Lesson 2: Talking about habits

Lesson 2

TALKING ABOUT HABITS - GOOD & BAD

LEAD-IN Lead-in Activity

Do you like sports? Do you know any famous sports person, e.g. a runner, a basketball player or a football player? Together with your partner think of one or two questions you want to ask him or her.

LISTENING Listening Activity

Mark listens to a Eurosport radio interview with a famous sports person.

Some parts were erased so listen carefully to the interview and complete the missing parts. Check your answers with your partner.

This text will be replaced

Interviewer (I): We are very happy to have such a famous person here today.

Guest (G): I am always happy to talk about sports with children!

I: How did you become so famous?

G: I practise a lot. I (1)____well. I (2)_____ healthily.

And, my family is always behind me.

I: How many hours do you (3)__________each day?

G: Usually about (4)___ hours, plus I always go to the gym to keep fit.

I: Is the (5)_______you eat important?

G: Yes, it is very important for a (6)___________ player to eat well, like any

other professional sports person.

I: After a very successful career in Greece nearly winning the world cup, you are

now living in the States.

Do you enjoy life in Houston?

G: It's different but I like it very much. I sometimes miss home. Of course I

still (7)_______for Greece and I often come to Athens.

I: What do you (8)_______in the evenings in Houston?

G: I often (9)__________Greek films!!

I: What do you have to recommend to young children who want to

play basketball at a professional level?

G: You can be successful only if you always (10)________ very hard and you

are passionate about the game.

And of course you need to be talented as well.

I: Thank you. It was a pleasure having you here.

WRITING Writing Activity

Now read the interview in Activity B. Underline all phrases that show what he usually does. Then write them in the spaces provided below. Put the good habits on the left and on the right you can write some bad habits for a sportsman you can think of. Compare your answers with those of your partner. Then write a statement about how good habits help a player become a famous sports person.

Εικόνα

WRITING & SPEAKING Writing Activity Speaking Activity

Discuss with your partner and write down three things that you think are bad habits for a sports person to have. Note: the same bad habits can apply to many different sports. Then compare your answers with those of other pairs and see how many things you have in common. Make a class poster with bad habits for a sportsperson.

1. swimming	To have a big meal before going swimming.
2. football
3. basket-ball
4. other

VOCABULARY ABC

In 2005 Pélé, the famous footballer, visited Xanthi to open the new sportsstadium. Imagine a famous person is coming to your town and you wantto interview him/her. Look at the interview again (Activity B, p. 30) and findwhat phrases you could use when:

We want to welcome someone ...................................................................

We want to answer back in a polite way .......................................................

We want to ask if someone likes the place he/she lives ...................................................

We want to know what we can do to be better................................................................

We want to end an interview ........................................................................................

Adverbs of frequency

We use the adverbs of frequency to show how often we do things.

	How often?
	He always brushes his teeth in the morning...........................................	100%
	They usually eat out on Sundays.............................................................	80%
	She often plays tennis at weekends.........................................................	70%
	I sometimes go to the theatre in winter.....................................................	50%
	It rarely/seldom snows in Athens..............................................................	20%
	He never eats vegetables and that's bad.................................................	0%

Look at this:

He usually wakes up early.

He is never late.

He doesn't always go to work by car. Where do you usually spend your summer holidays?

PUPILS' DAILY HABITS

Let's think about pupils' habits. Look at the questionnaire below and tick what's true for you.

QUESTIONNAIRE

Do you enjoy school? Find out if you have good or bad habits and see what you can do to become better at school. Put a tick next to the answer that is appropriate for you.

1. How often are you late for school?
a. often	b. never	c. sometimes
2. How often do you forget to do your homework?
a. always	b. usually	c. sometimes

3. Do you do your projects?
a. always	b. sometimes	c. never
4. Do you follow your teacher's advice?
a. usually	b. seldom	c. sometimes
5. Do you ask your teacher to help you understand difficult things?
a. sometimes	b. seldom	c. never
6. How often do you look up things in dictionaries , encyclopedias, the internet , biographies, etc.
a. seldom	b. sometimes	c. usually
7. How often do you let your parents/sisters and brothers/friends do your homework for you?
a. never	b. often	c. sometimes
8. Do you watch TV late at night instead of going to bed?
a. often	b. always	c. never

Εικόνα

WRITING & SPEAKING Writing Activity Speaking Activity

You will prepare a class survey. On a separate piece of paper

Write down how many pupils in your classroom answered often / usually / never / seldom / sometimes / always.
Then in pairs, for each question, draw and colour a pie chart, like the one on the right. The pie represents the whole class.
What conclusions can you cometo about the "personality"/profile of your class?
Discuss with your teacher about other charts you can use.

PORTFOLIO

EITHER Imagine you are a reporter from the school newspaper. You are writing a similar interview with a famous person you like and admire, like the one in Lesson 2, page 30. It can be an interview with an athlete, a singer, an actor/ actress, a writer, a painter, etc.

Write 4 or 5 questions and add the answers you got. Use magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias, the Internet, or the class books for your Greek lessons – eg. Anthologio for information.

You can add drawings, magazine pictures or anything else that can make your writing look nice.

OR Make a list of your good and bad habits. Think about school, home, friends, parents, pets.Make a list of them on a cardboard to put in the classroom. You can add that piece of writing in your portfolio.