Lesson 20 General language A2

1. Watch the video attentively

Expression to work on

I like being in the countryside, but I am always happy to come back to the city

How about

I actually really like countryside; I grew up in a farm

I love being in London, I have loved my time in London, but as I am getting older, I increasingly want to visit countryside more

The life is quiet; you can get out of the city

I love it, I was brought up in a countryside

I love being in a countryside a lot of quiet, a lot of fresh air

I love the countryside, I’ve come from …, although it is not where I live directly in the countryside, you drive ten minutes and that’s beautiful

I love the countryside; it’s a nice change to living in London, I enjoy taking weekends out, I enjoy camping

I enjoy the countryside because I ‘ve lived there for 37 years, particularly I enjoy gardening? Growing up vegetables

The thing I like most being in a countryside is watching animals, birds

How about you? Do you love wild life?

Well, I am an animal lover; I am a vegetarian as well

I like wild life and animals, since time has go on I really like foxes, for some reason, I know a lot of people don’t, but they are my favorite animal

I love wild life; I really enjoy sort of things you do not see every day, enjoy a sort of exotic animals you have not seen before

I love watching them on the tele

I thing that animals are living beings, they should be treated with respect

I like big cats they are very graceful and beautiful

Questions to speak about

Where did you grow up?
Do you like being in a countryside?
Do you love a wild life?

Activity 1

Celebrity vocabulary

Spot the celebrity

Are you fascinated by the lives of famous people? Which famous people do you like most - and have you ever wanted to be famous? A person who is well known or famous is known as a celebrity and some people think today's society is obsessed with celebrity culture – watching, following and sometimes trying to copy the lives of celebrities. And some people will do anything just to have their 'five minutes of fame'.

Take a look at the celebrities in the picture. How many of them can you name?

Read the text and complete the activity

To do

The people in this photo are very famous. Learn some celebrity-related vocabulary as you work out who they are. Look in the vocabulary box to find the meaning of the words in the game which have an asterisk* next to them.

Who's who?

Do you know your celebrities? Match the description of each celebrity with the correct picture. Look at the vocabulary box for the meanings of words with asterisks* next to them

This famous American actress also directs* films and played the video game heroine Lara Croft
Some say this American actor is the most handsome* man in the world.
She is a flamboyant* American singer and songwriter.
He is a British actor who has appeared in many romcoms*
He is also a British actor. He won an Oscar for his role* in the historical drama 'The King's Speech'.
She is an English actress who was born in 1985 and starred* in the film 'Pirates of the Caribbean'.

Session Vocabulary

asterisk

the name for this symbol: *
audition

(as a noun) a short performance where you sing, dance, or act, so that the person who is watching you can decide if you are good enough to perform in a film, play, or concert
celebrity

famous person, particularly in sport, music or film
celebrity culture

(here) the lives and activities of people who are famous and the people who are interested in them
directs

(here) takes charge of making a film and tells actors and technical staff what to do
fascinated

very interested in someone or something
five minutes of fame

(idiom) being famous for a short period of time (but not literally five minutes!)
flamboyant

dressing or behaving in a way that gets noticed by other people
handsome

physically attractive; good looking (usually referring to a man)
obsessed

always thinking about, or being too interested in, someone or something
role

the character played by a particular actor in a film or play
romcoms

informal name for romantic comedy films
stage name

name a performer uses instead of their real name
starred

was a main actor in a film or play
thriller

exciting story, usually about danger or crime

Activity 2

When will I be famous?

When I'm rich and famous, I'm going to buy a huge house...

It's time to take a look at tenses. In this unit we'll have a look at the present simple, present continuous, present perfect and past simple tenses. We'll also look at the 'going to' future.

Let's meet Daisy. She's obsessed with celebrities - and she would love to be one herself. She likes the idea of being famous. She might get her chance if she gets chosen to be on a reality TV show called The Box. Let's see her audition video now and find out why she thinks she should be on the show.

To do

Take a look at Daisy's audition video. See if you can answer these questions:

What is she doing now?
What is she going to do when she is rich and famous?
What are her hobbies and interests?
What is her personality like?
How will she change if she gets to be on TV?

Watch the video and complete the activity

So, that was Daisy. Did you manage to answer the questions? Here are the answers:

What is she doing now? She is living at home with her parents
What is she going to do when she is rich and famous? She is going to buy a big house and have lots of cats and other things
What are her hobbies and interests? She loves singing, she loves taking photos, she watches TV and she's learning French
What is her personality like? She is funny, she has a great personality and she is very sensitive
How will she change if she gets to be on TV? She isn't going to change - she will still be the same person!

To do

It's time to check what you know about which tense is which. Take the test!

Which tense?

Read Daisy's sentences. What tense does she use in each sentence?

Session Grammar

present continuous = subject + ‘to be’ + verb-ing
- I am eating cake at the moment (present meaning)
- I am meeting my sister at the cake shop this afternoon (future meaning)
present simple = subject + verb
- I eat cake every day
past simple = subject + past verb
- I ate two cakes yesterday
present perfect = subject + has / have + past participle
- I have eaten six cakes this week
going to future = subject + am / is / are + 'going to' + verb
- I'm going to eat two cakes tomorrow

Session Vocabulary

reality TV show

television programme that shows ordinary people in real life situations
personality

the part of a person's psychology that affects the way they behave in social situations; for example, being shy or outgoing
sensitive

(here) kind, caring and thoughtful about other people's feelings
auditioned

performed a short dance, song or act so that the person watching could decide if the performer is good enough to perform in something like a film

Activity 3

Living in The Box

Who's used all the teabags?!

Soon we'll be explaining a bit more about tenses but first let's meet Daisy again. Daisy's obsessed with celebrity culture. She auditioned for a place on the reality TV show 'The Box' - and she got in! She's now living in The Box with a group of total strangers.

Let's see how Daisy is getting on. Watch the video and see if you can answer these questions:

Does she like life in The Box?
What does she do every day?
What isn't she drinking - and why?
Who has used all the teabags?

Watch the video

Did you manage to answer the questions about the video? Here are the answers:

Daisy likes life in The Box. She says 'I'm loving it' (*see note below about this phrase).
Daisy goes shopping every day.
Daisy isn't drinking coffee because it has too much caffeine in it.
Darren has used all the teabags!

Did you notice the tenses that Daisy and Harry used? Here's a reminder of some of the tenses we've covered in this course so far. Have a look at the grammar notes and then try the activity.

Present simple and present continuous

We use the present continuous for things that are happening now and for temporary situations. We often use time expressions like at the moment, this week and these days.

We're staying in a fantastic hotel in Goa this week.

We use the present simple for things that we do regularly and for permanent situations. We often use adverbs of frequency and time expressions like sometimes, every day and on Saturdays.

I swim every day before breakfast.

Past simple and present perfect

use the past simple tense when an action or situation happens and finishes in the past. We usually say or know when it happens.

We arrived two days ago.

We use the present perfect in several ways:

to talk about our experiences in the past. We don’t say when these happened because we are interested in the experience, not the time or date. We often use the words ever and never.
- Have you ever been here?
- I've never been to Goa.
to talk about situations that started in the past and are continuing now. We sometimes ask a question with how long + the present perfect and we answer it with the words for or since.
- How long has Mia been in Goa?
- She's been there for two days.
- It's been really hot since we arrived.
to say whether an action has happened or not at the present time. The words just, already and yet are very common with this use of the present perfect.
- I've already done some sunbathing.
- We haven't seen much yet.
- The sun's just disappeared!

There is more information on our grammar reference page.

*A note about 'I'm loving it'. This is non-standard usage. In less formal English, the continuous form is sometimes used with state verbs. You might also hear someone say, 'I'm hating this movie.' The -ing form of the verbs in these examples have a sense of being temporary.

To do

Now let's look at the tenses that Daisy and Harry used. Try this activity.

Do you know your tenses?

Each question has the name of a tense and three example sentences. Which of the three sentences matches the name of the tense? You decide... good luck!

Present continuous question
a Did you enjoy being in the Box? b Are you enjoying being in The Box? c Have you enjoyed being in The Box?
Present simple
a I go shopping every day b I went shopping every day c I am shopping today
Past simple
a I'm going once a week b I went once a week c I go once a week
Present perfect
a I've already had a sandwich b I'm eating a sandwich c I eat a sandwich every afternoon
Present continuous negative
a I didn't drink coffee b I don't drink coffee c I'm not drinking coffee