Lesson 11
In our eöeventh lesson we looked at ‘7A How much are these books?’ and ‘7B It’s Greg’s T-shirt.’
For vocabulary we spoke about common objects, prices and colours.
For grammar we spoke about the words ‘this, that, these and those’ and the possessive ‘s.
Here is a short video that explains how to use ‘this, that, these and those’ correctly:
Here is a video that explains the possessive s, and tests your knowledge:
For homework you need to read all of the information for 7A and 7B on page 126 and then do the exercises for Unit 7B on page 127. You also need to complete Unit 7A and Unit 7B in the Digital Workbook.
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 10
Welcome back to the blog.
In our tenth lesson we looked at ‘6A I don’t work at night’ and ‘6B I wake up at 4:00’. .
For vocabulary we spoke about jobs and daily routines. For grammar we spoke about the Present Simple tense for negative sentences and questions for the third person (he, she & it).
Here is a long video that gives an overview of Present Simple (I, You, We, They, He, She, It):
Here is a video that explains the Present Simple for negative sentences:
And here is a video that explains the Present Simple for questions:
For homework you need to read all of the information for 6A and 6B on page 124 and then do all of the exercises on page 125. Next, you should do complete all of the exerrcises on page 146. Finally,you need to do the exercises for Unit 6A and 6B in the Digital Workbook.
If you would like to do extra study, you can complete Unit 6C on pages 52 and 53. You can email me your work for exercise 6c if you would like me to check your writing.
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 9
Hello everybody.
In our ninth lesson we looked at ‘Unit 5B – Is there a hostel in your town?’ in the textbook.
For vocabulary we read about hotels and hostels. For grammar we spoke about how we can use the words ‘there is‘ and ‘there are’ to explain that a thing or things exists. We also spoke about using ‘there is‘ and ‘there are’ in their negative form and to ask questions.
I also explained to you how we use ‘some’ and ‘any’.
Here is a link to a very short, basic video explaining how to use ‘there is’ and ‘there are’:
Here is a video explaining the grammar for all forms of ‘There is/There are’:
I also spoke about ‘some’ and ‘any’. Here is a simple video explaining these words:
Some of you still have some trouble pronouncing the final ‘s’ at the end of words. Here is the table that shows the rules, and a video which explains it in more detail:
For homework you need to read the section for 5B on page 122 and do the exercises for 5B on page 123. You also need to complete the exercises for 5B in the Digital Workbook.
If you would like to do extra homework, I recommend completing Unit 5C on pages 44 and 45. You can send an email to me with your writing for exercise 6c on page 45. (You can also do Unit 6C in the Digital Workbook if you would like to).
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 8
Hello everybody.
In our eighth lesson we looked at ‘Unit 5A – There are lots of old houses.’
For grammar we spoke about how we can use the words ‘there is‘ and ‘there are’ to explain that a thing or things exists. I also explained to you how we use ‘a few’ and ‘a lot’. For vocabulary homework you will read about common places in a town.
Here is a link to a very short, basic video explaining how to use ‘there is’ and ‘there are’:
Here is a video explaining the grammar for all forms of ‘There is/There are’:
We also spoke about ‘a few’ (= not many), and ‘lots of’ (= many/much). Here is a video explaining how to use these terms (and ‘ little’):
Some of you have some trouble pronouncing the final ‘s’ at the end of words. Here is the table that shows the rules, and a video which explains it in more detail:
For homework you need to read the section for 5A on page 122, and do the exercises for 5A on page 123. Then you need to do the exercises for Unit 5A in the Digital Workbook.
IF you want to do some extra writing homework, you can do exercise 5c on page 37. You can send your work directly in an email to steven.brown@folkuniversitetet.se and I will correct it for you.
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 7
Hello again everyone.
In our seventh lesson we looked at ‘Unit 4B – She has a brother and a sister’ in the textbook.
For vocabulary we spoke about family, and numbers.
For grammar, we talked about the Present Simple tense for the third person (he/she/it).
Here is a short video explaining positive sentences for Present Simple in the third person (he/she/it):
For homework, you need to read the in formation for ‘4B Present simple: he/she/it positive’ on page 120 and then do the exercises for ‘4B Present simple: he/she/it positive’ on page 121 of the textbook. You also need to complete all of the exercises for Unit 4B in the Digital Workbook. Finally, you can also complete all of the Unit 4 Review exercises on page 38.
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 6
In our sixth lesson we looked at ‘Unit 4A – What do you study?’ in the textbook.
For vocabulary we looked at some common verbs. For grammar looked at ‘Wh-‘ questions using the Present Simple tense.
Here is a video explaining ‘Wh-‘ questions using the Present Simple tense:
If you are having some problems with pronunciation, you may find the Phonetic Symbols for pronunciation (British English) on page 103 of your textbook helpful.
Here is a video showing the symbols and sounds:
For homework you were asked to do the exercises for Unit 4A in the Digital Workbook.
You also need to read the information for ‘4A Present simple: WH- questions’ on page 120 and do the grammar exercises for 4A on page 121.
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 5
In our fifth lesson we looked at ‘Unit 3B – I usually have dinner early’ in the textbook.
For vocabulary we looked at food again, and we also talked about time.
For grammar we spoke about adverbs of frequency.
Here is a simple video explaining how to tell the time:
Here is a simple video explaining how to use adverbs of frequency:
For homework you were asked to read section ‘3B Adverbs of frequency’ on page 120, and then do the exercises for section ‘3B Adverbs of frequency’ on page 121. You also need to do the exercises for Unit 3B in the Digital Workbook.
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 4
In our fourth lesson we looked at ‘Unit 3A – Do you like fish?’ in the textbook.
For vocabulary we talked about food.
Click here for a link to a website that will help you with your food vocabulary. (Scroll down and click on the different types of food e.g. fruit, vegetables, etc.)
For grammar we talked about the Present Simple tense using the subject pronouns I/you/we/they.
Here is a video explaining Present Simple:
For homework you were asked to read the information for ‘3A – Present simple: I/you/we/they’ on page 118 and then do the exercises for 3A on page 119. You also need to do the exercises for Unit 3B in the Digital Workbook. Finally, you can do exercises 3a and 3b on page 22.
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 3
Hello everybody.
Today in class we looked at ‘Unit 2B – Do you have a phone?’ from the textbook.
For grammar we looked at if we should use ‘a’ or ‘an’, plural nouns, and the verb ‘have’. For vocabulary we looked at common objects and numbers.
Here is a video that explains when to use ‘a’ or ‘an’:
Here is a simple video explaining singular and plural nouns:
Here is a video that will help you to pronounce the final ‘s’ at the end of words in English:
Here is a simple video explaining how to use ‘have’ (or ‘has‘):
Here is a video teaching you how to say numbers:
For homework you were asked to read the information for ‘2B Plural nouns’ on page 118 and then do the grammar exercises for ‘2B Plural nouns’ on page 119 of the textbook. You should then complete the rest of Unit 2C (pages 20-21). Finally, you need to complete Unit 2B and Unit 2C in the Digital Workbook.
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 2
Welcome back to the course blog!
In our second lesson looked at ‘2A – It’s a very big city’.
For vocabulary we looked at common adjectives. For grammar we looked at the word ‘it’. We also looked at possessive adjectives.
Here is a simple video with a general explanation of how we use adjectives:
Here is an excellent video explaining personal pronouns:
Here is a simple video to help explain possessive adjectives:
For homework you were asked to read section ‘2A be: it’s/it isn’t; Possessive Adjectives’ on page 118, and then do the exercises for ‘2A be: it’s/it isn’t; Possessive Adjectives’ on page 119. Next, you should do all of the exercises for the Unit 1 Review on page 14. Finally, you need to do the exercises for Unit 2A in the Digital Workbook (you will need to register your book with the website).
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 1
Hello everyone, and welcome to the course blog!
This blog will help you get the most out of this course. After each lesson I will update it with brief details of what we cover in each lesson, as well as tell you what homework has been given. In future blogs I may also include links to videos or other webpages to read to help your learning.
We began our first lesson by introducing ourselves to each other. It was very nice to meet you all. We have students from a variety of different countries and cultures.
The course textbook is called ‘Cambridge English EMPOWER A1 Second Edition Starter Student’s Book with Digital Pack (Published by Cambridge University Press).
You can buy the book online, or you can buy it at Ferdosi International Bookshop, Odengatan 21, Stockholm.
These books have a code that will let you use the supporting website for the textbook. The code is on the inside cover of your textbook (You need to carefully scratch the grey material to see the code underneath). You will need then need to scan the QR code OR go to http://www.cambridgeone.org to register your textbook. Before you can register your textbook you will need to create an account. CLICK HERE to see instructions for how to create an account.
*PLEASE NOTE: You do not need to ‘Join a Class’ on this website. That is only for Internet Courses. However, I recommend you use the ‘Self Study’ section. Please have a look at this website, it is very helpful.
After our introducions we reviewed the alphabet and pronunciation of the letters, and discussed vowels and consonants.
We then looked at the first two chapters of the textbook: ‘1A – I’m from Mexico’ and ‘1B He’s Italian’. For grammar, we discussed the verb ‘be’ – am, and are, and some subject pronouns – I, you (singular), we, and you(plural). For vocabulary, we spoke about countries and nationalities.
Later, we spoke about the verb ‘be’ again, and how we use it with some other subject pronouns (he/she/they).
Here is an excellent video about the verb ‘be’ (am/is/are):
For homework, you need to read the information for 1A and 1B on page 116, and then do the exercises for 1A and 1B on page 117. You also need to do all of the Vocabulary exercsies on page 136. If you have the textbook and have registered your book with the website, you can also do the exercises for Unit 1A and Unit 1B in the Digital Workbook.
You should also practice pronouncing the letters of the alphabet using the table that we made in class.
Here is a video that will help you pronounce the letters of the alphabet:
Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you all on Thursday!
Steve