2019-10-21 Writing: interviews

Greg Malivuk
gmalivuk@staffordhouse.com
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - Notes from all classes
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With your partner, decide which topics are okay to ask about with a new classmate.
Then add some additional questions that are okay to ask about.
1 yes
2 yes (this is probably fine for classmates)
3 yes
4 maybe (fine in the right context)
5 no
6 no
7 yes
8 yes
9 yes
10 yes
11 no
12 yes
13 yes
14 yes
- Favorite movies/books/music
- First time here? / Travel experience
- How you like the weather
- Area you live in here
- What you did before you came here
- How do you come to school?
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How can you politely say that a topic is not okay for you?
- I’d prefer not to talk about that right now.
- Sorry, that’s hard for me to talk about.
- I’d rather not say.
- Are you sure you want to know?
(More directly: That’s none of your business. You don’t need to know about that.)

How can you politely ask about a topic that might not be okay?
- Do you mind if I ask you what your religion is?
- May I ask about your age?
- If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?
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Ask your partner about the okay topics.
If you know your partner well (or if you think it will be more fun), give fake answers.
Write your partner’s answers.
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Each paragraph in English academic writing starts with a topic sentence.
Longer pieces of writing start with an introduction, which could be anywhere from one paragraph to an entire chapter.
Writing usually ends with a conclusion, which can be one sentence for a single paragraph, or an entire chapter in a book.
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The basic shape for almost all academic writing in English is:
Introduction
Development / Body
Conclusion
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The two pieces of a topic sentence are the topic and the controlling idea.
Boston is a good place to study English.
Boston is one of the most historical cities in the US.
Boston is full of unfriendly people.
- All the topics are Boston.
- The controlling ideas (and the paragraphs that will follow) are very different.
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Can you think of a way to divide the information about your partner into two (or more) different paragraphs with different controlling ideas?
- past, present, future
- free time and occupied time (work and/or school)
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Homework: p. 5 and 6 - Read the paragraphs and answer the questions about each one.