Conversational English for a Global Society (Intermediate Level)

By Thomas Speirs

This book focuses on English conversation. It is designed for low intermediate to more advanced students, and the lessons become more challenging from Unit 1 to Unit 8. It is also designed to develop the students’ conversational skills, build their vocabulary and reinforce their grammar.

It works best in a traditional (or not so traditional classroom) with a skilled ESL teacher and enthusiastic students willing to take on a slightly different approach to learning the English language.

Each lesson begins with new vocabulary. It then proceeds to offer a short story or situation. Then it is followed by a dialog. Afterwards, there are comprehension questions, language exercises and ideas for role-plays. Once the student is familiar with the new language, role-plays offer excellent chances to practice and use the language in real situations.

The situations follow strict rules of English grammar and syntax; however, the dialogs sometimes stray from the rules and focus more on the way native English-speaking people converse in natural situations. This includes informal vocabulary, blending words like in the case of “gunna” for “going to” and various idiomatic and slang expressions.

There are two appendices at the end of the text. Appendix 1 offers answers to the comprehension questions. Appendix 2 covers several grammar points such as verb tenses and voices.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9781312443648

Book preview

Conversational English

FOR A GLOBAL SOCIETY

By Thomas Speirs

INTERMEDIATE

© 2023 Thomas Speirs Inc

All rights reserved. No part of this text covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution, information networks, or information storage and retrieved systems except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the author.

ISBN: 978 – 1 – 312 – 46101 – 7

Introduction (Conversational English for a Global Society)

This book focuses on English conversation. It is designed for low intermediate to more advanced students, and the lessons become more challenging from Unit 1 to Unit 8. It is also designed to develop the students’ conversational skills, build their vocabulary and reinforce their grammar.

It works best in a traditional (or not so traditional classroom) with a skilled ESL teacher and enthusiastic students willing to take on a slightly different approach to learning the English language.

Each lesson begins with new vocabulary. It then proceeds to offer a short story or situation. Then it is followed by a dialog. Afterwards, there are comprehension questions, language exercises and ideas for role-plays. Once the student is familiar with the new language, role-plays offer excellent chances to practice and use the language in real situations.

The situations follow strict rules of English grammar and syntax; however, the dialogs sometimes stray from the rules and focus more on the way native English-speaking people converse in natural situations. This includes informal vocabulary, blending words like in the case of gunna for going to and various idiomatic and slang expressions.

There are two appendices at the end of the text. Appendix 1 offers answers to the comprehension questions. Appendix 2 covers several grammar points such as verb tenses and voices.

i.

Acknowledgements

Writing a textbook such as this requires a lot of time and energy and teamwork. Prior to publication, I used many of the lessons and exercises contained in this book in the classes that I have taught over the years to evaluate the effectiveness of each. So far, I’m pleased to admit that the material contained in this text has worked pretty well as I have seen considerable language development among my students, and have been informed by many of them that they have learned a lot and enjoyed the process along the way. 

My next goal was to make this book available to a wider audience, and for that I am deeply grateful to my friends Benedict and Reema Wehlage without whose technical skills and patience this book would still be limited to a considerably smaller group of students.

ii.

Conversational English for a Global Society

by Thomas Speirs (copyright August 2013)

Table of Contents

                                                                                                                            page

Introduction                                                                                                                     i.

Acknowledgements                                                                                                                  ii.

Unit One: Meeting for the First Time                                                      1

Unit Two: Interests & Hobbies, Time and Making Appointments         6

Grammar 1 – Positive & Negative Statements and Questions                      13

                        Basic English Sentence Structure

Grammar 2 – The Verb Be                                                                                     19

Unit Three A: Getting Around Town and Finding Places:                                                  23

                        Asking For and Giving Directions

Grammar 3 – Imperatives (Positive & Negative Directions and Commands)                29

Unit Three B: Looking For and Finding Things – Using Prepositions of Place              32

Grammar 4 – Prepositions                                                                                                    34

Unit Four: Student Life – Studies, Parents, Roommates and Relationships                    38

Unit Five: The Generation Gap                                                                                            49

Unit Six: Holidays and Travel                                                                                              55

Unit Seven: Work and Family Matters                                                                                61

Unit Eight: Industry, The Environment and Health                                                          79

Answers to Questions                                                                                            Appendix 1

Grammar Tenses                                                                                                    Appendix 2

About the Author           Appendix 3

Unit One: Meeting for the First Time

Situation One (John meets Mary)

Vocabulary and Phrases

meet                            majors in                      work for                        maybe

shopping center        computer science          both                                software 

near                            already                          exhibit an interest        company

university                  graduate                          each other                      apply

student                        degree                              last spring                      position

studies                          accounting                      sounds great      decide       

    John meets Mary at a shopping center near her university.  Mary is a student and studies (majors in) computer science at State University. John has already graduated and has a degree in accounting and now works for National Telecom. Both exhibit an interest in each other.

Conversation 1

John: Hello, my name is John. Nice to meet you.

Mary: Hello John. My name is Mary. Nice to meet you, too.

John: What do you do, Mary?

Mary: I’m a student. I study Computer Science at State University. What about

        you John? What do you do?

John: I just graduated from King’s University last spring with a degree in

        accounting, and now I’m working for National Telecom.

Mary: That sounds great! How do you like it so far?

John: It’s a lot of work, but it’s OK. What do you want to do when you graduate?

Mary: I don’t know yet. Maybe I’ll work for a software company or maybe apply

      for a government position. I still have another year to decide.

I. Questions

1. Where do John and Mary meet?

2. What does Mary study?

3. Is John still a student? What does he do?

4. Where did John go to school, and what did he study?

5. Where does he work? Does he enjoy his job?

6. What does Mary plan to do when she finishes school?

Exercise 1:

The following sentences from Situation One have been rearranged. Without referring to the text, put the sentences back into the correct order. When you are finished, check your work.

    John has already graduated and has a degree in accounting and now works for National Telecom. Mary is a student and studies (majors in) computer science at State University. Both exhibit an interest in each other. John meets Mary at a shopping center near her university.

Situation Two (John and Mary discuss their lives)

Vocabulary and Phrases

tell                          downtown        grandparents      only                      by the way                     

about                      parents              weekend            see                        do for a living

their                        dorm                very                  them                      engineer

family                    roommate        surprised            often                      nurse         

living situation    however            so many            unfortunately      lawyer   

occupation            sometimes        campus              that’s too bad    teacher       

live                          stay with          a lot                             

    John and Mary tell each other about their families, their living situations and their parents’ occupations. John lives downtown with his parents, and Mary lives in a dorm at school with seven roommates. However, sometimes she stays with her grandparents on weekends. John is very surprised that she has so many roommates. When he was a student, he also lived in a dorm, but he only had three roommates. John also has grandparents, but he doesn’t see them very often.

Conversation 2

Mary: Where do you live?

John: I live downtown with my parents. How about you?

Mary: I live on campus in a dorm. I have seven roommates.

John: Seven roommates! Wow, that’s a lot! I just had three roommates when I

    was in school. Where do your parents live?

Mary: My parents live in New Town, but I have grandparents here in Livingston.