The word ‘DECISION’ has many different collocations (word partnerships). Which ones of those below are useful collocations? 1. Can you choose one from each pair?
- We had to make a snap / click decision
- It’s a tough /strong decision
- It’s a(n) soft / easy decision
- You need to make a quick / speed decision
- That’s my final / end decision
You’re going to read a story about a young guy called Johnny. He’s a university student in his country and his family have decided to send him to Fundon (a great European city) to study Pinglish.
2. What kind of decisions do you think he will have to make?
Read the first part of Johnny’s story quickly and find all the decisions he made.
Johnny in Fundon
Johnny arrived in Fundon feeling both excited and a little nervous. It was his first time away from his family, and he was looking forward to his new freedom, but also worrying about looking after himself. So, how did Johnny get on with his new life?He started well at school and was very enthusiastic about his lessons and about his new friends. He organised his study materials, kept up with his work and spent most of his free time doing lots of interesting cultural stuff around Fundon. Gradually, he was getting used to living away from home and the culture shock was not as strong as it was at the beginning. Johnny kept in touch with his family and friends back home and they were happy that he was having such a great time, as well as learning a lot too.After a few months, however…
3. What do you think happened next in the story?
…Johnny’s attitude began to change. He started oversleeping in the mornings and getting to class late. Some days he didn’t even manage to come to school at all. Instead, he just stayed at home or walked around by himself. The energy he had at the beginning suddenly disappeared because he knew it was difficult to learn a language and he was getting frustrated because it takes time to make progress. The problem was that because Johnny now decided to hide away from these difficulties and spend his time speaking his own language and going out with people from his own country, he couldn’t develop his Pinglish.To be honest, Johnny didn’t really enjoy studying that much. He preferred listening to music, watching films and meeting new people (especially women!). What he didn’t understand was that with more Pinglish, he could enjoy these things more. In fact, his best friend Ronny was one of the best students in the school and because he really tried to improve, his life in Fundon really changed. Not only could he go back to his country with an excellent level to impress his friends, but he was also having a great social life: meeting people, doing a wide variety of different things, and really getting to know another culture. It was strange because he studied more than Johnny but he always seemed to have more free time and fun too. His philosophy was ‘Work hard, play hard’.
3. What do you think happened next in the story?
…Johnny’s attitude began to change. He started oversleeping in the mornings and getting to class late. Some days he didn’t even manage to come to school at all. Instead, he just stayed at home or walked around by himself. The energy he had at the beginning suddenly disappeared because he knew it was difficult to learn a language and he was getting frustrated because it takes time to make progress. The problem was that because Johnny now decided to hide away from these difficulties and spend his time speaking his own language and going out with people from his own country, he couldn’t develop his Pinglish.To be honest, Johnny didn’t really enjoy studying that much. He preferred listening to music, watching films and meeting new people (especially women!). What he didn’t understand was that with more Pinglish, he could enjoy these things more. In fact, his best friend Ronny was one of the best students in the school and because he really tried to improve, his life in Fundon really changed. Not only could he go back to his country with an excellent level to impress his friends, but he was also having a great social life: meeting people, doing a wide variety of different things, and really getting to know another culture. It was strange because he studied more than Johnny but he always seemed to have more free time and fun too. His philosophy was ‘Work hard, play hard’.
Unfortunately, Ronny didn’t really influence his friend and Johnny ended up going back to his country early. His parents were a bit surprised, although of course they were happy to see him. He got used to his normal life again, and slowly his Pinglish disappeared.A few years later, he was walking down his local high street and he saw a group of young Pinglish people playing music in the street. One of them was a beautiful young lady; a modern day princess. The music they were playing was great and Johnny really, really wanted to talk to them. They seemed so full of adventure and magic. But…of course he didn’t. Instead he just carried on walking and…he remembered clearly his time all those years ago in Fundon. I guess he regretted the opportunity he wasted. ‘I wish I could go back’ he thought. But time is a bridge that goes in only one direction!
Written by Rui Da Silva & Ben Butler
4. What do you think of the story?
5. What do you think the message of the story is?
Written by Rui Da Silva & Ben Butler
4. What do you think of the story?
5. What do you think the message of the story is?
6. How do you think you can get the maximum benefit from visiting and studying in a native English speaking country?
Think about some of the bad decisions you think Johnny made and then consider what you think he should have done.
7. He should’ve…
8. He shouldn't have...
Can you find all the uses of past tense in the story? How many are there?
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