English Listening Practice: Improve your vocabulary!

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My name is Emma, and today we have a great lesson plan for you.

In today's lesson we are going to practice listening.

We're going to practice listening, and we're also going to learn some new words, we're

going to learn about shapes, as well as prepositions.

So, in this video you will also get to do a listening activity and I'll explain a little

bit about that in a moment.

So first we are going to learn shapes, and these are some examples of shapes, then we

are going to learn about prepositions.

You might be wondering: "What is a preposition?"

Well, a preposition is a short word like: "on", "above", "below".

And after that we're going to do a listening activity where you're going to listen to me

describe shapes and prepositions.

For the listening activity you will need two things:

A piece of paper and a pencil or a pen.

This is an active video so you will actually be doing something while watching.

Okay, so let's get started on shapes.

So I have here some major shapes in English.

We have a triangle, we have a circle, square, a heart, and this one is a star.

In our listening activity later, you will be drawing

a triangle, a circle, a square, a heart, and a star.

So these are the words we'll be using in this video.

We will also be using some prepositions.

So a preposition is a short word that shows the relationship between two things.

So that's confusing to a lot of students.

An easier way I like to think about prepositions is they can...

They can describe where something is.

Okay? So they often answer the question of: Where?

So, for example, I have here our triangle and our circle, and I have the preposition

"on".

So if we look at this, I could say: "There is a triangle on a circle."

So: "There is a triangle on a circle."

So we will be using the preposition "on" later in our listening activity.

We also have "inside".

"There is a triangle inside a circle."

Another preposition is "outside".

We can say: "There is a triangle outside the circle."

So, here, the triangle is inside, whereas here the triangle is outside.

So these are very common prepositions we use when describing where something is.

Okay, we also have "above".

So, "above" is a little bit different than "on".

If you notice the circle, the triangle is on the circle, meaning it's touching, whereas

when we're looking at "above" it can be touching, but it can also be just above.

So it can touch or it can also just be above.

So, for example, we have a triangle above a circle.

Okay, now we have "below" and "under", two more common prepositions which we usually

use in the same way.

So we have here the circle.

We can say: "There is a circle".

Or actually we can say: "There is a triangle below the circle."

Or: "There is a triangle under the circle."

And now we have "to the right".

We can say: "There is a triangle to the right of the circle."

So notice how they're beside?

This side is to the right, whereas this side is to the left.

So if we look at the triangle, the triangle is beside the circle and it's also to the

right of the circle.

Now, compare this to "to the left".

We have a triangle and a circle, and we can say:

"The triangle now is to the left of the circle."

Okay? So these two are opposites: "to the right" and "to the left".

So these pictures help you understand these prepositions, which answer the question of:

So, again, we have: "on", "inside", "outside", "above", "below/under",

"to the right", and "to the left".

Okay, now, for the listening activity we are about to do, there are three more expressions

that you will need.

You will need to know: "in the center".

So if I'm looking at this board, about here is in the center.

So I can say: "My finger is in the center of the board."

I can also say about corners.

We have a corner, a corner, another corner, and another corner.

So those are called corners.

If I'm looking at my piece of paper from earlier, we have a corner here, a corner here, a corner

here, and a corner here.

So, what I can say is...

If I ask you to draw something, I might tell you to draw something in the top corner, which

Maybe I'll say: "the top right corner", "the top left corner", "the top"...

Or: "the bottom right corner", and "the bottom left corner".

So these are the expressions we will be using in today's listening activity.

So, again, take a moment to really get to know the shapes because you will be listening

for them in a second, as well as the preposition.

You might want to watch this part a couple of times until you're comfortable with these

words, and then do our following listening activity.

Once you have become comfortable with these words, take out your piece of paper and your

pen or pencil, and we will begin listening.

Okay, so you need a piece of paper.

This is my piece of paper.

So you will have your piece of paper and your pencil ready to go.

I am going to say a sentence, and you are going to draw what I say.

So, I will be talking about shapes and prepositions, and you need to draw what you hear.

So, for example, if I say: "There is a circle in the center of the page.

There is a circle in the center of the page."

What do you do?

You take your pencil and you draw a circle in the center of the page.

I'll give one more example and then we will get started.

Now, imagine if next I say:

"There is a square under the circle.

There is a square under the circle."

What would you do?

Well, you take your pencil and you would draw a square.

And it's okay if you're not a good artist.

Maybe your square kind of looks, you know, not so nice, but that's okay.

This is a listening activity, not an art activity.

Okay, so let's get started.

So I want you to continue.

I will say some more instructions, and you draw what you hear.

So, inside the square there is a star.

Inside the square there is a star.

I'm going to keep going.

I'm not going to draw.

At the very end I will show you my picture, and we will compare to see if it is the same

So keep drawing my instructions.

So one more time: Inside the square there is a star.

The next instruction, I want you to look at the circle.

Above the circle there is a triangle.

Above the circle there is a triangle.

To the left of the triangle there is a circle.

Okay? So you should be drawing some more.

To the left of the triangle there is a circle.

All right, next instructions.

In the top right corner of the paper there is a square.

In the top right corner of the paper there is a square.

I'll give you a couple of seconds to draw that.

So there is a square in the top right corner.

Next instructions: Inside the square there is a heart.

Inside the square there is a heart.

So not too many more instructions to go.

The next instructions are: In the bottom left corner of the paper there is a triangle.

In the bottom left corner of the paper there is a triangle.

So the next instructions: There is a square on the triangle.

There is a square on the triangle.

So those were the instructions for today.

Now I am going to show you what your picture should look like.

This is a great way to see how well you understood what I was saying.

And before I show you what it looks like, I also wanted to tell you this is a great

game you can play with your friends, or maybe if you are an English teacher, you can play

it with your class.

It's a great way to check listening and to practice listening.

So now let's look at what the picture should look like.

So this is what your paper should look like.

You should have a circle in the center, you should have a square here.

There should be a star inside the square.

There should be a triangle above the circle.

To the left of the triangle there should be a circle.

In the top right corner there should be a square,

and inside the square there should be a heart.

And finally, in the bottom left corner

there should be a triangle with a square on top of it.

So your picture should look like this if you followed the instructions correctly.

If you made some mistakes, that's okay.

You can watch the video again and practice, and try until you get the same picture.

So, I would like you to come to our website at www.engvid.com, and I'd like you to comment

on how useful you found this video.

This is different than a lot of our videos, so it would be really nice to hear if you

like this listening resource.

I'd also like to invite you to www.engvid.com, and there you can actually try our quiz on

the words you've learned in this video to make sure you really understand, you know,

the different shapes and prepositions.

You can also subscribe to my channel.

There, you can find a lot of resources on conversation, pronunciation, grammar, listening,

reading, and many more topics.

So thank you very much for watching, I appreciate it.

And until next time, take care.