Lifestyles, Intermidiate level

                                    Lifestyles

Suggested level – Intermediate

Tetiana Sobyna,

A teacher of English,

Objectives: by the end of the lesson the students will be able to:

- develop their reading, listening, writing and speaking skills on the topic;

- enrich and activate the vocabulary related to the topic;

- develop logical and creative thinking.

                         Procedure

I. Introduction

1. Topic presentation

T. Today we are going to speak about people’s lifestyles, their sports interests, special occasions, customs and traditions.

II. Warming-Up

1. Vocabulary Practice

Special occasions

T. Match words and phrases from the list below to the correct picture, A or B.

Olive leaves,  degree,  athletes,  sports event,  shake someone’s hand,  graduate,  do well,  attend the ceremony,  award,  formal  occasions, hold medals.

Picture A	Picture B

 

 

 

 

 

III. Main Body

1. Speaking

T. When you talk about pictures, you may not know what something is called in English. Try to describe it using words you do know. Useful phrases for doing this include:

It’s like…....................................     .

It’s a kind/ sort of ………………………………      .

a. Read how one student compared the two pictures  and  complete the text with the words in the list: degree, event, graduate, show, between, olive leaves, while, medals, athletes, like, taken, and.

b. Mark the expressions the student uses to do the following.

1. talk about similarities: Both…. (and); Like the people in the first photo,  she also….;

2. talk about differences The main difference between … is …; these athletes have … while/ whereas the student …

3. express an opinion: I think  I’d prefer ...

4. paraphrase an unknown word: some kind of …; a sort of …

Both these pictures(1) ......... special occasions or ceremonies. The first picture was obviously (2) …….. at the Olimpic Games. I can see three (3) ………, who are holding their (4) …….. and looking very happy. In the second photograph, a university student is holding some kind of document – I think it’s called a (5)…… in English - and shaking an older woman’s hand. (6) …….. the people in the first photo, she also looks very happy.

 Both the ceremony in the first picture (7) …….. the ceremony in the second picture are very formal occasions. People have been given a prize or award for what they have achieved.

 The main difference (8) …….. the two pictures is that these athletes have done well in a sports (9) …….. at the Olympics, (10) ……… the student here has just – what’s the word? – graduated? – from a university. She is now called a (11) ……… , I think. It’s interesting that the athletes are wearing (12) ……… on their heads; the student here is also wearing a sort of hat on her head. 

I really love sport, so I think I’d prefer to attend the ceremony in this picture, at the Olympic Games. I think it must be a very happy time for everyone there, and incredibly exciting.

Sports

2. Vocabulary

T. a) Which of these sports can you see in the picture?

     Snow tubing, ice skating, hang gliding, bowling, baseball, paintball, paragliding, aerobics, archery, gymnastics, boxing, squash, skydiving, martial arts, bungee jumping, zip lining             

 

 

b)List the sports under the headings:

    outdoor – indoor – team – individual – extreme.

    c) Which verbs do we use with each of the sports

    go – play - do

   3. Reading

   T. Complete the texts with the words in the lists.

   Which sport is each text about?

      gazing- adventure –popular

   A. It is a competitive 1) ……. sport which has become the world’s most 2) …….               to share  the air. If you want to find yourself 3) ……. into the skies, then this might                                be  the perfect sport for you.

      ride – requires - grab

   B. It’s a wintertime activity that 1) ……. no lessons. Just 2) ……. your tube, take

   a conveyor to the top and 3) ……. down the lane on the hill, then get back up

   and do it again. It’s fun for all ages.

     injury – heights – floating – challenge - training

  C. For those who have tried it, it is a(n) 1) ……. . You jump off and find yourself

  2) ……. in the air.  It feels like freedom, but it’s not for those who are afraid of 

  3) ……. and requires careful 4) ……. or else it can lead to serious 5) ……. .

  4. Speaking

  T. Choose a sport from the previous exercises and say a few sentences about it. Y

  Your partner guesses which sport you are talking about.

  e. g. Speaker 1: It’s a challenging sport. You get a great feeling travelling through  

  the forest at great speed. It is really exciting.

  Speaker 2: It’s zip lining.

 

 

 

 

5. Listening

  Pre – Listening

  You will hear a dialogue at a leisure centre. Before you listen, check the   meaning of these words: brochure, steam room, multi-purpose hall, hire, hazardous, lane swimming, membership, unlimited access

   While - Listening

 a)  Listen and complete the sentences.

   1. The gym equipment can be ………. to young children.

   2. On Saturday and Sunday, the centre has club ………. run by youth coaches.

 

b)Listen again and for questions 1-7, choose the best answer A, B or C.

1. The customer has come to the leisure centre

A. to learn more about what is available

B. to pick up an information brochure.

C. to use the gym.

2. What facilities are available for private hire?

A. the steam room

B. the squash courts

C. the pool and hall

3. When should children be supervised by their parents?

A. whenever in the gym

B. during club activities

C. while swimming

4. The yoga classes are suitable for

A. people with experience

B. healthy people only

C. people of all levels

5. What does the basic membership include?

A. full use of the gym

B. access to the pool

C. evening classes

6. How can someone join a privately-run activity?

A. by speaking to the assistant manager

B. by writing their name on a register

C. by calling several days in advance

7. What do leisure centre members need to bring?

A. their membership card

B. their own equipment

C. a towel

Audioscript

Rec: Good morning and welcome to City Valley Leisure Centre!

Customer: Hi there.

Rec: What can I do for you today?

Customer: I’ve just moved into the neighbourhood and was interested  in finding out more about the activities this leisure centre has to offer. I recently received a brochure in the post that said you have a gym with personal trainers and an indoor running track.

Rec: That’s correct. We also have many other facilities available to the general public. There’s a swimming pool, a steam room, several squash courts and a multi-purpose hall. Some of the facilities, like the hall and the swimming pool, are available for hire for private events like birthday parties. And we have a small café  on the second floor.

Customer: I have two young children. What other activities are available for them?

Rec: Well, children are certainly welcome. However, the equipment in the gym can be hazardous and young children are not permitted in that area. At weekends we have club activities such as football and martial arts. These are run specially-trained youth coaches.The swimming pool is available to them every day until 7pm. Thereafter, it is used by adults for lane swimming. We do ask that they are kept under your watch whenever in the pool.

Customer: Is there a yoga class I can attend?

Rec: Yes, we offer a range of classes for all levels of experience, from beginner advanced. You don’t have  to be in shape to start! These are run by our professional fitness instructors and cost $50 for a 10-week course.

Customer: I see . How much is membership  for the leisure centre?

Rec: We have two different kinds of membership available at the moment.  First of all, there is the option of our basic gym membership, which costs $250 for 12 months. However, this does not cover the use of the sauna and pool. Or you could opt for the ‘Gold Star’ membership. This costs $450 per year and provides unlimited access to all our facilities, except for evening classes with professional instructors. There are also privately-run activities available that don’t come under either membership.

Customer: And what kind of activities are those?

Rec: A full list of the activities available can be found on our bulletin board by the assistant manager’s office door. If you want to take part in any of  these activities, then just write your name and contact number on the sign-up sheet there. The receptionist will call you a few days before to let you know if there’s any space available. Then, you just pay the instructor when you see them!

Customer: Are there any things  I should bring ?

Rec: Once you have joined, we will give you a membership keycard that you should keep on you at all times since this opens the doors throughout the building. You can bring your own racquets if you want, but this equipment can be borrowed from us. There are towels provided in the changing rooms and keys for the lockers that shouldn’t leave the premises.

Customer: OK, and what are some other benefits of membership with this gym?

Rec: Let’s see … well, once you have your membership you can also choose to bring a guest along with you. Then, after you have been a member with us for 6 months you can sign in up to 3 guests at a time!  However, I should mention that as it gets quite busy at weekends, it’s not usually possible to bring someone along. Also, the guest cannot attend without the member being there too. 

Customer: Well, thanks for the information. I’ll give it some thought and get back to you.

Rec: You ‘re welcome, have a great day and hope to see you again!

 

6. Reading

Pre-reading

T. Look at the title of the article and the picture. What information will the article contain?

a) what gifts you can give in different countries

b) how to behave towards foreign visitors

 

While-reading

You are going to read the text which gives businesspeople advice about social customs in different parts of the world. For questions 1-11, choose from the countries (A-D). Some of the countries may be chosen more than once (0).

 

 

A EGYPT

B JAPAN

C THAILAND

D AUSTRALIA

 

According to the writer, in which country

 

0	A
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Did a politician receive an unexpected gift? 

Is the price of the gift unimportant?

Are you expected to give a gift as large as the one you’ve received?

Are most gifts specially made to celebrate a particular event?

Have the rules of gift-giving been established for generations? 

Is it common not to open gifts in front of the giver?

Is it unwise to say you like someone else’s possessions?

Are there rules about how different types of gifts must be presented?

Might people be unimpressed by a large gift?

Is it important not to damage the packaging of a gift?

Will you be forgiven if you get the details of gift-giving wrong?

Have the rules of gift-giving become less important in recent years?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Art of Giving

 

In many countries it is customary to give gifts to your guests  and hosts,

but different cultures have different customs .How does the foreign

visitor know what to do where?

When the US President Jimmy Carter visited Egypt in 1978, a camel trader was asked to show him round a camel market. The trader was so honoured that he not only gave the tour, but also presented the president with a six-year-               

old camel, a pink ribbon tied around its neck. The camel trader’s action was typical of the hospitality and generosity shown in many parts of the Arab world, where good manners are an essential ingredient in a person’s character, and                              

gratitude, and respect far better than generosity to guests is essential to a good reputation.

Because there are accepted rules of behaviour in gift-giving, the foreign businessperson must be careful. For example, admiring a painting or ornament in a client’s home or office might oblige them to present you with it as a gift. What’s more, your Egyptian colleague will probably begin a round of gift-giving and will expect you to reciprocate, if not immediately, then on the next possible occasion, and the gift should match theirs in size and cost, if possible.

And the Arab world is not the only place where gift-giving follows set rules. In Japan they are even stricter. As an American who volunteered to teach English to a Japanese woman reported: ‘Before each lesson, and on each and every visit, the Japanese lady brought me a gift – a book, some paper sculpture or flowers’. Unknowingly, this American was experiencing a ritual rooted centuries deep in Japanese culture. According to Business Tokyo magazine, among the Japanese ‘gift-giving is a necessity, not merely a nicety as it is in the West’.

And of course, there are countries where      businesspeople rarely exchange  gifts, and Australia is an example of  this. Modest gifts, such as a business diary, a coffee mug might be     presented as a memento of a visit or business meeting, and trade shows often give out T-shirts, ties or baseball caps as mementos. However, anything more than these types of gifts could  cause embarrassment in a society known for its friendly informality, as people might regard them as    pretentious.

Post-reading. Pair Work.

T. Ask and answer the questions about these countries and their customs of giving gifts.

P1. What are the essential ingredients in a person’s character in many parts of  the Arab world?

P2. (answer)

P3. Why must the foreign businessperson be careful?

P4. (answer)

P5. What do the Japanese think about the proper gift?

P6. (answer)

P7. Is it important to prepare for visiting Japan?

P8. (answer)

P9. What gifts should you have while visiting Thailand?

P10. (answer)

P11. What gifts can be presented in Australia?

P12. (answer)

 

IV. Feedback

T. What interesting and new information have you found out while having different activities at the lesson?

 

V. Home Assignment