Korean Association

English Class

Name:_______________________ Date:_______________

TOPIC: Housekeeping

Lesson overview
Goal: Talk about chores
Grammar: Making polite requests using modals
Vocabulary: House chores and house staff

Discuss the questions:

1 Do you consider yourself a busy person?

2 What things make you busy?

Language Focus: Look at the pictures and match to the correct phrases:

____________________ - tasks that are done at home to keep it clean and orderly

1. Which tasks do you do every day?

2. Which tasks do you do monthly?
Vocabulary: Fill in the blank by using the words from the box below
1. _________________________ is a person, usually a woman, who gets paid to clean
and do general house chores around the home.

2. _________________________ is a person whose main responsibility is to take care of the

children in the home and lives with the family.

3. _________________________ is a hired help that takes care of the child on a short

period of time.

4. _________________________ is a person who takes care of the garden and the lawn.

5. _________________________ is a person hired to prepare meals for the family.

6. _________________________* is a store where clothes are cleaned with chemicals.

*a term more commonly used in the U.S.A.

nanny
housekeeper
drycleaners
cook
babysitter
gardener

Activity: Answer the following questions, then get a partner and interview him or her.
Discuss your answers with each other.

QUESTIONS: YOUR ANSWER: YOUR PARTNER’S ANSWER:

Who does all the house chores in

your home?

Which chores you like doing and

which ones you don’t?

Should the husband and the wife

share all the house chores
together? Why or why not?

Should children be given house

chores? Why or why not?

Is it okay to hire house helpers to

do things around the home? Why
or why not?
GRAMMAR: MODALS TO ASK POLITE REQUESTS

Which sentence sounds better?

- Close the door please.
- Would you close the door please?

What words were used to make the command sound a polite request?

To make polite requests, you can use modals -will,-can, -would and -could.

To make it more polite than that, use “could you/would you+ simple verb + please...”
Example:
Would you please clean your room now? I am doing laundry today.
Could you please turn down the music? Thank you!

To make a request still polite but sound friendlier, use “can you/will you + simple verb”,
Example:
Can you get me a glass of water?
Will you please cook breakfast for the kids?

Let’s try: Read the following situations and write a polite request:

1. You want your husband to put his dirty clothes in the laundry bin:

_______________________________________________________________________________

2. You want your child to put away his/her toys:

________________________________________________________________________________

3. You want your friend to buy you coffee:

________________________________________________________________________________

4. You want to tell your housekeeper to clean the bathroom again.

________________________________________________________________________________

5. You want your mother-in-law to cook tonight’s dinner.

________________________________________________________________________________

Let’s discuss some more:

1. Is there such a thing as a “man’s chore” and “woman’s chore”?
2. At what age should children start doing chores?
3. Are you okay with your mother-in-law doing household chores around the house?