Charity. Speaking exercise

In this lesson we will be talking about Charity in English, and looking at the correct use of more and more in English grammar.

 

"A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog".
— Jack London
 

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Charity is when we give money, goods or time to the unfortunate, either directly or via non-profit organisations called ‘Charities’.

Every year millions of people do challenging things to raise money for their chosen charity, or dedicate their time and effort to help the ill or poor, or to raise awareness for various illnesses such as cancer and motor neurone disease to name but a few.

 

Before we get started, here is a list of vocabulary that will help you talk about charity with your native English-speaking teacher in your conversation classes via Skype.

 

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English vocabulary related to Charity

• Awareness
• Breast Cancer
• Charity 
• To be diagnosed
• Donate
• Donation
• Fund Raising
• NGO (Non-Governmental Organization)
• Race for Life
• Sponsor someone 
• Suffering
• Starving

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Grammar to use in your online English conversation class

More and more   |   Less and less   |   Fewer and fewer   |    Bigger and bigger  etc.

We use this grammatical construction when something is increasing or decreasing day by day.

 

A: NOUNS

i) More and more (countable and uncountable nouns)

Examples:

• Countable:    There are more and more cases of cancer in the Western World.
• Uncountable: More and more money is given to charity around the world.

 

ii) Less and less (uncountable nouns only)

Examples:

• Less and less research is paid for by the government.
• Less and less money is donated to the poor.

 

iii) Fewer and fewer (countable nouns only)

Examples:

• There are fewer and fewer fundraising events in my village.
• Fewer and fewer people donate to local charities.

 

B: ADJECTIVES

i) More

For adjectives with 1 syllable or 2 syllables ending in -y, we don’t say more and more + adjective, but instead use the comparative of the adjective twice.

Examples:

• The weather in June is hotter and hotter.
• My son is getting bigger and bigger.
• Exams are becoming easier and easier.

 

For adjectives with 3 or more syllables, or 2 syllables not ending in -y, we use more and more + adjective.

Examples:

• People are more and more generous
• This book is more and more interesting.
• Smart phones are more and more necessary in the workplace.

 

ii) Less

We use less and less + adjective, independent of the length of the adjective. 

Examples:

• The league is less and less competitive. 
• Instructions are less and less clear.

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Useful verb forms:

Become - Became - Become

Give - Gave - Given

Fight - Fought - Fought

 

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Common mistakes:

X Inmoral
√ IMMoral
 

X She had a cancer
√ She had cancer
 

X He was operated
√ He had an operation

 

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Common pronunciation problems:

Cancer   /‘kænsə/

Organisation /'ɔ:gənaɪˌzeɪʃən/

Raise  /'reɪz/

 

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Questions we will discuss in your online English conversation class:

- Do you have a favourite charity? Which?

- How often do you give money to charity? 

- Do you take part in fund raising events for charity?

- Are you satisfied with the work charities do? Why/ why not?

- Do you think that governments should do more to help charities? Why/ why not?

- Do you ever worry about where the money you donate to charity goes? 

- What was the last cause you donated money to?
 

- Would you like to work for a charity? Why/ why not?

- Do you think that one day there will be no need for charities?

- Do you agree with the expression "charity begins at home?"

- How much suffering would disappear if more people donated money to charity?

- Have you ever received charity from others?

- Do you think that charities should only help people and not animals, buildings etc?

- Do you think it is immoral for people to spend lots of money on themselves when people are starving and dying?
 

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Practice reading and listening before speaking with your native English-speaking teacher:

This article reports the no make-up selfie crazy that hit the Twitter and Facebook back in 2014, which eventually raised £2,000,000 for Cancer Awareness.

“The #nomakeupselfie started trending on Tuesday as women posted pictures of themselves without make-up on Twitter and Facebook, and urged their friends to do the same. Cancer awareness became the theme…”  Read more…

Children In Need

Every two years in the UK the BBC organise an event called “Children in Need”, where people do a variety of fundraising activities to help children with health problems. Here is the story of how the money has helped Joe have a near-normal life after his illness caused him to require a heart transplant. 

 

 

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Speaking practice:

Now book your online English conversation class with one of our native English-speaking teachers to put into practice what you’ve learned in this lesson.

 

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Only by doing this will you improve the most important communication skill in English: speaking!

 

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See our other lessons, and improve your grammar and vocabulary with our well-thought out lesson plans to ensure you learn how to speak real English!

 

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