Author: Tim Warre

Barcelona based English Teacher, blogger and sometime actor and director.
Posted in Conversation Classes

“I could eat a horse!” – Food Conversation Topic

Posted on by Tim Warre

Super simple conversation activity based around the topic of food. Suitable for a range of levels from A2 upwards. It was written for students based in Barcelona so a couple of questions won’t make sense outside Catalonia, but you can skip/adapt those ones. Credit to my DELTA tutor Neil Forrest for the dressing a salad question and nationalfoods.org for the weird national dishes questions.

Introduce the topic of food debates using the first slide about the Devon vs Cornwall cream tea debate. Cream teas are scones topped with jam and clotted cream but there is a heated debate regarding which should be put on the scone first. Cornish heathens think that the jam should go first, followed by the cream, which is just preposterous. Righteous Devonians know that the correct order is cream first, then jam. (can you guess where I’m from?) Then ask students to discuss any food debates that exist in their country.

Download the powerpoint below:

i-could-eat-a-horse-food-conversation-topic-1Download

Posted in Advanced C1, Exam Preparation Class, Proficiency, Video Classes

Gender Roles & the Colour Pink: C1/C2

Posted on by Tim Warre
54" Vinyl Hot Pink Fabric from $4.66/yd | Fabric.com - Fabric.com

This is another guest post by Soleil García Brito on the topic of gender roles and the colour pink but this time for higher level students (C1/C2). The lesson plan is made up of two video exercises, a gapped text reading exercise and a discussion on the topic. Download the student handout and teacher’s notes below:

gender-roles-c1-c2_student-handoutDownload
gender-roles-c1-c2_teachers-notesDownload

Here are the links to the videos:

The colour pink:

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/12/health/colorscope-pink-boy-girl-gender/index.html

Ross’s Shirt:

Posted in Conversation Classes, Exam Preparation Class, Listening Classes, Video Classes

Gender Roles: B1-B2

Posted on by Tim Warre
The Arbitrary Division of Gender Roles | by Seth Buesing | Medium

This is a guest post by Soleil García Brito. It is a lesson plan on the topic of gender roles. Students complete a First-Certificate-style multiple choice cloze exercise, a listening comprehension based on a clip from Friends and finally, a discussion on the topic. Download the student handout and teacher’s notes below:

gender-roles-e28093-student-handoutDownload
gender-roles-teachers-notesDownload

Video clip:

Some questions in the discussion have been adapted from: http://www.englishwithjo.com/english-conversation-gender-roles/

Multiple-choice cloze text adapted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/

Posted in 2Ts in a Pod: Podcast, Advanced C1, Listening Classes, Proficiency

2Ts in a Pod: Thursday Murder Club – Part 1

Posted on by Tim Warre
2Ts in a pod's stream on SoundCloud - Hear the world's sounds
Image credit Mark Wilding

New Episode! This is the first in a new series of book club episodes based around Richard Osman’s brilliant page-turner “The Thursday Murder Club”. Tim and Katy discuss the plot a few chapters at a time and highlight some useful language. Try it out with your high-level students!

https://cutt.ly/KgHpP9I

Posted in Advanced C1, Conversation Classes, Proficiency

Discussion Topics: Where do you stand?

Posted on by Tim Warre
Life Begins at 40: Imágenes, fotos de stock y vectores | Shutterstock

This is a conversation lesson plan designed with higher level adults in mind (C1/C2). It could also be adapted for lower levels. Download the handouts below:

where-do-you-stand-discussion-topicsDownload
advanced-discussion-phrasesDownload

The advanced discussion phrases handout is a truncated version of my C2 speaking phrase sheet, other phrase sheets could be used for lower levels.

Give out the phrase sheet. Have students peruse it and ask questions about unfamiliar expressions. You may also want to model pronunciation of some of the exponents, although this could also be done reactively. You could also ask students to choose their favourite expressions from the list to encourage ownership of the exponents.

Give out the discussion topics. Explain the system: students must read the topic and first individually circle one of the numbers between one and six to determine how much they agree with the statement. Students are then free to discuss the topic in groups or as a class. They must decide their level of agreement before discussing the topic to avoid following the crowd. This system should lead to more in-depth discussion and hopefully more disagreements!

Encourage the use of the expressions on the phrases sheet; you could award points for the number of expressions used. Some of the discussion topics are common proverbs or phrases so be ready to give definitions and examples to illustrate meaning.

Posted in Advanced C1, Proficiency, Writing Classes

C1/C2 Writing Task: Lockdown Report

Posted on by Tim Warre
New Covid lockdown rules for England: what you can and can't do from Thursday

This is a writing task for students preparing for the C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency exam. Students are required to write a report on the effects that the initial coronavirus lockdown had on young people in their country and also give recommendations to improve the situation in the event of a second lockdown. Download the handout below:

report-lockdownDownload

Formal advanced language key:

  1. LONELINESS
  2. ISOLATION
  3. ANXIETY
  4. DESIRED
  5. COMPLAINT
  6. MINORITY, DISSATISFACTION
  7. STRONGLY
  8. MOTIVATION, PROCRASTINATION
  9. UNPRECEDENTED
  10. TEETHING, ADEQUATE

Posted in Advanced C1, Conversation Classes, Exam Preparation Class, Proficiency

Collaborative Speaking Tasks – Halloween

Posted on by Tim Warre

This is a Halloween-themed speaking lesson plan. It was designed with C2 proficiency students in mind as preparation for speaking part 2. However, it can be used with a wide range of levels. Download the powerpoint below:

c2-proficiency-speaking-part-2-halloween-specialDownload

I recommend giving out one of my phrase sheets before doing the task. Find them using the search function.

If you’re teaching C1 or C2 students you could also use my “Scared Stiff” lesson plan to look at language to describe feeling scared or to talk about horror films.

Put students in pairs and go through the powerpoint. Students will have to discuss and make decisions about different elements of horror films and other topics related to fears and phobias.

Posted in 2Ts in a Pod: Podcast, Listening Classes

2Ts in a Pod: Halloween Special 2020

Posted on by Tim Warre
Image credit: Mark Wilding

2Ts in a Pod is back with our first episode of season 4! It’s the 2020 Halloween special!

Some great creepy stories to use as listening activities in your classes this week! Try the spine-tingling one from 40:09-43:05 by friend of the pod Wilf Merttens.

If you like what you hear, check out Wilf’s podcast The Wilfiad: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wilfiad/id1198607038