Lesson 7 – House Doctor
Warm up
- Revise furniture and prepositions of place ask students about what furniture is in each room in their house and where it is.
- Ask about the colours of the walls, furniture, curtains, etc. and if they like them.
Main activity
Listening
1. Explain English people usually go to an estate agent to buy a house. The estate agent shows them houses. Tell students they are going to hear some people looking at a house. Students should listen and decide if the people like it.
2. Play the recording once. Check students’ answers. Write on the board: What are the problems with the room?  living room  dining room  kitchen
3. Tell the students to listen again and make notes about the problems. Play the recording twice.
4. Ask them to compare their answers with neighbour. Then check them.
Key Answer
- They do not like the house and will not buy it.
- Living room : no sofa, disrty plates, clothes, etc; TV in the middle of the room
- Dining room : table is too chose to the windows, dark colours/brown, need flower/plants
- Kitchen room : dirty
5. Explain that if British people can’t sell their house, they sometimes ask a House Doctor for advice about what to change. Ask students to use their notes and talk with their neighbours for two minutes about advice for the owner of the house.
6. Listen to their ideas and elicit/revise language of suggestion/advice, e.g. You should …, Let’s ., Why don’t you …? How about …?
Speaking
1. Tell students they are going to be House Doctors. Put them in pairs. Ask them to look at the furniture and help each other with unknown words.
2. If there are still any unknown words, ask other students before giving them yourself.
3. Write on the board or look on the web
| Furniture for: | What colours for: | Other thing s to  use ,e.g. |
| –  dining  room? | – walls? | paintings |
| – living room? Where  to  put it? | – carpets? – curtains? | mirrors,  etc. |
| – furniture? |
Tell them Student A is the House Doctor and Student B wants help. Explain that they should look at Student B’s plan and talk about the questions on the board. Student B makes suggestions, but Student A decides what to do and draws the things onto B’s plan.
4 . Tell them Student B is now the House Doctor, and they should do the same with As plan.
5. Put two pairs together into groups of four. Tell them to look at each other’s plans and explain their ideas.
6. Tell the As to choose the best plan A in their group, and the B to choose the best plan B.
7. Listen to ideas about why they chose which plan and encourage comments.
Follow up
Tell students to Imagine and describe the things in the house, do it in the form of a record!