The Unit 1 recording
You listened to your Unit 1 self-introduction last night. Say two things about it, out loud.
One thing that is better now. One thing that is exactly the same. Both are useful, and the second is the one worth having.
One question before the review.
1. What changed most between Unit 1 and now?
What Term 1 covered
Four units. Read the list and mark each one: solid, shaky, or gone.
Term 1 — Foundations
| Unit | Grammar | Portfolio piece |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Self and Routine | Present simple; frequency adverbs; third-person -s | 2-min self-introduction + 80-word "About Me" |
| 2 · My City, My Day | There is/are; prepositions of place; can/can't | 90-sec voice note + 100-word description |
| 3 · Where I'm From | Past simple, regular and irregular; -ed endings | 3-min narrative + 120-word "A Place That Matters" |
| 4 · Last Week | Past negatives and questions; false friends | 4/3/2 round-3 recording |
Six rules from the term. Match each to the one-line version you should be able to say from memory.
/t/ /d/ /ɪd/, decided by the sound beforeThe four errors that survived the term
What still needs watching in Term 2
| Error | First treated | Revisited in |
|---|---|---|
| Third-person -s under speed | Unit 1 | Units 6 and 11 |
| Final-consonant epenthesis | Unit 2 | Units 3 and 11 |
| Regularised irregular pasts | Unit 3 | B1 throughout |
| Missing auxiliary in questions | Unit 4 | Units 7 and 12 |
| False friends | Unit 4 | Unit 5, then B1 |
Nothing on this list is a failure. The revisit column is the syllabus design, not a remedial plan — l1-transfer.json schedules each of these for a second and third treatment because one unit makes a rule known, and only repeated encounters make it automatic.
One error each, one from every unit of the term. Rewrite each in full.
1. My sister work in a bank.
2. I go never to the gym.
3. In my street have two shops.
4. We goed there every summer.
5. What time you arrived?
6. I pretend to move next year.
The five-minute interview
Task card · Term assessment · Portfolio
A five-minute interview with someone who has never heard any of your four units.
Cover all four units' can-do statements: introduce yourself, describe where you live, talk about a place from your past, and talk about last weekend. Ask them at least six questions back.
- Part 1 (3 min). They interview you. All four topics, in any order they choose.
- Part 2 (3 min). You interview them. Six questions minimum, follow-up after every answer.
- Part 3 (4 min). Recorded: two minutes on yourself, unprepared, covering all four units.
- Then (12 min). The portfolio review below.
Answer after Part 2, before the recording.
1. Which of the four units was hardest to talk about?
2. In Part 2, did you follow up after every answer?
The portfolio, side by side
Eight pieces from four units. This is the longest reflection in the course so far, and it earns the time.
A2 Term 1 can-do — CEFR 2020 Companion Volume, adapted
| I can… | Not yet | With effort | Comfortably |
|---|---|---|---|
| introduce myself for two minutes without stopping | □ | □ | □ |
| describe where I live so a stranger could find it | □ | □ | □ |
| tell a three-minute story about my past | □ | □ | □ |
| ask someone eight questions about their recent past | □ | □ | □ |
| follow up on an answer rather than changing the subject | □ | □ | □ |
| write 100+ words in written rather than spoken register | □ | □ | □ |
Play the Unit 1 recording and today's recording back to back. Then answer.
1. The most obvious difference between the two recordings is —
2. Asking questions, compared with Unit 1 —
3. What do you most want to fix in Term 2?
Term 1 milestone — the syllabus asks for four things:
- A five-minute speaking interview — done today.
- Three written pieces in the portfolio — Units 1, 2 and 3.
- A Vocabulary Size Test baseline.
- Self-assessment against the A2 can-do statements — the table above.
Label everything Term 1 and date it. Term 3 compares against exactly this.
Into Term 2
Eight lessons, four rules. Match each to the lesson that taught it.
Term 2 — Connecting. Unit 5 is people: describing them, comparing them, and saying what you think of them without sounding blunt. The present continuous arrives in Unit 6, and with it the "now" frame; going to and the present continuous for arrangements unlock plan-talk in Unit 7.
Before Lesson 1 of Unit 5: one short Modern Love episode. Note five words the narrator uses to describe a person — not what they do, what they are like.