For episode 52 we spoke to Oscar/Lana Vuli a drag performer based in Barcelona. We spoke about his/her route into drag performance and experiences performing live and on the Youtube Channel “Science Queers”. You’ll find a link to the channel below.
It was a great episode and a really enjoyable interview, we hope you like it!
We’ve made it to 50 episodes! Thanks to all our listeners for your continued support, we ❤️ you all!
In episode 50 we’re pressing on with Richard Osman’s wonderful debut novel The Thursday Murder Club, chapters 24-31.
Why not get your students to listen and read along?
This is another edition of my “Where do you Stand?” conversation series. Students debate different topics related to science and technology but must rate their opinion on a scale from 1-6 before they begin the discussion. Download the PowerPoint and student handout below:
If you want to use it with B2 students you could use this phrase sheet.
Credit to Owlcation for some of the debate topics:
https://owlcation.com/academia/80-Science-Debate-Topics-for-Students
NEW EPISODE! In Episode 47 Tim & Katy tell stories of some of the unluckiest people to have ever lived! Which one do you think is the unluckiest?
This great lesson plan by Alice at Hot Take English is based around one of the hard luck stories from this episode; why not set the podcast for homework and then use the lesson plan in the following class?
This is a guest post by my friend, colleague and co-host of the podcast 2Ts in a pod, Katy Wright. It’s designed to help students preparing for the B2 first exam get to grips with some of the phrasal verbs and fixed expressions they might encounter in the exam. Students read a text about Jim’s forgotten dream, then try to recreate the text using key words. Download the student handout below:
A FORGOTTEN DREAM
Jim couldn’t stand his job. All he did all day was sit at his desk and pretended to work while watching the heavy rain outside his window. He was meant to be selling insurance on the phone, but he wasn’t very good at it. In fact, he had sold very few contracts. This was because all he had ever wanted to do was be an actor in Hollywood. He had loved acting when he was a teenager, but instead of going to America he studied Business and he put off looking for fame. “I’ll look into that when I have finished Uni” he said to himself. This was his biggest regret in life. On his way into work that day, his 15-year-old car broke down. Standing in the rain trying to change the tire he made up his mind. He wasn’t going to carry on like this. He was going to make a big change…
Jim hated (STAND) his job. All he did all say was sit at his desk and pretended to work while watching as it rained heavily (HEAVY) outside his window. He should have been (MEANT) selling insurance on the phone, but he wasn’t very good at it. In fact, he didn’t sell many (FEW) contracts. This was because all he had ever wanted to do was be an actor in Hollywood. He had loved acting when he was a teenager, but rather than go (OF) to America he studied Business and he postponed looking (PUT) for fame. “I’ll investigate (INTO) that when I have finished Uni” he said to himself. This was his biggest regret in life. On his way into work that day his 15-year-old car stopped working (DOWN). Standing in the rain trying to change the tire he made a decision (UP). He wasn’t going to continue like this any longer (ON). He was going to make a big change…
Middle:
End:
A simple conversation activity I designed as a follow-up to my previous post entitled “A Weekend Off”. It can be used with B1+ students. Students discuss various topics related to parenthood, kids and growing up. Download the handout below:
Put students in pairs or small groups and have them discuss the questions. Pause regularly to feedback in open class. The activity should generate a lot of emergent language.
Student Handout
What do you think are the biggest challenges for new parents?
How is growing up different for:
What position were you in your family?
What are some stereotypes associated with the different positions among siblings?
What are the pros and cons of being an only child?
What do children learn from having siblings?
What do you think is the perfect number of children to have?
What are the pros and cons of these stages of children’s lives?
What’s the most rewarding and most challenging aspect of each stage?
This is a guest post by Alice from Hot Take English on the topic of superstitions and bad luck. Students discuss common superstitions in English speaking cultures and their own, then read an article about some seriously bad luck. The main grammar focus of the lesson is the 3rd conditional to talk about hypothetical past events. Download the handout and teacher’s notes below:
Visit https://www.hottakeenglish.com/ to check out more of Alice’s work. She has some great, free materials on a range of engaging topics.
What Bad Luck – Student Worksheet
1) Warmer: superstitions
Below is a list of good and bad superstitions that are particularly popular in the UK and Ireland. Discuss them with a partner. From where do you think they originate? Do you believe they bring bad/good luck?
Things that bring bad luck:
Things that bring good luck:
What superstitions are there in your culture or country?
2) Vocabulary
Match the words on the left with their meanings on the right.
| 1. jackpot | a) extremely shocked |
| 2. invalidated | b) the sale was not successful/the money was not taken out of the person’s bank account |
| 3. stunned | c) not enough |
| 4. draw | d) the most valuable prize in a game or contest |
| 5. the payment didn’t go through | e) very very happy |
| 6. insufficient | f) stopped a ticket from being legally or officially acceptable |
| 7. on top of the world | g) the act of selecting numbers or names randomly to decide the winners of a competition |
3) Comprehension check
Read the article. Are these statements true or false?
4) Grammar practice
With a partner, write down as many third conditional sentences about the article as you can.
E.g. “If the payment had gone through, they would have won the lottery”.
Writing: My Biggest Regret
Write 100-500 words about your “biggest regret”. Include some third conditional sentences.
The 19-year-old was in shock when her numbers came up – until she noticed a critical problem
Originally published 2 March 2021
A 19-year-old student who thought she had won a £182m lottery jackpot has been left “absolutely heartbroken” after realising an error invalidated the ticket.
Rachel Kennedy, 19, and her boyfriend Liam McCrohan, 21, were stunned when their regular numbers of 6, 12, 22, 29, 33, 6 and 11 came up in the EuroMillions mega jackpot.
Kennedy had played the same numbers for five weeks in a row and had a direct debit set up to automatically play the numbers each week.
The teen was greeted with a message saying she had a ‘winning match’ after last Friday’s draw, according to The Sun.
However, the business student’s hopes of being one of the richest women in Britain were crushed when she found the ticket sale had not gone through due to insufficient funds in her account.
Rachel, of Brighton University, said: “I called my boyfriend Liam and my mum into the room and they couldn’t believe it either so I was like, ‘Oh! My God! I need to call them’.
“I called the number thinking that I had won £182m and they said ‘yeah you’ve got the right numbers but you didn’t have the funds in your account for the payment of the ticket so it didn’t actually go through’.
“I was on top of the world when I thought I had won, but when I found out I hadn’t, Liam was actually more upset than me.”
Rachel said they were “absolutely heartbroken” – and now thinks of her usual weekly numbers as “unlucky” and has decided to change them.
Source: iNews, https://inews.co.uk/news/euromillions-jackpot-player-heartbroken-finding-error-cost-182m-ticket-895016
This is a discussion topic for B2+ students on the topic of animal rights. Download the student handout and PowerPoint below:
The PowerPoint contains advanced language for expressing opinion, personalising the topic, agreeing and disagreeing. It was made with C1/C2 students in mind. If you’re teaching lower levels, the student handout may be more suitable, although I recommend supplementing it with a phrase sheet, perhaps try my FCE Speaking Phrases post.
Put students into small groups (3/4) or conduct the activity as an open class discussion. Before engaging in discussion on the topics, students must decide individually to what extent they agree or disagree with the given statement by circling one of the numbers from 1-6. The idea is that students will be more likely to take a stand and defend their point of view and less able to go along with the crowd if they’ve assigned their opinion a numerical value.
You could also introduce the phrase “to play devil’s advocate” and encourage students do it during the discussion. Another idea could be to assign a specific student from each group as the devil’s advocate for each topic, thus forcing them to come up with counter arguments to what their classmates are saying.
Here are the discussion topics:
| Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree |
| Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree |
| Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree |
| Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree |
| Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree |
| Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree |
| Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree |
| Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree |
| Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree |
| Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree |
| Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree |
| Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree |
| Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree |
| Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree |
| Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree |
| Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree |
This is a conversation topic for B2+ students in which they discuss things that annoy them. First they study some expressions related to annoyance and anger, then put them to use in a discussion about different annoying habits. Download the student handout, key and Powerpoint below:
Warmer
Start by writing “Pet hates/peeves & Bugbears” on the board and give examples of some of your personal pet peeves using some of the expressions from the student handout.
Vocabulary Focus
Give out the handout and have students complete the expressions. Check answers in open class.
Instruct students to cover the handout, then show the first slide from the Powerpoint, students now need to remember the expressions using the words from the exercises on the handout:
STAND – I can’t stand it when…
The sentences are animated on the Powerpoint so you can reveal them one at a time.
Repeat for the expressions about anger.
Discussion
Put students in pairs or groups of three.
Go through the slides on the Powerpoint showing different annoying habits and behaviours.
For each slide encourage students to discuss their feelings about the topic and also think of a specific time in their lives when they’ve witnessed such behaviour, and how they reacted. If they can’t think of a specific time, encourage them to speculate about how they would react: “If I saw someone throwing litter out of a car window, I would lose my rag!”
Encourage students to share their opinions and experiences in open class.
Wrap up the activity by having students write a definitive list of 3 pet peeves/bugbears that they have.
For adult students or groups that you know well, you may want to teach slightly more explicit versions of the expressions:
Lose one’s shit
It fucks me off
Homework
Have students listen to our episode of 2Ts in a Pod on the topic of Pet Hates:
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:
