%20Pronunciation

Pronunciation in general: http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/11442648/Pronunciation

Vocabulary:
to skid
to catch fire
to brake

Going further: 

Leaving New York
Check answers here: http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/40022307/REM%20Listening%20answers

In the film The Conversation (1974) an important plot twist hinges on the difference between the neutral and contrastive stress used in the phrase: He'd kill us if he had the chance.