Lesson 6
Hello again.
In our fifth lesson we looked at ‘Unit 6B – I was very frightened’ from the textbook. For grammar, we looked at uses of to + the infinitive verb. For vocabulary, we looked at adjectives that end in -ed and -ing.
Here is a link to the website of the British Council explaining the use of to + the infinitive verb: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/infinitive
Here is a video explaining the rules on how to pronounce words that end in -ed:
For homework I asked you to complete the Listening exercises on page 61. Next, you need to read the information for 6B on page 154 and then do the exercises for 6B on page 155. After that, you have to complete Unit 6B in the Digital Workbook.
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 5
In our fifth lesson we looked at ‘Unit 6A – You should have a break’ from the textbook. For grammar we looked at how to give advice by using verbs in the imperative form, and also how we use the word should to give advice. For vocabulary we did some exercises for verbs with dependent prepositions.
Here is a video about giving advice using the imperative or should:
Here is a link to the website of the British Council which explains the use of ‘to + the infinitive verb’: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/infinitive
For homework you were asked to read the information for 6A on page 154 and do the exercises for 6A on page 155. You should also complete the exercises for Unit 6A in the Digital Workbook.
If you would like to do some extra writing homework, you can send me an email offering advice on how to handle some of the problems listed in exercise 6b on page 59.
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 4
Welcome back to the course blog!
In our second lesson we looked at ‘Unit 5B – I might get a job today!’ from the textbook. For grammar, we spoke about using will and might for predictions. For vocabulary we spoke about finding jobs.
Here is a great video explaining will and might:
For homework you were asked to complete the READING exercise on page 51. Next, you need to read the text for 5B on page 152, and then do the grammar exercises for 5B on page 153. You should then complete the exercises for Unit 5B in the Digital Workbook. You also need to do the Vocabulary exercises for 5B on page 137.
If you would like to do some extra writing homework, you can write a few paragraphs in response to the instructions for 6a on page 51. Send your writing to steven.brown@folkuniversitetet.se and I can check it for you.
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 3
Hello again.
In our third lesson we looked at Unit 5A – ‘I have to work long hours’ in the textbook. For vocabulary, we spoke about many different types of work. For vocabulary, we spoke about must/have to/can, and how we use these words.
Here is a short video discussing the difference between must and have to:
Here is an excellent video discussing how to use the word can:
For homework you were asked to read the section for 5A on page 152, and do the exercises for 5A on page 153. I also asked you to do the exercises for 5A on page 137. Finally, you should complete all of the exercises for Unit 5A in the Digital Workbook.
That’s all for now.
Steve
Lesson 2
Welcome back to the blog.
In our second lesson we looked at ‘4B Shall we go to the market?’
For grammar we looked at will/won’t/shall. For vocabulary we looked at adjectives to describe places.
Here is a video which explains the difference between will, won’t and shall:
For homework I asked you to read the information for 4B on page 150 and then do the exercises for 4B on page 151. I also asked you to complete the exercises for Unit 4B in the Digital Workbook.
If you would like to do some extra writing homework, you can use the instructions for exercise 5 on page 41 to send me an email recommending things to see and do in your home city (or a city that you know well). Send your email to steven.brown@folkuniversitetet.se and I will check your writing for you.
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 1
Hello everyone, and welcome to the course blog!
This blog is intended to help you get the most out of this course. After each lesson I will update it with a brief outline of what we cover in each lesson, as well as inform you of the homework that has been set. In future blogs I may also include links to videos or other web-pages to read to help your learning. New students should scroll to the bottom to read about the topics that returning students covered in the previous course.
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 textbook we will be using is Cambridge English EMPOWER Second Edition Pre-Intermediate B1 Combo A with Digital Pack.
The easiest and quickest place to buy the book is from Ferdosi 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, that is only for online courses. However, I recommend you use the ‘Self Study’ section. Please have a look at all of this website, it is very helpful. The ‘Getting Help’ section might be useful if you have any problems.
After our introductions we had a quick revision of the alphabet, vowels and consonants. After that we had a quick revision of nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs.
We then looked at the Unit 2 Revision and Extension on page 26. This tested your knowledge of the grammar topics covered in Unit 2A and Unit 2B. If you found this difficuIt, you should watch the videos in the blogs for lesson 3 and lesson 4 of the previous course (see below). For homework, I asked you to complete the ‘2 Vocabulary’ exercises and ‘3 Wordpower’ exercises for homework. You should also practise your pronunciation of the alphabet.
That’s all for today. See you next week!
Steve
Lesson 2
Welcome back to the blog.
In our second lesson we looked at ‘4B Shall we go to the market?’
For grammar we looked at will/won’t/shall. For vocabulary we looked at adjectives to describe places.
Here is a video which explains the difference between will, won’t and shall:
For homework I asked you to read the information for 4B on page 150 and then do the exercises for 4B on page 151. I also asked you to complete the exercises for Unit 4B in the Digital Workbook.
If you would like to do some extra writing homework, you can use the instructions for exercise 5 on page 41 to send me an email recommending things to see and do in your home city (or a city that you know well). Send your email to steven.brown@folkuniversitetet.se and I will check your writing for you.
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 7
Hello again.
Next Wednesday is our final lesson for this course. If you wish to continue in the next course which starts on 5/11/25, please click on this link to register.
In our seventh lesson we looked at ‘Unit 4A- I’m going to the hairdresser’s tomorrow’ in the textbook. For vocabulary we spoke about clothes and appearance. For grammar looked talked about using Present Continuous to talk about future arrangements, and about using ‘going to’ to talk about plans or intentions.
Here is a very basic video about using Present Continuous to talk about the future:
Here is a very basic video about using ‘going to’ to talk about the future:
For homework I asked you to read the information for 4A on page 150 and then do the exercises for 4A on page 151. You also need to do the exercises for 4A on page 136. Finally, you should complete Unit 4A in the Digital Textbook.
If you would like to do some writing homework, you can send me an email to tell me about three events that you are going to go to in the future.
That’s all for now. See you next week!
Steve
Lesson 6
Welcome back to the course blog.
In our sixth lesson we looked at ‘Unit 3B – I’ve already given £25 to charity’. For grammar we once again looked at the Present Perfect tense. This time we focused on how it is used in conjunction with the words just, already, and yet. For vocabulary we talked about various words and expressions related to money.
Here is a short video explaining how Present Perfect is used with just, already, and yet (and also still):
For homework you were asked to do the Listening exercises on page 31. After that, you should read the information for 3B on page 148 and then complete the exercises for 3B on page 149 of the textbook. Then you should complete exercise 4e and 4f on page 31. Finally, you also need to complete the exercises for Unit 3B in the Digital Workbook.
If you would like to do some extra writing homework, you can use the questions in 5a on page 31 as a guide and write a few paragraphs about how you would be able to live with less. Send your writing to steven.brown@folkuniversitetet.se and I will check your writing for you.
That’s all for today. I hope you all have a great weekend, and I’ll see you next week.
Steve
Lesson 5
Hello everyone!
In our fifth lesson we looked at ‘3A – I’ve never seen crowds like this.’
For vocabulary we looked at terms related to money and shopping. For grammar we looked at the difference between the Present Perfect and Past Simple tenses.
Here is as short video explaining the differences between Past Simple and Present Perfect, and when to use them:
For homework I asked you to read the information for 3A on page 148 of the textbook and then complete the exercises for 3A on page 149. After that you should do exercise 4e on page 29. You were also asked to complete the exercises for Vocabulary Focus 3A on page 136. Finally, you should complete the exercises for Unit 3A in the Digital Workbook.
That is all for today.
Steve
Lesson 4
Hello everyone,
In our fourth lesson we looked at ‘2B – Everyone was waiting for me’. For vocabulary we spoke about travel. For grammar we looked at the Past Continuous tense.
Here is a good video which explains (with examples) how to use Past Continuous and Past Simple separately, and how to use them together:
For homework you were asked to complete the exercises for Vocabulary Focus for 2B on page 135. Next, you need to read the information for 2B Past Continuous on page 146 and do the exercises for 2B Past Continuous on page 147. Finally, you should do the exercises for Unit 2B in the Digital Workbook.
If you feel like doing extra writing homework,you can write a few paragraphs with the details of a bad journey that you had. (See exercise 4e on page 21 for ideas.) Send your writing in an email to steven.brown@folkuniversitetet.se and I will check it for you.
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 3
Welcome back to the blog!
After looking at the previous lesson’s homework, we looked at ‘Unit 2A – We had an adventure’ in the textbook. For vocabulary, we spoke about tourism. For grammar, we spoke looked at the Past Simple tense. For homework you will read about how to pronounce ‘-ed’ at the end of words.
Here is a short video with a brief explanation of the Past Simple tense:
Here is a video which helps to explain the PRONUNCIATION of words ending in ‘-ed’:
For homework you need to read the information for 2A on page 146 and then complete the exercises for 2A on page 147. After that, you should complete the Vocbulary exercises for 2A on page 134. Finally, you need to complete the exercises for Unit 2A in the Digital Workbook).
If you would like to do some extra writing homework, you can tell me about a holiday that you enjoyed. Exercise 7 on page 19 will give you some ideas of what to write about. Send your work to steven.brown@folkuniversitetet.se and I will check it for you.
That is all for today.
Steve
Lesson 2
Hello again everyone.
In our second lesson we began by reviewing the homework from the previous lesson. After that we continued working from the textbook, looking at ‘Unit 1B – I’m really into social media’. We completed some reading and listening exercises, and had some discussions in pairs.
For vocabulary we looked at adverbs that make words stronger or weaker. We also looked at adverbs of frequency (how often a verb is performed). For grammar we briefly spoke about the Present Simple tense and the Present Continuous tense.
Here is a video explaining the Present Simple tense:
Here is a short video explaining the Present Continuous tense:
For homework you were asked to read the grammar focus for 1B on page 144 about Present Simple and Present Continuous tenses which explains how they are formed and when we use them, and then do the exercises for 1B on page 145. Next, you need to do the exercises for Unit 1B in the Online Workbook on the website (or you can do them from page 5 of the Workbook at THE BACK OF THE TEXTBOOK).
I also gave you optional homework that you may choose to complete if you wish. You can write a few paragraphs in response to exercise 4a on page 15. Send your work to steven.brown@folkuniversitetet.se and I will check it for you.
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 1
Hello everyone, and welcome to the course blog!
This blog is intended to help you get the most out of this course. After each lesson I will update it with a brief outline of what we cover in each lesson, as well as inform you of the homework that has been set. In future blogs I may also include links to videos or other web-pages 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 textbook we will be using is Cambridge English EMPOWER Second Edition Pre-Intermediate B1 Combo A with Digital Pack.
The easiest and quickest place to buy the book is from Ferdosi 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, that is only for online courses. However, I recommend you use the ‘Self Study’ section. Please have a look at all of this website, it is very helpful. The ‘Getting Help’ section might be useful if you have any problems.
After our introductions we had a quick revision of the alphabet, vowels and consonants. After that we had a quick revision of nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs. We then began to look at the first lesson in the course textbook (1A – Do you play any sports?). For vocabulary, you worked together in groups and did some exercises on Common Adjectives. For grammar, we looked at the word order in questions. Here is a video which discusses word order in questions and how they are formed:
For homework you need to complete all of the Vocabulary exercises for 1A on page 134. You also need to do the Grammar Focus reading for ‘1A Question Words’ on page 144 and then do the matching grammar exercises for ‘ 1A Question Words’ on page 145. Next, you should complete exercise 4e on page 9. These grammar exercises look at the order of words when forming questions with the verb ‘be’ (am/is/are, was/were) and forming questions with auxiliary verbs. You need to bring these exercises to the next class because we will be going through the answers in our next lesson.
Finally, you need to complete Unit 1A in the Online Workbook (or you can do the exercises for ‘1A Do you play sports?’ on page 4 of the black and white section at the back of the textbook).
That’s all for today. I’ll see you all again in our next lesson.
Steve