A busy inbox

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. 6Useful phrasesVocabulary
7. 7Check your understandingReading comprehension
8. 8Listen: Samir's voicemailListening comprehension
9. 9Use the new wordsVocabulary exercise
10. 10What does it mean?Grammar exercise
11. 11Offers, promises and decisionsGrammar exercise
12. 12will, going to and Shall I…?Grammar rule
13. 13Reply to the inboxGrammar exercise
14. 14Fix the repliesGrammar exercise
15. 15Say it naturallySpeaking practice
16. 16Monday morningSpeaking practice
17. 17Let's discussDiscussion
18. 18Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: closest meaningVocabulary exercise
2. 2Homework: your sentencesVocabulary exercise
3. 3Homework: offers, promises and plansGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: Sarah's replyDiscussion

Words

• draft/dræft/

  a first version of a text or a design, which will be changed before it is finished

• feedback/ˈfiːdbæk/

  comments about how good or useful something is, and how to make it better

• reminder/rɪˈmaɪndər/

  a message that helps someone remember something they have to do

• confirm/kənˈfɜːrm/

  to say or show that something is true, or that it will happen as planned

• follow up/ˌfɑːloʊ ˈʌp/

  to contact someone again about something you talked or wrote about before (a follow-up: the noun)

• get back to/ˌɡet ˈbæk tə/

  to answer someone later, often when you have more information

• update/ˈʌpdeɪt/

  a message with the newest information about something (also a verb: update someone, keep someone updated)

• complimentary/ˌkɑːmplɪˈmentri/

  free, given by a hotel, a restaurant or a company (it can also mean "saying nice things")

• on site/ˌɑːn ˈsaɪt/

  at the place where the work is done, like a building site, a factory or an office

• in the loop/ɪn ðə ˈluːp/

  knowing what is happening (keep someone in the loop: tell them about news and changes)

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

Let's talk about your inbox.

1. When you open your inbox, which emails do you answer first?
2. Who outside your company do you write to most often?
3. Do you get more emails or more chat messages at work? From whom?

Grammar rule

will, going to and Shall I…?

will ('ll) + base form

Use	Example
an offer: you do something for someone	You need the slides? I'll send them to you now.
a promise	I'll text you when the client arrives.
a decision you make now, while you speak or write	The taxi is late? OK, I'll take the subway.
won't (= will not): a promise not to do something	We won't charge you for the delivery.

In emails, will is also the usual way to give a simple fact about the future: The new system will go live on March 1.

Shall I / Shall we + base form

Shall I order lunch for the meeting? (an offer) · Shall we start? (a suggestion)

In American English, Shall I…? is polite and a little formal. In everyday speech, people also say Should I…?, Do you want me to…? or Would you like me to…? Answers: Yes, please. · That would be great, thanks. · No, that's OK. Thanks anyway.

be going to + base form: a plan you made before

Decided before: be going to	Decided now: will
A: Why are you printing all those files? B: I'm going to read them on the train.	A: Oh no, the printer isn't working! B: Don't worry, I'll print them at home.

be going to also predicts from what you can see now: Look at all this traffic. We're going to be late. For a plan that is already arranged, people also use the present continuous: We're meeting the new client on Friday.

After will, won't, Shall I and going to, use the base form: not I'll sending, not Shall I to call, not She's going call. For an offer or a decision you make right now, will is the natural choice.