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MY HOME, MY FOLKS
THEMATIC UNIT: WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO ME
THEMATIC CONTENT: MY TALENTS, MY LIMITATIONS

Task: Prepare for and carry out an interview for your exchange
program, include information on your personal life, skills, and
interests.

GOALS:
• To select a vacant position for a candidate at the university
• To survey your classmates about their abilities

Context: An exchange program requires you to take an interview with the official
representatives.

LANGUAGE FOCUS
Greetings and Farewells: How are you?. How do you do?. Have a good night.
The alphabet: How do you spell your name?. How do you spell your last name?
Numbers  (1-100):  What’s your phone number?. What’s your address?
2 Months: When is your birthday?. When is Colombia’s independence?
Days of the Week: Class is on Monday. I rest on Saturdays.
Countries: Where are you from?. What country would you like to visit?
Expressions of Time (early, on time, o’clock, at night, in the afternoon,in a rush...): I arrive on time
to the English class. I have science class at night.
Frequency Adverbs: On Sunday, I usually go to the university at 8:00 o’clock, I visit my parents on
vacations.
Sequence Connectors: First, later, then, after, before, finally.
Basic Action Verbs: Study, Work, Eat, Go.
Verb to Be: I am a student, She is my professor.
Simple Present Tense (affirmative, interrogative and negative): I usually work on weekends. I do not
sleep at home on Fridays, What do you like to do on weekends?. How often do you go to the library?
Family Members: How many brothers do you have?. What is your father´s name?
Colors What is your favorite color?. Do you prefer red or green?
Family Types: Do you have step-siblings?. What does you father-in-law do?
Occupations and Jobs: What does a researcher do?. What does a scientist do?
Physical Descriptions: How do you look like?. What do you look like?
Body Parts: My hair is black. Your eyes are beautiful.
House Objects: My tv set is great. I have a bookcase for my magazines.
Rooms of the House: My kitchen is convenient. My room is very comfortable.

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 Types of Houses: I live in an apartment. My sister lives in a flat.
Adjectives She is intelligent. I am serious.
Word Order: (Adjetivos y sustantivos) I love that really old big green antique.
Possessive Adjectives (mi, tu, su: de él, de ella, de ellos, de ellas): My best friend is special. Her
brother is so smart?
Saxon Possessive (‘s): The principal´s director office is on the third floor. Students´ lives are
energy consuming.
Yes/no Questions: Do you have a part-time job?. Does your advisor work at the university?
There Is/Are: There are several libraries at the university. There isn’t a physics lab on block 2.
Prepositions of Place (en - sobre - entre, y otras): There is a cafeteria behind the museum. There
are several rooms in block  5.
Sports and Leisure Time Activities: I practice soccer and baseball. I do karate.
Feelings And Personality Traits: She is so funny. I feel moody today.
Can / Can’t, Be Able To (Negative Form) I can graduate from a program. I can´t be mediocre, I
am able to do what I want, I am not able to fail.
Infinite: To have an interview. To read an article.

Pronunciation

ACTION ONE: There are 3 vacant positions in the university and you are one of the members
of the Student Admissions and Recruitment Committee. Listen to a candidate and choose
the position that would suit him/her best according to the skills he/she describes.

Aa PRE: Talents & abilities vocabulary

1. Look at the activities in the chart and think: Which of them can you do?
BbCc Tick P the boxes.

- use a computer - play soccer

- sing in Spanish - make a video
- Swim - play chess
- drive a car - dive underwater
- dance Salsa - paint a landscape
- speak German - take photos
- climb mountains - build a house
- ride a bike - give a speech in public

Grammar Task: Asking questions using modal verb “Can”

Ask each other questions about the activities you selected in the box above.
Keep the conversation going by asking additional information depending on
your classmates’ answers. Here are some ideas of how you can do this:
 A- Can you drive a car?
B- Yes, I can drive a car.
A- Oh! How nice. Can you drive a big truck?
A- Can you paint a landscape?
B- Sure, I can paint a landscape.
A- Interesting. What else can you paint?
When we ask Yes No/questions in English,
the intonation is rising. If we are asking Wh- or
information questions, the intonation is a falling
intonation.
Can you dance?
What languages can you speak?

WHILE: Select the best position for this candidate.

Julian was interviewed to participate in an exchange program. While in the process

of being accepted, he has also been offered three positions at a university in his country. There
are three vacants available. Listen to his interview and according to the skills he describes,
choose the one that would suit him best.
Teacher and researcher in
a languages faculty

Accountant in the admissions Coordinator in the Natural

and registrations center Sciences institute

POST: Prepare for an interview

What does it take to prepare for an interview like the one you just saw? Read the
following recommendations and talk about them in class.

Ian practice drums

There or
areguitar
manyincases
the church I attend
in which and I can
popular, knit in wool.
especially because it saves time, and in
you may have an interview. many cases shortens distances. Interviews of
On WednesdaysFor I can teach called
example, whenbridge
youto reading thatare
this type I like very much.
usually held when people live in
apply for a job or you want different cities or countries.
to register for an academic •One-to-one - Face-to-face encounter with one
program. Regardless of the situation, the interviewer: after the organisation decides that
following are some important things to you’ve got
consider to prepare for that important event: what it’s looking for, they will call you for
a formal interview and ask you questions
1. Know the type of interview: concerning your professional background and
Know the type of interview you are going to some personal interests.
have and make all the necessary arrangements •Panel: They are similar to one-to-one
in advance: interviews, except that two or more people
•Video - Whether through Skype, FaceTime or (often from different parts of the organisation)
YouTube, this type of interview is increasingly will be assessing you at the same time.

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2. Anticipate The Interview:
Interviews require research and planning.
Generally, you should do the following when
preparing for an interview:
• Anticipate potential questions and prepare
answers accordingly.
• Fully understand the position that you’re
applying for identifying what skills, interests
and experiences the interviewer is looking for.
• Prepare questions to ask the interviewer.
• Read the organisation’s website, social media
profiles and key literature and prepare yourself
to share your own views and ideas.
the position and you are really listening to the
interviewer.
• Avoid talking about any personal problems
and be as enthusiastic as possible.
• Be well-mannered with any staff that you
meet before the interview and display positive
body language.
• Highlight your best attributes, experiences and
achievements evidencing them with true
examples.
• Let your personality shine naturally.
• Wear appropriate clothes since this will
show that you care about for your personal
presentation.

3. Make a Good First Impression:
Good first impressions play an important role
in the selection of candidates. Here are some
suggestions for a first good impression:
• Answer questions clearly and concisely and
ask relevant questions at appropriate moments.
This shows that you’re genuinely interested in
2. Watch Julian’s interview once again. Which
of the suggestions from the previous reading
did you identify in his interview?
3. How about you? Have you ever had an
interview? What concerns you about this type
of communicative interaction?
Adapted from: https://goo.gl/FyORyA

ACTION TWO: You are in charge of organizing an event at the university. Interview your
classmates to learn about their talents and skills to help you attain your goal. 5

PRE: Watch a video about people`s talents and abilities

In this video a teacher is interviewing her colleagues about their talents.
What questions does she ask? Take notes of each interviewee’s answers in the
corresponding boxes.

CLAUDIA ANDRES

Claudia can... Andres can...

She can drive a car He can speak french

She can swim and she can dance He can play tennis

She can sing He can read books

She can’t... He can’t...

she can´t speak french He can´t cook

She can´t draw He can´t surf

She can´t play soccer He can´t speak German

 Pronunciation Task: Can vs can’t
is there a difference in the pronunciation of Can and Can´t? Discuss it with your
teacher and classmates and practice the following conversation in pairs.

A- Welcome to our show, Ms. Baines. You are a talented

woman.
I hear you can play the piano. Can you play any other
instrument?
B- Yes, Bob. I can play the guitar, too. In fact, I recorded a
song in which I played the guitar myself.
A- That’s very nice. And, can you write any songs?
B- Oh, well. I leave that to the composers. To be honest, I
can’t write music.
A- How about dancing? Can you dance?
B- I sure can! That is something I can do well. I love to dance
when I have free time, but I can’t dance Tango. I would love
to learn how to do that.
A- Like I said, you are very talented. Thank you for your
time, Ms. Baines. good dancer.

WHILE: Survey a classmate about his/her abilities to organize an event at the university.

You and a classmate are in charge of preparing a university event (i.e., a book fair, a talent
contest, a charity event... etc). First, depending on the event, think of all the people you would
need to help you to carry out the event. Then, in order to find who can help you, create questions
to survey some classmates about their talents and abilities. After this, apply the survey to your
classmates.

Look at the example below to create relevant questions for this activity:

1. Type of event: A language fair

2. Resources needed: A presenter, people who speak different
languages, some signs and publicity, some stands, etc.
3. Possible questions to find candidates:
a. Can you speak in public?
b. Can you make a sign?
c. What languages can you speak besides Spanish?

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 Type of Event: __________________________________________

There are some questions we would like to ask you to see how
you can participate:

1. ___________________________________________________________?

Survey Tips: 2. ___________________________________________________________?

In order to get the 3. ___________________________________________________________?

information you need,
your questions have to be 4. ___________________________________________________________?
purposeful. Before creating
them think about: 5. ___________________________________________________________?

a. What kind of event is it 6. ___________________________________________________________?

going to be? Your questions
should be related to the
information you need to 7. ___________________________________________________________?
collect.
b. Remember that questions 8. ___________________________________________________________?
can be closed: Can you
dance Tango? or they can 9. ___________________________________________________________?
be open: What are some of
your talents? 10. __________________________________________________________?

POST: Read and write about your own talents.

Read aloud about someone’s description of her own and her parents’
talents.

They say that children often inherit their parents’

talents and abilities. For example, if the father is an athlete,
chances are that his children will be good sports players. If the
mother is an artist, it is highly possible that her children will be
talented in any artistic field.
I guess that’s the case in my family. Dad is a great artist.
He can draw beautiful landscapes, and I am able to paint and
draw well, too.
Besides this, I can play the violin, and I can dance ballet. Mom
and Dad always make sure I develop these skills Every day
after school,
I take a different class, and I love it. When I grow up, I can
become an art teacher, work at an academy, a museum, or at a
school helping other kids to develop their own talents.
 Mom can’t draw, paint or dance, but she is also an
artist in her own way. She is a chef. She can cook all kinds
of international and traditional dishes from our country,
Japan. She owns a big restaurant in town. She is able to
organize parties and events, and she can decorate her dishes
beautifully with all kinds of flowers and textures. Besides
that, Mom can speak three languages fluently, and that’s
what makes her a successful business woman in the food
industry.
We all can do many things in our family and we
are very proud of ourselves, I sure hope one day if I have
children, they will inherit some of our talents as well.
Source: Uceda English Series (2006)

Grammar Task: Can / Can’t and Be Able To

Write a short paragraph (similar to the one above) about your talents and some of your
relatives’.

I start talking about my mom's talents. she can dance, she can read and she likes

to play sports, but she is an artist, she likes to draw and paint landscapes with many

8 colors in addition to that, she draws very well and very beautiful what she likes to paint

and draw are trees. My mom can speak in sign language because she has deaf

friends, she can also ride a very big bike and she can make some good videos.

I can use the computer, I can cook a delicious pork rib soup, I can ride a horse, on

weekends with my grandfather, I can also understand some texts in English,

I can practice drums or guitar in the church I attend and I can knit in wool.

On Wednesdays I can teach a program called bridge to reading that I like very much.

I can't draw or paint beautiful things, it's not my talent, but I can practice dancing and

rehearse in the afternoon.

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