School days

Today we will

  • talk about your school experience
  • learn to use the past simple

VOCABULARY & SPEAKING: adjectives with prepositions

  • afraid of - frightened of, for example because you feel you are in danger
  • I was afraid of the older children
  • bored with - feeling impatient or dissatisfied, because you are not interested in something or because you have nothing to do
  • I was bored with my school.
  • fond of - liking and caring about someone very much, especially as a result of knowing them well or for a long time
  • I was fond of my science teacher.
  • good at - able to do something well
  • I was good at mathematics.
  • nterested in - wanting to know about or take part in something
  • I was interested in science and technology.
  • keen on - liking someone, or thinking that they are attractive
  • I was keen on sports and swimming.
  • terrible at - very bad in quality or ability
  • I was terrible at arriving on time.
  • worried about - unhappy because you are thinking about your problems or about bad things that could happen
  • I was worried about my grades.

Think about your experience of school. Change the sentences in exercise 1 so that they are true for you.

Work in pairs. Compare your sentences. Were your experiences similar or different?

Listen to three people talking about their school days. Match the speakers 1-3 to the topics a-c below.

Listen to the recording again and complete column A with a phrase from column B

Did you have any similar experiences at school?

  • I never missed
  • good grades.
  • I always got
  • my exams.
  • I was terrible at
  • my homework.
  • I failed
  • his lessons.
  • I never did
  • that school.
  • I didn't want to leave
  • most subjects.

Grammar: past simple

The past tense of the verb be is was/were.

Our holiday was lovely.

We were in Canada.

The negative is wasn't/weren't.

I wasn't very happy.

The shops weren't open.

Read the phrases. How do we form the negative and interrogative forms of the past simple?

I watched TV last night.

They did not / didn't watch TV last night.

Did you watch TV last night?

Форма past simple правильных глаголов образуется при помощи -ed: walk – walked.

последняя согласная может удваиваться: stop – stopped.

Если слово оканчивается на согласный + y, окончание меняется на -ied

try - tried, tidy - tidied, study - studied

Если слово оканчивается на гласный + y, прибавляется окончание -ed

play - played, enjoy - enjoyed

Окончание ed может произноситься как /d/ после звонких согласных и гласных; как /t/ после глухих и шипящих согласных; как /id/ после букв d, t в конце слова. played /d/, looked / t/, counted /id/.

Для образования отрицательных и вопросительных предложений необходим вспомогательный глагол did:

I played football yesterday.

Did you play football yesterday?

I didn’t (did not) play volleyball yesterday.

Complete the sentences. Put the verbs into the past simple

They ______________ (remember) the tickets but they ______________ (not remember) the passports.

He _____________ (want) a book but he ____________ (not want) that book.

They ______________ (visit) Washington but they ______________ (not visit) the White House.

They ____________ (enjoy) the city but they ____________ (not enjoy) the weather.

They ______________ (like) the hotel but they ______________ (not like) the food.

Irregular verbs have a different form in the pasl simple affirmative.

  • be - was
  • eat -ate
  • go - went
  • make - made
  • see - saw
  • have - had
  • to understand
  • understood
  • to win
  • won
  • to speak
  • spoke
  • to swim
  • swam
  • to buy
  • bought
  • to bring
  • brought
  • to write
  • wrote
  • to think
  • thought
  • to fall
  • fell
  • to teach
  • taught
  • to read
  • read

Put the verbs in brackets in the Past Simple

Scott's Millennium Blog

On December 31, my friend and I _____________ (be) on a train from Switzerland to Spain. We _____________ (have) a compartment for two people, some champagne and nice food. We _____________ (want) to be on a train for the new millennium. The train _____________ (not stop) at midnight, but it _____________ (stop) twenty minutes later. We _____________ (drink) our champagne and _____________ (look) out of the window. We _____________ (not sleep) all night we _____________ (sit) and _____________ (talk). We _____________ (get) home to Barcelona at 8 am in the morning on January 1st. It _____________ (be) a good New Year's Eve.

Complete the dialogue. Put the verbs in brackets into the past simple.

  • A: Where (1) did you go (you / go) to school?
  • B: My father (2) (work) for a multinational company and we (3) (live) in lots of different countries, so I (4) (go) to five different schools.
  • A: (5) (you / enjoy) your school days?
  • B: No, I didn't. Not really. I (6) (not have) many friends because we (7) (not stay) long in one place. I (8) (leave) one school after six months!
  • A: (9) (you / do) well in your exams?
  • B: Yes, I did. Because I (10) (not / go) out with friends, I (11) (study) a lot in the evenings and at the weekends. 1 (12) (not / get) top grades, but I (13) (get) a place at Cambridge University.
  • A: What was that like? (14) (you / like) it?
  • B: Yes. 1 (15) (think) it was great.

Do you know any films or TV programmes about schools and teachers?

You are going to talk about a teacher that you really liked. Use these questions to help you.

  • What was the teacher's name?
  • What did she/he teach?
  • Where did she/he teach?
  • How often did you have lessons with her/him?
  • What did she/he look like?
  • Why did you like her/him?
  • Do you remember a particular moment with this teacher?
  • What happened?

Work in groups. Describe the teacher that you really liked to your group.

White the sentences that you hear

Dictation

Now I can

  • Can you talk about your school experience?
  • Can you use the past simple?