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 Tell Your Daily Routines
In this unit you will be able to:
 tell your daily routine in organized order
 develop your vocabulary and phrases to tell routine
 practice language for having conversation with others about the
daily routines

Starting Up!
Discuss these questions:
1. Do you have daily routines you do in your typical day?
2. Does your family have daily routines they do in their typical day?
3. What do you and your family usually do in the morning?
4. What do you and your family usually do in the afternoon?
5. What do you and your family usually do in the evening?

Consider the following English expressions. What would probably be the

response to the questioning expressions? First is done for you.

1. How do you like your 1. Well, I think my routine is

Expressions
routine? Responses
quite busy, but I really enjoy
it.
2. What time do you usually 2. …………………………………………
wake up during the week? …………………………………………
3. What’s a typical day in your 3. …………………………………………
life like? …………………………………………
4. What do you usually do in 4. …………………………………………
your free times? …………………………………………
5. What’s your day like? 5. …………………………………………
…………………………………………

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Getting in!
Brief Overview
English learner, especially in EFL context, might learn how to tell daily routines in English. A lot
of them get problems and difficulties to tell the routines in organized order or sequences. Yet, they
are also getting confused about what kind of tenses they need to use in their sentences when they
are telling the routines. In principle, telling daily routines usually uses present simple of sentences.
Besides, to talk about daily routines it is also important to prepare the vocabulary. The
vocabulary, in this case, might be divided into three parts: activities, time, and connectors. The
vocabulary showing the daily activities might include “wake up”, “get up”, “brush teeth”, “take a
shower”, “get dressed”. “have breakfast”, “go to the school” or “go to work”, “take the bus to work
or school”, “drive to work or school”, “walk to work or school”, “start work or school”, “have
meeting or lesson”, “have lunch”, “finish work or school”, “go home”, “get home”, “have dinner”,
“watch TV”, “do homework”, “go to sleep”, etc.
In addition, the vocabulary showing the time in telling daily routines might include the phrasal
time beginning with preposition “at” to tell exact time of the activities. For example, the vocabulary
that like “at seven”, “at nine”, “at ten”, etc. If it is not exact time (an approximate time), the word
“around” can be used to substitute “at”. So, we can say, “I get up at five in the morning” for exact
time, and “I get up around five in the morning” for showing approximate time. Further, for telling
daily routines we would tell sequences of activities, then we need “connectors” to connect the
phrases or ideas of the activities. There are some expressions or words that can be used to connect
the ideas, such as “then”, “and”, “when”, “after that”, “after school/ work/ dinner, etc.”, “in the
morning/ afternoon/ evening”, “at night”, “on weekend”, etc. Using the connectors, we can create a
story around our daily activities.
There are some common basic questions that can guide the EFL learners in telling their
routines. The basic questions are all related to common daily activities. They are in the following
lists:
1. How do you like your routines? Or what’s your day like?
2. What time do you wake up during the week?
3. How do you feel when you wake up?
4. Do you have anything to eat before you go to work/ school?
5. How do you get to work/ school?
6. Do you like your working hours/ school hours?

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Compare the following two stories of daily routines (A and B). Tell which one
do you think better or smoother in telling daily routines? Why?

I usually wake up around 4 a.m. I usually wake up around 4 a.m.

Then, I get up at 5 a.m., brush my I get up at 5 a.m., brush my teeth,
teeth, take a shower, and get take a shower, and get dressed. I
dressed. After that, I have my have my breakfast at 7.am. I finish
breakfast at 7.am. When I finish my my breakfast. I read some news on
breakfast, I read some news on my my phone. I get the bus for work.
phone. After reading the news, I get I start work at 9 a.m. and I
the bus for work. usually have a meeting in my
I start work at 9 a.m. and I office. My work is little busy, but I
usually have a meeting in my office love it very much. I have lunch.
once a week. My work is little busy, After lunch, I go back to work. I
but I love it very much. At 1 p.m., I finish my work at 4 p.m. I go home
have lunch. After lunch, I go back to and get home. I have dinner with
work. I finish my work at 4 p.m. my family. I take a shower and
Then, I go home around 4 p.m. and watch TV. I go to bed around 9 p.m.
get home around 5 p.m. In the
evening, I have dinner with my
family. After that, I take a shower
and watch TV. I go to bed around 9
p.m.

Let’s Listen and Speak

Tract 8.1
1. Listen to the conversation in tract 8.1. Tell how many things the speaker does as his daily
routines? What are they?
2. Can you hear vocabulary of time used by the speaker in telling his routines? What are they?
3. Can you hear vocabulary of connectors used by the speaker in telling the story of his routines?
What are they?
4. Do you think he is good in telling his daily routines? Why?
5. Listen again to tract 8.1 and try to fill the blanks in the following text.

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 I get up at 8 o’clock in the morning. , I have breakfast. I like to eat eggs,
bacon, and a bagel. I have and surf the internet. Then, I _ my
teeth.
I work-out at the gym at o’clock. I at noon. I like to
eat fruit, a sandwich, and chips. lunch, I do the . Then, I
shave, take a shower, brush my hair, and . I listen to music and read.
And then, I get .
I go to work at 1 o’clock. I have three classes . At 5 o’clock, I have
dinner in the staff room. I bring leftovers from home. , I go for a walk. I
have three more classes . I get off at 9 o’clock. After , I go
to a bar to have a drink with friends. I get home, I watch TV. Then, I wash
my face and brush my teeth. I go to bed .

Tract 8.2

1. Listen to tract 8.2. Learn the text in the following box and try to find out the meaning of
sentences written in bold. Elaborate orally in context.

Weekdays, I get up around seven-thirty. We have breakfast at about 8 o’clock right

here. My mom is a teacher. She works in a school. She takes the bus to work. The bus
comes at eight-thirty and she gets home at about five. My dad drives to work. He works in
a clinic. He is a doctor. He starts work at 9 o’clock and gets home at six.
And how do I get to work? I walk from here to here. This is my room. It’s also my
office. I’m a web designer, so I work from home. It’s difficult work, but it’s interesting, and
I start at 9 a.m. At one-thirty, I take a lunch break. Sometimes I go out, but today I’m
eating at home. (Mmm… looks good! Thanks mom!) I finish at five.
Every night is the same. My parents watch TV or read or go for a walk, but not me. I
write. I am always writing jokes. I’m a comedian. Well, I want to be a comedian. Man, “….
and he brings all his laundry home with him. What’s up with that?” I tell my joke to my
mom and dad. Sometimes they laugh. Sometimes they don’t, but it’s okay. On Saturday, I
go downtown. I go to a comedy club and tell my jokes. It’s exciting. This is my dream. The
show starts at 8 p.m. and ends at eleven. I go home about midnight. I get home pretty
late, but that’s okay. On Sundays I can sleep all day. I have pretty busy schedule: I design
webpages; I write my jokes; I do comedy; and I help all around the house.

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 2. Learn the text again. Considering the context of telling routines, identify the expressions or
sentences that do not tell the speaker’s daily routines.
3. Tell the reason why you consider that the expressions or sentences you have identified are not
showing or telling the speaker’s daily routines.

It’s Time to Practice!

1. Work in pairs and discuss with your partner some important notes (things) in telling daily
routines.
2. Think of 15 things you do in your daily activities, and describe your typical day to your partner
in English!

Reflection
Write and share in the following diary what you get from today lesson, including your problems
and obstacles in getting the lesson. You can share honestly what you feel about the lesson in this
diary.

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