9D Phone calls

  Ice breaker

- Do you have a mobile?
- If so, how often do you use it?
- Do you find it annoying when other people have conversations on their mobiles in public places?
- How much do you spend a month on phone bills?
- What extra things have you bought for you phone?
- Could you live without your phone? For a day? For a month?
- Do you text a lot?
- Is there a ring tone that drives you mad?
- Is there an app you just can't live without?
- What are the typical things people complain about that are related to phones?



Language corner:

send / receive text
make a call
surf the Internet
download / upload files or photos
take a photo
record / play / listen to music
helpline
repair shop


Cultural notes: phones

• Most people in the UK have a mobile phone. As a result, few people ever use a phone box anymore. BT (ie British Telecom) is planning to remove more of them each year though there is a law that says that there must be 'reasonable public access to public call box services'. Many phone boxes now offer internet services as well as phone calls, but it is unusual to see anyone using them.
• A few traditional red boxes have been kept in tourist locations. Some are 'listed buildings', ie they are regarded as historic buildings and cannot be removed without special permission.
• Some places, especially country villages, have campaigned very hard to keep their red phone boxes. They believe that the traditional design looks prettier and is more interesting for tourists.
• The red telephone box is one of the classic designs of British street furniture. Other items include: the circular red letter box and the flashing orange light of a Belisha beacon that stands either side of a zebra crossing (pedestrian crossing).

What's next? the Cicret smart bracelet

What do you think of the Pomegranate? 

Further listening practice
Text messaging (listen to the discussion and then do the vocabulary and comprehension quizzes)