General English Lower Intermediate Level
Lesson 11
Experiences
1. Watch the video attentively
Expression to work on
I love living in London, because there is so much to do
I’ve been to lots of interesting places but there is always something new to experience
How do you feel about London?
I love London; I have actually lived for 30 years
I love London; I love the diversity, a lot of different people ahead and multiculturalism
I love London, London is the most amazing cities, it is so exciting, there is so much to do and see in London, I think it is one of my favorite cities
I like London, but sometimes it is too busy
There are too many people, it is a too big city, It doesn’t have a real heart, for holiday it is not very relaxing
I am living in Australia in the moment, comparing to London, I find it to be more humorous and lively, it seems to be more going on
Absolutely, I love London; it is one of my best cities I think one can love
I feel very comfortable in London, It is already my fifth time
I would love to live in London, but to visit it is an absolutely tremendous bias,
I do like London, I like the old architecture and history, there is a lot to see, it is really a nice city
London is a nice city; it takes a lot to get used to
I like London very much, I like because of its huge diversity of people and huge diversity of things to do and see
What’s the most exciting thing you’ve done in London?
The most exciting thing I ‘ve done in London recently ,is , I went to the Rent House and it was amazing concert, it was free, so we went there having nice passes so we were close to the band, it was incredible, this was the best thing I think I’ve seen in a long time
I’ve been to a theatre quite a lot in London
I’ve done a lot of interesting things in London and had to see a lot of good things, probably the best thing was when I went to see a film, it was a good atmosphere and a good example of British culture
Activity 1
Wedding words
Bridesmaids and groomsmen...
This lesson is all about weddings, so it's a good time to look at some wedding vocabulary. Who's the bride and who's the groom? And what's the difference between a fiancé and a fiancée?
Read this story. Jean-Pierre and Marianne are planning their wedding in France. Do you know the meanings of the words in bold?
Read the text and complete the activity
A wedding with a difference
"I proposed to my girlfriend Marianne last month, so she's now my fiancée! It's lovely being engaged, though planning the wedding takes up a lot of time. We're getting married next summer, here in France.
It's going to be a small wedding with around 50 guests – we've already sent them invitations. We've also booked the venue – a big hotel by the sea.
In terms of catering, we'd like traditional French food – it's the best! But we don't want a traditional ceremony in a church – instead we're going to have it on the beach, with both Marianne, the bride, and me, the groom, wearing wetsuits instead of formal clothes.
The photographer will need a waterproof camera. All our best friends – the bridesmaids and groomsmen - will be dressed in swimwear.
I can't wait until we're married. Because then – there's the honeymoon to look forward to – two whole weeks on a diving holiday after our wedding."
Wedding vocabulary
Now you've read the story, can you work out the meanings of the words in bold?
Did you notice the difference between to get married and to be married? On the day of your wedding, you get married. After that, you are married.
It's similar for to get engaged and to be engaged. To get engaged is what happens when you ask someone to marry you and they say yes. After that you are engaged, until… you get married!
Examples
- We got engaged in March this year and we're going to get married this year.
- I've been engaged for two years.
- All my friends are married already!
Activity 2
Meet three couples
'We're getting married in a forest...'
Now that you've learned some vocabulary, you're ready to meet three couples who live in the UK.
Steve and Andrea, Charlotte and Anton, and Jolene and Garth are all planning their weddings.
First we're going to listen to them and check we understand them. Later in the Lesson, we'll explore the different ways they talk about the future.
Listen to the audio and answer the questions:
Which couple...
- …is getting married in a forest?
- …is getting married first?
- …is inviting the most guests?
- …is going to eat bacon sandwiches at their wedding?
- …is going to eat fish and chips at their wedding?
Listen to the audio and complete the activity
Andrea and Steve
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SteveHi, my name is Steve.
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AndreaHi, I'm Andrea Fernandes. We're getting married in July next year (2015). So, we are expecting about 100-120 guests, and we're hoping that it's going to be a really nice, relaxed venue. And lots of dancing, really good food and, just, everybody having a good time.
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SteveIt's gonna be a big mix of food from all over the world. We're also gonna have some traditional English fare, like bacon sandwiches. We're gonna have a church wedding in the morning and that will be very formal. We'll have suits and traditional bridal wear. We haven't decided on a venue: we've looked at places in Liverpool and London. And we will soon look at places in Brighton. So, we got engaged on New Year's Eve. I took Andrea to a restaurant. I had a whisky. And in the most romantic fashion, asked her to reach into my pocket. And she pulled out a ring and pretty much proposed to herself.
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AndreaThat's pretty much what is was. I don't know if it was romantic!
Charlotte and Anton
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CharlotteHi, my name is Charlotte Bartlett, and I'm 23 and I'm the bride.
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AntonHi, my name's Anton and I'm 27 and I am the groom. We're getting married in June 2016. We're looking at a big wedding at the moment, roughly around 200 guests.
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CharlotteWell my first dress, no I'm joking! What I'm going to wear... I'm gonna wear an ivory dress, and I think towards the evening, when we have more of a party celebration, I'll probably change into a dress that I can probably dance in more. Then I'll have more space to dance in than a wedding dress.
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AntonI'm probably gonna be wearing, like, a grey fishtail suit, ivory waistcoat, ivory tie. That sort of thing.
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CharlotteWell what we want food-wise for our wedding, what we would like to have, is a Caribbean mix with traditional English. I don't know if it's really been done before. It's different. It'll be something different, not your everyday Caribbean wedding, not your everyday, typical English wedding. So...
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AntonWe're still thinking about our honeymoon. We're not sure exactly where we're going to go. We're torn between a cruise, Caribbean, or the Maldives… So it's an ongoing conversation at the moment. So yeah... we're still trying to decide that.
Jolene and Garth
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GarthOk, my name is Garth.
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JoleneAnd my name's Jolene.
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GarthWe don't actually have a date set yet for when we're getting married, but hopefully 2016?
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JoleneYeah. Summertime 2016, hopefully.
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GarthWe're gonna have, probably, a medium-size wedding, like close family and friends. Probably about 80 people I think?
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JoleneYeah maximum of 80 people. Not a huge wedding. We're kind of country bumpkins at heart so we like the forest, we like the idea of having a yurt. Food-wise, we're thinking: fish and chip van aren't we?
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GarthI think I'm gonna wear almost like a tweedy kind of suit.
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JoleneA bow tie!
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GarthA bow tie? I wouldn't mind braces and a bow tie, I'm not really up for the formal, black suit. It's not really me. It's not really my thing.
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JoleneMy ideal dress would be very, again, basic, not over the top, just body-fitted, sort of vintage white. I'd like all my bridesmaids in white also. And the flowers colour theme is just white and green, sort of like the forest. And the boys just all in rustic colours.
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GarthI think my brother will be the best man in the wedding and then closest mates for the groomsmen. But I've not told them yet!
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JoleneMy chief bridesmaid is my fiancé's brother's girlfriend. So it's sort of keeping it close – almost related! Future sister-in-law!
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farea type of food
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bridalthe adjective related to 'bride'
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pretty muchalmost
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ongoingcontinuing
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country bumpkinspeople who live in the country, and are sometimes considered to be slow or stupid
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yurta kind of tent, traditionally used by some Central Asian people
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up for (something)keen (to do something)
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rustictypical of a simple and rough, countryside style
Who said what? Answer these questions
Activity 3
Past, present or future?
'We're getting married...'
Now let's look at our happy couples’ plans in a bit more detail. Here are some of things they said. Read them and decide if they are talking about the past, present or future.
Try the quiz
Did you notice that the present continuous is used to talk about both the present and the future?
- We're getting married in June 2016 - future
- We're thinking about our honeymoon - present
- We're expecting about 100-120 guests – present and future
Activity 4
The rules
Planning for the future
We met three couples who were planning their weddings.
One of the couples was Steve and Andrea. They said this about their wedding:
- We're getting married in July next year.
- It's going to be a big mix of food from all over the world.
And here are a few similar examples:
- We're also going to have some traditional English food, like bacon sandwiches and other things.
- We're having bacon sandwiches and onion soup at our wedding.
- We're going to have a church wedding in the morning, but we're not sure where.
- We're having a church wedding. We booked the church last week.
By looking at these examples, can you work out the rules about when to use going to and when to use the present continuous?
Present continuous and ‘be going to’ for talking about the future
Meaning and use
We can use the present continuous to talk about the future when we have already arranged to do something. It's definite, not just an idea. Perhaps we have put the arrangement in our diaries.
- Are you free at 2 o'clock on Tuesday?' 'No, I'm meeting a client.'
We can use be going to to talk about something that we have decided to do in the future, but not arranged yet. It's possible that the plan might change.
- When I finish at college, I'm going to spend a year travelling.
The uses of the present continuous and 'be going to' with future meaning are very similar and it is often possible to use either of them, with little or no change in meaning.
We also use be going to for something that we expect to happen because we can see from the present situation that it is very likely. We can't use the present continuous in this way.
- It's so cold. I'm sure it's going to snow soon.
- Oh no! That car's going to hit the tree.
Form
Subject + am/is/are + -ing form
Subject + am/is/are + going to + infinitive
For both tenses, we usually use contractions, or short forms (I'm, he's, we're, etc.) when we are speaking.
- I'm spending the day on the beach tomorrow with Zach.
- We're going to look for a nice restaurant with a view of the sea.
- We're not visiting the museum on Saturday.
- They're not going to visit the Taj Mahal.
- What are you doing at the weekend? (= what have you arranged?)
- What are you going to do at the weekend? (= what is your plan?)
- Are they going to get married in the summer?
Take note: time expressions
For both the present continuous for arrangements and 'be going to' for plans, we often use time expressions like at half-past ten, next Thursday, at the weekend, soon.
- Are you coming home soon?
- I'm going to send out all the invitations next week.
Take note: arrangements and timetables
Use the present continuous and NOT the present simple for things that you have arranged to do. Use the present simple for future events on timetables and programmes.
- We're going by train tomorrow morning.
- The train leaves at 7.45.
Activity 2
Marco and Flavia
'I can't talk now...'
Now, let's meet another couple, Marco and Flavia. They've just got married. Flavia's mother calls her in their new home, but Marco answers.
But some of the conversation is missing... Can you complete it using your knowledge of the present continuous and 'going to'?
Complete the dialogue by choosing the correct form of the verb.
Try the activity
Session Grammar
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Use going toTo talk about something we have decided to do in the future, but not arranged yet.I’m going to spend a year travelling.
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Use the present continuousTo talk about something we have decided to do in the future, and made arrangements for. It’s definite, not just an idea.I’m meeting a client at 2pm.
1. Learn the vocabulary
2. Learn the grammar
Activity 1
You're the wedding planner
Any last-minute changes?
We've been learning about other people's weddings. Now it's your turn to plan a wedding.
Your name is Rolandas - and you're a busy wedding planner.
Today is Friday 10th, and you're planning two big weddings.
Your secretary has planned your diary for the week – but left a note telling you to check your phone messages for last-minute changes.
Diary
- Wednesday 22nd Katie at wedding show
- Wednesday 22nd – take delivery of tablecloths
- Flowers designs – ready now
- Flower shop times – open at 12 o’clock Saturdays
- Approve flower designs – Where? When?
- Meet Katie – Where? When?
To do
Now, listen to your phone messages and answer the questions. Are the plans in your diary correct? Or do they need to change?
Listen to the audio and complete the activity
Hi, this is Katie with a message for Rolandas: Rolandas I’m calling you from the wedding show, and we’re looking at the table decorations: we’ve seen some beautiful red and white tablecloths that we absolutely love so I’m ordering them now and the supplier’s delivering them to your office next week on Wednesday 22nd, ok, thanks for that, bye!
Hello this is a message for Rolandas perfect weddings, just to let you know that Flora’s flowers are planning to have the flower designs ready for your approval this Saturday the 11th and we’re really looking forward to showing you. I think they are beautiful and I know you’re going to love them. The shop opens at 12 noon at weekends so see you any time after that, thanks, bye.
Hi Rol, this is Katie again, just to let you know I’m cancelling the tablecloths, sorry but we’ve seen some much nicer ones at the Fancy Tables stand, they’re really lovely but they are a bit more expensive and they’re not quite right so we’re going to visit the showroom to see what they’ve got, we're going on Saturday afternoon so if you can join us at about 12ish that would be great. Bye!
Are the plans in your diary correct?
Activity 2
Functional language
Just to let you know...
In the phone message activity, you heard a lot of useful phrases. They are often used in English in particular situations, like in business or when arranging things.
- just to let you know
- about 12ish
- if you can do..., that would be great
- thanks for that
- Hi, this is Katie with a message for Rolandas
What do you think each phrase means?
It's your turn to leave a phone message. You are going away for the weekend. You need your friend to go to your house and feed your cat. Can you use these five functional phrases in a phone message to your friend?
- This is a message for...
- Just to let you know...
- Around 12ish... (or 10ish, 11ish, etc)
- If you could do X, that would be great...
- Thanks for that...
Here is an example message
A message for Patty
Hi, this is a message for Patty. I need your help for the next weekend. Just to let you know I'm going to Rome on Saturday for the International Film Festival. Now, if you could feed my cat when I'm away it would be great! Let's meet tomorrow to the coffee shop around 5ish p.m. I'm going to give you the keys of my house. Thanks for doing that!
Bye
Exercises
Present continuous and Going to