AL Overview 1

Below are language points that we need to practice. This list of language points come from your English output, as well as any questions that you have asked me about English.

how to ask what something means

What does _______ mean?

What does quiet quitting mean?

What does he mean by _______?

What does he mean by firing?

What do you mean by ______?

What do you mean by the bare minimum?

What does the text mean by ______?

What does the text mean by fulfilling?

What does the text mean by going the extra mile?

how to confirm your guess about what something means

Does ______ mean ___(your guess)___?

Does firing mean getting rid of an employee?

Does firing mean that an employee does not return to work anymore?

A C T I V I T Y 1

completed in class

Please read this text. Some of the vocabulary you understand. Nice. Some vocabulary you do not know. Some vocabulary you think you know, but you want to confirm if your guess is correct.

A new culture of work has been quietly spreading around offices, factories and workplaces worldwide. Workers are increasingly embracing the concept of "quiet quitting". This emerging phenomenon entails workers slowly abandoning doing things that are not part of their contract. The website entrepreneur.com defines quiet quitting as follows: "Quiet quitting is the process of coming to work to achieve the minimum requirements of your role in the time that you're there, then leaving. No offers of overtime, no stepping outside your designated obligations, no going the extra mile. It's the silent withdrawal of extra labor to mitigate what are perceived as unreasonable pressures."

Quiet quitting has increased in popularity since the coronavirus pandemic. People are reassessing their attitudes towards work. They have decided to achieve a more fulfilling work-life balance, and focus on avoiding job burnout. Workers are jettisoning unpaid duties they once voluntarily carried out in their workplaces. They do the bare minimum and leave at five on the dot. Some employers are responding with what is being termed as "quiet firing". This is when bosses try to get employees to leave. They do this by not raising salaries, disregarding employees' ideas and omitting them from meetings. A LinkedIn poll found that 48 per cent of employees in a survey have seen quiet firing in the workplace.

pronunciation

Please see Skype chat are for audio recording of this list.

voluntary

voluntarily

abandoning

quickly

quietly

as follows

you are

you're

your

labor

disregarding

jettisoning

Labrador

unreasonable

ing and ed adjectives

amused, amusing

annoyed, annoying

bored, boring

confused, confusing

disappointed, disappointing

excited, exciting

frightened, frightening

interested, interesting

surprised, surprising

tired, tiring

You understand, in theory, that ED adjectives are used when talking about the feelings of the subject. Perfect.

If the subject is something that cannot have feelings, then you know you must use the ING adjective.

But what if the subject is a person that (1) can have feelings and can also (2) cause other people to feel?

(1) The person giving the lecture was bored. This means that the person who was talking to the audience felt extremely uninterested in what he was doing.

(2) The person giving the lecture was boring. This sentence, on the other hand, does not say anything about how the subject felt. This sentence indicates that the speaker had the power to make the audience feel a certain emotion.

A C T I V I T Y 2

completed in class

In this exercise https://agendaweb.org/exercises/grammar/adjectives/-ed-ing-1 notice that when the subject is someone or something that can have emotions (feelings) there are usually TWO possible answers.

Affirmative Statements

Simple past

A few of my colleagues were so tired. that they could hardly keep their eyes open..

Simple present

When I am really bored, I go to bed early.

Simple future

I will be thrilled to see my brother, Edwin, after over three decades.

I am going to be thrilled to see my brother, Edwin, after over three decades.

finished (pronunciation)

In theory, you know how to pronounce words that end with ED.

A C T I V I T Y 3

completed in class

Please say this list of words that end with ED.

asked

audited

bed

cried

decided

deleted

diluted

duplicated

inoculated

invested

mopped

picked

pushed

raised

rated

red

relaxed

smiled

started

stressed

surprised

titrated

touched

trained

tried

uploaded

walked

worked

worried

Please use 6 of the words in ACTRIVITY 3 in your story about Sarah. Your story should be about the past.

Sarah picked her mother up at the bus station. Sarah was relaxed because she finished her work activities in time to spend time with her mother. Sarah said that her mother laughed a lot. They were happy. Sarah decided to go with her mother to the cinema.

A C T I V I T Y 4

completed in class

Please tell me more about Sarah. Please use at least 5 ING adjectives and 5 ED adjectives. This does not have to be a story. This can be in an verb tense that suits your purpose.

For example:

Sarah was amused and grateful when she got the letter from John John.

amused

amusing

annoyed

annoying

bored

boring

confused

confusing

disappointed

disappointing

excited

exciting

frightened

frightening

interested

interesting

surprised

surprising

tired

tiring

I have watched 10 disappointing movies.

I was disappointed with the situation at work.

I'm excited to know about my sister's new life.

The book is boring and confusing.

I'm tired of reviewing many reports.

I confused my mom with another woman.

Monopoly is an amusing game.

And if we talk about Sarah we might say:

Friday was a very tiring day for Sarah. When she got home after work she was very tired. She didn't want to do anything but sleep! The next day was Saturday. She woke up early. She felt excited because she and her boyfriend planned an exciting trip to Mexico City to see Checo Perez a well-known Formula One race car driver.

After she got up, she brushed her teeth, took a shower, got dressed, put on a little make-up and started her housekeeping. She was surprised when her boyfriend came over early. He sometimes did surprising things when she least expected them. She was expecting him at 11AM, but he came at 9:30AM.

He came with groceries and went straight to the kitchen! He made breakfast and they ate together. After breakfast, she and her boyfriend washed the dishes and put them away. He helped her finish her house chores. They left at 11AM headed to Mexico City.

Her boyfriend liked to do things to make her smile, to make her feel special.

On the way to DF, they saw some interesting looking birds. Sarah's parents were both enthusiastic bird watchers. Sarah wasn't as interested in birds as her parents were, but these birds really caught Sarah's attention.

A C T I V I T Y 5

completed in class

Watch this video, https://www.bitchute.com/video/hXZclhjJH7Em/

A C T I V I T Y 6

completed in class

Please read the following sentences with your voice.

1. The video showed that the US president, Joe Biden, is a different person from Senator Joe Biden or Vice President Joe Biden.

2. The video indicated that there have been multiple people playing the role of Joe Biden.

3. The video implied the current US president might not be the real Joe Biden.

4. The video indirectly mentioned that President Joe Biden isn't really Joe Biden.

5. The video hinted that the public has been fooled.

6. The video pointed out that something fishy is going on.

7. The video finished on an upbeat note.

We should practice using these essential verb tenses in terms of giving information and asking questions.

Simple past

Simple present

Simple future

A C T I V I T Y 7

completed in class

Please tell me about someone's past, After you tell me about the person's past, I will ask you yes/no questions and information questions about that person's past.

Now I will tell you about someone's past, After I tell you about the person's past, you will ask me yes/no questions and information questions about that person's past.

A C T I V I T Y 8

moved to next period

Please tell me about someone's future. After you tell me about the person's future, I will ask you yes/no questions and information questions about that person's future.

Now I will tell you about someone's future. After I tell you about the person's future, you will ask me yes/no questions and information questions about that person's future.

A C T I V I T Y 9

completed in class

Please tell me about someone's current life. After you tell me about the person's current life, I will ask you yes/no questions and information questions about that person's current life.

Now I will tell you about someone's current life., After I tell you about the person's current life, you will ask me yes/no questions and information questions about that person's current life.

A C T I V I T Y 10

completed in class

When the person receiving the information is part of the sentence, use "tell".

When the person receiving the information is not part of the sentence, use "say".

to say vs to tell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5utoq5415M

https://www.practisingenglish.com/english-grammar-exercises/say-tell-1.htm

A C T I V I T Y 11

completed in class

to say vs to tell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh3Pu61uCuM

https://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-97685.php

A C T I V I T Y 12

completed in class

to say vs to tell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QO-kCzRosM

https://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/confusing_words/say_tell.htm

A C T I V I T Y 13

completed in class

The numbered sentences below describe an old woman's routine and personal characteristics. Please correct the sentences as needed.

1 A old woman is riding.

2 A old woman rides a bicycle.

3 She has black pants and black shoes.

4 She wears a grey sweater.

5 She has a grey hair.

6 She's bicycle is green and it has a basket in the front.

A C T I V I T Y 14

completed in class

In writing, please tell me about yourself. I want to know about your characteristics, routines, habits and current lifestyle.

Remember to use the simple present. Include time phrases when you talk about routines or habits. You may also use frequency adverbs.

I'm Alejandra. I like stories. This is why I love to read (I love reading = I love to read) or (to) watch old movies. I usually wear dresses everyday. I create outfits based on the 60s and the 50s once per month. Everyday, I wake up at 5:00 AM. I drink a smoothie, and I take a shower before work. I take the same way (I take the same route) to go to work every morning. I listen to audiobooks when I drive my car. I have medium brown hair. My height is 1.65 meters, and I have brown skin.

Example time words and time phrases

On Friday,

= On Fridays,

During the week,

On the weekend,

= On weekends,

In the morning,

In the afternoon,

At night,

After work,

Before work,

On my birthday,

Frequency adverbs (in order)

always

almost always

usually = generally = normally

frequently

often

sometimes

almost never = rarely

never

A C T I V I T Y 15

completed in class

In writing, please tell me about Joe Cubicle. I want to know about his characteristics, routines, habits and current lifestyle.

Remember to use the simple present. Include time phrases when you talk about routines or habits. You may also use frequency adverbs.

Joe Cubicle is a kind and gentle man who lives with his family. During the week, he works every morning at a company. He arrives home at night, after going to the supermarket. He has a son. He and his son spend time together on Saturdays. They usually eat fast food, and play videogames on Saturdays. He loves his son. They are physically very similar. (They look alike. They look a lot alike. They resemble each other.)

amable = kind, nice, generous, gentle

A C T I V I T Y 16

moved to next period

A summary of Love in the Age of Cholera https://youtu.be/VaTaf9q4mFk Adjust speed if desired. There is some interesting vocabulary. (There are some interesting vocabulary words.) What a creative story!