Complete First Unit 8
Part One: Sharing experiences of language learning
Share your experiences of using and studying English, starting with recent things you have done and commenting on any similarities and differences between you.
| Useful language
Reacting when your own experience is the same Me too/ neither. What is more,… I… too/ neither. In fact,… So… I. I… as well. Like you/ (name), I… The same as you,… Reacting when your own experience is different That’s interesting. In my experience,…Interesting. In my case,… Really? I… Checking other people’s experiences What about you? How about you? I guess you… too/ as well. |
Possible topics:
- Speaking
- Writing
- Reading
- Listening and watching
- Exam practice
- Grammar
- Vocabulary
- Functional language (meeting people, requesting, apologising, etc)
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Without looking above the fold for now, brainstorm phrases into these categories:
Reacting when your own experience is the same
Reacting when your own experience is different
Checking other people’s experiences
Check above the fold. Note that many other phrases are possible.
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Sharing experiences of arts and media
Share your experiences of arts and media in English more generally. Possible things to talk about (perhaps with the topics above or below):
- Difficult to understand examples – Easy to understand examples
- How to choose
- How to make it easier to understand
- How to make sure you learn (a lot) from it
- Ones you learnt a lot of useful language from
- Recommendations
- Kinds of language used/ Varieties of language used
Possible topics:
- Audio guides to and tours of museums and historic places (natural history museums, art galleries, science museums, palaces, castles/ forts, city walls, local history museum, ruins, etc)
- Comics (graphic novels, comic strips, superhero comics, etc)
- Fiction (short stories, novellas, novels, etc)
- Magazines (news magazines, travel magazines, listings magazines, etc)
- Movies (rom-coms, sci-fi, sequels and prequels, art house movies, remakes, classics, documentaries, westerns, spy movies, action movies, superhero movies, Hollywood movies, blockbusters, black and white movies, subtitled movies, dubbed movies, trailers, director’s commentary, director’s cut, script, biopic, etc)
- Music (music with good lyrics, dance music/ EDM, folk music, soft rock, rap/ hip hop, pop videos, music documentaries, boy band/ girl band, classical music, indie/ alternative, R&B, soundtrack, world music, concert/ gig/ festival, karaoke etc)
- News (headlines, captions, short articles, background, weather forecast, rolling news, tabloids, broadsheets, your stars, sports coverage, editorials, Sunday supplements, celebrity gossip, national news, international news, column, business news/ financial news, etc)
- Non-fiction books and essays (biographies, autobiographies, self-help books, business books, travel books, … for Idiots, study guides, textbooks, etc)
- Online reading (wikis, blogs, online articles, forums, How to… guides, etc)
- Plays (one-man shows, am dram, musicals, etc)
- Poetry (haiku, epic poems, etc)
- Radio (podcasts, documentaries, interviews, reportage, comedy panel shows, review shows, chart shows, national radio, investigative reporting, satellite radio, digital radio, internet radio, etc)
- TV and online video (murder mysteries/ whodunits, reality shows, soap operas, box sets, sitcoms, sketch shows, stand-up comedy, cop shows, costume drama/ historical drama, adaptations, spinoffs, quiz shows, chat shows, animation/ cartoons, ads/ commercials, live sports, rerun/ repeat, current affairs, shopping channel, wildlife documentary, binge viewing, etc)
Ask for advice from the teacher and whole class if there is anything that you are wondering about, e.g. how to make movies easier to understand. Ask about any vocabulary above which you don’t understand.
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Brainstorming stage
Try to remember or think of vocabulary in these categories, e.g. the words above. If something could go in more than one place, you only have to write it once. Vocabulary not above is also fine as long as it fits in the right place.
Vocabulary related to museums and historic places
Vocabulary related to books, reading and literature
Vocabulary related to the news and magazines
Vocabulary related to music
Vocabulary related to radio and podcasts
Vocabulary connected to TV and movies
Look at the first worksheet to help with the task above, using the ideas there to help you think of more.
Share any extra vocabulary you thought of with the class.
Choose words that you didn’t put in your list and make recommendations. Ones linked to your own language rather than English are also fine to talk about at this stage.
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Suggested answers
Note that there are many other possible answers and some words could go in more than one place.
Vocabulary related to museums and historic places
audio guide
castle/ fort
city walls
guided tour
local history museum
natural history museum
palace
ruins
science museum
Vocabulary related to books, reading and literature
(auto)biography
(superhero) comic
blog
business book
comic strip
essay
(non)fiction
graphic novel
How to… guide
novel
novella
online article
play
poem
self-help book
short story
study guide
textbook
travel book
wiki
Vocabulary related to the news and magazines
(short) article
broadsheet
business news/ financial news
caption
celebrity gossip
column
editorial
headline
international news
listings
national news
rolling news
sports coverage
Sunday supplement
tabloid
travel magazine
weather forecast
your stars
Vocabulary related to music
(soft/ hard/ heavy/ classic) rock
boy band/ girl band
chorus
classical music
concert/ gig/ festival
dance music/ EDM
folk music
indie/ alternative
instrumental
karaoke
lyrics
music documentary
pop video
R&B
rap/ hip hop
soundtrack
verse
world music
Vocabulary related to radio and podcasts
chart show
comedy panel show
digital radio
documentary
internet radio
interview
investigative reporting
national radio
news roundup
reportage
review show
satellite radio
Vocabulary connected to TV and movies
(twists in the) plot
action movie
ad/ commercial
adaptation
animation/ cartoon
art house movie
binge viewing
biopic
black and white movie
blockbuster
box set
box-office (records)
channel hopping
chat show
cinemas
classic
comedy
cop show
costume drama/ historical drama
current affairs
director’s commentary
director’s cut
documentary
dubbing
(surprise/ happy/ sad) ending
fantasy
featuring
film
HDTV
Hollywood movie
live sport
murder mystery/ whodunit
prequel
quiz show
reality show
released
remake
rerun/ repeat
rom-com
sci-fi
script
sequel
setting
sitcom
sketch show
soap opera
spinoff
spy movie
stand-up comedy
starring
subtitles
superhero movie
the box
trailer
viewer
western
wildlife documentary
Do the same for the categories below:
Positive adjectives
Other positive expressions
Negative adjectives
Other negative expressions
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Suggested answers
Positive adjectives
addictive
astonishing
attractive
brilliant/ terrific/ fantastic/ amazing/ excellent/ superb
captivating
charming
classic
delightful
distinctive/ unique
dramatic
enchanting
exceptional
exciting/ gripping/ thrilling
fun
funny/ hilarious
genuine
impeccable/ perfect/ faultless
impressive
intriguing
luxurious
memorable/ haunting/ unforgettable
moving
nice
original
outstanding
realistic
satisfying
sophisticated
stunning
subtle
tasteful
thought provoking
uplifting
(good) value for money
well written
well-regarded
Other positive expressions
(multi) award-winning
action-packed
(really) get into
(really) keen on
A strong point of… is…
adore/ love
blew us away
favourite
I can’t recommend… enough.
I couldn’t get enough of…
I’d highly/ thoroughly recommend…
If you like… (then) you’ll love…
looking forward to
masterpiece
one in a million
one of the best
rush out and
stands out from the crowd
We are already planning to visit again
won’t disappoint
worth the wait
You shouldn’t miss/ mustn’t miss…
You won’t regret…
Negative adjectives
annoying/ irritating
bland
boring/ dull
cheesy
childish/ juvenile
clichéd
confusing
disappointing
disgusting/ revolting
awful/ dreadful/ terrible
forgettable
low brow
melodramatic
monotonous
notorious
over the top
overlong
overpriced
predictable
pretentious/ over intellectual
repetitive
ridiculous
sentimental
tasteless
unoriginal
unrealistic/ unbelievable
Other negative expressions
(You should) avoid…
… didn’t meet my expectations.
…. wasn’t (at all) what I expected.
best avoided.
Don’t bother (with)…
dreading
I am/ I’d be in no hurry to…
I couldn’t (really) get into
I didn’t find it very…
I wasn’t too keen on…
I wouldn’t (really) recommend…
I wouldn’t bother with…
My main criticism of… is…
nothing special
only suitable for
Find a TV programme, film, book, magazine, musical, newspaper etc that you both know and use vocabulary from above to describe it. Do you have the same opinions?
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PDF version for easy saving and printing: Sharing experiences of arts and media
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