Animals Scene 1 Language Focus

Rob and Stephen get stressed, and Rob talks about will, could and might.

Task 1

Decide how many syllables each of these words has. Then decide where the stress is, and group similar words together.

Task 2

Read the first sentence and then decide if will, could or might is needed to give the second sentence the same meaning.

Exercise

Task 3

Which phrase finishes the conversation?

Exercise

Task 4

Here are the four conversations from the last exercise. Type in the boxes to complete them. The first letters of the words are given for you, so don't type them.

Exercise

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Language level

B1 English level (intermediate)

B2 English level (upper intermediate)

P.S.(to the previous comment) I wish we had the opportunity in that series of paid courses to communicate with the teachers directly like we have here in the free courses Or can we? (There is not a comment section there, for us to get feedback or some help on the lessons)

Hello Nikos,

We are working on providing just the sort of space you mention and hope to be able to offer it to subscribers in the next few months.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Kirk I would be extremely happy if we finally could have such help and feedback from our tutors in this specific series. (Even if we had to pay more fees) Ever thankful, Nikos

Hi Nikos,

This is something we have been planning on doing from the beginning, but it's also great to know that subscribers like you value it. I look forward to seeing you in that space once it's available!

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear KIrk, Thank you for updating me on the good news. At first, I was hesitant and ashamed to ask you, because I did not want to seem that I make suggestions to your work and to the British Council. I have felt for a long time that this is something necessary and now I have the courage to write to you on this subject. I think that there are many others like me who appreciate what you offer so that they are willing to pay a reasonable amount of tuition in order to have your valuable help and guidance during all your courses (without being considered as a personalized lesson but, on the other hand, without being completely free.) I'm sure you will find the more appropriate framework, conditions, and terms for this service. I'd like to thank all of you and the British Council once again, Nikos

Hi Nikos,

Thanks very much for your comment. It's really useful and encouraging to get this kind of feedback.

Best wishes,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear teacher and tutor Rob, could you exlplain to me if the following sentences sound ''polite or impolite '' in English? They are selected from your ''My Coursework'',B1level,module3, where you are the tutor. So, someone is listening to a complaining person and then he replies to him: ''I agree that it isn’t acceptable'', and, ''I can see how annoying that is''. Do these two responses sound ''polite or impolite'' in English? My answer is ''polite'' of course, without any hesitation, but it is rejected as ''false''.I don't understand this situation.How could it be replied in order to sound like a ''polite'' answer? Ever respectful, nikos

Hello Nikos,

I hope you don't mind me responding for Rob.

Are you referring to the exercise called 'Pronunciation: polite intonation' on screen 16 of module 3.3? I think it must be that exercise.

You are right in thinking that both of those expressions are polite. The reason they are marked as 'impolite' in that exercise is because of the intonation in the recordings. In other words, in the recordings of both sentence 1 and sentence 4, the tone is a little bit aggressive. The difference between the polite and impolite intonations is described on screen 17.

Does that make sense?

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Kirk, thanks a lot for your kindness to answer me. I understand the point you made and, of course, you are right.But, even though, I can't differentiate the two intonations described by Rob on screen 17. That means I have to do a lot in this subject, especially being a Greek person with a lot of differences in our speech intonation. Ever thankful to all of you Nikos

Could any of you explain me about Question 4 in Task 2? Why do the answer is " might or could " ?

Hi May Thida Su,

It's because the idea is that There's a chance we'll get a pay rise. The sentence includes will (we'll get a pay rise), but the phrase There's a chance modifies it. It means that it's possible, but is not certain, and might and could have that meaning.

Does that make sense?

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

So, because of the phrase ( There's a chance ) , the answer is might and could. Right? Oh, Thank you very much for explaining me. Thank you very much Jonathan R!

Hi May Thida Su,

No problem at all :) Yes, that's exactly it.

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Don't this part has transcript? Please add transcript so I can understand really well.

Hello May Thida Su,

I'm afraid the Language Focus videos don't have transcripts. You can ask us about short, specific segments if you'd like to. Please be sure to include the time codes (e.g. 1:45-1:51) if so.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello! I don't well understand the task 1. How can I learn the syllabus? Thanks, Sir!

Hello Aung Ko Latt,

In this task, the letter 'o' represents an unstressed syllable and 'O' represents a stressed syllable. So, for example, in the word 'tiny', the first syllable ('ti') is emphasised more than the second one ('ny'), so it goes in the 'Oo' group.

Does that make more sense now?

Remember that after you try a couple of words, you can press 'Finish' and then 'Show Answers' to see the answers if you find it very difficult.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello. I couldn't understand the syllables concept at all

Hi Hiba Ahmed,

Yes, it can be tricky. Feel free to watch the video again and try the tasks. If you have a question, we'll try to help :)

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, please explain why do "injured" and "lovely" have 2 syllables? Thank you for helping and best wishes

Hello natrish

'injured' is pronounced /ˈɪn.dʒəd/, and 'lovely' is pronounced /ˈlʌv.li/ (follow the links to hear them) -- note that the 'e' in both 'injured' and 'lovely' is not pronounced.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, I have some question about COULD and MIGHT, when I use them? What the difference about those?

Hello andreiabauermann,

Please take a look at our pages on modal verbs, which have detailed explanations and examples, plus activities to practise them. If you have any specific questions after you've read those pages, please post them on those pages and we'll be happy to help.

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/modal-verbs

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/b1-b2-grammar/modals-permission-and-obligation

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team