Learn how to talk about your schedule
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Talking About your Timetable in English. David Here. |
| Kellie: Hello. I'm Kellie. |
| David: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to understand and explain time and schedules. The conversation takes place at Katrina’s flat. |
| Kellie: The speakers are friends. |
| David: So they’ll use informal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Phil: Do you have your university timetable yet? |
| Katrina: Yeah, I got it yesterday. My classes start on Monday in the main lecture hall. |
| Phil: Do you have many classes? |
| Katrina: I have two classes every morning, and one every afternoon. |
| Phil: What time do your classes start? |
| Katrina: They start at 9.30 in the morning. It's a one hour-long class. |
| David: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Phil: Do you have your university timetable yet? |
| Katrina: Yeah, I got it yesterday. My classes start on Monday in the main lecture hall. |
| Phil: Do you have many classes? |
| Katrina: I have two classes every morning, and one every afternoon. |
| Phil: What time do your classes start? |
| Katrina: They start at 9.30 in the morning. It's a one hour-long class. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: Katrina is starting university soon! What is education like in the UK? |
| Kellie: Well, it differs slightly from country to country, especially in Scotland compared to the rest of the UK, but in general children are in full time education from the ages of 5 to 16. |
| David: Yeah, from the age of 5 to 11 they are at primary school right? |
| Kellie: Right. That’s called elementary school in a lot of other countries. Following elementary school is five years at secondary school. |
| David: And then students graduate at 16? |
| Kellie: They leave at 16. Schools in the UK don’t really have a graduation system from secondary school. Students sit exams for each subject and get individual marks instead of one, graduation certificate that covers everything. |
| David: Are those the only exams? |
| Kellie: No, the UK doesn’t have as many mandatory and national exams as some countries, but there are national exams at the age of 11. Usually there are exams set by the school and teachers in other years. |
| David: Students in the UK can choose to do after school activities. |
| Kellie: Yes, they can. It’s definitely a choice though and not compulsory. School runs from around 9am to 3pm. |
| David: That’s unless you’ve been naughty and have to stay behind for detention. |
| Kellie: I was never naughty! |
| David: Of course not! Now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| David: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kellie: university [natural native speed] |
| David: a school for higher education |
| Kellie: university[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: university [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: timetable [natural native speed] |
| David: a schedule showing planned events and times |
| Kellie: timetable[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: timetable [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: yesterday [natural native speed] |
| David: on the day before today |
| Kellie: yesterday[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: yesterday [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: to start [natural native speed] |
| David: to begin, to initiate |
| Kellie: to start[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: to start [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: many [natural native speed] |
| David: consisting of a large amount |
| Kellie: many[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: many [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: morning [natural native speed] |
| David: the earliest part of the day, the period of time early in the day, after the night and before midday |
| Kellie: morning[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: morning [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: afternoon [natural native speed] |
| David: the middle part of the day, after 12:00 PM and before 5:00 PM, the time period after midday but before evening |
| Kellie: afternoon[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: afternoon [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: long [natural native speed] |
| David: not short, of great length |
| Kellie: long[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: long [natural native speed] |
| David: And lastly.. |
| Kellie: hall [natural native speed] |
| David: a corridor or passageway in a building |
| Kellie: hall[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: hall [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| David: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kellie: lecture hall |
| David: meaning "the room in a university where lessons are given" |
| Kellie: Universities don’t have classrooms in the same way that schools do. Instead, university students sit in big halls that have rows of seats and listen to the professor give a lecture. |
| David: So that’s why it’s a lecture hall. But what about the word “hall”. Isn’t that usually used for corridors? |
| Kellie: It can be, but it can also mean a large room for gatherings, and that’s how it’s used here. |
| David: So it’s literally a large room where students listen to a lecture. |
| Kellie: Yeah, that’s basically it. The seating is often on different levels too so that every student can see the professor. |
| David: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Kellie: Sure. For example, you can say.. “It was so warm in the lecture hall that I fell asleep.” |
| David: ..which means "It was so warm in the room where the lecture was given that I fell asleep." Okay, what's the next word? |
| Kellie: one hour long |
| David: meaning "something that lasts for sixty minutes" |
| David: One hour is, of course, sixty minutes. |
| Kellie: That’s right. “Long” is an adjective and it can mean something that has a great length, like a long bridge, or something that lasts for a considerable amount of time, like a long film. |
| David: But in this case... |
| Kellie: When used with a specific time, like one hour, it means exactly. |
| David: So one hour long means one hour exactly. |
| Kellie: Yes. You can change the time period such as five minutes long, or three years long. |
| David: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Kellie: Sure. For example, you can say.. “The news programme tonight is a one-hour-long special.” |
| David: .. which means "The news programme tonight will be on air for sixty minutes.” Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: In this lesson, you'll learn about understanding and explaining both time and schedules. Let’s look at adverbs of frequency. |
| Kellie: Adverbs modify or describe verbs. We already know that, right? |
| David: Right. |
| Kellie: But adverbs can also explain the frequency, or how often, something is done. They’re used like any other adverb - by being placed before the verb. |
| David: What are some adverbs of frequency? |
| Kellie: Okay… “Always.” For example, “I always listen to music before bed.” |
| David: How about “often”? |
| Kellie: Yep. “I often sleep late.” |
| David: Do you? |
| Kellie: All the time! But sometimes adverbs modify the verb “to be”, and in that case they are after the verb. |
| David: I think we need some examples of that. |
| Kellie: “I am always tired.” Here, “to be” is conjugated into “am” and followed by “always.” Another example is “She is frequently angry”. This time it’s “is” followed by “frequently.” |
| David: Now, in the dialogue Katrina says “I have two classes every morning.” |
| Kellie: Ah yes. “Every” is an adjective, not an adverb, but it can still be used to describe frequency. This time it’s after the verb “have”. “I eat breakfast every morning.” or “I watch TV some evenings.” |
| David: So there are both adverbs and adjectives of frequency. |
| Kellie: There are. We can also use prepositions to help. These go before the time they are referring to and need a little bit of studying so you remember which preposition to use with the right type of time. For example, it’s “on Tuesday” not “in Tuesday”. “I went home in Tuesday” sounds weird. |
| David: But “I went home on Tuesday” sounds great! |
| Kellie: It does! You can read a little more about those in the lesson notes. We can also use the present simple tense to talk about what is happening in the present. This is made by using a subject, such as “I”, followed by the base verb, like “eat,” and then an object. |
| David: For example, “I eat apples.” |
| Kellie: And you can add the adverbs and adjectives of frequency and also the prepositions to make longer sentences. “I eat apples on Wednesday.” |
| David: My classes start at 9:30 in the morning. |
| Kellie: Ah, that’s very similar to the dialogue. |
| David: Yes it is! I always listen to the dialogue. |
| Kellie: I sometimes doubt that. |
| David: Well, I often get up at 6am so I am always tired! |
Outro |
| David: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Kellie: Bye. |
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