Life skills teacher’s notes
Managing friendships
SELF STUDY
If students are working alone, note that many of the
exercises have open answers. If possible, give self-study
students the opportunity to show you their work or to
exchange their work with other students.
Before watching
1 Encourage students to write a second name for any
statement that is true for them to avoid mentioning
themselves if that makes them uncomfortable. Ask
students to discuss their answers in pairs or small groups
and to ask each other for more details about the people
they mention, not just names. The fact that there is no
right way to make or keep friends is a central message
of the life skill.
While watching
2a 52 VIDEO SKILLS Ask students to read through the video
skills box before they do the exercise. This will help
them to make better sense of what they hear. Then
students watch the presenter at the beginning of the
video. Check the answer as a class.
Answer
making friends
VIDEO SKILLS: Understanding past habits
Talking about past habits is central to what the four
main speakers say. Highlight the different ways in which
people talk about things they did regularly in the past
before students watch and listen.
2b When checking answers, focus on content rather than
on the specific language used.
Suggested answers
Speaker 1: He left his door open. Speaker 2: She made
something to eat. Speaker 3: He knocked on people’s
doors. Speaker 4: She joined a club.
2c 52 This exercise requires students to listen to what
happened next. Each person mentions at least two
consequences of their decision. As in exercise 2b, focus on
content rather than on the specific language that students
use when checking this exercise. Ask students to discuss
their answers in pairs or small groups so they can help
each other to piece together what they heard. If students
haven’t understood, play the video again:
Speaker 1: sit there and hide, come by (= visit)
Speaker 2: appear out of nowhere (= quickly and
unexpectedly), sit around (= spend time doing nothing in
particular) Speaker 3: mad about (= like a lot)
Speaker 4: a society (= club), a month or so (= more or
less than a month).
Suggested answers
Speaker 1: People came to visit him. People said hello
and started a conversation. He invited them in for a cup of
tea. His room was full of people.
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B1 Unit
Speaker 2: People could smell her cooking. People came
to see her when she made something to eat. They had a
chat and a cup of tea. People offered to cook things for her.
Speaker 3: People liked his idea. People went outside to
play with his football or Frisbee. They didn’t play much but
they talked and made friends.
Speaker 4: She joined the photography club. She didn’t
make any friends in the first weeks. After about a month she
felt comfortable talking to people. She met her best friend.
3a 52 Again, accept any answers as correct if students
can justify them.
Suggested answers
Speaker 1: Statement 6 Speaker 2: Statements 4 and 6
Speaker 3: Statements 2 and 6 Speaker 4: Statements
1,2 and 3
3b When checking, give students time to discuss their
answers in small groups, but ascertain if they are
comfortable discussing such a sensitive issue.
EXTRA SPEAKING
In small groups, give a slip of paper with a personality
adjective on it to each student. (Suggested adjectives:
caring, shy, aggressive, helpful, calm, open-minded,
outgoing, etc.) If possible, give them an adjective
that’s different from their real personality. Students
then pretend they’re in a social situation and don’t
know each other. They have to try and make friends,
but behave according to the personality adjective
you gave them. At the end, can students guess each
other’s personalities?
After watching
4a This exercise aims to get students thinking about how
they made the friends they have. Being a is a sensitive
topic, the exercise is best done individually.
4b Only ask students to discuss what they found out by
doing the activity in very general terms. If nobody
volunteers, don’t insist.
4c SKILLS 4 LIFE This project involves students doing some
research at home between classes. Its aim is to get
students to find out if the way people make and keep
friends has changed over the last two generations. They
should see a lot of similarities but also some differences
due to the use of social media today. Students should
do steps 1 and 2 at home but could write step 3 in
class. They can then talk about their findings in small
groups.
REFLECT ON IT
Ask students to read the box and discuss the
questions with the class. They focus on the issue
of quality or quantity in friendships, especially in
an age when there’s pressure on teenagers to be
able to show how many friends they have on social
media apps.
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