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ENGLISH FOR TEENAGERS · GENERAL ISSUES · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

VOLUNTEERING

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1 Warm up
Look at the three images. What can you see?

picture 1 picture 2 picture 3

1. How are all three images connected to the image and title at the top of the page?
2. Have you ever worked as a volunteer? What did you do? Would you like to be a volunteer?
3. Is volunteering popular where you live? What kinds of things do people volunteer to do? What
would you volunteer to do?

Now, talk to a classmate and write down three advantages and disadvantages connected to volunteering.

advantages disadvantages

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

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2 Focus on vocabulary

Part A: Match each word or phrase to its correct definition.

1. grown-up (n) a. activities involved in making buildings

2. self-confidence (n) b. the ability to guide and influence others

3. unpaid (adj.) c. a place that offers protection to those who have been badly
treated
4. passionate (adj.) d. belief in your ability to do things well

5. shelter (n) e. not receiving money for something

6. construction (n) f. the protection of plants, animals, and natural areas

7. leadership (n) g. the illegal employment of children in industry

8. conservation (n) h. having or showing very strong feelings

9. child labor (n) i. an informal word for adult

Part B: Write the correct word or phrase from Part A in each sentence

1. I think it’s better to get a dog from an animal than buy one from a pet store.

2. She’s about climate change and really wants to make a difference in the world.

3. He doesn’t have much , so I want to tell him how brilliant he is!

4. You need to have great skills if you want to be a manager or a politician.

5. Did you know that some things we wear have been made by kids? must be stopped!

6. There are lots of jobs in the industry when the economy is doing well.

7. Most people can’t afford to do an job even if it’s for a good cause.

8. There is a project to protect wild animals in my community that I’d like to get
involved in.

9. You don’t have to wait until you’re a to make a difference!

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3 Pronunciation tip: use the schwa a lot!

Part A: The schwa /@/ is the most common sound in the English language and is often used when
vowels are not stressed. Look at these examples below:

Now, look at these words from the vocabulary exercise above and underline the schwa sounds in
each word. Remember that the part of the word that is stressed will not use a schwa. There is more
than one example in some of the words.

Part C: Discuss these questions with a classmate and use the phrase in bold in your answer.

1. Should we get new pets from a pet shop or an animal shelter?

2. Which topics are you really passionate about?
3. Should everyone do some conservation work every year?
4. What leadership skills do you need to manage a conservation project?

4 Reading: skimming

You are going to read an article called "Ever tried volunteering?". Check ✓the types of volunteer work
you think will be mentioned in the article. Read the article and check your predictions.

teaching helping people who live on the street

working with animals working on projects connected to the

environment
helping poor people who don’t have enough helping older people with the shopping
food

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Ever tried volunteering?

What are the benefits for you and those you help?

1. Do you do the same thing every Saturday? Get report that their self-confidence is higher, they have
up late, do a bit of homework, play some games, improved leadership skills, and their group of friends
watch a few episodes of your favorite TV show? It is much bigger than before volunteering.
sounds nice, but it can get boring, right? It might
4. So, what could you do? There are many ways to
be time to try something different. More and more
volunteer. Think about what you like as well as what
teenagers are choosing to do volunteer work in their
you would like to try. If you love the countryside,
free time, and while they help their communities and
try a local environmental group. If you live in a
their planet, volunteering can teach young people
city, you could join a food bank, teaching project, or
important life skills, too.
community garden. Many teens happily spend many
2. Teenagers sometimes have a Saturday job or hours helping at an animal shelter near their home.
something similar, but in general, paid work is done
5. Volunteering can also help you find what things you
by grown-ups, and in some countries, it’s illegal to do
can change in the world. Many of us get very sad
paid work until you are 16 or over. So how can you
or angry when we read about people, animals, or the
get those skills that will be very important when you
planet suffering but don’t know what to do to change
start work as a young adult? Employers and colleges
it. Volunteering with organizations that are trying to
look for people who can work in a team, can solve
make a difference can help you see how you can make
problems, and are passionate about what they do
a difference. You don’t have to be an adult to do this.
and what they believe in. They want young people
The international organization, Free the Children fights
who know how to arrive on time and complete tasks,
against child labor. Craig Kielburger was 12 when he
too. Doing unpaid work can help with all of this.
founded it with some school friends in 1995.
3. You don’t need to be an expert. The organization,
6. And don’t forget that you already have lots of
often a charity or NGO, will teach you everything
knowledge, skills, and energy that could be really
you need to carry out what they need you to do. In
useful to the team you volunteer with. Organizations
fact, many volunteers get the opportunities to learn
report that teenagers bring new ideas and help them
how to do things like construction or conservation,
do things that would be impossible without young
which help them when they have their own home
volunteers. You can get a lot out of volunteering, and
and garden. Many teenagers offer to teach and say
you have a lot to give, too. So why not give it a try?
that they have found the job they wanted to do all
their lives. More importantly, most young volunteers Sources: Independent, The Conversation

Glossary
NGO: non-governmental organizations that are usually independent charities
A food bank: a place where people in need can go to get free food

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5 Reading comprehension
Read the text again and decide if the following statements are true (T), false (F), or not given (NG).
Talk to a classmate and give reasons for your answers.

1. According to the article, more teenagers prefer to stay at home in their free time than help others.

2. Volunteering is not just good for the people you help.

3. Some volunteers may discover their future career paths.

4. You probably need to travel if you want to work with animals.

5. Only grown-ups can make a real difference.

6. Many volunteer organizations would close if they didn’t have young volunteers.

Now, in pairs, look back at the advantages and disadvantages you wrote down at the beginning of
the lesson. Have you changed your mind about anything? Can you add any more advantages or
disadvantages to your list?

6 Focus on language: prefixes un-

The prefix un- usually means not, so unpaid means the opposite of paid. Look at this example sentence:

Your teacher is going to describe six people. Your task is to write an adjective that uses the prefix un-
to describe each person.

1. John is .

2. Sandra is .

3. Jack is .

4. Emma was .

5. Hamza is .

6. Claudia is .

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7 Listening for general understanding

You are about to hear four teenagers who do different types of volunteer work. Look at the forms
and then listen and complete them with the missing information.

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8 Vocabulary/optional task
Look at these sentences from what you just heard. What do you think the words in bold mean?

1. I work at a community animal shelter. I work with the horses and donkeys there.

a. an animal that is similar to a horse and was used to carry lots of things in the past

b. an animal that is similar to horse with black and white stripes

2. Many of the animals were abandoned by their owners.

a. left because it’s unwanted or not needed

b. sold very cheaply

3. Many of the animals were rescued because they were treated badly by their owners.

a. sent into a dangerous situation

b. saved from a dangerous situation

4. Some of them have little vegetable gardens next to the park, and I go and help them with some
digging.
a. the activity of putting something in the ground so it will grow

b. the activity of making a hole in the ground with your hands or a garden tool

5. Plogging is a strange word for jogging and picking up litter.

a. things that make a place look untidy and are not where they should be

b. pieces of trash that are left on the ground outside and not put in the trashcan

6. Our group, our school’s parent association, and some people from the houses next to the beach
all wrote to the local TV station and newspaper.
a. an official group that has joined together for a particular reason

b. an organization that is owned by the government

7. I actually volunteer online because I live in a really rural area – our closest neighbors are over a
kilometer away!
a. connected with the countryside

b. connected with the city

8. So, about once a month, I give an online lesson in something I have learned or know. It can be
anything from measurements to division. In which problem do you need to know measurements
and in which problem do you need to know division?
a. If Candela had 700 cookies, then gave 175 of them to her friends, and then put the rest in
five bags, how many cookies would she have in each bag?
b. If a room is six meters long and five meters wide, how big is the room in square meters?

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9 Speaking: roleplay

Imagine that you work for an organization that is looking for new volunteers. Read your role card and
think about how you could persuade your classmates to do some volunteer work for you.

You also want to do some volunteer work. You have 6 free hours a week. Listen to three volunteering
possibilities and decide how you will use your free hours.

10 Homework/class project

You have decided that doing some volunteer work is the right thing to do.

You like the idea of helping others and you also know that volunteering will give you some experience
and skills for the future. The problem is you’re not sure where to volunteer and what to do. You need
to do some research. Use these questions to help you.

What is the What does the How old do I What do Why do I want
name of the organization do? need to be to volunteers do? to volunteer
organization? volunteer? here?

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11 Supplementary writing

Write an email to a charity or NGO to tell them that you would be interested in working for them as
a volunteer. Use the phrases below in your letter.

• Best wishes,
• I’m interested in ...
• I would love to work for your organization because ...
• I’m available ...
• I look forward to hearing from you.
• I’m writing to ...
• Dear ...

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