Real fun

What's in the lesson

1. 1Warm-up
2. 2In this lesson
3. 3Guess the words (1)Vocabulary exercise
4. 4Guess the words (2)Vocabulary exercise
5. 5Check the wordsVocabulary
6. 6Check your understandingReading comprehension
7. 7Listen: Lena's improv classListening comprehension
8. 8Use the new wordsVocabulary exercise
9. 9What does it mean?Grammar exercise
10. 10Cleft sentences: putting the focus on one partGrammar rule
11. 11Put the focus on itGrammar exercise
12. 12Say it naturallySpeaking practice
13. 13Your fun auditSpeaking practice
14. 14Let's discussDiscussion
15. 15Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: closest meaningVocabulary exercise
2. 2Homework: your sentencesVocabulary exercise
3. 3Homework: cleft sentencesGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: the most fun I've hadDiscussion

Words

• frivolous/ˈfrɪvələs/

  not serious or useful; not worth spending time or money on

• playful/ˈpleɪfl/

  full of fun and not serious (playfulness: the noun)

• absorbed/əbˈzɔːrbd/

  so interested in something that you don't notice anything else (absorbed in)

• lose track of time/ˌluːz ˌtræk əv ˈtaɪm/

  to stop noticing what time it is because you are busy or enjoying yourself

• mundane/mʌnˈdeɪn/

  ordinary and boring

• spontaneous/spɑːnˈteɪniəs/

  done because you suddenly want to, not because you planned it

• make a fool of yourself/ˌmeɪk ə ˈfuːl əv jərˌself/

  to do something that makes you look silly in front of other people

• recharge/ˌriːˈtʃɑːrdʒ/

  to rest so that you get your energy back (also: to put power back into a battery)

• carefree/ˈkerfriː/

  without any worries or problems

• foster/ˈfɔːstər/

  to help a feeling, an idea or a skill develop

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

Let's talk about fun.

1. What did you do for fun when you were a child? Do you still do it?
2. When did you last laugh so hard that you couldn't stop?
3. How much of your free time do you spend on your phone? Is it fun?

Grammar rule

Cleft sentences: putting the focus on one part

A cleft sentence splits a simple sentence in two to put the focus on one part, often to contrast it with something else.

Pattern	Example	The focus
What + clause + is / was…	What I love about Sundays is the slow breakfast.	the slow breakfast
What + subject + do / did + is / was + verb	What she did was call the police.	the action (call the police)
It + is / was + … + that / who…	It was my sister who taught me to swim (not my dad).	my sister
All (that) + clause + is / was…	All I want is a quiet evening.	a quiet evening (and nothing more)
The thing (that) / The place (where)… + is…	The thing I miss most is the beach.	the beach

With It is / was…, use that after a thing, a place or a time (It was on Monday that the trouble started), and who or that after a person. Don't use what here, and which is unusual. In a What… sentence, is is always correct, even before a plural noun (What I need is new shoes); with a plural, are is also common. In speech, stress the part in focus: It was my SISter who taught me.

Language note: fun is a noun (have fun), and in informal American English it is also an adjective (a fun day, so fun). Careful speakers say more fun and the most fun; funner and funnest are informal.