​UNIVERSIDAD DE COLIMA BUSINESS CLASS

L​IFE​ E​XPERIENCES​ B1 LEVEL

Student’s name School

Competence Can describe experiences and events, even when negative. Student Id Number
You will organize language used for descriptions from a situation in a
Plan’s Objective TOEFL Score
spoken output.
Special needs

Learning Check Check

# Skill Activity (specify bibliography/ material and steps)
objective in out
1. Read the short paragraphs about mistakes. ​Answer the questions.

You will 2. Read the article about amnesia and take notes. ​Answer the
distinguish
exercises.
vocabulary and
1 Reading
phrases to
describe events 3. Research the grammar topic: WH questions and Yes/No questions Date:
and ask questions. in the past. Take notes. ​Use your notes to answer the questions.

4. ​Check your responses.

1. Before you listen to the video do the ​pre-listening activity.

2. Listen to the video “​Three things that I learned while my plane

You will recognize
crashed”​ and complete the activities.
lessons learned
2 Listening
from experiences
using a recording 3. ​Make a list & write ​the meaning and translation of new
vocabulary you don't know in the audio. ( 10 words at least) Date:

4. Use the answer key to ​check your answers.

1. Read ​the fragments from “How to Write a Personal Experience
Essay”.

2. ​Decide on a life experience​ that you have had. ​Choose one topic
from the following:
You will contrast ● A relationship with an important person like a grandparent or best
the positive & friend. Date:
Writing negative aspects of ● An event which was small but significant.
3 an experience by ●Your experience and memories of a place that embodies who you
writing a short are, or has meaning for you.
composition. Brainstorm ​your ideas answering the 5 questions in the “How to
decide if you have a good topic” section of the article.

3. Write an essay of at least 100 words​ after organizing your ideas.

❖ To review how to write an essay, open the powerpoint “How
to: 3 paragraph essays”

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 ​UNIVERSIDAD DE COLIMA BUSINESS CLASS
L​IFE​ E​XPERIENCES​ B1 LEVEL

Learning Check Check

# Skill Activity (specify bibliography/ material and steps)
objective in out
1. Look at the examples of “ ​Life Experiences”​ from the QUORA
magazine. ​Read along ​as you listen to the audio. ​Take notes​ on
changes in pitch and tone. ​Answer the questions​ about one of the
experiences.

You will describe 2. Look at the three descriptions given of famous people. ​Select​ one.
the positive & Investigate​ a powerful experience that occurred throughout their life. Date:
negative aspects of Take notes.
4 Speaking an experience
through a 3.​ Give a biographical speech​ of the person you investigated. Be
biographical sure to include:
speech.
❖ Who are they?
❖ What powerful experience occurred in their life?
❖ What did they learn and/or how did it affect their life?

4. Record ​yourself using your phone, adobe spark, loom, or others.

Show this recording to your tutor.

You will point out

language used for Write or speak a blog ​(120 words) in which you talk about a life
descriptions, experience that marked your life. Some options are:
including the ❖ A single encounter with someone that changed you.
5 Product
positive and ❖ A major, life changing event.
negative aspects, ❖ Something that you did over and over that was meaningful to
from a personal you. Date:
situation in a blog.

1. Complete your ​Personal Reflection. ​Be as honest as possible

You will detect about how you felt and what you learned.
areas of
2. Complete the ​CEI services assessment.
6 Reflection opportunity after
completing the 3. ​Download ​your new plan.
work plan. ★ If you want to modify and personalize your work plan, make Date:
an appointment with a tutor.

Advisor &
Notes:

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 Centro Especializado de Idiomas Business Class
READING Activities: LIFE EXPERIENCES Level: B1

Student’s name: Plan 1 Act. 1

Making Mistakes
Read the following problems. What mistake did each person make and what advice would you give
them?

Alicia:

My advice to this person:

Kenichi

My advice to this person:

Melanie

My advice to this person:

Describe a time you made a mistake:

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 Centro Especializado de Idiomas Business Class
READING Activities: LIFE EXPERIENCES Level: B1

Student’s name: Plan 1 Act. 1

Amnesia
Read the article. Underline any unknown vocabulary. Take notes.

New Vocabulary:

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 Centro Especializado de Idiomas Business Class
READING Activities: LIFE EXPERIENCES Level: B1

Student’s name: Plan 1 Act. 1

Amnesia (continued)
Use the article “Amnesia Spoils Newlyweds’ Bliss” to answer the following questions.
1. Where is the couple from?

2. Who was in a serious car accident?

3. Who found Sean after he went missing?

4. How long had the couple dated?

5. When did Sean’s memories return?

6. What is the main idea of the article?

Write whether the statements are True or False. Justify your answers with quotes from the article.
1. Sean’s amnesia began after he was in a serious car accident.

2. Sean shoved cake in Amy’s face when he remembered who she was.

3. The amnesia might have been caused by too much stress.

Critical thinking: Answer the questions with your ideas.

1. What do you personally believe might have caused Sean’s amnesia?

2. What would you do if you were in Amy’s position?

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 Centro Especializado de Idiomas Business Class
READING Activities: LIFE EXPERIENCES Level: B1

Student’s name: Plan 1 Act. 1

Grammar Look

Research how to write WH-questions and Yes-No questions in the simple past tense. Use online
resources or books at the CEI. Take notes.

What source did you use to take notes?

Use your notes to answer the questions below:

What is the position of the subject and the verb in questions? Give an example.

What auxiliary do you use for questions in the past tense? Give an example.

In what tense do you write your main verb? Give an example.

When do you NOT use the auxiliary? How does the verb changed? Give an example.

How do you write a question with Wh-words? Give an example.

Look again at the article, “Amnesia Spoils Newlyweds’ Bliss”. Write examples of questions you would ask
Amy or Sean today, using Wh-words and the past simple tense.
Hint: Start your questions with who, what, when, where, why, and how.

1
2
3
4
5
6

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 Centro Especializado de Idiomas Business Class
LISTENING Activities: LIFE EXPERIENCES Level: B1

Student’s name: Plan 1 Act. 2

Three Things I learned While My Plane Crashed

PRE-LISTENING ACTIVITY: Answer the questions before you watch and listen to the video.

Think of an important event in your life (An accident, a sickness, when you met someone important,
graduation, etc). Why was it important for you? What happened? How did it change you?

Answer the following questions about the video by Eric Elias: Three things I learned while my plane
crashed

1. Where was he sitting, in the plane?

2. Why did the pilot turn the plane around?

3. Why did he not have to talk to the flight attendant anymore?

4. What did he stop doing?

5. What did he regret?

6. What did he decide to eliminate from his life?

7. For how long had he not had a fight with his wife?

8. How did he feel after recognizing that dying is not scary?

9. What were the three things that he learned?

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LISTENING Activities: LIFE EXPERIENCES Level: B1

Student’s name: Plan 1 Act. 2

Three Things I learned While My Plane Crashed (continued)

POST-LISTENING ACTIVITY: Answer the questions Mr. Elias made at the end of the video.
Imagine yourself in a situation in which you are probably going to die (As in Mr. Elias story)

How would you change?

What would you get done that you're waiting to get done because you think you'll be here forever?

How would you change your relationships and the negative energy in them?

And more than anything, are you being the best parent you can? (if you are not a parent yet, you can replace
“parent” with “student”, “daughter or son”, “brother or sister”, “wife or husband”, “friend” etc.)

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 Centro Especializado de Idiomas Business Class
WRITING Activities: LIFE EXPERIENCES Level: B1

Student’s name: Plan 1 Act. 3

How to Write a Personal Experience Essay

How to Find Significance of a Memory

Writing an essay about a personal experience or relationship can be a powerful way of both discovering the
meaning of your own past and sharing that past with others. When you write about something in your past,
you have two perspectives:
● Your perspective in the present.
● Your perspective you had at the time the event occurred.
The space between these perspectives is usually where you will find significance in that event or relationship.

Choosing a Memory to Write About

If the event or relationship is recent, you will be closer to the "you" that experienced the event. If the event is
more distant, you will often find yourself reflecting on the experience, your reactions and the meaning of the
experience differently.

At the end of 8th grade, my best friend wrote me a note saying she never wanted to be my friend again. I
was devastated, and terribly depressed all summer, terrified to start High School alone. Forty years later,
I realize that that experience was probably what made me finally reach out to develop new friends. Those
friends encouraged me to develop my life-long interest in speech, theater, and writing. More importantly,
that experience of rejection gave me a lifelong compassion for others.
— VirginiaLynne

Topic Ideas
Any event from your past can be a good topic if it was important to you. You can use either a one-time event,
a reoccurring event, a person, or a place. Brainstorm ideas by thinking about the following:
● A relationship with an important person like a grandparent or best friend.
● An event which was small but significant.
● Your experience and memories of a place that embodies who you are, or has meaning for you.

How to Decide if You Have a Good Topic

To make sure you have a good topic, you need to determine what the meaning of that event or person was for
you. To help you get ideas about the meaning and to decide whether this topic is a good choice, jot down some
notes answering the following 5 questions:
1. What did I think the meaning of the experience was when it happened?
2. How have my thoughts about it changed?
3. What did I learn?
4. How has my life direction been affected by this event?
5. Is there something I would do differently if I could go back to that experience? Any regrets?

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WRITING Activities: LIFE EXPERIENCES Level: B1

Student’s name: Plan 1 Act. 3

Brainstorm

Write your topic here:

Answer the questions from “How to Decide if You Have a Good Topic” below.
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Organize your ideas for an essay using an outline (mind map, table, etc.)

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WRITING Activities: LIFE EXPERIENCES Level: B1

Student’s name: Plan 1 Act. 3

Writing Practice
Write your essay on the topic you chose below. Use your brainstorm and your outline.

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SPEAKING Activities: LIFE EXPERIENCES Level: B1

Student’s name: Plan 1 Act. 4

QUORA Magazine
Read along to the following experiences. Underline phrases where the speaker changes their pitch and
tone.
A)

I am not going to tell what 'bad life experience' I had, but it taught me so many things at once and I'm sure
that I won't repeat that mistake again in my life. These are the life lessons I got:
Never trust someone blindly. NEVER. People will change.
Never be so good with anyone that they start taking it as your weakness.
Trust your instincts.
People don't show who they really are. Most of the time people are fake. Not everyone is fake, but many
are.
These are the biggest life lessons I got from the mistake I made, and these life lessons will be with me
forever and I'm never going to forget them.
Thanks. :)
B)

I have been backstabbed so many times by my Friends that I have learnt one thing in my life and it has
really improved the Quality of my life as well has given me the experience I have today in dealing with
situations.
That lesson is very simple, though it may look negative but in reality it is something very positive
Never rely on people to help you out through your life. Always trust yourself and be self-reliant. It may
take some time and lot of efforts but you will eventually reach the solutions all by yourself.
C)

The birth of my daughter was by far the best experience of my life. It was absolutely amazing when she
appeared and everything changed. It seemed for a time well thirteen months was magical. I had never been
around a baby before. I had no clue they were so smart. She absorbed everything we did. Facial
expressions, the way she sat in a sort of gangster slouch, even the way she tried to talk. That from her birth
to when I was taken from her was the most amazing experience of this life.

Select ONE the situations, A, B or C. Answer the following questions about it.

What is the experience about?

Is the experience bad, good or both?

Did the author of the writing learn anything?

What piece of advice would you give to this person?

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 Centro Especializado de Idiomas Business Class
SPEAKING Activities: LIFE EXPERIENCES Level: B1

Student’s name: Plan 1 Act. 4

Biographies
Observe the descriptions below. Circle the one that seems most interesting to you.

Helen Adams Keller (June Maya Angelou, born Nelson Rolihlahla

27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) Marguerite Annie Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5
was an American author, Johnson, (April 4, 1928 – December 2013) was a
political activist May 28, 2014) was an South African anti-
American poet, singer, apartheid revolutionary,
memoirist, and civil political leader, and
rights activist. philanthropist.

Investigate the person you circled. Look up a difficult time in their life and take notes below.

Prepare a descriptive oral biography. Be sure to include:

 Who the person is and why they are well-known
 What powerful experience occurred in their life? Give as much details as possible.
 What did they learn?

Record yourself and present the recording to your tutor.

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