Explorations in English

- Book Two -
LESSON 1. "It's been a long time!"

GOAL: To describe your holiday and discuss recent activities with friends.

A. CLASSROOM ENGLISH
Answer the questions below.

What should you say if . . .
  • . . . a person talks too quickly?
  • . . . a person talks too softly?
  • . . . a person uses too big words?
  • . . . you don't know what a word means?
  • . . . you don't know how a word is spelled?
  • . . . you don't know how a word is pronounced?
  • . . . you want to know the antonym (opposite) of a word?
  • . . . you want to know the synonym of a word?
B. VOCABULARY REVIEW
Match the words on the left with the definitions on the right
a. celebrate
b. resort
c. semester
d. joint
e. highlight
f. admission
g. steep
h. decade
i. century
 a 10 year period
a 100 year period
a half-year academic period
the price you pay to enter a place
expensive, costly, high-priced
best experience of, most outstanding part of
1. (slang) place, 2. (slang) prison
a vacation place, a place to relax
to enjoy a ceremony or happy event

C. PRE-LISTENING QUESTIONS
Discuss these questions in small groups -
  1. What's your hometown like in summer?
  2. Do most Japanese have long or short vacations?
  3. How is o-bon celebrated in Japan?
  4. Describe a few popular summer resorts near here.
  5. How crowded are highways during o-bon?
D. LISTENING/SPEAKING FOCUS
Hitomi and Barry are long-term friends and classmates. They have just started a new semester and chat about their summer vacations.

Part A - Read this dialog and try to guess the missing words,
then listen to the dialog -

Hitomi:
Barry:
Hitomi:
Barry:
Hitomi:
Barry:
Hitomi:
Barry:
Hitomi:
Barry:
Hitomi:
Barry:
Hitomi:
Barry:
 It's been a 1time!
Yeah. How was your vacation?
Busy. I 2 at a fast food joint. How about yours?
3. I stayed home most of the time, but took a trip to Disneyland.
Sounds nice. Was it 4?
Not especially. What was the 5 of your summer?
The fireworks in Yaizu. It was terrific. How about you?
The trip to 6, I suppose. Have you been there?
Only once. The admission is steep. Was this your 7 trip?
Sure was. Next time I hope to visit a 8 Singapore.
Start saving up!
Part B - Now practice the dialog with a partner.

Part C - This time change the dialog to fit your own experience.
***********Feel free to depart from the text and improvise.
E. CONTENT QUESTIONS:
Answer these questions-
  1. Why was Hitomi's summer hectic?
  2. Did Barry have an enjoyable summer?
  3. What was the highlight of Hitomi's vacation?
  4. Where would Barry like to travel?
    F. PRONUNCIATION FOCUS:
    Circle the words in brackets you hear, then practise both words -

    
    1. Was it [long / wrong]?                  2. Where's the [light / right] one?
    3. There is too much [travel / trouble].   4. [Tell / Tear] it  slowly.
    5. How far did it [glow / grow]?           6. What do you [feel / fear]?
    G. GRAMMAR FOCUS
    
Pattern: Q: How likely is ?
         A: It is . ++ very likely. [COMMENT]. [QUESTION].
                           + likely.
                           - not so likely.
                          -- very unlikely.

    
Example 1:  Q: How likely is a snowstorm this week?
              A: It is very unlikely. Winter is far away. Why do you ask?

Example 2:  Q: How likely is the Prime Minister to visit America next year?
              A: It is likely. He travels to many countries. What do you think?

    Express how likely these events are in small groups: 

    
       1. rain tomorrow?                       2. snow this week?
       3. a typhoon this month?                4. an earthquake this year?
       5. World War III this decade?           6. space travel this century?
       7. electric cars within 10 years?       8. no class next week? 
                            - make more questions -
    H. ROLE PLAY

    PERSON A: You've just returned from a year overseas. Chat with B about your trip.

    PERSON B: You haven't seen A for a year. Chat with him/her.

    I. COMMON MISTAKES
    Correct these mistakes individually, then check together-
    1. ?I went to the sea this summer.
    2. *I worked at my part time from July to September.
    3. ?I have a five day summer brake.
    4. ?I very like swimming.
      J. DISCUSSION

      1. What was the highlight of your summer?
      2. How crowded is your hometown in summer?
      3. Have you been overseas recently?
      4. How expensive is a ticket to Toyko?
      		 5. Will you spend money next vacation?
      6. Did you buy anything special last vacation?
      7. How often do you go abroad?
      8. How would you like to visit Okinawa?
      Ask more questions. Use patterns such as "How long?", "How fun?", etc.

      K. FEEDBACK

      Write your comments about today's lesson in the space below.
      Either Japanese or English is OK.


      What was most useful about this lesson?
      What was least useful about this lesson?
      Any ideas, suggestions, or comments?




      L. HOMEWORK
      Option A -

      Write about your summer vacation.

      Option B -

      1. Make sentences using the words listed in the left part of Exercise B.

      2. Write the answers to the questions in Exercises #C, #G and #J.

      ________________________________
      copyright (c) 1997 by Tim Newfields

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