ABC English Club

English Speaking Course

Unit 1- Personal Information

By Ben Tran

Overview

• Introducing yourself Talking about and your family; describing people physically – age, height, hair

• What job is right for you Talking personalities and jobs

Talk about you

My name’s Ben. I come from York, in England. But I’m not English – I’m Scottish. I’m 16 years old. This is a photo of me and my sister. Her name is Clare. She’s 19. She isn’t at school. She’s at university in London. In the photo, we aren’t at home, we’re on holiday in Spain. We’re at our grandparents’ house.

Practice 1

Practice 1.1

Review: Name, Age, Job

• What’s your name? (my, your, our, their, his, her, its - Possessive adjectives)

________________________________

• How old are you? (I, you, we, they, she, he, it – Subject pronouns)

________________________________

• What’s your job? Or What do you do? ________________________________

Make questions with different pronouns

My family

There are 3 people in my family; my parents and me. My father is John. He’s 54 years old. He’s a manager in a clothes factory. My mother is Mandy. She’s 53 years old. She’s a housewife. She cooks very well. I love my family.

How about your family?

Family Vocabulary

• Your family members are also called your relatives. You have an immediate or nuclear family and an extended family. Your immediate family includes your father, mother and siblings. Your extended family includes all of the people in your father and mother's families.

• Your sibling is your brother or sister. If you have 1 brother and 2 sisters, then you have 3 siblings. Your parent is your father or mother. Your child is your son or daughter. Your spouse is your husband or wife.

• You may also have a stepfamily. Your stepfamily includes people who became part of your family due to changes in family life. These changes may include death, divorce or separation. New partnerships create new children. The new children and their relatives become part of your blended family. Some people are born into a stepfamily.

• Note that spouses and step-relatives are relatives by marriage. They are not blood relatives. Your father and mother are related by marriage. But your father and you are related by blood.

Questions about family

• What types of family do you have?

• Do you live with your grandparents? What do you think about?

• What do you and your family usually do together?

• What are you most proud of your family?

• Who is the troublemaker in your family? What does he/she do that creates trouble to you or other members of the family?

To describe your family 1

• I live in a one-parent family / single-parent family. (a family where the children live with only one parent)

• I really enjoy my family life. (the way a family lives)

• I come from a big family of eight children. (the group of people who are related to you)

• I grew up on a farm. (develop from being a child to being an adult)

• I grew up knowing that my elder brother would take over the family business one day. (the job your parents and probably your grandparents used to do)

• Nuclear family (a family consisting of mother, father and their children)

• Extended family (all the people in a family including aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.)

To describe your family 2

• Family background (the sort of family you come from)

• She's / he's family (informal) (used to say that someone is related to you)

• A large household (all the people who live in one house)

• My domestic life isn't very happy. (connected with the private family home)

• I live on my own. I haven't got any family. (the group of people who are related to one another)

• We've got the same name but are not related. (the way you are connected)

• He lives with us, but he's not related / unrelated. (a person who is not a member of your family)

• He is a close / distant relative of mine. (near or not in a family relationship)

To describe your family 3

• I really take after my mother. (to look like or be like a parent or older member of your family)

• All the men in our family are bald. I support it's hereditary. (a quality which is passed from parents to children)

• All her children are very artistic. It must run in the family. (something which is passed from parents to children / a common feature in a family)

• Bringing up / raising children is never easy. (to look after children in a family until they are adults and to teach them how to behave)

• My parents really tried to give me a good upbringing. (the way somebody is brought up)

• My father recently lost his job, so my mother's the main breadwinner now. (a person who earns all or most of the money in family)

• I need a job, so I can support my family. (to have enough money to be able to look after a family)

To describe your family 4

• I am getting married next year and hope to start a family straight away. (have children)

• My father is really a family man. (a man who enjoys being at home with his wife and children)

• He's got some fatherly concern and duties. (behaving like a father)

• Motherhood really suits her. (the state of being a mother)

• She is a motherly sort of person. (behaving like a mother)

• Danny is my foster brother. (having different parents, but being brought up in the same family)

• My step father is a nice man. (the man who is married to your mother but is not your father)

To describe your family 5

• We're identical twins. (twins who look exactly the same)

• She doesn't get on well with her in-laws. (the parents of your husband or wife)

• Next of kin (your closest relative, who should be told if you are injured or killed)

• I closely resemble my father. (to be closely similar to, or look like someone)

• You can see the resemblance between Susan and her sister. (a similarity between two things, especially in the way they look)

• He bears a remarkable resemblance to my father. (to be or look somebody / something else)

• My parents live apart from each other. (if married people decide to separate, then they live apart)

Talking about your family

Use what you’ve learned and introduce your family to class.

Pronunciation ɪ/iː - e/æ - ei/ai

Describing people

Francesca: This is a photo of my parents at home. Ben: They’ve got a lovely house. Have you got brothers or sister, Francesca? Francesca: I haven’t got a sister, but I’ve got a brother. His name’s Marco. This is a photo of him. He’s got blue eyes, like me, but he hasn’t got fair hair. Ben: Who’s that with him? Francesca: That’s his wife, Maria. Ben: Have they got children? Francesca: No, they haven’t.

Have-Has / Have got-Has got

Have/Has

+I have a book. She has a book.

- I don’t have a book. She doesn’t have a book.

? Do you have a book? Yes, I do. No, I don’t.

Does she have a book?

Yes, she does. No, she doesn’t.

Have got/Has got

+I have got a book. She has got a book.

- I haven’t got a book. She hasn’t got a book.

? Have you got a book? Yes, I have. No, I haven’t.

Has she got a book?

Yes, she has. No, she hasn’t.

What is he like?

Make the questions for height, hair

Vocabulary

Age :

Height :

Hair :

Listening People are describing other people. What are they describing? Listen and check

Personality

Vocabulary 1