Key Competencies Kit
for Facing Lifelong Learning
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This Project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission can not be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. |
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Why studying foreign languages? Here are some reasons for doing this activity:
When studying a foreign language, in order to have a better communication, one should achieve several skills:
• clear and concise writing
• understanding of audience needs
• ability to persuade / influence
• effective use of language
• listen and clarify well
• oral presentation and public speaking
Two things are extremely important when learning a foreign language:
So, don’t forget to practice every day and try to be confident, no matter the mistakes you make.
Also, do not forget to have a dictionary nearby – it will become your best friend. Without vocabulary, there is no effective communication.
The units are designed to learn communication in English language, considered “an international language” or a “lingua franca”.
When meeting somebody you have to introduce yourself:
A common greeting:
Hello, I am (first name) (surname) or
Hello, my name is (first name) (surname)
A more formal greeting. According to the time of the day we have:
Good morning (the first part of the day – until 12 o’clock p.m.)
Good afternoon (from noon until 5 o’clock p.m.)
Good evening (from 5 o’clock p.m. until 9 o’clock p.m.)
Good night (after 9 o’clock p.m. or before going to bed)
All followed by my name is (first name) (surname).e.g. Good morning. My name is John Stevens and I am from England.
When meeting someone formally for the first time, we shake their hand and say "How do you do?" or "Pleased to meet you."
"How do you do?" is not really a question, it just means "Hello".
A greeting is a friendly way of opening a conversation or a way of letting the other person know that we have seen them.
Sometimes, we use body language communication, just raising or waving our hands.
There are several ways to say hello:
When meeting someone for the first time:
If we are in a hurry, we can say:
If the person you meet is an old friend or acquaintance you haven’t seen for long you can express your surprise:
There are many ways to say goodbye:
When young people meet informally they sometimes say "Give me five!" and slap their hands together
Generally we do not shake hands with people we know well.
Now, let’s follow a dialogue between Mr. Krugger and Mr. and Mrs. Stanley.
Mr. Krugger meets Mrs. Stanley, a former neighbor, and her husband in the station/street/supermarket.
| Mr. Krugger: | Good morning, Mrs. Stanley. |
Mrs. Stanley: |
Good morning, Mr. Krugger. How are you? |
Mr. Krugger: |
I'm fine, thanks, what about you? |
Mrs. Stanley: |
Not too bad. Mr. Krugger, this is my husband Vince. Vince, this is Mr. Krugger, the neighbor I told you about who helped me when I lived in Bremen. |
Mr. Stanley: |
Pleased to meet you. |
Mr. Krugger: |
Pleased to meet you, too. Are you from England, Mr Stanley? |
Mr. Stanley: |
No, I am from Scotland, from Edinburgh. And you, are you from Bremen? |
Mr. Krugger: |
No, I was born in Leipzig, but I live in Bremen now. |
Mrs. Stanley: |
Well, goodbye Mr. Krugger, it was nice to see you. |
Mr. Krugger: |
Yes, goodbye. |
Introducing yourself |
Introducing others |
Responding to an introduction |
On Leaving |
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Possible Greetings |
Possible responses |
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On first meetings you say, "It's nice to meet you". For future meetings you say, "It's nice to see you again".
It is very important to know how to start up conversations and how to keep conversations moving by asking general questions.
The easiest way to start a conversation is by asking a question.
Eg
Nice weather, isn’t it?
Or if it is about someone visiting:
Is this your first visit to ………….?Or
How long are you planning to stay?
Or, you can have a short text to start with:
Hello, (name). This is a pleasant surprise. Good to see you again. How are you?
For more practice, go to:
http://www.eslfast.com/robot/topics/smalltalk/smalltalk.htm
The noun is a word that is used to define a person, animal or living object, place, thing or quality.
The plural of the nouns is generally formed by adding the suffix –(e)s:
Toy – toys
Paper – papers
Fox – foxes
However, there are nouns with an irregular plural form, such as:
Child – children
Man – men
Woman – women
Goose – geese
Foot – feet
Tooth - teeth
Mouse – mice
Louse – lice
Die -dice
Ox – oxen
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For nouns ending in “y”, there is only an “s” for the plural if before the “y” there is a vowel, and “y” turns into “ies” if before “y” there is a consonant. Example:
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Pronouns replace the names of persons and objects.
There are several categories:
number |
person |
gender |
personal pronouns |
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subject |
object |
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singular |
1st |
male/female |
I |
me |
2nd |
male/female |
you |
you |
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3rd |
male |
he |
him |
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female |
she |
her |
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neuter |
it |
it |
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plural |
1st |
male/female |
we |
us |
2nd |
male/female |
you |
you |
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3rd |
male/female/neuter |
they |
them |
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E.g. I am happy today. (I = subject)
Give me the paper! (me = object)
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near |
far |
singular |
this |
that |
plural |
these |
those |
E.g. This is my house.
These are my houses.
number |
person |
The owner |
possessive pronouns |
singular |
1st |
male/female |
mine |
2nd |
male/female |
yours |
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3rd |
male |
his |
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female |
hers |
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plural |
1st |
male/female |
ours |
2nd |
male/female |
yours |
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3rd |
male/female/neuter |
theirs |
E.g. This is my car. It is mine.
My = possessive adjective
Mine = possessive pronoun
For practice, go to the following link:
http://www.cartoonenglish.tv/index.php/lessons/begginnig/540-possessive-pronouns.html
Who - subject (refers to people)
Eg The man who sits there is my uncle.
Whom – object (refers to people)
Eg. The girl whom I phoned last night is my deskmate.
Which – refers to objects
Eg. The car which is hit must be sold.
That – refers both to people and objects
Eg. The blanket that you bought yesterday is very warm.
I am seeing the man that is very important to me.
Whose - for possession
Eg The house whose roof is red is very funny.
Most commonly used are the adjectives “good” and “bad”
We use them
How are you feeling today?
I feel good I feel bad
or 
How was the cake?
It was very good. Or It was bad.
He helped me a lot. He is good. Or He refused to help me. He is bad.
Positive (the form found in the dictionary)
Eg. Good, happy, nice, thin
Comparative
Fat – fatter
Small – smaller
Pretty – prettier
modern – more modern
beautiful – more beautiful
Superlative
fat – fattest
strong – strongest
funny – funniest
intelligent – the most intelligent
attentive – the most attentive
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Irregular adjectives – the adjectives that have distinct forms for comparative and superlative:
For practice, go to: |
Main types of adverbs:
Eg She went there to change the banknote.
We come here to eat icecream.
Eg She walked quietly into the other room.
She suddenly stopped in front of her room.
Eg We will see tomorrow what to do.
Today, I feel fine.
Eg He always buys pizza.
You never keep your promise.
Numerals mean numbers. There are two categories: cardinal and ordinal.
Cardinal numerals:
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten
Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty
Twenty-one, twenty-two…
forty-seven…
one hundred and twenty eight
Ordinal numerals:
The first, the second, the third, the fourth…
The numerals can turn into nouns if they are in the plural form:
Two tens are enough for a tip.
Our neighbor is in his fifties.
Book, goose, box, child, mouse, glass
Funny, important, clever, beautiful, smart
This is my house. It is …..
That is her new dress. It is ….
In front of the house you can see our car. It is ….
The woman …..greeted me is Mrs. Jones.
This is not the book …I bought last week.
The company ….car is broken is very poor.