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Speaking: routines, plans and asking for things
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Explain a routine and make a useful request
- Practise a short routine, a plan and a request that fits the situation. A1 introductions is a useful starting point if a short exchange is still difficult.
- Link ideas when it helps: and, but, so, because, then. Three unrelated sentences do not become a clear message just by adding linkers.
- Hear → say → record → replay → compare. These are model-rehearsal boxes; nothing is scored. Recordings stay in this page and disappear on reload.
Talking about a routine
- Present-simple example: I get up at seven. I have breakfast at eight. I go to school by bus.
- A useful neutral order is I get up at seven. At seven, I get up is also grammatical; the time can come first to set the scene. Avoid inserting it between I and get up in this simple pattern.
- Practice box 1 rehearses the model. Then change the times or transport so the message fits your chosen routine.
Hear the model, then record yourself saying the three sentences.
I get up at seven and At seven, I get up are both grammatical. In the simple pattern here, avoid I at seven get up. A pause between sentences can help clarity.
Check the verb for this subject
- In an affirmative present-simple sentence with he/she/it, most main verbs take an ending: She works in a bank. He watches TV. Compare I work with she works.
- After does or a modal, use the base form: Does she work? She can work. The ending does not belong on every verb near she.
- Practice box 2 rehearses two affirmative sentences. Listen for the required ending rather than assuming all Chinese-speaking learners make the same error.
Now about other people — mind the -s. Record both sentences.
Rehearse she works and he watches here. In Does she work? or She can work, the main verb has the base form.
Talking about a plan
- I'm going to + verb can express a plan: I'm going to visit my grandparents this weekend.
- In informal speech, going to before a base verb can be reduced. Practise a clear form first if it helps, but reduced speech is not automatically careless or a higher-level goal. I'm going to London has a destination, so do not replace it with I'm gonna London.
- Practice box 3 rehearses one plan. Change the activity and time in your own follow-up.
Talk about a plan. Record the sentence.
A clear going to is useful for rehearsal. Informal reductions can be natural; a destination phrase such as going to London has a different structure.
A request is more than please
- Can I have a coffee, please? asks for something. Could you open the window? asks someone to act; could can make the request more tentative.
- The words, your relationship and your delivery work together. Adding please does not make a demand polite in every context.
- Intonation can rise, fall or fall and rise depending on the message. Rehearse a considerate request without imposing one compulsory pitch pattern on the question or please.
Two polite requests. Record both.
Could you can make a request more tentative. Please, intonation, relationship and context all contribute; no single word or pitch pattern guarantees politeness.
Choose the question pattern you need
- To ask someone for an English expression, use How do you say this in English? For a route: How do I get to the station?
- These present-simple questions need do. Other questions use different patterns: Where is the station? Can you help? A question does not always need do.
- How to say … can be a heading or an embedded phrase; it is not the full direct question practised here. Word-order practice gives more examples.
Change the routine, then ask for help
- Practice box 5 supplies someone else's day. Give a few sentences about a real or invented day and one plan, using your own details.
- Then imagine the room is too hot: ask a classmate to open the window. If they say they are busy, respond to that answer rather than repeating the model unchanged.
- Record and replay. Pick one repair, such as a missing verb ending or an unclear requested action; compare the retry rather than assuming less reading means better speaking.
Your day and your plan — swap in YOUR life. Record it twice.
Adapt the model, then compare the content and clarity of both takes. Model rehearsal does not by itself demonstrate independent interaction.
Try it again with a different purpose
- Tomorrow, say a routine before reading. Then change one plan and make a different request, such as asking for a pen.
- Next: B1 stories, opinions and discussions. Return to routines and arrangements listening for listening practice.
- Usage references checked 20 October 2026: British Council: adverbial position, Cambridge: can and could and intonation. Independent language, recording and learner reviews remain pending. These local activities do not certify a CEFR level.