What changed since Lesson 1
In Lesson 1 you answered What do you do? in under ten seconds. Say, in one sentence, what you would do differently today.
One question before the assessment.
1. The A2 can-do for this unit is: describe what you do for work or study, describe current projects, and explain what is happening at work this week. Which part are you least sure of?
Read your own draft as a reader
Take your Lesson 7 draft. Mark every verb S or C.
Then check every C: is there an end date, a this month, or a genuine "for now" behind it? If not, it should be an S.
Then check every S with a third-person subject. That is the second half of this unit's L1 target and it is invisible until you look for it.
Six sentences from typical drafts. Match each to the reason for its tense.
The proofreading pass
Four checks, in this order
| Check | Look for | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · State verbs | Every continuous verb | Could you be interrupted? If not, use the simple |
| 2 · Timescale | Every remaining continuous | Is it temporary? If not, use the simple |
| 3 · Third person -s | Every simple verb with he / she / it | Add the -s |
| 4 · Word count | The number at the bottom | 140–160, or cut |
Do them in that order, one pass each. Checks 1 and 2 both remove continuous forms, and every one they remove creates a new place for check 3 to apply. Doing 3 first means doing it twice.
Six sentences from real A2 drafts. One error each, all from the four checks. Rewrite each in full.
1. I am knowing the system very well.
2. I am working here for six years.
3. She manage a team of four.
4. Normally I am starting at eight.
5. My colleague want to change department.
6. We are having three offices in Europe.
The two pieces
Task card · Assessment · Portfolio
A 90-second spoken professional introduction, recorded. Then the final 150-word piece.
Both go in your portfolio. The spoken piece is the kind you would give at a conference; the written one is the Lesson 7 rubric.
- Part 1 (8 min). Record 90 seconds: who you are, what you do, what you are working on, and one thing you are good at. No notes, no reading from the page.
- Part 2 (12 min). Write the final 150 words, fixing what your reader could not guess in Lesson 7.
- Then (2 min). Run the four proofreading checks. Count your words and write the number at the bottom.
Answer after the recording, before you write.
1. Ninety seconds, compared with Lesson 1's ten —
2. What made the difference?
Against the can-do statements
A2 can-do — CEFR 2020 Companion Volume, adapted
| I can… | Not yet | With effort | Comfortably |
|---|---|---|---|
| say what I do for work or study | □ | □ | □ |
| describe a current project in the present continuous | □ | □ | □ |
| switch between the two tenses without settling into one | □ | □ | □ |
| keep state verbs out of the continuous | □ | □ | □ |
| keep the third-person -s under speed | □ | □ | □ |
| write 150 words a stranger could understand my job from | □ | □ | □ |
Mark yourself, then compare with your teacher. The rows where you disagree are the interesting ones.
1. Switching tenses without settling —
2. The third-person -s under speed —
3. This is the -s's second treatment. When does it get its third?
Into the portfolio. Two files: the 90-second recording and the final 150-word piece, with the word count at the bottom. Label them Unit 6 and date them.
Term 2 ends after Unit 8, with a six-minute interview covering personal, professional and plan-talk. This is the professional half of it.
Into Unit 7
Eight lessons, four rules. Match each to the lesson that taught it.
Unit 7 — Plans. The future arrives, in two forms: going to for intentions and the present continuous for fixed arrangements. You already have half of it — the continuous you have just spent eight lessons on does future work too.
Before Lesson 1 of Unit 7: watch any travel vlog for ten minutes and note five sentences about what somebody is going to do. Copy them exactly.