This week you’re talking about a very common topic: time! Specifically, you will train to speak about something that helps you save time. The candidate in this lesson’s demonstration choose to speak about a calendar.
Step 1: Tune in to this week’s podcast episode (audio and video version available below).
| Talk about something that helps you save time. Please say: -what it is -when you use it -why you use it -and explain why you believe it helps you save time |
| 🧑🎓Target language: populate (verb) -to fill something with people or items “This calendar is painted on a whiteboard, so every few weeks I erase everything I had previously written and populate it with my schedule for the coming month.“ |
Step 2: Listen to the sample a few times to get more familiar with the language.
Step 3: Engage this week’s full speech shadowing lesson. (If you do not yet have access, click here to sign up for full lessons.)
Step 4: Below is Monday’s speech exercise. Post yourself saying this excerpt to your Whatsapp group. Exercises for Tuesday to Friday will be posted in the group by your instructor. (If you have not yet been added to a group, click here to sign up – select ‘Join a Whatsapp group’.)
| Post yourself saying this into your Whatsapp group!🗣️📲 “One item that helps me save time is a calendar that I have hanging up in my kitchen. This calendar is painted on a whiteboard, so every few weeks I erase everything I had previously written and populate it with my schedule for the coming month. Because it is large and in a central part of my home, I essentially use it all the time. It is usually one of the first things I look at in the morning, and because I work from home I refer to the calendar several times throughout the day.” |
Step 5: It’s very important that you note any new language items or pronunciation points from this week’s lesson in your journal to help you chronicle your improvement.📝
Transcript
| Talk about something that helps you save time. Please say: -what it is -when you use it -why you use it -and explain why you believe it helps you save time |
One item that helps me save time is a calendar that I have hanging up in my kitchen. This calendar is painted on a whiteboard, so every few weeks I erase everything I had previously written and populate it with my schedule for the coming month. Because it is large and in a central part of my home, I essentially use it all the time. It is usually one of the first things I look at in the morning, and because I work from home I refer to the calendar several times throughout the day.
I feel the calendar keeps me organised and ensures I do not schedule overlapping events. This helps me budget my time and clearly designate moments in my day when I can relax. If I know my schedule is comprehensively laid out, I don’t waste time worrying about it. Plus, it is much easier to use than an app on my phone. Changing anything on the calendar only takes a few seconds, so I suppose this saves me additional time.
In addition to this, it communicates my professional commitments to my other family members. They can clearly see when I am working and when I am free, so this saves time by minimising worktime interruptions.