talkalot intermediate book 1 instructions for teachers

Instructions for Teachers


Talk a Lot
Intermediate Book 1
Instructions for Teachers
Before you Begin:
The unit outline on the first page of each of the four units in this book shows that the structure
of Talk a Lot Intermediate Book 1 is very similar to that of the units featured in Talk a Lot
Elementary Book 3. There are, however, some brand new activities which are unique to this
book and this level of Talk a Lot. In this brief set of instructions I will attempt to highlight what
is new at this level, while for activities that are more familiar, e.g. Sentence Blocks, full
instructions have already been published in the Talk a Lot Elementary Handbook, which is a
free download available from />
Outline:
While Talk a Lot Elementary Book 3 featured 10 x 30-hour units, this book contains four
complete courses, each of which is sub-divided into four vocabulary sub-units. For example,
the vocabulary in Unit 1: Hotel is subdivided into the following sub-units:
Facilities, Guests, Staff, and Food and Drink
Each unit could, if all the activities were done in depth, form an individual 45-hour course. Or
you could dip in and out, choosing material that you want to use; or build a shorter – or longer
– course. The material is designed to be flexible and adaptable. Each unit is divided into five
parts:
Sentence Focus Activities
Word Focus Activities
Focus on Non-Literal Speech
Free Practice Activities
Continuous Assessment Tests
As well as practising speaking and listening skills, grammar skills, and building vocabulary,
each unit aims to introduce students to the concept of non-literal English – idioms, phrasal
verbs, and slang – which can be so confusing for students at intermediate level. It’s up to you

how you build your course using these materials, but I would suggest using a variety of
materials during a typical session, e.g.
45 minutes of sentence focus practice
45 minutes of word focus practice
45 minutes of non-literal speech practice
and so on.

Sentence Focus Activities
Sentence Blocks:
For full instructions and further resources for this activity, please refer to the Talk a Lot
Elementary Handbook.

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Talk a Lot
Intermediate Book 1
Instructions for Teachers
What’s New?
•

This book features sentence block building with verb forms that are usually
introduced at intermediate level:
1. Present Perfect Continuous
2. Past Perfect
3. Future Perfect
4. Second Conditional
5. Third Conditional
6. Reported Speech
7. Passive Voice

8. Imperative Form

•

Students practise sentence block building in the same way that they do in the
elementary level books, except with intermediate verb forms and more advanced
language structures. There is an information sheet for each verb form that you can
give out to students, and/or use as the basis of a grammar lesson towards the
beginning of the course (see Supporting Material – P.5 onwards). Also included in the
supporting material is the Talk a Lot Intermediate Verb Forms – Matching Game
(P.6).

•

In the new Sentence Blocks (without Function Words) activity, students have to guess
the function words in each sentence block starting sentence, before building the
sentence block. The aim is to make the sentence blocks more challenging for
students, while reinforcing work done on content and function words elsewhere in the
unit.

•

Another way to make the sentence blocks more challenging would be to jumble up
the words in a starting sentence, meaning that students have to first put together the
starting sentence, before building the sentence block.

Connected Sentence Cards:
For full instructions and further resources for this activity, please refer to the Talk a Lot
Elementary Handbook.
What’s New?

•

This is the same activity as in Elementary Book 3, except using the higher-level verb
forms.

Connected Speech Template:
For full instructions and further resources for this activity, please refer to the Talk a Lot
Elementary Handbook.

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Talk a Lot
Intermediate Book 1
Instructions for Teachers
What’s New?
•

This is the same activity as in Elementary Book 3, except using the higher-level verb
forms.

•

New to this level is the Cut-Up IPA Sentence activity, which is intended to help
reinforce the work done on sounds, stress, and connected speech in the Connected
Speech Template.

Word Focus Activities
Discussion Words:
For full instructions and further resources for this activity, please refer to the Talk a Lot

Elementary Handbook.
What’s New?
•

In this book the discussion words and phrases have been graded to be more
appropriate and relevant at intermediate level, which means tougher vocabulary, i.e.
longer, more complex words and phrases.

•

In general, the original Discussion Words activities from the elementary books are still
relevant at this level, although you may choose to adapt them to make them more
challenging, for example, instead of asking students to put the words into alphabetical
order, you could ask them to put them into reverse alphabetical order – from Z to A,
instead of A to Z.

•

Another difference is that the discussion word cards are now numbered, which will
perhaps make it easier to refer to particular cards in class, for example, students can
ask, “What does number ten mean?” instead of just pointing at the card, or saying,
“That one.” Teachers can also use the numbers to facilitate new word games, for
example, they can say, “OK, Team A put all of the odd-numbered cards into reverse
alphabetical order, and Team B do the even-numbered cards…” Or, you could devise
a game where students work in pairs and one chooses a number from 1-40 and the
other has to describe it, etc.

•

On P.xxiv you can find an outline of a lesson plan using the discussion word cards

from Unit 2: Problems. Check the Talk a Lot Elementary Handbook too for advice
about how to structure a discussion words lesson.

Discussion Words Question Sheet:
For full instructions and further resources for this activity, please refer to the Talk a Lot
Elementary Handbook.

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Talk a Lot
Intermediate Book 1
Instructions for Teachers
What’s New?
•

This is essentially the same activity as in the elementary level Talk a Lot books,
except with the language graded to intermediate level, meaning harder questions.

•

Totally new questions for this level are:
5. Put the words and phrases into… b) reverse alphabetical order.
7. Find words that… a) begin with a vowel sound, b) end with a vowel sound, c) begin
with a consonant sound, d) end with a consonant sound. Put them into sound groups.
8. Find words which contain silent letters (letters which are not pronounced).

Information Exchange:
For full instructions and further resources for this activity, please refer to the Talk a Lot
Elementary Handbook.

What’s New?
•

This is essentially the same activity as in the elementary level Talk a Lot books,
except with the language graded to intermediate level, meaning more complex tasks
and tougher vocabulary.

•

The teacher’s notes include extra extension activities, including role plays.

Multi-Purpose Text:
For full instructions and further resources for this activity, please refer to the Talk a Lot
Elementary Handbook.
What’s New?
•

Guess the Function Words – this is a new activity that aims to test students’
understanding of content and function words. The idea is that students work in pairs
or small groups and have to write in the function words for part of the text. Then the
whole group comes together and puts the story into order. Or, the activity could be
done with the teacher (or a student) reading out the story and giving students time to
write in the function words. Students could try reading the story without any function
words and analysing what difference they make – whether it is possible to understand
the gist of the story without the function words – it should be! In this way, this activity
combines Sentence Focus and Word Focus work.

•

What’s the Question? This activity replaces the standard comprehension questions

that feature in Talk a Lot Elementary Book 3. The aim is to encourage students to

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Talk a Lot
Intermediate Book 1
Instructions for Teachers
write their own questions, which will help them to revise and better understand
building question forms in English.
•

Glossary of New Words – this section is much expanded compared to Talk a Lot
Elementary Book 3, with detailed notes on vocabulary and usage. There is much
emphasis on Features of Non-Literal English – i.e. idioms, phrasal verbs, and slang –
which is studied in depth later in the unit. After the Glossary can be found ideas for
extension activities that will enable students to practise the language that they have
been learning through studying the text.

•

As with all the activities in this intermediate level book, this one features higher-level
vocabulary, and language structures which have been specially graded to
intermediate level, in order to provide more of a challenge.

Focus on Non-Literal Speech
Role Play with Non-Literal English:
This is a brand new activity for Talk a Lot Intermediate.
What’s New?
•

In this activity students get the chance to examine nine different forms of non-literal
English – forms that native speakers use which make the meaning of what they say
difficult for non-natives to understand. For example, in the Hotel unit the forms are:
nicknames, exaggeration, idioms, discourse markers, phrasal verbs, sayings /
proverbs, similes, swearing, and understatement. Each feature of non-literal English
is explained in detail – with examples – in the pages that follow.

•

See P.91 for related supporting material: Why Use Politically Correct Language?
(lesson material and activities)

20 Common English Idioms:
This is a brand new set of activities for Talk a Lot Intermediate.
What’s New?
•

At heart this is a matching activity: cut out all of the cards and students have to match
the idioms (the white cards) with their literal English translations (the grey cards –
grey because this kind of language is “grey” and dull compared to idioms). It depends
on the level and capability of your students how many idioms you choose to introduce
in one lesson – ten may be enough, or even five, or they may be so comfortable with
idioms that they can attempt all twenty in one lesson.

•

The material that follows the page with 20 idioms aims to practise this new
vocabulary:

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Talk a Lot
Intermediate Book 1
Instructions for Teachers
English Idioms – Matching Game: students match the idiom cards to the sentence
cards.
Activities Page: this page is modelled on the Discussion Words Question Sheet and
contains loads of different activities for practising (and by practising learning) this
group of idioms. This page is in three sections. The first two – Meaning and Context,
and Practice Activities – can apply to any set of idioms, while the third section – Topic
Questions – contains questions relating specifically to this set of idioms. Note:
answers to all activities are located after the Slang section of each unit. (See P.xxv
for Sample Answers to these activities.)
•

There is a wealth of supporting material in this book relating to using idioms, some of
which is new for this book (marked with an asterisk *), and some which has been
published before on English Banana.com:
P.21
P.22
P.26
P.32
P.33
P.34
P.40
P.42

200 Top Idioms in Spoken English Today – Main List*

200 Top Idioms in Spoken English Today – with Definitions and Examples*
Love and Relationships – English Idioms and Slang
How Did You Feel When…? (English Idioms of Mood/Emotion)
Football – 20 Common English Idioms*
Common English Idioms 1 - 6
Common English Idioms – Parts of the Body 1 & 2
Really Motivational Page of Encouraging Thoughts

Answers to the supporting material activities can be found at the back of the book.

20 Common English Phrasal Verbs:
This is a brand new set of activities for Talk a Lot Intermediate.
What’s New?
•

Again, the main activity is a matching game, with 20 phrasal verb cards matching
twenty definition cards – directions as for idioms, above. The short lines underneath
each phrasal verb are spaces for students to write either v (for vowel) or c (for
consonant) – to mark the sound connection between the two (or three) words in the
phrasal verb. This is relevant to the pronunciation of the phrasal verb, and is
demonstrated in detail later in the answer section. Most two-word phrasal verbs will
have a cv (consonant to vowel) sound connection between the two words, e.g. “book
in” and “wait on” in the Hotel unit. The teaching point is that when there is a cv sound
connection, the syllables connect by FCL (Final Consonant Linking), with the final
consonant sound moving forward to begin the next syllable, leaving a vc sound
connection, which is easier to pronounce. For example:
Phrasal Verb:

Changes to:

book in (cv sound connection)
wait on (cv sound connection)

boo kin (vc sound connection)
wai ton (vc sound connection)

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Talk a Lot
Intermediate Book 1
Instructions for Teachers
•

The material that follows the page with 20 phrasal verbs aims to practise this new
vocabulary:
English Phrasal Verbs – Matching Game: students match the phrasal verb cards with
the sentence cards.
Activities Page: this page differs from the idioms activity page. The first half of the
page is a reference grid showing all of the phrasal verbs and their collocations. You
could use this grid to create a quiz for students (see instructions on the page), or give
it out to students for reference. The second half of the page contains Topic Questions
which relate specifically to this set of phrasal verbs.
Note: answers to all activities are located after the Slang section of each unit.

•

There is plenty of supporting material in this book relating to using phrasal verbs, all
of which is brand new for this book:
P.44

P.45
P.46
P.48
P.69
P.75

20 Basic English Phrasal Verbs
200 Top Phrasal Verbs in Spoken English Today – Main List
200 Top Phrasal Verbs in Spoken English Today – Translation
Eat Up Your Phrasal Verbs – They’re Good For You!
50+ Great Activities for Practising Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal Verbs Dice Game
Politics – Phrasal Verbs – Sentence Bash! (Test Material)

Answers to the supporting material activities can be found at the back of the book.

20 Common English Slang Words and Phrases:
This is a brand new set of activities for Talk a Lot Intermediate.
What’s New?
•

This part of the book follows exactly the same pattern as the idioms part (see above),
only instead of idioms there are twenty common English slang words and phrases.
Again, the aim is to focus on non-literal English – language that students may hear
being spoken by native speakers (whether around them or on TV, in films, or on the
internet, etc.) but which is unfamiliar and may not be found in the average ESL
course book. The aim of the following activities is to help students to learn the twenty
slang expressions and to provoke discussion around the use of non-literal English
and slang in particular.

•

The first activity is matching the slang expressions with their literal definitions. The
grey cards (literal English) use abbreviations such as (n.) which means “noun”, and
(phr.) which means “phrase”. These abbreviations are defined in the Glossary section
of the Multi-Purpose Text activity (see above).

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Talk a Lot
Intermediate Book 1
Instructions for Teachers
•

The English Slang Words and Phrases – Matching Game is the same kind of activity
as in the Idioms and Phrasal Verbs sections: students match the slang cards with the
sentence cards.

•

As with the Idioms activities page, the Slang activities page offers a variety of
different activities for practising (and by practising learning) this set of slang
expressions. It may be that you don’t cover every activity in depth, but there is
something for everyone, so you and your students won’t get bored! Note: answers to
all activities are located after this section in each unit. (See P.xxix for Sample
Answers to these activities.)

•

There are a few supporting worksheets in this book featuring material relating to
using slang, all of which has been published before on English Banana.com:
P.78
P.80
P.82
P.84

An A-Z of English Slang Terms – Parts 1 & 2
Australian Slang Phrases 1 & 2
Derbyshire Accent Project – Notes
Derbyshire Accent Project – Slang Phrases 1-3

Answers to the supporting material activities can be found at the back of the book.

Unit Vocabulary Reference:
This is a brand new set of activities for Talk a Lot Intermediate.
What’s New?
•

Each unit of Talk a Lot Intermediate is subdivided into four smaller topic areas, for
example, in the Hotel unit the topic areas are:
Facilities, Guests, Staff, and Food and Drink
Each of these sub-topics has an equal share of the vocabulary, so there are five
idioms, five phrasal verbs, five slang words/phrases, and ten discussion words for
each sub-topic in each unit. Each sub-topic also has four “What Would You Do?”
situations (see below). The vocabulary for each sub-topic can be found in the Unit
Vocabulary Reference section – there is one page for each sub-topic. These pages –
along with the Unit Vocabulary Reference Chart (which appears in units 2, 3, and 4) –
can help students (and teachers!) understand how all of the vocabulary in the unit fits
together. The sub-topic pages would make handy revision sheets if you wanted to set

a test on one (or more) of the sub-topics in a unit.

Free Practice Activities
What Would You Do?
This is a brand new discussion/role play activity for Talk a Lot Intermediate.
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Talk a Lot
Intermediate Book 1
Instructions for Teachers
What’s New?
•

This activity replaces the Role Plays activity from Talk a Lot Elementary Book 3 – but
it replaces four ideas for role plays with sixteen! At Intermediate level, students need
less guidance on the content of the role plays, because they will be able to imagine
more of the details themselves. This activity provides starting points for sixteen
different role plays, with four role play ideas for each of the four sub-topics in the unit.
Even if students aren’t keen to physically act out a fictional situation, the cards
provide a starting point for discussion (using the second conditional), which could
prove very interesting for students as they discover their peers’ attitudes and
responses to hypothetical situations – what would you do if…? The aim in this activity
– as with all of the Free Practice Activities – is to give students time and space to talk,
discuss, imagine, think out loud, and debate – while practising using the vocabulary
that they have been learning from the unit – the discussion words, idioms, phrasal
verbs, and slang.

Discussion Questions:
For full instructions and further resources for this activity, please refer to the Talk a Lot

Elementary Handbook.
What’s New?
•

This is the same activity as in Elementary Book 3, except using more challenging,
in-depth questions, and vocabulary graded to intermediate level.

Agree or Disagree?
For full instructions and further resources for this activity, please refer to the Talk a Lot
Elementary Handbook.
What’s New?
•

This is the same activity as in Elementary Book 3, except using more challenging
concepts, and vocabulary graded to intermediate level.

Vocabulary Test:
For full instructions and further resources for this activity, please refer to the Talk a Lot
Elementary Handbook.
What’s New?
•

This is the same activity as in Elementary Book 3, except using vocabulary graded to
intermediate level.

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Talk a Lot
Intermediate Book 1

Instructions for Teachers
Lesson Test:
For full instructions and further resources for this activity, please refer to the Talk a Lot
Elementary Handbook.
What’s New?
•

In general, this is the same activity as in Elementary Book 3, except using vocabulary
graded to intermediate level. However, there are some new types of question which
reflect the different vocabulary in these units, e.g. questions about idioms, phrasal
verbs, and slang. Also the intermediate level verb forms are used, as featured in the
sentence blocks activity.

Special Topics and Bonus Material:
This book contains additional material that is relevant to the intermediate level grammar
elements of the course – i.e. the new verb forms – and also to the intermediate level
vocabulary and the topic of non-literal English. It’s up to you how – or if – you want to use this
material, but it is included here because I wrote it at the same time I was writing the four units
in this book. The material is:
P.88
P.89

Comprehensive List of State Verbs in English
State Verbs in English – Matching Game 1 & 2
(Useful information and practice activities for students at intermediate level)

P.91

Why Use Politically Correct Language?
(Relating to the topic of non-literal English)

P.99

Christmas – Discussion Words
(Useful vocabulary activity – at a particular time of year only!)

P.100 How to Pronounce the Past -ed Form of Regular Verbs
(Relating to the pronunciation of intermediate level verb forms which require
a past participle, e.g. past perfect, etc.)
P.103 The Story of a Music Group (Lesson Plan)
(This is a fun lesson plan for students at intermediate level)
P.107 Surviving without the Media – an Experiment
(You could use this material to build a lesson plan relating to the Media unit.
It will be bound to provoke lots of debate with intermediate level students)
Answers to the additional material activities can be found at the back of the book.

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