Transcript Slide 1

Lesson 3
Focus Point: Past verb tense practice
Dialogue. Han is a teacher who is
applying for a new job as a translator and
is being interviewed by Bob.
(Listen especially for verb tenses.)
Lesson 3
Focus Point: Past verb tense practice
• Bob: Please tell me about your education, Mr. Han.
• Han: I graduated from Zhongshan Teachers College in
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1965. I was an English major.
Bob: How about your work experience?
Han: I have been teaching in Hua Dong middle school
for the past 30 years.
Bob: Have you ever been a translator?
Han: No. I have always been a teacher.
Bob: Why are you applying for this job?
Han: Because I don't like children very much.
Lesson 3
Focus Point: Past verb tense practice
• Focus point: Verb tenses:
• Simple past tense. "graduated" "was". Used for a
completed action or condition.
• Present perfect tense. "have been". Action that started
in past, still continues.
• Present perfect progressive tense. "have been
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teaching" Action that started in past, still continues.
Often interchangeable with present perfect, but
emphasizes continuous nature of action a bit more.
Other points to note:
Personal information questions for interviews. "Tell me
about...." "How about...." "Have you ever…?
Lesson 3
Focus Point: Past verb tense practice
• Verb + preposition: "graduate from (school)"
and "graduated in (year)".
• "How about...." Used after a previous question
has made context clear.
• "don't like ___ very much" (In Chinese the
word order is different.)
Lesson 3
Focus Point: Past verb tense practice
• Pronunciation practice.
• Syllable stress: education, graduated, English major,
experience, translator.
• Practice syllable stress for numbers, example:
difference between "14" and "40". Stress on second
syllable for "teen" numbers (thirteen, fifteen, etc.), on
first syllable of multiples of ten (twenty, sixty, etc.).
First, you say numbers while students listen and try to
tell the difference. Then, have students practice saying
numbers.
Lesson 3
Focus Point: Past verb tense practice
• Sentence stress. In English, some words are stressed
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more in a sentence than others. Read the dialogue
again and have students listen to see which words are
stressed most in each sentence. (Underlined above.)
Hard sounds: /th/ in thirty; final /l/ in tell.
Final stop: Final /b/ in job. Final /b/, /d/, and /g/
sounds in words like job, had, bag are often not
voiced by students, so sound like *jop, *hat, and
*bak. Make sure the final consonant is voiced, and
also make sure the vowel is somewhat longer. (Ex:
The main difference between had and hat is that the
vowel sound in had is longer.)
Lesson 3
Focus Point: Past verb tense practice
• Practice activity: Job interview
• 1. Assign half the class to be employers, half to be job
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applicants. Ask employers to 1) write the name of their
company on a sign and place it on their desks; 2) decide what
job they are interviewing for; and 3) prepare a list of questions.
Ask applicants to 1) make up a (fake) resume including their
education, previous work experience, and other information
about themselves.
2. When ready, have applicants interview at several different
companies. After one interview, they should move to another.
During interviews, everyone should pay special attention to
verb tenses.
3. Close by asking a few employers who they want to hire and
why.
Lesson 4
Focus Point: Talking about future plans
Dialogue:
Xiao Lin and Xiao Ling are about to finish an English
course and they are talking about their future English
study plans.
(Listen especially to expressions of future tense.)
Lesson 4
Focus Point: Talking about future plans
• Lin: Are you going to keep studying
English?
• Ling: I hope so. I plan to listen to the
radio every night. What about you?
• Lin: I hope to read for an hour every
night, but I suppose it will be hard to find
enough time. Anyway, at least I'll try to
read 21st Century each week.
Lesson 4
Focus Point: Talking about future plans
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Focus point: Talking about future plans:
"Are you going to _____" . Also "Will you ____?"
"I plan to (+ verb)..."
"I hope to (+ verb)...." Note differences between
"hope" and "wish". Ex: "I hope that it rains." (Seems
like a real possibility.) "I wish it would rain." (Seems
less like a real possibility.)
Other points to note:
"What about you?"
"I suppose ____" Admitting a difficult reality.
"it will be hard to"
"Anyway"
Lesson 4
Focus Point: Talking about future plans
• Pronunciation practice. Suggested points:
• Blending: Elision of "Are you going to..." to [Are ya
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gonna...].
Unvoiced final stops: /p/ in hope, keep; /t/ in night,
what. (In normal speech, a final /p/, /t/, or /k/ is not
aspirated; i.e. you don't actually "explode" the air out
at the end of the sound. Usually, the airway is just
closed by the lips, tongue, or throat, respectively.)
Voiced final stops: /d/ in read, hard.
Lesson 5
Focus Point: Giving directions; prepositions
of location
Dialogue. Foreign tourist Sue is lost and asks Chinese
student Min for directions.
(Listen especially for how location words like "next to"
are used.)
Lesson 5
Focus Point: Giving directions; prepositions
of location
• Sue: Excuse me, could you tell me where the
post office is?
• Min: It's next to the bank on Main Street.
• Sue: How do I get there?
• Min: Walk two blocks down this street, then
turn left. Across from the post office there is a
bookstore and in front of the post office there
is a big sign. So it's easy to find.
Lesson 5
Focus Point: Giving directions; prepositions
of location
• Focus point: Prepositions of location: (You
may want to add others.)
• "next to"
• "on _____ street"
• "across from"
• "in front of"
• Focus point: Giving directions:
• Note that the imperative form of verbs is used.
"Walk ______." "Turn _____."
Lesson 5
Focus Point: Giving directions; prepositions
of location
• Other points to note:
• "Could you tell me where ________ is?"
Note that for "Could you tell me ____"
questions, the verb moves to the end of
the sentence, unlike other yes/no
questions.
• "How do I get there?"
Lesson 5
Focus Point: Giving directions; prepositions
of location
• Pronunciation practice. Special points:
• Consonant clusters: /ksk/ in excuse; /st/ in post; /nt/
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in front; /kst/ in next.
Final voiced stop: /g/ in big.
Vowel sound: /ay/ in main. (Some Chinese learners
have difficulty with this.)
Short vowel: /i/ in it, big.
Blending: the /d/ and /y/ in "Could you" elides into a
"j" sound -- "coujoo"
Lesson 7
Focus Point: Prepositions and time
Dialogue:
Lee is complaining to Hal about how busy her
intensive English course is. (Listen especially
for the prepositions Lee uses with time words.)
Lesson 7
Focus Point: Prepositions and time
• Lee: Every day we have to get up at 6:00 for
breakfast.
Then we have classes from 8:00 to 12:00.
At 12:00 we have lunch, and then a break.
In the afternoon, class starts at 2:30 and goes until
4:00.
At 4:00 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday there is
English Corner and on Tuesday and Thursday we have
talks.
In the evening we need to study / so we only have
free time on weekends.
Lesson 7
Focus Point: Prepositions and time
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Focus point: Prepositions and time:
at + (time) "at 6:00".
from (time) to (time)" "from 8:00 to 12:00"
starts at (time) and goes until/to (time)
on (day of week) "on Monday(s)" Note: "on Monday"
can either mean "this Monday" or "Mondays (in
general)"
in the morning, afternoon, evening
Other points to note:
to have lunch = to eat lunch
Lesson 7
Focus Point: Prepositions and time
• Pronunciation practice. Special points:
• Sentence intonation. Re-read dialogue and have
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students note where your intonation rises in each
sentence and where it falls. (Be sure to practice this
first so that you are aware of your intonation.)
Intonation pattern Afrom 8:00 (rising) to 12:00
(falling)@
Patterns for presenting choices or listing. Ex:
"...Monday (rising), Wednesday (rising) and Friday
(falling)..." "...on Tuesday (rising) and Thursday
(falling)..." Note: The tone rises or falls on the
stressed syllable of whichever word is being
emphasized.
Lesson 7
Focus Point: Prepositions and time
• Vowel: /ay/ in Monday, Tuesday, etc.
• Consonant clusters: /ndz/ in weekends; /lks/ in
talks; /rts/ in starts (no /r/ in British Standard).
• Final unvoiced stops: /t/ in get; /p/ in up.
• Final /l/ in until
Lesson 8
Focus Point: Politely expressing
disagreement
Dialogue:
Anne and Mick are arguing politely over
whether cats or dogs make better pets.
(Listen especially for how they indicate
disagreement.)
Lesson 8
Focus Point: Politely expressing disagreement
• Anne: I think that cats usually make better pets than
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dogs. / For one thing, they are quieter.
Mick: That may be true, but sometimes they make a
lot of noise crying at night.
Anne: For another, cats are more affectionate.
Mick: Really? I don't think so.
Anne: Of course they are. They always love to sit on
your lap.
Mick: That's just because they want something from
you.
Anne: Yes, but they are so sweet about it.
Lesson 8
Focus Point: Politely expressing disagreement
• Focus point: Step: Disagreeing: (When
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disagreeing politely, Westerners will often first agree
with part of someone else's opinion before
disagreeing. "Yes, but...." patterns are very common.)
For introducing counter-arguments "Yes, but ...."
"That's true, but...." "I agree, but...."
For expressing reservation "That may be true, but...."
Also "I suppose that's true, but ..."
For complete disagreement: "I don't think so." "I
disagree." "I'm not sure I agree." Often prefaced by
"Really?"
Lesson 8
Focus Point: Politely expressing disagreement
• Other points to note:
• "I think that...." For expressing opinions.
• "For one thing...." "For another...." Common
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expressions for introducing a reason.
Note that the plural form is used when speaking about
nouns in general. Ex: "Cats usually make better pets
than dogs do."
"That's just because..." Just = only. Often used to
minimize something.
Verb + preposition: "to want something from
somebody"
Adjective + preposition: "sweet about (something)"
Lesson 8
Focus Point: Politely expressing disagreement
• Pronunciation practice. Special points:
• Stressing key words. Read the dialogue again to students and
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have them listen to see which words are stressed most in each
sentence. Have them repeat it back, sentence by sentence,
stressing key words.
Final /r/ in quieter and are. This is silent in standard British
English, but is pronounced in most North American accents as
well as in many other English accents (such as Scotland,
Australia, etc.)
Consonant cluster: /ts/ in cats, pets; /gz/ in dogs.
Final stops: /p/ in lap; /t/ in sweet.
Short vowel: /e/ in pets; /i/ in think, thing, it.
Final /ing/ in crying, something. (Some areas of China make no
distinction between /ing/ and /in/.)
Lesson 9
Focus Point: Mass nouns and countable
nouns
Dialogue:
Lee is in a Western-style fast-food restaurant
ordering her meal. Tom is the server.
(Listen especially to how the count and noncount nouns are used.)
Lesson 9
Focus Point: Mass nouns and countable nouns
• Tom: What would you like to have?
• Lee: How about a salad and some soup./ I also
want a hamburger and an order of French fries.
• Tom: Small, large, or medium?
• Lee: Large. I would also like apple pie.
• Tom: Anything to drink?
• Lee: A large Coke.
• Tom: Wow, you must be hungry.
• Lee: Not very, but I want to try everything.
Lesson 9
Focus Point: Mass nouns and countable nouns
• Focus point: Mass nouns and count nouns.
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(Some nouns like "sandwich" are always countable,
hence need either an article or a plural ending. Other
nouns like "water" "rice" "bread" are virtually always
mass nouns. Yet other nouns can be either, depending
on how they are used. Ex: "a salad" or just "salad".
Students need to memorize which is which.)
Count nouns: "a hamburger" "French fries"
Mass nouns: "soup"
Nouns that can be both: "salad" "pie" "Coke" ("a
Coke" is really short for "a cup of Coke")
"an order of (something)"
Lesson 9
Focus Point: Mass nouns and countable nouns
• Pronunciation practice. Suggested points:
• Eliding AWould you@ d + y = j.
• Point out how English speakers reduce the vowels in certain
words to achieve the rhythms of rapid speech. Longer, clearer
vowels are reduced to schwa ("uh") in words like
"you","to","the", " and", "for" when these words are not
stressed. Ex: "What would you like to have?" [What wud ja like
ta have?] Note that in "You must be hungry" "you" is stressed,
so not reduced to "ya". You might have students try practicing
the dialogue using these reduced vowels to increase their
speed. Note that these reductions are NOT sloppy or lazy
English, but simply a way to speak more quickly, especially in
casual conversation.
Lesson 9
Focus Point: Mass nouns and countable
nouns
Jazz chant: What would you like?
I’d like salad and soup - salad and soup
What about bread with your salad and soup?
I’d like garlic bread, garlic bread.
Something to drink? Any dessert?
Coffee and pie
That sounds good! Mm -- mm –
That sounds good!
Lesson 10 Focus Point: Clarifying
Dialogue: The phone rang and Phil has picked
it up, but the connection is very bad and he
can't hear what the caller is saying. Sorry, but
we can only hear one side of this conversation.
(Listen especially for how Phil tries to clarify what
the caller is saying.)
Lesson 10 Focus Point: Clarifying
Phil:
Hello, Phil Collins speaking. Sorry, what did you
say? This connection isn't very good. Would
you mind repeating that? I didn't catch what
you just said. Could you say the last part
again? Did you say something about a fish?
Sorry, I didn't catch the last word. Did you say
you want to marry a fish? Oh, you want Mary
Fisher! Sorry, but she's not here.
Lesson 10 Focus Point: Clarifying
• Focus point: Clarifying: -- "What did you say?" --
"Would you mind repeating that?" Or "Would you
repeat that?" To ask for repetition. -- "I didn't catch
what you said." = "I didn't hear what you said." To
indicate you didn't hear something. -- "Could you say
the last part again?" "I didn't catch the last word." For
indicating what you didn't hear. -- "Did you say
something about....?" "Did you say that...?" For
checking whether you understood. Other points to
note: -- "Phil Collins speaking." A common way to
answer the phone.
Lesson 10 Focus Point: Clarifying
• Pronunciation practice. Suggested points: --
Show students how stress and intonation can change
the meaning of a sentence by saying the following
sentence three different ways -- ask them to tell you
the difference in meaning. (Add other examples.) Ex:
"Could you say the last part again?" "Could you say
the last part again?" "Could you say the last part
again?" -- Consonant clusters: /ksh/ in connection;
/tsh/ in catch. -- Final stop: /d/ in word, said, good. -Short vowel /i/ + final /l/ in Phil.
Lesson 11 Focus Point: Making
suggestions
Dialogue:
It is a holiday. Fred and Lynn are trying to
decide what to do with their day.
(Listen especially to how they make
suggestions.)
Lesson 11 Focus Point: Making suggestions
Fred: What do you want to do today?
Lynn: I don't know. What would you like to do?
Fred: Why don't we go to a movie?
Lynn: We could, but there will be lots of people
there today.
Fred: Then how about going to a park?
Lynn: There will be lots of people there too.
Fred: Well then, what do you think we should do?
Lynn: I guess I'd like to stay home.
Lesson 11 Focus Point: Making suggestions
Focus point: Making suggestions: -- "Why don't
we (+ verb)..." Also "Lets (+ verb) -- "How about
(verb + ing)..." Also "What about (verb + ing)....
Other points to note: -- "Well then..." = "In that
case..." --"I guess" for hesitant opinion.
Lesson 11 Focus Point: Making
suggestions
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Pronunciation practice.
Blending and reduction of syllables – What do you@ to
[Whadaya]. "Would you" to [Wouja]. -- Read the dialogue
again and have participants listen to see which word carries
the sentence focus (stress).
Note how English speakers use stress to show contrast. Ex:
"What do you think we should do?" -- Hard sound: /v/ in
movie. (A few students may have problems with this). -Consonant cluster: /pl/ in people. -- Short vowel /i/ + final
/l/ in will.
Lesson 12 Focus Point: Giving advice
Dialogue: Ann is a parent having trouble
with her children; Sara is a friend gently
offering advice.
(Listen especially for the phrases Sara
uses to offer advice.)
Lesson 12 Focus Point: Giving advice
Ann: My children never want to do their
homework! / I just don't know what to do
with them.
Sara: Why not try punishing them?
Ann: I have, but they still don't listen to me.
Sara: You could always reason with them.
Ann: I've done that, but they just ignore me
and watch TV.
Sara: If I were you, I would get rid of the TV
set.
Lesson 12 Focus Point: Giving advice
• Focus point: Giving advice:
• "Why not try + (gerund)"
• "You could always + (verb)"
• "If I were you, I would + (verb)"
• Other points to note:
• Verb + preposition: "to listen to"
• Verb + preposition: "to reason with"
• Adjective + preposition: "to get rid of”
Lesson 12 Focus Point: Giving advice
Pronunciation practice.
• Ask participants to look at the dialogue and decide
which words they think should be stressed in each
sentence. Then have volunteers say a sentence as
they think it should be stressed. (Note: There may be
more than one possibility.) Close by saying the
dialogue as a group, stressing the appropriate words.
• Final stop: /d/ in rid.
• Short vowel /i/ + final /l/ in still.
• Stop /g/ in ignore.
Lesson 12 Focus Point: Giving advice
Practice activity: The teacher's problem child
• 1.Tell participants that you have a 12-year old son, a
stubborn child who absolutely and totally refuses to do
any kind of homework. You are at your wits end and
need help.
• 2.In groups, make a list of suggestions that you could
try.
• 3.Then present the suggestions, one suggestion per
group at a time. (To make this more fun, express
thanks for each suggestion but sadly explain why you
don't think it will work, hence necessitating further
suggestions.)
• Finally, vote on the best suggestion, and perhaps the
worst.
Dialogues
Lesson 13
• Focus point: Refusing politely
• Bob likes Ann and wants to invite her out
on a date. Ann does not like Bob very
much, but doesn’t want to be rude. Listen
especially to how Ann puts Bob off.
• Bob: Are you busy on Friday night?
• Ann: Why do you ask?
• Bob: Are you interested in going to see a
movie?
• Ann: That would be nice, but I should really
stay at home and work.
• Bob: How about next weekend?
• Ann: I’m not sure right now. Let’s wait and see.
• “Are you busy?” This question
frequently serves to introduce a
request or an invitation.
• Instead of answering Bob’s first question
directly, Ann asks more about his intentions.
• That would be nice, but (reason). Polite
refusals usually follow the pattern “I would like
to but….”( followed by a reason.) The more
vague the reason is, the more it seems like an
excuse. Also, “I wish I could, but (excuse)” “I
would love to but (excuse.)”
• Sometimes instead of directly refusing a
request, people will give a “maybe” answer
such as “I’m not sure right now” or “Let’s see
later”. Westerners are often more willing to give
a direct “no” answer than the Chinese are, but
still sometimes try to avoid it, especially if a
direct “no” would hurt someone’s feelings.
Lesson 14
Focus point: Refusing more directly
Tom wants Ed to go with him to see a movie,
but Ed has no interest in going to the film.
( Listen especially to how Ed refuses Tom.)
Focus Point: Direct refusals
• “Not really” is less blunt than “No!” The word
“really” softens the refusal.
• Saying you don’t like something very much: “I
don’t care for…” “I’m not very interested in…”
“I’m not very keen on…..”
• “Thanks, but no thanks.” A cute direct refusal.
• “Tom, I don’t want to go.” A clear direct refusal,
indicated in part by the use of Tom’s name.
• “I can’t stand.” Is the same as “I hate”
• Tom: Ed, do you want to go to see the James
Bond movie tonight?
• Ed: Not really, I don’t really care for James
Bond films.
• Tom: Are you sure? I hear that it’s really good.
• Ed: Thanks, but no thanks. I’d rather study
English.
• Tom: Oh, come on. You need a break.
• Ed: Tom, I don’t want to go. Frankly, I can’t
stand James Bond.
• “Oh, come on.” This is used to urge
someone to do something, or to indicate
displeasure or disbelief.
• “Frankly” indicates a blunt statement.
Also, “Honestly”…. “To be honest…” “To
be frank.”
Refusals
• Topic:
In China, when is it appropriate to
give a direct refusal and when is it
better to put someone off or to
give an indirect answer?
Lesson 15 Focus Point: Stronger
advice
• Dialogue: Ken sees Jan in the teachers'
lounge. Ken has heard that Jan has a cold.
• (Listen especially for how Ken gives
advice.)
Lesson 15 Focus Point: Stronger
advice
• Ken: How are you doing today?
• Jan: Not too well; I have a bad cold. My head hurts
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and I have a runny nose.
Ken: That's too bad. Why don't you go see a
doctor?
Jan: I don't think it's that serious.
Ken: You can never tell. I really think you should
see a doctor.
Jan: Maybe I'll at least go home and take the day
off.
Lesson 15 Focus Point: Stronger
advice
• Focus point: Stronger advice: -- "Why
don't you + (present tense verb)".
• For fairly strong advice. -- "I really think you
should + (present tense verb)." For strong
advice.
Lesson 15 Focus Point: Stronger
advice
• Other points to note: -- "at least" -- "How
are you doing?" For inquiring about health.
• "That's too bad." For expressing sympathy.
Also "I'm sorry to hear that." -- "I have a
cold." For countable illnesses (headache,
stomachache, fever) Note: For most
diseases, it would be "I have hepatitis"
(diarrhea, malaria, etc.) Exception: "I have
the flu." -- "My (body part) hurts."
Lesson 15 Focus Point: Stronger
advice
• Pronunciation practice. Suggested
points: -- ADon’t you@ t + y = ch -- Note
stress in "I don't think it's that serious." -Have participants mark words to be stressed
in each sentence, read sentences aloud to
you. -- Final /l/ in tell, I'll. -- Final stops in
bad, cold.
Lesson 15 Focus Point: Stronger
advice
• Jazz Chant
• A My feet hurt!
• B: Take off your shoes!
• A: My back aches!
• B: Stand up and stretch!
• A: My head hurts!
• B: Why don’t you rest? Get some rest!
(repeat)
Lesson 15 Focus Point: Stronger
advice
Practice activity: "The doctor market"
• 1. Designate half of the participants as
health professionals and have each set up
office. The other participants are sick people,
and need to manufacture an illness.
• 2. Tell patients that each should visit several
professionals, explain their problem, and get
advice.
• 3. Close by having sick people rate quality of
service provided by professionals.
Lesson 16 Focus Point:
Responding to compliments
• Dialogue: Lucy is out walking and sees her
old friend Lily, who is wearing nice new
clothes.
• (Listen especially to how Lily and Lucy
respond to each other's compliments.)
Lesson 16 Focus Point:
Responding to compliments
• Lucy: Oh Lily, you look so nice today. That's
a very nice blouse you are wearing.
• Lily: Thank you, Lucy. It was a gift from one
of my grandchildren.
• Lucy: Your skirt is very attractive too.
• Lily: I got this on sale downtown. Your outfit
is very nice, too.
• Lucy: That's very kind of you. This dress is
nothing special, but it's comfortable.
Lesson 16 Focus Point:
Responding to compliments
• Focus Point: Strategies for responding
to a compliment:
• Like Chinese, Westerners are often modest
about accepting compliments, but unlike
Chinese this is not usually expressed through
direct rejection of the compliment. In fact,
direct refusal may even seem rude.
Lesson 16 Focus Point:
Responding to compliments
• Accept it (when you feel really deserve it): "Thank
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you."
Accept it but pass the credit to someone else:
"Thank you, it was a gift from my grandchild.".
Moderate the compliment by turning into a
conversation topic: "I got it on sale downtown.“
Accept the good will, but not the compliment itself
(when you feel you really don't deserve it). "That's
very kind of you." Also "It's very nice of you to say
so."
Lesson 16 Focus Point:
Responding to compliments
• Pronunciation practice. Suggested points:
• Hard sounds: /th/ in that's.
• Consonant clusters: /ldr/ in children; /bl/ in
comfortable.
• Syllable stress: grandchildren, attractive,
downtown, outfit, comfortable.
• Review intonation for direct address to get
someone’s attention (falling intonation on the
stressed syllable of the name.)
Lesson 17 Focus Point:
Asking about and expressing opinions
• Dialogue: Al, Chen, and Wang are English
teachers chatting in the office at a school in
China.
• (listen especially for how people ask for and
express opinions.)
Lesson 17 Focus Point:
Asking about and expressing opinions
• Al: Mr. Chen, how do you feel about teaching
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English in primary schools?.
Chen: I think children should start studying English
as early as possible. Young children are more
excited about learning a new language.
Al: What do you think about it, Mr. Wang?
Wang: Personally, I don't think it is such a good
idea. I suppose it is good to start learning a
language early; but only if there are enough good
teachers.
Lesson 17 Focus Point:
Asking about and expressing opinions
• Focus point. Asking about opinions:
• "How do you feel about + (gerund or noun)"
• "What do you think about +(gerund or
noun)"
Lesson 17 Focus Point:
Asking about and expressing opinions
• Focus point.
• Expression opinions:
"I think that..." Also "I feel that..." "I believe
that ..." -- "should" For opinions.
"Personally" Emphasizes that this is a
personal opinion, thus making his
disagreement with Mr. Chen seem less
sharp and direct.
• "I suppose that..." Indicating reservation.
Lesson 17 Focus Point:
Asking about and expressing opinions
• Other points to note:
• "as early as possible"
The "as ___ as ___" pattern often causes
problems in China.
• Adjective + preposition: "excited about"
Lesson 18 Focus Point:
Expressing sympathy
Dialogue:
• Pam is a foreign teacher at a Chinese
college, and gets a surprise visit from the
dean of her department, Mr. Lin.
• (Listen especially for how Mr. Lin expresses
sympathy.)
Lesson 18 Focus Point:
Expressing sympathy
• Lin: We just got a phone call from overseas, and I
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•
have some bad news for you. I'm afraid that your
uncle Obadiah passed away yesterday. I'm very
sorry. You have my deepest sympathy.
Pam: Thank you for being so kind, but are you sure
you have the right person? I don't have an uncle
named Obadiah. In fact, I don't have any uncles at
all!
Lin: That's odd. There must be some mistake.
Lesson 18 Focus Point:
Expressing sympathy
• Focus point: Expressing sympathy:
• "I have some bad news for you." To prepare people
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for bad news.
"I'm afraid that...." Often used when giving bad
news.
"I'm very sorry." For expressing sympathy. This is
more serious than "That's too bad."
"You have my deepest sympathy." Formal
expression indicating deep sympathy.
Lesson 18 Focus Point:
Expressing sympathy
• Other commonly used phrases:
• "I'm sorry to hear about (+ noun phrase)"
Ex: "I'm sorry to hear about your uncle."
• "I'm sorry to hear that (+ subject +
predicate)" Ex: "I'm sorry to hear that your
mother is sick."
• Other points to note:
"passed away" = died
Lesson 18 Focus Point:
Expressing sympathy
Practice activity: Cocktail party:
"I have some bad news."
• 1. Have students prepare one or two pieces of bad news
they can break to somebody (you failed your examination,
your pet cat died, etc.) Encourage students to keep the bad
news more humorous than grim.
• 2. Have each student share their bad news with another
student. The recipient of the bad news should then thank
the other for being so kind, but insist that the news is
inaccurate. Each should then move on to other partners.
• 3. Close by asking a few volunteers to report the strangest
bad news they heard.
Lesson 19 Focus Point:
Generalizations and exceptions
• Dialogue: Xiao Li has met a Liz, an
American teacher, and is surprised to see her
drinking tea.
• (Listen especially for how Liz makes
generalizations.)
Lesson 19 Focus Point:
Generalizations and exceptions
• Li: Do you like tea?
• Liz: By and large I prefer coffee, but sometimes I
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•
like tea, too.
Li: But I thought all foreigners drink coffee.
Liz: Not necessarily. In fact, its dangerous to
assume that all foreigners do anything. As a rule,
most Westerners do drink more coffee than tea.
But I think British people drink more tea than
coffee and lots of Americans also drink tea.
Anyway, there are exceptions to most
generalizations.
Lesson 19 Focus Point:
Generalizations and exceptions
• Focus Point: Generalizations.
• "By and large, ___, but _____" "As a rule,
______, but _____"
• Also "In general, ___" "Usually, ___" ,
"Generally speaking, _____"
Lesson 19 Focus Point:
Generalizations and exceptions
Other points to note:
• "I thought that ___" Past tense used to indicate a mistaken
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•
•
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•
idea the speaker no longer holds.
"Not necessarily." Nice way to correct a statement that is
too general.
"In fact" Used to correct a misconception. Also "Actually,
___", "In reality, ___"
"Anyway" Used for ending one line of discussion and
coming to a conclusion or getting back to the main topic.
"lots of ___" = many
Vocabulary: assume, exceptions, generalizations
Lesson 20 Focus Point:
Opinions - different degrees of certainty
• Dialogue: A group of students is talking
about what is likely to be on the final
examination for their English course.
• (Listen especially for ways they indicate how
sure they are about their opinions.)
Lesson 20 Focus Point:
Opinions - different degrees of certainty
• Al: What do you think is going to be on the
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•
•
•
examination next week?
Bud: I guess there will be a listening section, and
maybe there will also be a vocabulary quiz.
Carol: I'm pretty sure there will also be a reading
component. And I'm positive that there will be a
writing test.
Al: How can you be so sure?
Carol: The teacher told me.
Lesson 20 Focus Point:
Opinions - different degrees of certainty
Focus Point: Degrees of certainty in
expressing opinions
• May be true: "I guess" (+ sentence) "Maybe" (+
•
•
sentence). Also "Perhaps ___" "I suppose that
____" "It looks like ____"
Probably true: "I'm pretty sure" (that) (+
sentence). Also "probably"
Certainly true: "I'm positive ____" Also "I'm sure
(that)" (+ sentence). "I'm certain (that)" (+
sentence).
Lesson 20 Focus Point:
Opinions - different degrees of certainty
• Pronunciation practice.
• Syllable stress: examination, section,
component, positive.
• Word stress: Ask students to decide which
words in these sentences would be stressed.
• Consonant clusters: /gz/ in examination; /ld/
in told; /nt/ in component.
• Final /l/ in Al, Carol, will.
• Final stop: /d/ in Bud.
Lesson 20 Focus Point:
Opinions - different degrees of certainty
Practice activity:
• 1. In groups, have students discuss what they think China
will be like in ten years. Have each group make a list of
predictions of varying degrees of certainty. Ex: "We think
that maybe more people will live in cities." "We are certain
that there will be more cars."
• 2. Have each group present one prediction and explain their
reasons.
Other ideas:
• Topic: Ask students what job they think they will have after
they graduate
• Topic: Ask students to predict the following day's weather.