Category Archives: role play

Let’s Talk About Cleaning

Let’s Talk About Cleaning

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Work with a partner or small group to practice your speaking and listening skills and talk about cleaning!

New Vocabulary   Mark the stressed vowel sound in each word or phrase:

  1. bacteria
  2. bin
  3. brush and dustpan
  4. chore
  5. cleaner
  6. cloth
  7. cobweb
  8. crumbs
  9. dirt
  10. disinfectant
  11. dust
  12. feather duster
  13. hygiene
  14. mop and bucket
  15. nooks and crannies
  16. polish
  17. rubber gloves
  18. soap
  19. spring cleaning
  20. vacuum cleaner

Discussion Questions   Ask and answer them with a partner or small group:

  1. Do you like cleaning or do you find it a complete chore? Do you know where the brush and dustpan are?
  2. What is your favourite and least favourite cleaning task? Why? How often do you… a) vacuum, b) dust, c) sweep the floor, d) mop, e) tidy up, f) wipe the surfaces, g) wash windows, h) polish the furniture, i) scrub the bath, j) wash clothes, k) hang out washing, l) iron, m) clean behind the fridge, n) wash the car, o) organise cupboards, p) throw out old stuff, q) change the beds? How good are you at each task?
  3. How do you usually get rid of… a) cobwebs, b) dust, c) mould, d) stubborn stains, e) pet hair, f) dirt, g) mud, h) chocolate, i) pen marks, j) creases in clothes, k) baked-on food, l) smears on windows?
  4. What is the hardest thing to get clean? Why? How do you manage it?
  5. What products do you use for cleaning? What are the best brands? Isn’t soap and water good enough?
  6. Would you consider hiring a cleaner to do the jobs that you hate? How much would you pay per hour?
  7. Would you like to work as a cleaner? Why? / Why not? Do cleaners receive a fair wage? If not, why not?
  8. ‘A spotless house is a sign of a misspent life.’ – Anonymous. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
  9. Why is hygiene important? How important is it to you and your family? Do you take pride in the cleanliness of your surroundings? Are you upset when somebody makes a mess in your home? Why?
  10. What does the phrase ‘spring cleaning’ mean to you? Are you excited about making a fresh start with a clean home? Can we do spring cleaning at any time? Why do we feel like cleaning in springtime?
  11. Discuss the meaning of this one-liner by Phyllis Diller: ‘Housework can’t kill you but why take a chance.’
  12. Is cleanliness next to godliness, as the idiom goes? Why? / Why not?
  13. Is housework ‘women’s work’, as some people think? Do you think that men can be equally proficient with a cloth and an old pair of rubber gloves? Is everybody equal when it comes to manual jobs?
  14. When cleaning do you do a quick clean or make sure that every nook and cranny is spick-and-span?
  15. Do you pay a window cleaner? How much do you pay them? How often do they clean your windows? Do they do a good job? Why don’t you do it? Why does somebody decide to become a window cleaner?

English Idioms about Cleaning   Say a new sentence with each idiom:

  1. a new broom sweeps clean
  2. be clean as a whistle
  3. be squeaky clean
  4. clean somebody out of something
  5. clean up [win a lot of money]
  6. come clean about something
  7. do the dirty on somebody
  8. get stuck in
  9. get your hands dirty
  10. have a clean record
  11. it’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it
  12. keep your nose clean
  13. maintain a clean sheet / slate
  14. make a clean break
  15. make a clean getaway
  16. put your back into it
  17. show a clean pair of heels
  18. use some elbow grease
  19. wipe the slate clean

Discussion Situations about Cleaning   What would you do if…?

  1. One of your friends is a ‘clean freak’ who cannot relax unless their environment is entirely free of bacteria.
  2. You hate cleaning but can’t afford to hire a cleaner.
  3. You’ve just finished mopping the floor when a wayward toddler runs in and drops crumbs all over it.
  4. After beating the carpet for ten minutes, your partner is still dissatisfied, demanding you remove every speck of dust.
  5. Your friend’s home looks like a pigsty every time you visit.
  6. On your first day as a cleaner you find £100,000 in used notes underneath a floorboard.
  7. You can’t decide which kind of disinfectant to use.
  8. Your family refuses to help you clean and tidy up at home.
  9. While employing your feather duster you break a priceless vase belonging to your Great Aunt Gwendolen.
  10. You’re afraid of spiders and can’t bear to disturb them.
  11. Nobody in your flat empties the kitchen bin for four days.
  12. You can’t find your mop and bucket.
  13. Your mother always criticises your cleaning.
  14. Your window cleaner falls off their ladder.

Talking about Pictures

  1. Describe the pictures below.
  2. Discuss them.
  3. Compare them.
  4. Create a quiz about them using different question types: comprehension, wh-, yes/no, true/false/unknown, etc.
  5. Improvise a dialogue or story.

Picture A:

Let’s Talk About… Cleaning - Picture A

Let’s Talk About Cleaning – Picture A

Picture B:

Let’s Talk About… Cleaning - Picture B

Let’s Talk About Cleaning – Picture B

Answers:

Let’s Talk About… Cleaning - Answers

Let’s Talk About Cleaning – Answers

Note: vowel sounds are indicated with Clear Alphabet. For more about Clear Alphabet, please click here.

 Images: Ashwini Chaudhary and @victor_g from https://unsplash.com/ and ds_30 from Pixabay

This material is completely free to use, so please feel free to share it widely!

If you have any feedback about these free resources, we’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment or review below or on Facebook or Twitter.

Let’s Talk About… Acting

Let’s Talk About… Acting

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Work with a partner or small group and practice your speaking and listening skills by talking about… acting.

New Vocabulary   Mark the stressed vowel sound in each word or phrase:

  1. actor
  2. actress
  3. amateur dramatics
  4. audience
  5. audition
  6. award
  7. drama school
  8. extra
  9. improvisation
  10. leading lady / man
  11. lines
  12. method acting
  13. part
  14. performance
  15. rehearsal
  16. supporting role
  17. typecasting
  18. understudy
  19. unemployment
  20. voiceover

Discussion Questions   Ask and answer them with a partner or small group:

  1. Do you use the gender-specific words ‘actor’ (male) and ‘actress’ (female) to describe people who act, or the word ‘actor’ for everybody? Why? In these questions we use ‘actor’ to mean both actor and actress.
  2. Are you a thespian? Do you act? What about amateur dramatics – creating community theatre in your free time? If not, would you like to? What do you think would be the challenges and rewards?
  3. Who is your favourite actor? Why? What have you seen them in? If you could spend the day with them, what would you do? Why are some actors famous and others never make it big?
  4. Do you know any actors in real life? What kind of people are they? Describe a typical actor’s lifestyle.
  5. Are actors pretentious? What kind of character is required to be a really great actor? Could you do it? What kind of actor would you like to be? Would you prefer to be a leading lady / man, or play a supporting role?
  6. Is the ability to act a useful skill in everyday life? Is acting really just lying? Are you a good liar?
  7. How many different kinds of acting can you think of? What is method acting? Is acting a dangerous job?
  8. How difficult is it to learn lines when preparing for a part? What about if you have a leading role in a Shakespearean tragedy? How do actors learn all those lines? What techniques would you use?
  9. Are you good at improvisation? When in life do we need to be able to improvise?
  10. What are the differences between acting on stage, acting in films, and acting on the radio?
  11. Is unemployment a problem for actors? Why? What kind of jobs do actors do when they are ‘resting’? If the majority of actors don’t become rich and famous, why don’t they just ‘pack it in’ and get a ‘proper job’?
  12. What would it be like to be an understudy – only playing the part if the main actor is unavailable?
  13. What skills do people learn at drama school? Is it easier than other forms of higher education?
  14. How long do actors need to spend in rehearsal for a theatre or film role? What happens during rehearsals?
  15. What is the relationship between the actor onstage and the audience at a theatre? What makes for an effective performance? Is it more rewarding to watch actors at the theatre, at the cinema, or on TV? Why?
  16. Have you ever thought about being an extra in a film or TV production? Why are extras required?
  17. Is typecasting a hazard for certain actors? Why do some actors get typecast?

English Idioms about Acting   Say a new sentence with each idiom:

  1. be a hard act to follow
  2. act your age
  3. an actor’s life for me
  4. be caught in the act
  5. be in the limelight
  6. break a leg!
  7. get your act together
  8. it’s curtains for you
  9. let’s get this show on the road
  10. life is not a rehearsal
  11. live up to the hype
  12. make a song and dance about something
  13. perform a disappearing act
  14. read somebody the riot act
  15. run the show
  16. something is waiting in the wings
  17. the show must go on
  18. upstage somebody

Discussion Situations about Acting   What would you do if…?

  1. You filmed your part as a zany robot for a blockbuster movie. It was great, but you were cut from the final edit.
  2. You are waiting for a car to take you to the Oscars, but it doesn’t show up and you can’t collect your award.
  3. You volunteer to act in an amateur dramatics production, but your fellow actors are really bad.
  4. You desperately want to go to drama school, but you can’t scrape together enough money for the fees.
  5. Your teacher at drama school believes you lack talent.
  6. You are cast in a dog food commercial – playing a poodle.
  7. You have an audition for a pirate film, but you lied on your resume about being able to sword-fight.
  8. You’ve been ‘resting’ for a while, and have no money left.
  9. On the morning of a lucrative voiceover gig, you wake up to find you have laryngitis.
  10. Due to a trilogy of hit movies, you’re typecast as a villain.
  11. The audience thinks your understudy is better than you.
  12. You forget your lines during a big moment on stage.

Talking about Pictures

  1. Describe the pictures below.
  2. Discuss them.
  3. Compare them.
  4. Create a quiz about them using different question types: comprehension, wh-, yes/no, true/false/unknown, etc.
  5. Improvise a dialogue or story.

Picture A:

Let’s Talk About… Acting - Picture A

Let’s Talk About… Acting – Picture A

Picture B:

Let’s Talk About… Acting - Picture B

Let’s Talk About… Acting – Picture B

Answers:

Let’s Talk About… Acting - Answers

Let’s Talk About… Acting – Answers

Note: vowel sounds are indicated with Clear Alphabet. For more about Clear Alphabet, please click here.

 Images: Pexels; Ionas Nicolae and Petra Hegenbart from Pixabay

This material is completely free to use, so please feel free to share it widely!

If you have any feedback about these free resources, we’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment or review below or on Facebook or Twitter.