Changing plans

Listen to two people talking about changing their plans to practise and improve your listening skills.

Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.

Preparation

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Transcript

Francesco: Sachi? Sachi? Sachiko!

Sachi: Francesco! Is everything OK?

Francesco: Yes. Yes. Sorry, I saw you and I was across the street … I ran.

Sachi: I see. What's up?

Francesco: Do you have the tickets … for the play?

Sachi: No, I don't. I'm going to buy them this afternoon.

Francesco: Oh good, good. Listen, don't buy tickets for this Friday.

Sachi: Oh? Why not?

Francesco: I can't go to the theatre on Friday. Something's come up. I have a concert this Friday.

Sachi: Another concert? But you said …

Francesco: I know, I know. I'm sorry. I forgot.

Sachi: Francesco!

Francesco: How about next week? Are you free then? I can definitely go next Friday.

Sachi: Francesco. You did this two weeks ago, remember? I had cinema tickets for the new Marvel movie and you changed the plans then too. For band practice.

Francesco: I know, and I …

Sachi: We also missed my favourite dance group. Because your band was playing at some child's birthday party.

Francesco: It was my nephew's birthday …

Sachi: Ha!

Francesco: OK, why don't we go out for dinner before my concert? Then, next Friday we can go to the play.

Sachi: Oh …

Francesco: Come on, Sachi. Just this one more time.

Sachi: OK, but promise me next Friday. OK?

Francesco: I promise. I promise!

Task 1

MultipleChoice_MjMyNTU=.xml

Task 2

Matching_MjMyNTY=.xml

Discussion

Do you make lots of plans for your free time?

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Language level

A2 Pre-intermediate

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Thanks Jonathan. That's great!

Dear team. From the audio above. Francesco: I promise. I promise! What the different from: I swear I swear or I swear to god. The question: Which one more polite or more solemnly??? Thank you very much for your answer.

Hi fahri, 'Swear' is stronger than 'promise'. For example, in the sentence 'I _____ I'll never lie to you', both verbs work but I would use 'swear' since it's quite a strong commitment. In the listening above, Francesco is just promising not to cancel their plans again, so I think 'swear' would probably be too strong. Also, you may notice that Francesco is replying to Sachi, who asks him to 'promise me'. In his reply, Francesco repeats the word that Sachi used. 'Swear' is also informal, so you could say 'I swear' to a friend or family member but probably not to your manager, for example. 'Swear to god' is even stronger, and may not be polite. One other thing: 'promise' is about something in the future (e.g. I promise I won't forget your birthday). 'Swear' has this future meaning too. But 'swear' is also often used to emphasise that you're telling the truth about something in the past (e.g. I swear I didn't take your money). Best wishes, Jonathan The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you very much sir. Your answer is very complete and confehensif. I am very happy

I don't use to make lot of plans, because I hate when something is cancelled, so I prefer being more spontaneous; However if someone that I know is really reliable make a plan I will accept inmediatly.

Yes, I plan to do house works, cook and go to parties, parks with my children.

Since I have two kids my free time is as real as the Loch Ness monster ;) When you became a parent all your life is changing completely. You have to play with kids, walk with them in the park, feed them, bath them and so on. When they grow older also start to motivate them to do the homework. It's not so easy, trust me. So I don't have many plans for my free time. A short while to study English, a little while for reading or watching football. And of course, at your so long-awaited free time, they would try to disturb you as much as they can.

No, I rarely make plans for my free time, I usually let it happen.

I admit that I am not managing my time effectively, so I have many free time. In this period, I spend them most on Facebook surfing, and searching for some stuffs. I will improve it day by day.

i think, next time they should make one or two plans for the weekend