Functional Language and Everyday Conversation

What this page covers

This unit sits in the Communication Skills strand of English language. It is about what we do with words: suggest, agree, disagree, invite, apologize, ask the way or make a phone call. Most of the resources are mind maps, with flashcard decks, quizzes, notes and a few slide sets alongside them.

Where to start

Begin with the mind map on giving advice. It lays out phrases such as "I think you should", "How about" and "Why don't you" in one view. Then open the flashcard deck Making suggestions, or giving advice, to practice saying them aloud.

Next, try these in order:

1. The flashcard deck POLITE EXPRESSIONS for requests and offers.
2. The mind map Asking for and Giving directions, which has short model lines such as "Go straight on."
3. The mind map Hometowns Questions for talking about where you live.

Using quizzes and maps together

Read a mind map first and cover the branches you want to remember. Then take a quiz on the same idea. The quiz Suggestion and Obligation in English works from a dialog, so you read for meaning as well as phrases. Permission, Requests, Invitations, Offers checks a neighboring set of functions. If you miss a question, go back to the map and fix that branch.

Conversation practice

Several flashcard decks are question sets for speaking with a partner, such as CONVERSATION - NATIONAL CUSTOMS and CONVERSATION - POLLUTION AND RECYCLING. Ask a question, answer it, then swap. Teachers can use the same decks as ready-made prompts for pair work.

Next step

Pick one function, such as agreeing and disagreeing, and work through its map, deck and quiz. Then make a small set of your own to keep going.