Skills and subskills of language learning

You’re browsing the UK tourist website for the place where you’ll be studying English for a month this summer, wondering how much you’ll enjoy the city.

You read a letter from a long-lost friend, telling you all about her life these days.

You spend a cosy afternoon on the sofa at home with your favourite magazine.

Your son tells you all about his day while you’re chopping vegetables. When he fi nishes, you say: ‘It sounds like you had a good day at school then. And I’m glad you had fun this afternoon, too.’

You’re driving your sister to her friend’s house in an unfamiliar part of town for a party. She’s lost the map her friend gave her, so you ask her to call for directions from your mobile phone as you turn off the motorway.

You rent a movie on DVD and choose to watch in the original English without subtitles.

You hear a short radio report about local reactions to a new by-pass being built in your area. You believe the road will have a positive impact on your community and listen to confi rm your opinion.

The message on your answer phone is from your boss, telling you he’s leaving the company unexpectedly. You need to know how to react to him when you see him the next day – whether to congratulate or commiserate.

You receive an email from an old friend who you haven’t heard from in a long time. She gives a few details of her recent life, but you want to know if she is feeling happy at the moment.

You’ve checked in and you’re waiting in the airport lounge for your fl ight, number TKT723, to be called. Several announcements have been made already.

You’re following a secret recipe for an amazing apple cake which is rather complicated, but hopefully worth the effort.

After dinner, the family passes round a box of assorted chocolates with a description of each variety on the lid. You’re looking for a dark and nutty one.

In class, the teacher plays a song. You have to clap your hands every time you hear the sound /b/. Other students clap when they hear /v/ or /f/.

You listen to some pop music on the 50-minute commute to school, just staring out of the window, enjoying the tunes and the lyrics.

You have to teach phrasal verbs based on the verb hang to your class. You’re not sure about all the meanings so you look up hang in the dictionary and fi nd lots of example sentences.

You’re visiting a museum and fi nd some parts fascinating, others fairly dull. How do you read the various fact cards on the exhibits?

Your head teacher is explaining why you must teach class 2D again this term. You’d prefer a change, and are hanging on his every word, thinking up counter-arguments as he talks.

It’s World Cup fi nal day, but you have to fi nish your thesis. The TV is on behind you and you turn around every time you hear ‘Goal!’ so you can at least watch the action replay.

Your friend has written an article for the local newspaper and has asked you to read it and think of a good title for it – in the next 3 minutes!

You look for your friend’s email address in the address book of your computer.