A DAY IN THE LIFE

by Dr. Ajith Cherian

Space Oddity
 What tense do we use to express routine?
The simple present tense is used to express habits, general truths, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions and wishes:

◦ I dance (habit); I work in New Delhi (unchanging situation); India is a large country (general truth)

She is a pescatarian. She eats only fish.

I travel every summer.

Halley’s comet returns to Earth’s vicinity about every 75 years.

◦ To give instructions or directions:

You drive for two hundred meters, then you turn right.

Empty the tastemaker masala and noodles into 300ml of boiling water. Cook for 2 minutes.

◦ To express fixed arrangements, present or future:

Your exam starts at 09.00

She arrives next week.

◦ To express future time, after some conjunctions: after, when, before, as soon as, until:
He'll give it to you when you come next Saturday.

The doctor will see you before he leaves.

Source: Pädagogische Hochschule Vorarlberg
Routines: daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, often, sometimes, rarely?
◦ What is your routine?

◦ What do you have to/ don’t have to do?

◦ What do your family/friends have to/don’t have to do?

 A simple preparation guide for speaking and writing

◦ How will you start the conversation/writing?

◦ What topics are you going to talk/write about?

◦ How are you going to move from one topic to another?

◦ How are you going to end the conversation/writing?

 Features of Spoken and Written Language

Spoken Language Written Language

Basic unit is the clause (utterance) Basic unit is the sentence

Clauses linked by conjunction (and, but, so etc) to build the Clauses linked by subordination (who, which, when etc) to
text build the text

Frequent use of formulaic chunks (I was lucky enough) Little use of formulaic language

Informal language preferred (we used to get together) Formal language preferred (commenced)

Range of noticeable performance effects (hesitations, Few/no noticeable performance effects

pauses, repeats, false starts, incompletion)

Frequent use of ellipsis (omission of grammatical elements, Little use of ellipsis

started at the same time

Frequent use of personal pronouns (I, we) Little use of personal pronouns

©Anne Burns, LEARN Journal 2019

 Planning and Rehearsing
1) Choose a profession (e.g. astronaut, baker, doula, acupuncturist, Uber driver, florist, artist,
head-hunter, bounty-hunter, brewer, hacker, fashion designer, psychologist, mechanic,
spiritual guru, etc.)

2) Research and gather information about the profession.

3) Write the main points you want to cover about the profession (focus on routine):

i)

ii)

iii

4) Write down signposting words, phrases or expressions you would use to show that you will
be moving from point i to point ii and then on to point iii.
Listening & Writing: ‘A day in the life’

Listening & Writing Task

https://forms.gle/jAP8KTnD4bqyifFK6
 Homework

Watch Ridley Scott & Kevin Macdonald’s 2011 experimental documentary ‘Life In A Day’

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT_UmBHMYzg

Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaFVr_cJJIY