Talk about yourself in a connected way
I can tell a connected story about myself: who I am, where I live and work, what I like, what I did yesterday and what I am going to do.
Declared core time. Two of the core blocks carry no figure at all, so the real lesson is longer than this sum.
How a story is built
4 minYou have been able to make single sentences since the first lesson. A connected story is different in two things: order and linking words.
The order goes from the general to the particular: who you are → where you live and work → your daily routine → what you like → what happened → what is going to happen.
The linking words you already have:
| and | adds something (lesson 11) |
| but | shows a contrast (lesson 11) |
| because | gives the reason (lesson 11) |
| so | gives the result (lesson 28) |
| First, Then, After that, Finally | the order of events (lesson 29) |
Tenses in a story about yourself: the simple present for facts and habits, the continuous for what is happening now, the past for what happened yesterday or last summer, going to for plans.
Text
3 minMy name is Paulo and I'm from Rio de Janeiro. I'm thirty-two years old. I'm a manager and I work in a big office in the centre. I usually get up at seven and go to work by bus. The journey takes forty minutes. I like reading and cooking, but I don't like getting up early. I can cook well, but I can't drive. Now I'm learning English. Yesterday I stayed at home. Last summer I went to Italy. First, I took a plane to Rome. Then I found a small hotel next to the station. Finally, I came home in August. Next year I'm going to visit my sister in Spain.
Go through the text with the checklist below — it uses all the A1 tenses.
Common learner errors
written for your languageA list, not a story
Short sentences with no and, but, because or so sound like a list. Join some of them: I'm a manager and I work in an office. I like reading, but I don't like getting up early.
A comma between two sentences
✗ It was cold, I stayed at home
✓ It was cold, so I stayed at home
Chinese and German allow a comma between two complete sentences; in English you need a linking word or a full stop.
The story slips back into the present
✗ Last summer I went to Italy. I take a plane to Rome.
✓ …I took a plane to Rome.
In Chinese, Vietnamese and Indonesian the verb does not change for the past: one time word at the start is enough. In English every verb about the past is in the past, in every sentence.
Pronunciation
3 minA story is divided into chunks of meaning, and your voice shows where a chunk ends and where the thought goes on.
| where | voice | example |
|---|---|---|
| end of a sentence | falls ↘ | Next year I'm going to visit my sister in Spain ↘. |
| after First, Then, Finally | level or slightly up ↗, a short pause | First ↗, I took a plane to Rome ↘. |
| a list | up ↗ on each item except the last, down ↘ on the last | I like reading ↗ and cooking ↘. |
Pause between chunks, not between words: Last summer / I went to Italy, not Last / summer / I / went / to / Italy. Read the text aloud: voice down at every full stop, a short pause at every comma.
Exercises
8–10 min1. Gap fill.
- I like tea I don't like coffee
- It was cold, I stayed at home
- I work in an office I study English
- My job is interesting, the journey is boring
- I'm learning English I want to travel
Show the answers
2. Order of parts.
Put them in order: plans, name and city, yesterday, work, what I like.
Show the answers
3. Tense gap fill.
- I (work) in an office every day
- Yesterday I (stay) at home
- Now I (write) a letter
- Next year I (be) going to visit Spain
Show the answers
4. Error correction.
- Yesterday I go to the park.
- I am working every day.
- Next year I go to Spain. (about a plan)
Show the answers
Summary
Covered
- a connected story about yourself
- five linking words
- the four A1 tenses in one text
- pauses and intonation in a story
Next — lesson 36: the A1 test.
End of the core
The lesson counts as done once the exercises are done. Everything after this is optional.
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Vocabulary for your deck
12 words- interesting /ˈɪntrəstɪŋ/ making you want to know more
- boring /ˈbɔːrɪŋ/ not interesting
- alone /əˈləʊn/ without other people
- quiet /ˈkwaɪət/ with little noise
- town /taʊn/ a place where people live, smaller than a city
- village /ˈvɪlɪdʒ/ a small place in the countryside, smaller than a town
- married /ˈmærid/ having a husband or a wife
- single /ˈsɪŋɡl/ not married
- language /ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/ what people speak: English, Portuguese
- hobby /ˈhɒbi/ something you like doing in your free time
- really /ˈrɪəli/ very much; truly (`I really like it`)
- too /tuː/ also (at the end of a sentence)
Writing
Write a story about yourself in eight to ten sentences, in the order from the block above.
Example of the beginning
My name is Anna. I live alone in a small, quiet town near Rio de Janeiro. My parents live in a village. My sister is married, but I'm single. I speak two languages: Portuguese and English. My hobby is cooking, and I really like it. My sister likes cooking too.
Checklist:
- does every sentence have a verb?
- does the tense match what you are talking about: simple present, continuous, past, going to?
- are there at least two linking words (and, but, because, so)?
- do names, nationalities and months have a capital letter?
- is the first mention with a and the next one with the?
Practise this lesson in the other sections
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