speakout Advanced UNIT 1

1 ORIGINS

Overview
Watch the video podcast. Whose family do you identify with most?

1 Read Andreas introduction. Then watch the video podcast from 0:00 Andrea
to 0:27 and underline the correct alternatives.
Hi. My name is Andrea. I 1live / am living and work in London 2but / though
most of my family live in Brazil. I get on well 3to / with my sister when
I 4 ll see / see her but thats only 5once / twice a year. Do you 6pass / spend
much time with your family?

2 Do you spend much time with your family? Look at the people in the pictures and read extracts from
their answers. Then watch the video podcast from 0:27 to 1:16 and match the people to their answers.

1 I try to, yeah. I try and spend as

much as possible. C
________

A Nick

2 Spend quite a bit of time with my

family. Obviously, less now since I
left home and left university. ________

B Dianne

3 I dont, no. Were geographically

quite spread out. ________

CTomas
4 Yeah, I do. I go to school in Toronto
and they live there and I see them on
weekends and whenever I can really. ________

DTim
5 Probably not as much as I could
because the kids are busy, and, er,
I dont have any parents any more.
And my husbands family live a fair
way away, so probably not as much
as wed like to. ________
E Robin

Glossary: a fair way away = quite a long way from where the speaker is; geographically spread out =
(living) in different places all over the country/world.

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3 Have they inherited any family characteristics? Look at the people in Exercise 2 again and read their
paraphrased answers below. Then watch the video podcast from 1:16 to 2:55. Write true (T) or false (F)
next to each answer.
1 Nick: People often say he looks and sounds like his mum, though
he doesnt understand why. F
________
2 Dianne: She might have inherited some good things from her family,
like a fairly good personality and being fun to be around. ________
3 Robin: She doesnt take things as seriously as her family, or value
spending time with them. ________
4 Tim: Hes physically quite slender and short like his dad, though he
has a very different personality. ________
5 Tomas: Hes bubbly and chatty like his mum but is more like his dad
when hes in a bad mood. ________

Glossary: bubbly = very lively; slender = slim

4A Do you know much about your family history? Watch the video podcast from 2:57 to 4:23 and
number the countries they mention in the order you hear them, 110.

Scotland 1

Canada

Ireland

Spain

France

Argentina

Scotland

Liberia

Barbados

Zimbabwe

B Read sentences 13 and watch the video podcast from 2:57 to 4:23 again. Tick the sentence which
best summarises what the people say.
1 In general, they know a reasonable amount about their family histories.
2 On the whole, they wish they knew more about their family histories.
3 Most of the speakers only knew about the first and second generations in their family histories.

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5 Does your family history play a part in your sense of who you are? Look at the people below and read
their answers. Then watch the video podcast from 4:23 to 5:20 and underline the words you hear.

A Andrew B Maureen

A Yes, very much so. And part of that is that I B Definitely, because family is a big part of
was brought up in Latin America, speaking 3
me / myself um, and, we just try to keep those
Spanish to my friends and English to my connections 4up / going.
parents. So, in 1a / some sense, I was brought
up between two 2countries / cultures and that,
at the end, is part of who I am.

C Nick DTim

C I 5guess / suppose its a difficult balance in my D Er, no, not really at all. Erm, I left home when
head to see whats, how much is me and how I was about sixteen or seventeen so I think
much is my family. And knowing about my my sense of 8identity / who I am has been very
family 6origins / history and knowing what I have much formed by my own 9belief / believe
inherited, which Im sure theres lots and lots systems and my own lifestyle rather than being
of habits that I 7must / might have inherited, particularly 10focussed on / keyed into anything
but I feel a lot of its me but it probably isnt. to do with my parents or my grandparents.

The way we speak

6 Watch the video podcast of Tomas from 2:24 to 2:44 and notice how he uses kind of. Then watch
again and write kind of in spaces 110 where you hear it.
Yeah, definitely. I think, 1 from my mum Ive got the 2 bubbliness
and chattiness shes 3
very much like that. And, er, 4 most of
the time Im like that, but then when Im in a 5 bad mood I get the
dad side. And thats er, hes 6 , my mum used to call him a volcano
because he 7 just erupts. Hes really 8 peaceful most of the time
but then when you really make him 9 angry hell erupt and thats 10
how it is with me.

Glossary: kind of = informal spoken English: often used when describing things in a vague way, usually
with very little extra meaning

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Personalisation
7 Write a paragraph about your family using Andreas questions and language from the podcast to help.
How much time do you spend with your family?
Have you inherited any family characteristics?
How much do you know about your family history?
Does your family history play a part in your sense of who you are?
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BBC LINK Do you want to know more about your family history? This BBC guide
can help: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/get_started/

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