Useful phrases for making and changing appointments.

Asking to meet

"Are you available on the 17th?"

"Can we meet on the 16th?"

"How does the 3rd sound to you?"

"Are you free next week?"

"Would Friday suit you?"

"Is next Tuesday convenient for you?"

"What about sometime next week?"

Agreeing on a date

"Yes, Thursday is fine.""Thursday suits me.""Thursday would be perfect."

Suggesting a different date

"I'm afraid I can't on the 3rd. What about the 6th?"

"I'm sorry, I won't be able to make it on Monday. Could we meet on Tuesday instead?"

"Ah, Wednesday is going to be a little difficult. I'd much prefer Friday, if that's alright with you."

"I really don't think I can on the 17th. Can we meet up on the 19th?"

Setting a time

"What sort of time would suit you?"

"Is 3pm a good time for you?"

"If possible, I'd like to meet in the morning."

"How does 2pm sound to you?"

Changing the arrangement

"You know we were going to meet next Friday? Well, I'm very sorry, but something urgent has come up."

"I'm afraid that I'm not going to be able to meet you after all. Can we fix another time?"

"Something has just cropped up and I won't be able to meet you this afternoon. Can we make another time?"

Commonly used question for personal interviews

Tell me something about your self.  Why does this role interest you? Or why have you applied for this job? Why do you think should we take you for this job? What motivates you at work? Why do you want to leave your present job or why did you leave your last job?

Tell me something about your self.

Go prepared for this question, as this is the most frequently asked question in the interview.Answer it covering your work experience, educational qualifications and a little information about your family background. Try to focus on key areas of your work while talking about your professional experience. This is an open ended question and can help you in taking the interview in which ever direction you want it to go. You should know where to put a full stop to provoke the desired question from the interviewer.   Why does this role interest you? Or why have you applied for this job?

Keep the focus of the answer to this question on your skills, experience and personal qualities. Link the job requirement to your skills rather than talking about the challenges, career and progression. Why do you think should we take you for this job?

Don't panic if you are asked this question. Make sure that you have understood the job profile well before you go for the interview. Relate your qualifications and work experience with the job requirements. If there are any new things that you are expected to perform in the new job, say that you are always open to learn the new things and take up the new challenges.

What motivates you at work? You can say that competition and new challenges motivate you at work. Why do you want to leave your present job or why did you leave your last job? The reasons for switching the job could be numerous. The best answer to offer for this question is to say, “for better prospects”. Now they can ask you another question, what do you mean by better prospects? To this you can say, better prospects in terms of experience, and exposure.

If you have been made redundant, put your words across very carefully. Your wrong words can give an impression that only you were the one whose position was made redundant, which hardly might be the case. May be you can say something like, “Over last 8 months a lot of restructuring was going on in the company and 40 positions became surplus. One of them was mine but I have learnt a lot during my tenure at XYZ company and I am sure I can add a lot of value to a position like the we are discussing about”. 

What is your greatest strength? Interpret this question as, what is your greatest relevant strength? Or Why should we hire you? Tell them a strength that they want to buy. For this you will need to properly understand the job profile and keep your answer ready. For example, if the job needs you to have convincing answers ready for the any type customer’s questions, you can sell “your presence of mind” or if you are required to change you sector or industry you can offer “your adaptability” as an answer. It is important to keep ready at least 2 examples of the mentioned strength.  What is your greatest weakness? Interpret this question as, why shouldn’t we hire you? There 3 ways to tackle this question. Judge the situation and use one of them.

 First way: Use your sense of humour. If the interview is proceeding in the light way and you have built up a good rapport with the interviewer, you can get out of it by saying “Icecream”. Accompany it with a right body language. Second Way: If you have to answer this question seriously, give a weakness which doesn’t relate to the job under discussion. For example, you can say, I have been using a camera since childhood but I still don’t know how to mend it. If it is spoiled, I will need to take it to an expert. Third way: Understand the requirement of the role under discussion and say that others accuse you of having that weakness but you think that it is important for your work. For example, if the job needs a detailed study and leaving a single step might need you to re-run the whole process say that “My colleagues accuse me of having a too much eye for detail but I have experienced that to do this work you need to go into details rather than cutting corners. I have worked with people following a shorter route and doing the whole exercise again, which I would not prefer to do.”

What is your greatest achievement?The underlying agenda is to know what personal qualities were required to achieve it. Don’t go back too far to answer this question as this might give an impression that you have not achieved anything since then. Find a relevant answer in the recent past for this question. If you are a fresher and have been a topper of your college or university, you can say that during the interview.   Are you ambitious?

You can say that I am very ambitious in the way that I don’t like to get to get a feeling of stagnancy. I want that I should always be getting new experiences and learning new things. 

Used To

FORM

[used to + VERB]

Example:

I  used to go to the beach every day.

It is better not to use "used to" in questions or negative forms; however, this is sometimes done in informal spoken English. It is better to ask questions and create negative sentences using Simple Past.

USE 1 Habit in the Past

"Used to" expresses the idea that something was an old habit that stopped in the past. It indicates that something was often repeated in the past, but it is not usually done now.

Examples:

Jerry used to study English. Sam and Mary used to go to Mexico in the summer. I  used to start work at 9 o'clock. Christine used to eat meat, but now she is a vegetarian.

USE 2 Past Facts and Generalizations

"Used to" can also be used to talk about past facts or generalizations which are no longer true.

Examples:

I  used to live in Paris. Sarah used to be fat, but now she is thin. George used to be the best student in class, but now Lena is the best. Oranges used to cost very little in Florida, but now they are quite expensive.

"Used to" vs. Simple Past

Both Simple Past and "Used to" can be used to describe past habits, past facts and past generalizations; however, "used to" is preferred when emphasizing these forms of past repetition in positive sentences. On the other hand, when asking questions or making negative sentences, Simple Past is preferred.

Examples:

You used to play the piano. Did you play the piano when you were young? You did not play the piano when you were young.

ACTIVE / PASSIVE

Examples:

Jerry used to pay the bills. ACTIVE

The bills used to be paid by Jerry. PASSIVE

More About Active / Passive Forms

EXERCISES AND RELATED TOPICS

Past Repetition  Simple Past, "Used to" and "Would Always."

1) Write past simple or past continuous in the gaps:

1) When the post man    (arrive), my father   (have a

shower)2) While my brother   (study), my grandma   (make) some

muffins3) I   (go) to the doctor 2 days ago because I   (have) a terrible

headache  

4) When I   (be) 10, I   (eat) a sandwich every evening 5) He   (miss) the train because he   (talk) with some

friends 

6) The thieves   (come)  into the house while the man   

(sleep) 7) I   (drink) a glass of water at eleven. I'm not thirsty

now 

8)   you   (write) the composition last week? 9) My mother   (not/be) at home when she   (fall) down the

stairs 10) The children    (plant) a tree when their mummy   

(call)  them 2) Write the most suitable words in each gap (ago, yesterday, last, while, when, as, on, in, at)1) Tommy's father worked in that office 2 years 2) The plane was flying   8 p.m.   3) My best friend went to London   month4)   I was having dinner, my sister was having a shower

5)   did the supermarket close?6) Your aunt studied German   20017) Rose played in an orchestra   she was 12 years old8) Jason was swimming   his girlfriend was drinking a coke9) The TV broke   26th October10)   did he deliver the shopping?11) My father's friend had a baby 12) The suspect can't have committed the crime. He was having dinner in the restaurant   that time 13) My cousin bought the PSP   he was in London 3) Which sentence is the correct one? 1)  a) The men were studying on the new proyect all day yesterday           b) The men was studying on the new proyect all day yesterday             c) The men studied on the new proyect all day yesterday   2)   a) When were you finishing your project?             b) When did you finish your project?      c) When were you finish your project?3)   a) You didn't be in the party yesterday      b) you didn't were in the party yesterday      c) You weren't in the party yesterday 4)   a) My sister watched TV while his husband was playing with the children      b) My sister was watching TV while his husband was playing with the children              c) My sister was watching TV while his husband played with the children5)   a) The students were talking when the teacher was arriving      b) The students talked when the teacher was arriving      c) The students were talking when the teacher arrived 

4) Fill the gaps with past simple /continuous. Afterwards, write the main verb in the crossword and match the sentence with each picture

                             

                  

                           

                

76

35

4

   

1) Mr. Stevenson   (drive) his car while he was listening to some music

2) Robert   (type) the letter last week because his computer was broken

2

1 8

3) Louis fell asleep while

he   (study)4) Lydia was drinking a glass of coke

when Peter   (come) in5) While Michael was jogging , the

dog   (chase) him

6) Mrs. Parker   (make) some muffins 2 days ago

7) Sam and Pam   (ride) their bikes when they were small

8) Joe   (run) as he was phoning his wife

 

UNIT ONE "MEETING SALVADORAN PERSONALITIES

Unit Objectives:

1. Interpret oral and written English language discourse related to appointments, personal interviews, goals and Salvadoran personalities by listening to classmates, teacher and audio material in order to fulfill intended communication in the target language. 

2. Produce spoken and written English language discourse related to appointmentsm, personal interviews, goals and Salvadoranpersonalities in order to communicate with others in the target language.

3. Value the importance of English to learn about oneself and others by cooperatively sharing information and experiences with peers in order to appreciate his/her personal and cultural environment.

CONTENTS:

Expressions to make appointments.

Commonly used questions for personal interviews.

Biographies of Salvadoran personalities.

Personal goals.