Author: teacherjulieta

Ask for Information

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In this lesson, you will practice real-life English that you can use when you need help, directions, details, or clarification. These skills are very useful for travel, work, school, and everyday conversations.

🎯 What will you learn?

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Ask for information politely and clearly
  • Use correct question forms
  • Understand and respond to common information questions
  • Feel more confident speaking in real-life situations

🗣️ Useful Phrases: Asking for Information and Advice

Use these phrases in phone calls, emails, or face-to-face conversations. Try to sound polite and calm.

✅ Asking for Information

SituationUseful Phrases
Starting a conversationHello, I’m calling to find out about _______.
Excuse me, can I ask you something?
Asking for general informationCan you give me some information about the _____?
I wonder if you could give me some information about the _______.
Asking for specific detailsCan/Could you tell me when the course starts? Can/Could you tell me how much it costs?
Showing interestI’d like to find out about _________.
I’m interested in ___________.
Asking about availability or offersDo you offer discounts for students?
Is there an evening class available?
Very polite requestsWould you mind telling me when the course starts?

💬 Responding to a Request for Information

PurposeUseful Phrases
Greeting the callerHello, this is … How can I help?
Offering helpCan I help you? What can I do for you?
Checking informationLet me see. Let me check that for you.
Ending the conversationIs there anything else I can do for you?

🔁 Repeating Back to Confirm Understanding

PurposeUseful Phrases
Confirming detailsOK, thanks. The course starts on Monday. Got that.
Checking understandingSo, the fee is $200, right?

🙏 Thanking

SituationUseful Phrases
Saying thank youThanks very much for your help. Thank you for the information.

Let’s Practice!

Practice 1

Practice 2

Practice 3

Practice 4

Speaking Practice

  1. Spin the wheel.
  2. Read the situation.
  3. Ask for information. Use the useful phrases box to prepare your dialogue.

✍️ Writing Practice

Try answering these questions:

  1. How would you ask for the price of a jacket?
  2. How would you ask where the nearest bus stop is?
  3. How would you politely ask about opening hours?

Write your answers and practice saying them out loud.

Make and Respond to Requests

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In this lesson, you will learn how to ask people to do things politely and how to answer requests in a friendly way. This language is very useful in daily life, at work, and with friends.

🎯 What will you learn?

By the end of this lesson, you can:

  • Ask for help politely 🙏
  • Say yes or no in a polite way
  • Choose the right phrase for the situation
  • Sound more natural in English

How to Make Polite Requests

In English, we usually make requests using questions, not commands.

✅ Useful Request Phrases

Polite requestExample
Could you…?Could you help me with this?
Would you mind + -ing…?Would you mind opening the window?
Do you think you could…?Do you think you could help me later?
Would it be possible to…?Would it be possible to send this email?
Just one more thing…Just one more thing, if it’s not too much trouble?

💡 Tip: These phrases sound friendly and polite 👍

How to Respond to Requests

You can accept, refuse, or delay a request.

👍 Positive Responses (Yes)

PhraseWhen to use it
Yes, sure.Informal / friendly
Of course, happy to.Very polite
No problem.Casual situations

🤔 Neutral Responses (Maybe)

PhraseMeaning
It depends what it is.You need more information
Possibly. When do you need it?You are not sure yet

🙅 Polite Refusals (No)

PhraseWhy it’s polite
I’m really sorry, but I’m too busy right now.Apology + reason
I’m afraid I can’t do that.Soft and respectful

💡 Tip: Always add sorry or I’m afraid to sound polite.

Be Careful! ⚠️

❌ Too direct:

  • Help me.
  • Do this for me.

✅ Better:

  • Could you help me?
  • Would you mind doing this for me?

Let’s Practice!

Practice 1

Practice 2

Practice 3

Speaking

Christmas

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Christmas is a special time of year in many countries. In this lesson, you will do fun activities to practice English while talking about Christmas traditions, experiences, and opinions. Relax, enjoy, and try to speak as much as possible!

Let’s talk about Christmas

In small groups, discuss the following questions.

Listen carefully to your classmates and take notes on any interesting ideas you hear.

1 Do people celebrate Christmas in your country? How?

2 Is Christmas more a family holiday or a religious holiday where you live?

3 What is one tradition that almost everyone follows in your country?

Let’s learn vocabulary about Christmas

Work in small groups.

Look at the flashcards and guess the Christmas words.

Let’s practice vocabulary

Practice 1

Practice 2

Christmas Quiz

Christmas letter

Practice 1

Complete the following Christmas letter.

Practice 2

Write a short Christmas letter to your teacher or a classmate and send it using the chat box.

CHRISTMAS KARAOKE

Work in small groups.

  1. Choose a Christmas song:
    • Let It Snow
    • OR a surprise song
  2. Listen to your chosen song and complete the missing lyrics.
  3. When all groups have finished, the class will vote for one song, and everyone will sing along together! 🎶🎄

CHRISTMAS SONGS QUIZ

Work in small groups.

You will listen to short clips of Christmas songs.

For each clip, try to:

  • Fill in missing words from the lyrics

BOARD GAME

Work in small groups.

  1. Take turns rolling the virtual dice to move your piece along the board.
  2. When you land on a square, follow the instructions (answer a question, complete a task, or do a fun challenge).
  3. Use English to communicate your answers.
  4. The first player or team to reach the finish wins the game! 🎉

MERRY  CHRISTMAS!!!

So/ Such… that , too/ (not) enough … to

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Understanding how to connect ideas is an important part of speaking and writing in English. In this lesson, we look at two very useful structures: so/such… that and too… to / (not) enough… to. These help you explain reasons, results, and limits in a clear way.

1. SO / SUCH … THAT

We use so and such to talk about a cause, and that to show the result.

👉 Grammar

  • so + adjective + that
    • I’m so tired that I want to sleep right now.
  • such + a/an + adjective + noun + that
    • It was such a good movie that I watched it twice.

👉 When to use SO

Use so before an adjective or adverb.
✔ The people were so friendly that I felt relaxed.

👉 When to use SUCH

Use such before an adjective + noun.
✔ It’s such a beautiful day that I want to go outside.

Examples

  • The problem was so big that I needed help.
  • She has such long hair that everyone notices her.

2. TOO … TO / (NOT) ENOUGH … TO

These structures explain that something is more or less than we want or need.

👉 TOO … TO

Use too + adjective + to + verb
→ shows something is more than you want or a negative result.

✔ It’s too cold to go for a walk.
✔ He was too nervous to speak.

👉 (NOT) ENOUGH … TO

Use:

  • not enough + noun
    ✔ There isn’t enough time to finish.
  • adjective + enough
    ✔ She isn’t strong enough to lift it.

→ means you don’t have as much as you want.

Let’s Practice!

Practice 1

Practice 2

Practice 3

Speaking

Practice 1

Discuss the following questions

Practice 2

Read the information in the card.

Make a sentence using too, enough, so or such.

Example:

The card says: “There were 20 chairs and 20 people.”

My sentence: There were enough chairs to seat all the people .

Make Complaints

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We all have moments when something goes wrong. For example, a cold meal at a restaurant, a noisy hotel room, a delayed delivery. In English, it’s important to complain politely, not angrily. Here you will find useful expressions, examples, and a short practice activity.

1. When do we make complaints?

Here are common situations:

  • At a restaurant (the food is cold / wrong order)
  • In a hotel (room is dirty / too noisy)
  • In a store (item is broken / size is wrong)
  • With services (internet doesn’t work / package arrives late)

Complaints are usually made to solve a problem, not to argue.
So the language needs to be polite, clear, and calm.

Useful Phrases for Complaining

FunctionUseful Phrases
Complaining• I’m sorry, but there’s been a mistake with …
• I’m afraid that there’s a problem with …
• There seems to be a problem with …
• Can I see your …, please?
• I’d like to make a complaint.
Giving reasons for complaints• The problem is …
• The … doesn’t work.
• The … is broken.
• I’ve been waiting for …
Responding and offering solutions• I’m very sorry about that.
• Unfortunately, we can’t …
• We’ll give you …
Asking for action• I’d like to cancel the order / get a refund / speak to the manager, please.
• I’d like you to (change it for a new one).
• Please could you (bring the bill)?
SituationComplainingGiving ReasonAsking for Action
Cold food at a restaurantI’m afraid that there’s a problem with my meal.The food is cold.Please could you heat it up?
Wrong orderI’m sorry, but there’s been a mistake with my order.The problem is I ordered chicken, not fish.I’d like you to change it for a new one.
Broken product (store)There seems to be a problem with this.The item is broken.I’d like to get a refund, please.
Hotel room issuesI’d like to make a complaint.The shower doesn’t work.I’d like you to send someone to fix it.
Long waiting timeI’m afraid that there’s a problem with the service.I’ve been waiting for 30 minutes.Can I speak to the manager, please?
Incorrect billI’m sorry, but there’s been a mistake with the bill.The problem is the price is wrong.Please could you correct it?

Let’s Practice!

Practice 1

Speaking

Practice 1

Practice 2

Reported Questions

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Sometimes we want to talk about a question someone asked us in the past.
To do that, we use reported questions.

This lesson will help you understand how to change direct questions into reported questions in a simple, clear way.

1. What is a reported question?

A reported question tells us what someone asked, but we don’t use the exact words.

Direct QuestionReported Question
“Where are you going?”, she asked.She asked where I was going.

Look at the differences:
✔ no question mark
✔ no question word order
✔ the tense changes (are going → was going)

2. How to change a question into a reported question

Here are the three rules you need to know.

Rule 1: Remove do / does / did

Many questions use do, does, or did. When we report the question, these words disappear and we change the tense.

Direct:
“How do you make that?”

Reported:
He asked me how I made that.

make → made

Rule 2: Change the word order

If the question uses am / is / are / can / will, move the auxiliary verb after the subject.

Direct:
“Where are you going?”

Reported:
She asked me where I was going.

No question form.
It looks like a normal statement.

Rule 3: Use ask somebody to for requests

If someone asks us to do something, we use:
ask + somebody + to + verb

Direct:
“Could you give me an example?”

Reported:
She asked me to give her an example.

✔ no “could”
✔ use to + verb

3. Reported Questions – Quick Table

TypeDirect QuestionReported QuestionWhat changes?
Wh- + do/does/did“How do you make that?”He asked how I made that.Remove do. Change tense.
Wh- + be/auxiliary“Where are you going?”She asked where I was going.Change word order.
Yes/No question“Do you like it?”He asked if I liked it.Use if/whether. Remove do.
Request“Could you help me?”She asked me to help her.Use ask somebody to.

Let’s Practice!

Practice 1

Practice 2

Speaking

Practice 1

Transform the direct questions into reported questions

Reported Speech (Grammar review)

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We use reported speech when we want to tell someone what another person said, without using their exact words.

  • Direct speech: “I’m tired,” she said.
  • Reported speech: She said she was tired.

Instead of repeating the original sentence word-for-word, we shift the grammar to fit the new context.

Reported speech helps you:

  • tell stories
  • explain conversations
  • share news
  • sound more natural in English

You will use it all the time in real life.

Direct speech

“I’m tired,” she said.
→ You repeat the exact words.

Reported speech

She said she was tired.
→ You change the sentence to report the idea.

We usually change:

  • pronouns
  • verbs (the tense)
  • time words

Don’t worry—here are the basic steps!

Pronoun Changes

We change the pronouns depending on who is speaking.

Direct: “I like this class.”
Reported: He said he liked the class.

Direct: “We are hungry.”
Reported: They said they were hungry.

3. Verb Changes (Backshift)

In reported speech, the verb usually moves one step back in time.

Direct SpeechReported Speech
“I am tired.”She said she was tired.
“We are studying.”They said they were studying.
“I went home.”He said he had gone home.

Backshift of Tenses – Reported Speech (Intermediate Level)

Direct SpeechReported Speech (Backshift)Example
Present SimplePast Simple“I work here.” → He said he worked there.
Present ContinuousPast Continuous“I’m studying.” → She said she was studying.
Present PerfectPast Perfect“I have finished.” → He said he had finished.
Past SimplePast Perfect“I went home.” →
He said he had gone home.
WillWould“I will call you.” → She said she would call me.
CanCould“I can help.” →
He said he could help.
MayMight“I may be late.” → She said she might be late.
MustHad to (usually)“I must leave.” →
He said he had to leave.
ShallShould / would (rare in modern English)“I shall return.” →
He said he would return.

(At B1, this is the main rule to remember. There are more verb tenses and some exceptions that you will learn later)

4. Time Word Changes

Some time words also change:

DirectReported
todaythat day
tomorrowthe next day
yesterdaythe day before
nowthen

Let’s Practice!

Practice 1

Practice 2

Speaking

Practice 1

Practice 2

Say, Tell, Speak & Talk

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Easy guide for Reported Speech

These three verbs can be confusing, but the rules are actually simple.

1. SAY

Use say + words / sentence

We use say when we only report the words.

  • She said she was tired.
  • He said he didn’t understand.

❌ We cannot use say + a person.
(Not: She said me…)

✔️ Use say to + person

  • She said to me that she was tired.

2. TELL

Use tell + a person

We use tell when we say who we are talking to.

  • She told me she was tired.
  • They told us they were not ready.
  • My friend told her the news.

✔️ Always: tell + someone + something

3. SPEAK

Use speak to talk about languages or formal communication

We don’t usually use speak to report exact words.

  • She speaks French.
  • He spoke to the class yesterday.

🌟 Not for reported speech:
❌ She spoke she was tired. (incorrect)

4. TALK

Use talk for general conversations

We use talk when two or more people have a conversation.

  • We talked about our weekend.
  • She talked to her teacher after class.
  • They talked about the exam.

➡️ talk to / talk with / talk about
All are common in everyday English.

❌ Not usually used to report exact words:
She talked she was tired. (incorrect)

5. Quick Summary

VerbUseExample
saythe message (no person)She said she was late.
say toperson + messageShe said to me that she was late.
tellalways needs a personShe told me she was late.
speaklanguages / formal talkShe speaks French.
talkgeneral conversationThey talked about the test.

Let’s practice!

Practice 1

Practice 2

Speaking

Practice 1

Third Conditional

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For lower levels

1. What is the Third Conditional?

We use the third conditional to talk about imaginary past situations.

Imaginary past situations are things that did NOT happen, but we imagine a different result.

👉 We use it to express regret, relief, or “what could have happened.”

2. Form

PartStructureExample
If-clauseif + had + past participleif he had studied
Result clausewould have + past participlehe would have passed

Grammar structure:

If + had + past participle, would have + past participle.

*had + past participle = past perfect

Positive Forms

What happened (real past)Imaginary result (third conditional)
She didn’t set an alarm, so she woke up late.→ If she had set an alarm, she would have woken up on time.
They didn’t bring a map, so they got lost.→ If they had brought a map, they wouldn’t have gotten lost.
I didn’t study, so I didn’t pass the test.→ If I had studied, I would have passed the test.

Negative Forms

If-clause (negative)

If she hadn’t forgotten her keys…

Result clause (negative)

…she wouldn’t have been late.

What happened (real past)Third Conditional (Negative)
She forgot her wallet, so she went back home.If she hadn’t forgotten her wallet, she wouldn’t have gone back home.
They arrived late, so they lost their seats.If they hadn’t arrived late, they wouldn’t have lost their seats.
I didn’t save my work, so I lost my project.If I hadn’t forgotten to save my file, I wouldn’t have lost my project.

Let’s Practice!

Practice 1

Practice 2

Speaking

Practice 1

Spin the wheel.

Complete the sentences

Practice 2

Answer the questions

Practice 3

Flip a card.

Read the situation.

Make a sentence using the third conditional.

Passive voice (B1 verb tenses)

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Learning the passive voice help us focus on the action and the result, rather than on who performs the action. In many real-world situations. For example, in news, formal writing, academic reports, and instructions, the doer of the action is unknown, unimportant, or obvious. That’s where the passive becomes essential.

This lesson reviews the form and use of the passive in all main verb tenses included at B1 level.

1. Why We Use the Passive Voice

We use the passive when:

  • The doer is unknown:
    My wallet was stolen.
  • The doer is not important:
    These phones are made in Korea.
  • The result is more important than the person:
    The meeting has been cancelled.
  • The sentence sounds more formal or objective:
    The survey will be analysed next week.

2. How to Form the Passive

The structure is always:

BE + Past Participle (V3)

The verb BE changes according to the tense.
The past participle stays the same.

3. Passive voice (different verb tenses)

TenseFormExample
Present Simpleam / is / are + past participleEnglish is spoken in many countries.
Past Simplewas / were + past participleThe window was broken last night.
Present Continuousam / is / are being + past participleThe room is being cleaned right now.
Past Continuouswas / were being + past participleThe documents were being printed when the machine stopped.
Present Perfecthas / have been + past participleThe emails have been sent.
Future with “will”will be + past participleDinner will be served at 7 pm.
Be Going To (future plans)am / is / are going to be + past participleA new road is going to be built.
Modal Verbs (can, must, should, etc.)modal + be + past participleThis form must be completed.

4. When to Include the Agent (by + person)

We add by + agent only when the doer is important or surprising:

  • The painting was created by a ten-year-old.
  • The project will be reviewed by the CEO.

In most cases, we omit the agent.

🧠 Quick Comparison: Active vs Passive

ActivePassive
People speak Spanish here.Spanish is spoken here.
Someone stole my phone.My phone was stolen.
They will announce the winner tomorrow.The winner will be announced tomorrow.
They are repairing the road.The road is being repaired.
Passive Voice (present and past)

Let’s practice

Practice 1

Practice 2

Speaking

Practice 1