He's BAD enough: British double-amputee Chris Moon (51), competes in the Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley National Park, California. The 135-mile (217km) race, which bills itself as the world's toughest foot race, goes from Death Valley to Mt Whitney, California in temperatures which can reach 55 Celsius.

1. What makes this person success special?

2. Which of these things mean success to you? Put them in order from 1 (most important) to 8 (least important): Then discuss with your partner 

the ability to help others, the chance to travel, dealing with challenges, enormous wealth, inner peace and happiness, a lot of friends, a loving family, a rewarding career

Now, tell your partner what you would like to achieve personally 

a. this year

b. in a few year's time

c. by 2050

Read the following emails written by people to their future self. What can you guess about the writers?

What is the reason for writing them?

What do they expect to have happened?

What does each writer think they will be doing in the future?

LANGUAGE TIME
Check FUTURE TENSES here

and practice

 

Informal and Formal English

 

Do you often need to use formal English? In what situations? 

The following sentences are a mix of formal and informal. What best applies,

INFORMAL or  FORMAL?

(a) The project will be completed next year. 

(b) I showed that his arguments didn’t hold water. 

(c) I wonder why he put up with those terrible conditions for so long. 

(d) Five more tests will be necessary before the experiment can be concluded. 

(e) It is possible to consider the results from a different viewpoint. 

(f) It has been proved that the arguments so far are without foundation. 

(g) He’ll have to do another five tests before he can stop the experiment. 

(h) It is not clear why such terrible conditions were tolerated for so long. 

(i) There are several reasons why the questionnaire should be revised. 

(j) We’ll finish the job next year

There are some basic differences in formal English and these include:

1. phrasal verbs vs latin verbs

2. colloquial expressions vs formal expressions

3. contractions vs full words

4. personal pronouns vs passive voice

Let's practice in the handout!

WRITING

What kind of formal writing do you need?

What do you usually concentrate on? This video focused on some distinct formal features of written language 

Ngo answered this advertisement

And wrote this letter. How formal/informal do you consider it to be? What makes it that way?

Look at this rather ...mishappen effort of a formal letter. Work with a partner to transfer it to formal language 

Narrating the past

 Remember the fast story we saw some time ago?

Well, here's the solution to what happened!

Today we have a final play with narrations.

Let's play a game ...but not yet.

Vocabulary practice first!

Now, select a paper and discuss an important moment of your life with a partner (p.216)

Let's practice our pronunciation.

Fixing misunderstandings

PAIRWORK

Think of misunderstandings you've had with people either in your own language or in English/another language. What happened? 

What were possible reasons?

• the message relied on cultural information that the listener had no idea about
• the message used vocabulary the listener didn't know
• the message was disorganised
• the speaker spoke too fast

Now watch the video. What do you think was the reason of the misunderstanding?

What's wrong with the message?

to the point, succinct, summarise, culture, start, clear, complicated, misunderstandings, disorganised

1. Messages need to be _____ , _____ and _________.

2. If a message is long and ______________, you could ask the speaker to _____________ it.

3. Information that is specific to your ______________ can cause _____________ if you don't explain it.

4. If a message is _________________, it might be necessary to _______ over from scratch.

Communication Skills

Fixing a misunderstanding

Simplify

• The speaker can: identify the key information and repeat; check the listener has understood
• The listener can check for a summary

Clarify

• The speaker can: assume cultural knowledge will not be known; explain anything unique t their culture /language
• The listener can ask the speaker to explain

Organise

• The speaker can: signpost the order clearly; write or draw the instructions
• The listener can ask the speaker to start over.

1. A. Let's meet at 8.

B. Sorry, I'm getting mixed up. Are you _________ eight in the morning?

2. A. So, in other _____ I think we should look at train prices before we book a flight.

b. Yes, that makes _______.

3. A. Ok, if I've been _________you correctly, this should be right now.

B. Let me see....No! You've got it the wrong way_____. This goes here and that goes there. 

4. A. Let me ________ it back to you. Out of the station, turn left. After 500 metres, second right into Broad street.

B. You've  ____it!

OWN IT!
Now think back to the misunderstanding you recalled at the start of the class. Use your new communication tools to fix it.

Travelling stories

 OWN IT- Be ready to present!

Think of three words or phrases or cultural concepts from your first language or another language. Be ready to present them to the class in the next lesson. you can include

• a word or expression
• a festival, dance, or celebration
• a type of humour 
• an important place that isn't well-known abroad
• a dish that reflects the best food from home
• an aspect of the national character that you want people from other countries to know about
• a well-love TV show, film, or song that represents your country

TRAVEL STORIES

Do you like travelling? 

Read this funny story and underline the past tenses

The stories I had heard about hitchhiking were mostly shortcuts to getting murdered, so I hated the idea. However some friends persuaded me to give it a try when we missed our bus during a badly planned trip to Bosnia. 

The sun was setting when a truck slowed down in front of us. We pilled up in the back. The driver had no English and we didn'r speak his language but he kept repeating the word "Lavanda" in an ever louder voice. BY the time we arrived at our destination we were horrified!

As we were getting ready to escae he opened the trunk of his car. Ready he was going to murder us, we all screamed...

But no. None of that happened. Instead, he flashed a toothy grin as he unveiled his roomy trunk… Which was filled with tiny draw-string packets of dried lavender. Lavanda. Lavender.  All this time he had been trying to explain to us that he was a lavender farmer! “Lavanda!” he said for a final time and went off.  

Relieved and dazed, my friends and I continued our walk home, laughing to ourselves that we had just rode through Bosnia & Herzegovina with a baller lavender mogul. And true fact: he’s the reason why to this day, I still smile every time I see lavender.

NARRATIVE TENSES

Practice online here

Have you ever had an unexpected event happen during a trip? Tell your partner using each tense at least once

Building relationships

 Imagine you are entertaining a visitor from another culture at work who you don't know very well. Put the topics in order from the one you would most likely talk about to the least likely. Would you add any other topics to the list?

• family
• food in your respective countries
• living and working conditions
• language similarities and differences
• current news stories
• the reason you are together that day
• sports teams
• tourist attractions in each other's countries

Breaking the ice

Do you hear crickets when in actual conversation with other people? Do you want to know how to break the ice? In this episode, Chad Littlefield will show you 3 key ingredients that you can use to break the ice in a conversation.

What are two pieces of advice you find helpful?

Discuss

Think of a time you have already built a relationship with someone with a different language identity than yours. What of the following advice is most useful to you?

1. Be open about who you are and where you come from. Be proud of your culture, your first language, and your accent.
2. Ask open questions to find out about the other person's background (What/How)
3. Look for things you have in common. Key moments come when you share experiences.
4. Celebrate the difference between you and show interest in understanding them.

OWN IT- Be ready to present!

Think of three words or phrases or cultural concepts from your first language or another language. Be ready to present them to the class in the next lesson. you can include

• a word or expression
• a festival, dance, or celebration
• a type of humour 
• an important place that isn't well-known abroad
• a dish that reflects the best food from home
• an aspect of the national character that you want people from other countries to know about
• a well-love TV show, film, or song that represents your country

How to combat stress at work

How often do you feel stressed at work compared to when you are relaxed?

What do you think are your personal triggers? 

What are the effects of stress at work? 

What are some mental health tips? 

GAME - The desert island

Imagine you are on a taught in the Caribbean sea and the boat has started to sink. You can only save 6 items. Be careful! The island has fresh water and coconuts but it can take weeks before another vessel comes by to rescue you!

1. Chose 6 items. Think why they are important

2. In groups, Agree on six. Discuss with arguments

3. Present to the class

Childhood friends, are they worth keeping?

Pairwork

Are you still in touch with any childhood buddies? 

How long have you known each other? 

What keeps you together? 

Do you think it's worth remaining in contact with friends from childhood?

This article may give you 6 more reasons to keep the bonds...

What do these words mean? 

bond                     permanent

dormant                to frequent

to reminisce          witness,

to subtract             current

engraved                to howl (with laughter)

sentimental            grounded

defects                   virtues

obligations            commitments

formative years

Now using the new vocabulary, explain one reason it is important to you to keep old friend bonds alive.

Game

Find someone who....

A. Form the questions 

B. Go around and interview as many people as you can in 10 min. Ask more details. eg When/ How, etc.

Language

LYRICS

Emotions at first glance

Game:  

Look at your partner and guess his /her emotion

Do you think facial expressions of emotions are expressed similarly by everyone?

How would it be helpful for work or life situations to be able to "read" people's emotions?

This video describes intriguing findings on the research of emotions.  

 

Questions...questions....  

A. Ask away.... 

Learn how to ask like ...a native (handout)

B.  How can you interact politely when you wish to pose some questions?

Some expressions you can use are...

I wonder…      I’d like to know…      Could you tell me…?

Can you tell me…?      Have you any idea…?      Can I ask…?

Do you know…?      Would you mind telling me…?

How do your questions change when you ask like that?

https://english-practice.net/english-grammar-exercises-for-b2-question-forms/

Empathic communication

 Andrea is the new team leader of a team working on a project. In a meeting she gets angry and shouts at you for delaying a piece of work. You had explained beforehand that you needed more info to complete the job. You remember times in the past when Andrea didn't finish her work on time. How do you react?

a. think about why she may be angry and talk to her afterward

b. remind her of times in the past when she didn't finish her work on time

c. decide she is a bad leader and complain to the other team members in the kitchen area

Here is a video about empathy by the well-known researcher Brene Brown.

As you are watching, note down

1. The characteristics of empathy

2. How it is different than sympathy

Here are 5 tips to increase empathic reactions

Listen actively. Practice active listening by reformulating the message to the person who just said it. ...
Consider how the other person may be feeling. ...
Focus on similarities ...
Practise mindfulness...
Listen actively. Speak less that you listen
Find a way not to judge. You may disagree and still understand why they feel differently. ..

Further practice
Now, with your AP partner, look at these situations and decide how you would react empathetically:

Questions and intonation

Were  you surprised? 

Adverbs of degree

Which adjectives of feelings can you spot?

What adverbs make them more/less strong in degree?

Now write your own stories in the activity sheet.

Reactions

Choose a person and describe him/her to your partner. Can they guess who it is?

Where are these people? Can you guess why these portraits were taken?

Read about   The Inside Out Project 

So, when do YOU feel ignored, annoyed, thrilled, petrified?

Questions...questions...

What emotions do these emoticons express?

Which one is the Greek favourite do you think?

Do you use emojis? Which ones?

Chose the correct option to complete these questions

1. Christine, you studied psychology, did/didn't you?

2. I'd like to know whether a smile does mean/means the same thing around the world.

3. You've noticed, you have/haven't you?

4. Don't you do it in the same way in your country?

5. At who do you smile? Who do you smile at?

https://www.worldvision.org/gender-equality-news-stories/seven-ways-empower-women-girls

Summer Book lovers

What's on your summer bucket list? Do you usually buy books? If yes, what kind?

Let's see some suggestions for this  year's beach moments!

Let's play around with our accent!