Inglés II

Lesson 3: Lesson 3: Our Surroundings

Welcome to our third lesson!

In this third lesson we will explore the subject of our surroundings and analyze how the
buildings and places we live in affect our lives. Please make sure you know the deadlines to
hand in your work.

There will be three compulsory tasks so that you have individual feedback
on your performance. Oral work 3.13, Forum discussion 3.15 and Writing
3.19.

Purpose

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In this lesson we are going to deal with the impact the buildings and cities we live in have
on our lives.

 You are going to nurture your English by getting in touch with reading, listening and
video materials that revolve around the topic of architecture and urban planning.
 You are going to analyze how our surroundings affect our lives.
 You are going to expand your city-related vocabulary.
 You are going to work on your grammar.
 You are going to explore and reflect on teaching practices that you might use in the
future in your own lessons.
 You are going to work on your sounds .

3.1 Brushing up Our english

Reading

Before you read

3. 2 Lead-in

Think about these questions. Your reflections will not be published or submitted for
correction.

 The places we live in not only shape our feelings but also the decisions we make.
 We like to be in positions where we have some feeling of protection, or refuge, but at
the same time we can see what's going on around us.
 Some of our responses to our surroundings are influenced by experience, knowledge
and culture.
 Being in contact with nature reduces our stress levels.

3.3 Before you read the article “How our surroundings affect the way we think and
feel” imagine the contents of the article write them down.

3.4 Download the article by clicking here, and skim it (read quickly). How close were your
ideas to the text? (You are not expected to hand in this activity)

3.5 Reading tasks

Answer these questions. Please find the key here to check your work.

1. What is psychogeography? What does it involve?

2. Where does Colin Ellard carry out his research? What kinds of experiments does he
do?
3. What does he enjoy about being engaged in research in this day and age?
4. What does the concept of “the duality of prospect and refugee” mean?

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 5. How might Collin Ellard’s work be helpful to city planners and architects?

3.6 Grammar
Some adjectives need a preposition before their object.

3.7 What preposition occurs after these adjectives?

1. to be interested ______
2. to be influenced ______
3. to be worried ______

Check your answers in the article How our surroundings affect the way we think and feel.
They are highlighted in bold type.
Unfortunately, there is little else we can do to learn these prepositional adjectives but
commit them to memory.

Here is some practice http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/adjectives-

and-prepositions-exercise-1.html
https://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/adjective-preposition-
challenge
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-
10180.php

3.8 In the article there are some interesting samples of how adjectives are used: “more
appealing”, “as inclined as”. You may find more on how adjectives are used to express
different degrees of comparison.
Watch out for comparison of superiority, inferiority and also equality in the links below:

https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/grammar-
vocabulary/story/comparative-superlative-adjectives-list-306504-2016-02-01
https://preply.com/en/blog/2015/01/22/degrees-of-comparison-of-adjectives-
in-english/
https://www.testden.com/toefl/english-grammar-for-students/Comparison-Of-
Adjectives.html
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/comparing-and-
contrasting/comparison-comparisons-of-equality-as-tall-as-his-father

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3.9 Listening/viewimg

Before you listen/view

Lead- in

Think of the problems people have in overpopulated cities. This word cloud might come in
handy.. (not to be published)

You can generate your word clouds using http://www.wordle.net/ or

http://www.wordclouds.com/

3.10 Before you watch this video, entitled “Tiny Hong Kong apartment turns into 24 rooms”
think of these questions: (not to be published)

 What do I know about Hong Kong?

 Hong Kong is “a major business and cultural hub”. How do you think this
affects its life style?
 How can the challenge of coping with tight space be met?

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3.11 This is the video. Work on the listening activity you can download from here. Find the
key right below.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/DQM7a5Yjp9g

“Tiny Hong Kong apartment turns into 24 rooms"

After listening

3.12 Working on vocabulary and oral work

Read this list of words and expressions associated with the effects of overpopulation and
other problems big cities need to face. Follow the dictionary links below to look up meaning
of the ones you do not know.

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/

https://www.merriam-webster.com/

https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/

http://www.ldoceonline.com/

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/

lack of water more crime shortage of housing high cost of living

heavily congested
Shortage of energy stress commuting
streets

Air, land, noise and shortage of job

smog rush hour
visual pollution opportunities

destruction of Sewage system

overpopulation Homeless (ness)
natural habitats failure

You may find these links useful to enlarge on the topic and vocabulary of overpopulated
cities. They will surely be useful to gather more ideas for the Oral activity in 3.13

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3683187/

https://www.renewableresourcescoalition.org/pollution-causes-effects/

3.13 Oral work

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Record your opinion on city problems (REQUIRED ACTIVITY)

Answer these questions below and send a two-minute- voice message with your answers
via SoundCloud. Share the link to your audio file here. Remember to name each file in the
following way: SURNAME-NAME - TITLE OF ACTIVITY. Example: PEREZ-LUIS. Use at least 5
words from the focus vocabulary above.

1. In your opinion, what are the most serious problems big cities have to face?
2. What are some possible solutions?

3.14 Taking into account the contents of the reading article “How our surroundings affect
the way we think and feel” and the video “Tiny Hong Kong apartment turns into 24
rooms”, read the short excerpt below about urban planners. The information here will
inspire you for the activity in 3.15

Have you ever wondered who was responsible for making certain decisions that directly
affect your community? Who decided to open the new city park down the street? Who gives
the ok for the new big box retailer (megastore) that is currently under construction?
Decisions such as these were most certainly made by an urban planner.

WHAT DOES AN URBAN PLANNER DO?

An Urban Planner serves as an advocate for the community and makes plans with the best
interest of the community in mind. The ultimate goal of an urban planner is the successful
functionality of a community. They are usually involved with land use and code
enforcement, transportation, environmental and natural resources, economic development,
and urban design. According to the American Planning Association, some duties of an
urban planner may include:

 Plan for parks, open space, and community facilities

 Study and analyze transportation trends and implement transportation plans that are
parallel to the needs of the community
 Create programs to attract jobs to the community
 Ensure affordable housing, manage the amount of single-family and multi-family
homes within a community, and work on policies that affect the price of housing
within a community
 Work to ensure that there is adequate sewer and water services for a community

(from http://www.socialsciencecareers.org/faq/what-does-an-urban-planner-do/)

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 3.15 Forum discussion.: City planning

3.16- Pronunciation (not to be published or submitted for correction)

(The inclusion of this section and some of the activities in them were suggested by Laura
Aza, one of the tutors in the programme).

/v/ vs /b/

https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/minimal-pairs-b-v.htm

Enjoy this excerpt of V for vendetta with examples of /v/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKn1R6fekk4

Here is the script of the excerpt

https://youtu.be/Otv5ywOa-8U

http://www.socialsciencecareers.org/faq/what-does-an-urban-planner-do/

3.17 From the Teacher’s eyes

3.18 Read the description of a teaching project called: Create A City: An Urban Planning
Exercise

Lesson Plan Content

Description:

In this lesson, students will work in cooperative groups to design an ideal city–one which is
convenient for humans, preserves the environment, and maintains a quality of life for both
animals and humans. Students will not only design a city, but they will write an explanation
of how geography was used to improve the quality of life in the planning of an environment

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Please reflect on these questions on the implementation of Project work in the English
class

What is your opinion about Project work in the English class?

What topics do you consider interesting to develop a project for your class?

Have you ever tried project work in your class?

What are the advantages of using projects to teach English?

What challenges do you need to face in order to implement Project Work in your teaching
setting?

Find information about Project Work here:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/project-work

3.19 Writing (REQUIRED ACTIVITY)

Develop a paragraph (about 10-12 lines) on your reflection on Project Work and its
implementation in the English class. The questions above may guide your text, but make
sure you do not answer each question separately but a cohesive paragraph.

You may use these expressions to develop your opinion paragraph:

In my view: in my opinion, As far as I see it, …

In the first place: To begin with, First of all,…

In addition to this/Furthermore/Also : Besides, Moreover,…

It is argued: it is believed, According to some people,

Yet: However, Nevertheless,…

In conclusion: to conclude with, all things considered, …

For this reason: Therefore,…

Submit your work here. Identify your file like this: class3writing_yourname. Example: class3
writing_lopez

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Bibliography

 Create a city lesson plan: https://geoalliance.asu.edu/createcity

 Opinion linkers: https://eoimamen.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/opinion-essay-
answer-key/

Créditos

Autor/es: Martha Crespo . Patricia Veciño

Revisoras: Paula Bernich. Paula Miniño

Cómo citar este texto:

Crespo, Martha & Veciño, Patricia (2017 & 2018). Lesson 3: Lesson 3: Our Surroundings Inglés
II. Buenos Aires: Ministerio de Educación y Deportes de la Nación.

Esta obra está bajo una licencia Creative Commons

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