Face2face (upper-intermediate). Unit 1-A, B

1.

Face2face (upper-intermediate)
Unit 1-A, B
A global language
Open Learning
1. Vocabulary: Language ability. Education.
2. Grammar: Review of the English verb system
3. Reading: Where’s English going?
4. Listening: CD1-2
5. Speaking: Comparison of two pictures

2.

Vocabulary: language ability. Make up sentences with the words/phrases below.
1. The first language- native language/the language you learn from your parents as you are growing up.
2. Be bilingual in- [baɪˈlɪŋɡwəl]- able to use two languages equally well/using two languages as main
languages.
3. Be fluent in- speak a language easily, well, and quickly.
4. Be reasonably good at- in a satisfactory way/to quite a good level.
5. Get by- to have just enough of something such as money or knowledge so that you can do what you need
to do
6. Know a few words of- know not much.
7. Can’t speak a word of- not to know any words in a particular language.
8. Rusty (about language speaking)- not as good at a language as you used to be because you haven’t used it
for a long time.
9. Pick up (a language)- learn a language by practicing it, rather than by learning it in a class.
10. Outnumber- to be greater in number than someone or something.
11. Immersion school- a school in which all academic subjects are taught in a target language.
12. Pretend- to behave as if something is true when you know that it is not, especially in order to deceive
people or as a game.
13. Amusement- [əˈmjuːzmənt]- the feeling of being entertained or made to laugh.
14. Evident- easily seen or understood, obvious.

3.

Vocabulary: Fill in the gaps with the words/phrases below:
Pretend, know a few words, evident, bilingual, fluent, rusty, amusement, the first
language, outnumber, get by, reasonably, can’t speak a word, immersion, pick up,
conversation.
1. In our office the women _______ the men three to one.
2. If a skill you had is _______, it is not as good as it was because you haven’t practised it.
3. I’m _______ In English.
4. I know a _______ words of Thai. [tai]
5. Canada is a _______ country, with nearly one-third of its population of French origin.
6. He decided he wanted to master Spanish and took an _______ course in Mexico.
7. She'll _______ that she hasn't seen us - you watch.
8. They _______ a bit of Greek while on holiday.
9. I play the piano just for my own _______ .
10. There was no _______ injury to him in the game.
11. She speaks French as her _______.
12. To be honest, I’m quite bad at languages. I _______ of French that I learned at school, but I
______ of anything else.
14. My first language is Swiss German, but I live near the border, so I’m _______ good at
Italian.

4.

Grammar: Review of the English verb system
The English verb system has three aspects: simple, continuous and
perfect. These aspects refer to how the speaker sees the event or
situation.
The Simple Aspect
• We usually use simple verb forms to talk about things that are
repeated, permanent or completed.
Present Simple: More people speak English than any other language.
(permanent)
He always recommends people use Globish. (repeated)
Past simple: We visited one acting class. (completed)

5.

a)The Continuous Aspect b)The Perfect Aspect
• We usually use continuous verb forms to talk about things that are in
progress, temporary or unfinished.
Present Continuous: The way people study English is also changing.
(temporary)
Past Continuous: A student was pretending to be the film star Orlando
Bloom. (in progress)
Present Perfect Continuous: The government has been building English
immersion schools…..(unfinished)
• We usually use perfect verb forms to talk about things that connect two
different time periods ( the past and the present, etc.).
Present Perfect Simple: English has become the dominant language of
international business.
Past Perfect Simple: A recent report suggested that the number of nonnative speakers had already reached 2 billion.

6.

The Passive
• We usually use passive verb forms when we focus on what happens
to somebody or something rather than who or what does the action.
Present Simple Passive: About 75% of the world’s correspondence is
written in English.
Over the past 180 years, linguists have created over ten different
languages that are based on German, Spanish, English and even
musical notes.
Past Simple Passive: English was chosen as the working language of the
Japanese, French and Czech staff.
The burglars were seen by Tom.

7.

Grammar: Activity and State Verbs
• Activity verbs talk about activities and actions (learn, change, run, play,
hit, lose, etc.): These new English speakers aren’t just using the languagethey’re changing it.
• State verbs talk about states, feelings and opinions (need, seem, know,
remember, love, want, etc.):
He believes that the future of English belongs to non-native speakers.
• We don’t usually use state verbs in continuous verb forms:
It seems that the answer is difficult to predict.
Not It’s seeming that the answer is difficult to predict.
• Other common state verbs are: have got, hear, believe, agree, forget,
mean, understand, like, hate, prefer, belong, own and cost.

8.

*Choose the correct verb forms
I started/’ve started studying Spanish after I went/was going to
Argentina on holiday last year. I’d never been/never went to South
America before and I couldn’t speak a word of Spanish. While I had
travelled/was travelling around the country, I picked up/was picking up
enough words and phrases to get by.
I told/was told that my pronunciation was/was being quite good, so
when I got home I decided/was deciding to learn Spanish properly. A
friend recommended/was recommended a school and I go/’ve been
going there for about six months.
I always enjoy/’m always enjoying the lessons and the language
teaches/is taught in an interesting way. I think/thought that I ‘m
learning/’ve learned a lot since I started.
It’s not all fun, though- at the moment I study/’m studying for my first
exam!

9.

Reading: a) Read the article about learning English around the world.
Match headings a-e to paragraphs 1-4. There is one extra heading. b) What
does it say about these numbers, people and things?
Where’s English going
a) a. English seven days a week
b. A changing language
c. People’s attitude to English
d. An English-speaking world
e. A passport to employment
b) 350 million, 3.5 billion, Dr Beneke, 75 %, Toyota, immersion schools,
Jean Paul Nerriere.

10.

Reading: Where’s English going?
1. More people speak English than any other language. However, non-native
speakers now greatly outnumber native speakers. A recent report suggested that
the number of non-native speakers had already reached 2 billion, whereas there
are around 350 million native speakers of English. The British Council predicts
within five years about half the world’s population- over 3.5 billion people-will
speak English.
2. Why such enthusiasm for English? In a word, jobs. English has become the
dominant language of international business, academic conferences, science and
technology and, of course, tourism. Also, about 75% of the world’s
correspondence is written in English and 80% of all electronic information is
stored in English. According to Dr Jurgen Beneke of the University of Hildesheim
in Germany, by far the majority of interactions in English now take place between
non-native speakers. For example, at a Toyota factory in the Czech Republic,
English was chosen as the working language of the Japanese, French and Czech
staff.

11.

3. The way that people study English is also changing. In South Korea, for example, the
national government has been building English immersion schools all over the country,
where teenagers live in an all-English environment for up to four weeks at a time. In
these ‘English villages’, students check in to their accommodation, go shopping, order
food, go to the bank, take cooking classes or acting lessons-all in English. And they
appear to enjoy the experience- when we visited one acting class, a student was
pretending to be the film star Orlando Bloom to the obvious amusement of his
classmates.
4. So what happens to a language when it becomes a world language? It seems that the
answer is difficult to predict because this phenomenon has never happened before.
However, what is already evident is that these new speakers of English aren’t just
using the language- they’re changing it. Jean Paul Nerriere, a former French IBM
executive, believes that the future of English belongs to non-native speakers. For the
international business community, he always recommends a version of the language
which he calls “Globish”- a combination of ‘global’ and ‘English’. He describes it as
English without its cultural associations. It’s a simpler version of the language. So, for
example, speakers of Globish don’t use idioms and they definitely don’t try to tell
jokes. It has a limited vocabulary of about 1.500 words and the speakers use accurate
but uncomplicated sentence structures. In fact, Nerriere suggests that native speakers
will need to use Globish or they may well feel left out of the cinversation!

12.

Vocabulary: Education
1. An undergraduate- [ˌʌndəˈɡrædʒuət]- a student who is studying for their first
degree at a college or university.
2. A graduate- [ˈɡrædʒuət]- a person who has a first degree from a university or
college.
3. A postgraduate- [ˌpəʊstˈɡrædʒuət]- a student who has already received one degree
and is studying at a university for a more advanced degree.
4. A module- [ˈmɒdʒuːl]- one of the parts that a course of study is divided into, which
covers a particular subject and often has its own examination.
5. An assignment- [əˈsaɪnmənt]- a piece of work given to someone, typically as part of
their studies or job.
6. An essay- [ˈeseɪ]- a short piece of writing on a particular subject.
7. A dissertation- [ˌdɪsəˈteɪʃən]- a long piece of writing on a particular subject, esp.
one that is done for a Ph.D. (high university degree).
8. A mark- a number or letter that shows the quality of a piece of work done at
school, college, or university.
9. Continuous assessment- [kənˌtɪnjuəs əˈsesmənt]- the system in which the quality of
a student's work is judged by various pieces of work during a course and not by one
final exam.

13.

10. A progress report- a document that explains if a student is improving.
11. A tutor- [ˈtʃuːtər]- a teacher who works with one student or a small group of
students.
12. A lecturer- somebody who teaches at a university or college.
13. A professor- a teacher of the highest level in a university department.
14. A tutorial-[tʃuːˈtɔːriəl]- a period of study with a tutor.
15. A seminar- [ˈsemɪnɑːr]- a class in which a small group of students discuss a
particular subject.
16. A lecture- a talk on a subject, especially at university or college.
17. Fees- the amount of money you pay to go to a private school, university, etc.
18. A student loan- the money that a student borrows from a bank while at university
or college.
19. A scholarship- [ˈskɒləʃɪp]- an amount of money given by a school, college,
university, or other organization to pay for the studies of a person with great ability but
little money.
20. A Master’s (degree)- an advanced university or college degree.
21. A PhD- [ˌpiːeɪtʃˈdiː]- the highest university or college degree.
22. A BSc- a Bachelor of Science.

14.

Task: Fill in the gaps with the words/phrases below:
Tutor, essay, marks, student loan, module, graduates, lecture, postgraduate, fees,
progress reports, seminar, scholarship, PhD, assignments, undergraduate,
continuous assessment.
1. Susannah has a _____ in Italian literature.
2. He got/won a _____ to Harvard.
3. The students are holding a demonstration to protest against the increase in
their _____.
4. I attended practically every _____ and _____ when I was a student.
5. His _____ encouraged him to read widely in philosophy.
6. The staff write monthly _____ _____ to keep the management informed.
7. You scored full _____ in the test - ten out of ten!
8. His _____ was full of spelling errors.

15.

9. The boys were _____ of Winthrop High School.
10. A _____ is a student with a first degree from a university who is studying or
doing research at a more advanced level.
11. I believe that most, if not all, teachers are in favour of some form of
diagnostic testing and _____ _____.
12. She was surviving on a _____ _____ at the time.
13. The book is valuable to _____ students, but it can also be a quick refresher on
the topic for some graduate students.

16.

Reading: Order the sentences (B-I) below to make a story by
sequencing the events:
A. I’m from Rome and the summer here is really hot.
B. We booked a 10-day holiday in Stockholm, where where the temperature in the
summer is normally about 20 degrees.
C. It was awful because there was no air-conditioning anywhere.
D. So last year my husband and I decided to go to Sweden, to escape from the heat.
E. We just sat in cafes and argued all day.
F. We couldn’t sleep at night- it was boiling in the hotel, and in the shops and museums
too;
G. We didn’t need to go to Sweden to do that!
H. But when we got to Stockholm there was a heatwave and it was 35 degrees every
day.
I. We didn’t want to go shopping or go sightseeing or do anything-we were too hot.

17.

Listening: CD1-2. Listen to the conversation between Tony and
his niece Jess. Who talks about:
• their business degree?
• their computer and IT course?
• commitments other than studying?
• online support from tutors?
• time spent with friends?
• flexible study programmes?
• their student loan?
• how long their course is?

18.

Listen again. Fill in gaps a-f with one word.
1. Jess- You’re doing an Open University course, aren’t you?
Tony- Yes, I am- at long last. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for ______ .
2. Jess- What course are you doing?
Tony- I’m doing a ______ in computing and IT.
3. Jess- Oh, I was told you’re really enjoying it.
Tony- I am, but I have to say I found the first few ______ a bit scary.
Jess- So does everyone at the beginning. Don’t worry, it does get easier.
4. Jess- How do you manage to do ______?
Tony- Sometimes I don’t.
Jess- Nor do I.
5. Tony- Your Aunt Gayle was hoping to do her first ______ in four years- it actually
took eight.
Jess- Did it?
6. Jess- Do you think you’ll have finished your degree by the end of next year?
Tony- No, I don’t. But I’m quite optimistic- I think at the rate I’m going, I should finish
before my ______ birthday!

19.

Speaking – 45 sec.

20.

Useful expressions and structures
• Question 1
Both pictures show……..
Mention the connection you can see between the two pictures.
In the first picture we can see……..Focus your description on the first picture
Whereas, in the second picture we can see………. Now focus your description on
the second picture.
Are there any people in the picture?
If so, what are they doing?
• Question 2
The second question often asks you to discuss the advantages and disadvantages
of concept represented in the photos. Try to paraphrase this by using ‘pros and
cons’ or ‘benefits and drawbacks’. This way you will show that you can see a
range of vocabulary by not just repeating the words used in the question.

21.

• Other questions may ask you to discuss ‘why is ………important? Again, try to
use words such as ‘vital’, ‘crucial’, ‘essential’, ‘necessary’ or ‘valuable’ to avoid
repeating the words used in the question.
• Question 3
Question 3 usually asks you to make a choice between the two photos. A good
structure to use here is a second conditional.
“Well, I like both of the photos, but if I had to choose, I’d go for the first picture
as it reminds me of when I lived in London”.