2 NB 2 Topic 1 Back to Routine

The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine. (Mike Murdock)

Grammar	Questions
Language Function	Describing people & places
Listening	A musician's day : audio
Reading	A special day
Speaking	A restless night
Vocabulary	Travel
Writing	Letter to a friend

1 NB 1 Topic 1 Introductions

If you think it's hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball. (Jack Lemmon)

Grammar	To be or not to be
Language Function	Identifying people
Listening	Introducing a friend : audio
Reading	Family members
Speaking	Pronunciation
Vocabulary	Work
Writing	Introductions

Book 10 2023 The Lost Notebook by Louise Douglas

Mila didn't smile. Carter was heading back to the office, no doubt to upload the pictures he'd taken of Professor Perry and the girl. What he'd just done, at Cecil's bidding, felt wrong on every level to Mila. It was cheap and voyeuristic and heavy-handed. A picture was no more or less than a moment in time. it never told the whole story. it did not allow for nuance.     

For our tenth book of the year I recommend The Lost Notebook by Louise Douglas. We find ourselves once again in the role of amateur sleuth as . Here is the worksheet. 

Book 9 2023 This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

Mothering seemed like downhill skiing, or cooking elaborate meals from scratch - sure, anyone could learn how to do it, but it was much easier for the people who had seen other people do it first, and well, and from a very young age.    

My recommendation for our ninth book of the year is Emma Straub's This Time Tomorrow. We follow Alice as she moves through time in an attempt to save her dying father. This is not, however, your typical time travel novel where a protagonist has the capacity to change the future, but rather a reflection on the significance of the tiny minor details of life which make up and modify the whole. Here is the worksheet.

Book 8 2023 Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler

Funny, it used to be so simple to sum his mother up, but now that he looked back he seemed to be ambushed by complexities. He saw again the frightened look in her eyes when she was going through her last illness, and her tiny, curled hands. It struck him that life in general was heartbreaking - a word he didn't toss off lightly.    

My recommendation for our eighth book of the year is Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler and deals with a man's attempts to come to terms with his own life. Here is the worksheet.

Book 7 2023 How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney

Somewhere in the boy's mind was a mortal fear that culminated in planning each day at great length, and not leaving things to chance, because losing one parent was a tragedy, losing two would be careless. 

My recommendation for our seventh book of the year is How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeley - the review provides you with plenty of practice for the Irish accent! You may find the syntax a bit challenging at first, but this is a truly beautiful book. Here is the worksheet.

Loss and possession, death and life are one, There falls no shadow where there shines no sun. (Hilaire Belloc)

Book 6 2023 The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

Other people his age had houses and washing machines, cars and television sets, furniture and gardens and mountain bikes and lawnmowers: he had four boxes of crap, and a set of matchless memories.    

My recommendation for our sixth book of the year is The Cuckoo's Calling written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith - no prizes for identifying the true identity of the author. Here is the worksheet.

7 NA C1 2 Topic 12 Free Time & the Summer

Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability. (Sam Keen)

Grammar	Television
Language Function	Evaluating
Listening	Reality shows + audio
Reading	Reality TV
Speaking	Planning a trip
Vocabulary	Travelling
Writing	TV shows

6 NA C1 1 Topic 12 Free Time & the Summer

Aaah, summer - that long anticipated stretch of lazy, lingering days, free of responsibility and rife with possibility. It's a time to hunt for insects, master handstands, practise swimming strokes, conquer trees, explore nooks and crannies, and make new friends. (Darell Hammond)

Grammar	Reporting verbs
Language Function	Explaining
Listening	Holidays + audio
Reading	A letter of protest
Speaking	Silent retreat
Vocabulary	Television
Writing	Leisure time

5 NI B2 2 Topic 12 Free Time & the Summer

The summer night is like a perfection of thought . (Wallace Stevens). 

Grammar	The Longest Day
Language Function	Relating Past Events
Listening	Singapore + audio
Reading	Summer 2021
Speaking	On the move
Vocabulary	Driving
Writing	A complaint

 

4 NI B2 1 Topic 12 Free Time & the Summer

Summer break: the time when parents realise teachers are grossly underpaid. (Unknown)

Grammar	Sentence transfer
Language Function	Making arrangements
Listening	Flying + audio
Reading	Fun in Spain
Speaking	Travelling
Vocabulary	Holidays
Writing	A letter

 

3 NI B1 Topic 12 Fee Time & the Summer

Do what we can, summer will have its flies. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Grammar	Say & tell
Language Function	Reporting
Listening	Bad service + audio
Reading	Travelling by train
Speaking	Travelling
Vocabulary	Travelling by plane
Writing	An interesting trip