Skill Builder Speaking Leisure Intermediate Free Time Do you have a lot of free time? Do you do regular organised leisure activities in your free time or you just plan things on the go? Do you prefer spending your free time doing something arty or physical? Do you use your free time well? Do you think being a couch potato is a good way of spending your spare time? Do children now spend their free time doing the same sort of activities you did as a child? Which leisure activities are popular with people under 30? Which leisure activities are popular with people over 50? What other leisure activities are popular in your country? Do you think weather conditions in different countries may have an impact on the way people spend their spare time? Hobbies & Interests -ING cycling Horseriding Paragliding Dancing Eating out Hiking Fishing Jogging Sightseeing Gardening YOUR FAVOURITE HOBBY Have you got a hobby? What is it? How did you become interested in your hobby? Is it an expensive hobby? Why do you like it? How often do you do you hobby? Is this enough? Does your hobby help you relax?
Would you like to try something like... o skydiving or bungee jumping? o zip-lining? o rock climbing or up-sailing? o target shooting or plate shooting? o chess? What were your hobbies when you were younger? What hobby or activity would you want to try someday? Why do you want to try it? What have you tried but didn't like? Please explain. What hobby or activity would you definitely never want to try someday? Why don't you want to try it? What do hobbies and interests tell about a person? What do your hobbies and interests tell about you? Imagine how your hobbies would change if you had $10,000,000. Please explain. Questions: What is this picture about? Does the man think of running as a leisure activity or a compulsory one? Do you attend English lessons because you have to or for pleasure? Do you admire people with strong will power? Is there any activity you have always wanted to give it a go but you haven t because you lack of will power to do so?
Films & Novels Use 3 adjectives to describe the following genres. Violent Sad Informative sentimental Exciting Entertaining Terrifying Moving Disgusting Realistic predictable unpredictable War films/novels Adventure films/novels Romantic films/novels Detective films/novels Science Fiction films/novels Thrillers Horror films/novels Murder Mystery films/novels Classic films/novels Moving Exciting Can you think of a film or book which made you laugh a lot? made you cry? sent you to sleep? made you feel good? you ve seen several times? made you buy the soundtrack? The Last Film you saw Think of the last film you saw and talk about the following points. What was it called? Who was it directed by? Who was in it? STARS ACTORS/ACTRESSES Who s in it? Bruce Willis is in it. It s starring Bruce Willis. Was it a big-budget or a low budget film? What kind of film was it? Where was it set? When? SETTING Where does it take place? When does it take place? It takes place in the city/country in Italy, on Mars on a ship, in a plane in the 80s in the 17 th -century in the future/past in winter Did it have a good plot? What was it about? What was the soundtrack like? Would you recommend it?
A typical weekend INTERACTION You and your partners are planning to go to the pictures at the weekend. Talk about the matter and try to reach an agreement: What is on at the cinema and what film you would like to see Meeting time & place arrangements Whether to go for a drink before or after the cinema In groups, talk about books, films and music. Take into account the following points: Recommend a novel to read Suggest a film to watch Recommend an album to listen to Ask your partner the following questions. ORAL INTERACTION What/ hobbies? What / think of football? / play a musical instrument? / prefer pop or classical music? / like reading? Why? What books / like? What TV programmes / like? What / watch on TV tonight? How often / go to the cinema? What / do last weekend? On a typical weekend, how much time do you spend reading books and listening to music? Which book are you reading at the moment? How often do you go to the pictures? What kind of films do you like? Why? Do you prefer watching films at home or at the cinema? Why? Have you ever been so passionate about a team, a band or a film that you wanted to buy the merchandise, meet the stars and so on?
WRITING FORMAL STYLE A REVIEW What is it? Reviews are short descriptions of books, films, plays, TV programmes, etc They are written to inform readers and to give them a recommendation about whether (or not) they should read a book or see a film What s its format? (book or film ) TITLE OPENING PARAGRAPH BACKGROUND INFORMATION TITLE NAME OF AUTHOR/DIRECTOR GENRE TIME & PLACE PARAGRAPHS 2, 3, 4 PLOT LINE o EVENTS (but not the end!!!) (in the present tense) COMMENTS o The cast/characters o The plot/script o The style o The ending CLOSING PARAGRAPH RECOMMENDATION o I highly / thoroughly/ strongly recommend it. o I would not recommend it because o Do not miss it. It is well worth + ing. o It is highly entertaining.