Conversation Questions and Activities to Aid in the - Mark's ESL World

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Conversation Questions and Activities to Aid in the Learning of English
Arranged according to tense, topic, and levels of difficulty
By Prof. Mark McDowell, M.A. Mark’s ESL World ~ http://www.marksesl.com
8. What do you do?
“I’m a businessman” / “I’m a student.”
9. What do you like to do? 2
“I like to dance and listen to music.”
10. What school do you go to? / Where do you work?
“I go to __________ university. I’ve been going there for three
years.” / “I work at XXXX and I really like it there.”
11. What year (grade) are you in?
“I’m in the third grade of high school.” “I’m a junior in middle school
/ high school / college.” 3
12. What subjects do you like?
“I like mathematics / biology / sociology / chemistry because it’s so
interesting. It really occupies my mind and makes me think.”
2
Grammar Focus: Use of “to”
Use ―to‖ to designate a place = I’m going to the store / to the beach / to my job / to work /
to GPO. You must specify the place.
Do not use ―to‖ with: home, here, there, up-, down- NOT = I’m going to go to home /
to there, etc.
Do not use ―to‖ with a gerund (verb + -ing) NOT = I like to swimming / to eating / to
reading, etc. Do not use ―to‖ to designate a gerund. Not = I’m going to go to swimming
/ to jogging / to shopping, etc
Use ―to‖ as part of many infinitives = I like to watch / to eat / to go / to dance / to sing,
etc. ―To‖ is used to designate a verb, if it’s the reason for the action = We are going to go
to Colorado to ski. We are going to go to watch a move. When not a reason, the ―to‖ is
not necessary in such sentences = We are going to go (to) shop. We’re gonna go (to) eat
now. Exception: ―We are going to go to sleep,‖ which would not normally mean the
reason for going, but simply the act of sleeping. Using ―to‖ with infinitives is complex.
See appendix p.111 for further discussion.
3 The terms for secondary school or college are: freshman, sophomore, junior, senior.