SPEAK FIRST · A1 · 50 min

A Working Day

Six o'clock, coffee, traffic, meetings. Talk about your day, and ask about someone else's.

Speak First · Lesson 4 of 15. ← Lesson 3: My Home · Lesson 5: The Weekend →

Today: describe your normal day from morning to night, and ask another person about theirs. Grammar: present simple with he / she, and at / on / in with times.

Warm up — five words to remember. They come from Lessons 1 to 3. Do you know it? Say what it means and use it in a sentence. Is it new? Good — learn it now. Click Reveal to check, and follow the link to read the lesson.

a company — from Name and Job

What does it mean? Do you work for a company, or do you have one?

a company — a business; people work there.

a daughter — from My Family

What does it mean? Say the word for a boy.

a daughter — a girl; your child. A boy is a son.

to call — from My Family

What does it mean? Who do you call every week?

to call — to speak to a person on the phone.

quiet — from My Home

What does it mean? Is your home quiet?

quiet — with no noise.

favourite — from My Home

What does it mean? What is your favourite room?

favourite — the one you like best.

Now — the words for today's conversation

These are the new words for A Working Day. Match each word (1–8) to its meaning (A–H). Say your answers out loud — "I think 1 is D" — then check.

Words

to get up
traffic
a meeting
a customer
busy
to finish
tired
the weekend

Meanings

A. to stop; to come to the end
B. Saturday and Sunday
C. people talk about work together, at a table
D. with a lot of things to do
E. cars, buses and lorries on the road
F. you need sleep
G. to get out of bed in the morning
H. a person who buys things from a company

1 = G (to get up) · 2 = E (traffic) · 3 = C (a meeting) · 4 = H (a customer)

5 = D (busy) · 6 = A (to finish) · 7 = F (tired) · 8 = B (the weekend)

Now talk — out loud

Before we read:

Which words are about work? Which word is about the road?
A man gets up at six every day. Why? Guess.

The conversation, in three parts

Six o'clock: Leo in his kitchen with a coffee, the clock says 6:00, the window is dark.

Look at the picture. Say:

Where is Leo?
What time is it?
How does he feel? Why?

Leo has a small company. This is his day. Read each part. Then try the questions from memory, and answer the last one about you.

Part 1 — Six o'clock

Leo gets up at six. He doesn't like it, but he has a small company, and the company doesn't sleep. He has a coffee in the kitchen. Carla is still in bed. At seven, he drives to work. The traffic is bad. He listens to the radio and thinks about the day.

Anna: Morning, Leo. You look tired.

Leo: I am tired. I get up at six every day.

Anna: Every day? I get up at eight.

Leo: Eight! That's a holiday.

Quick check — answer from memory, then reveal:

1. What time does Leo get up? Why?

2. How does he go to work?

1. At six. He has a small company, and there is a lot of work.

2. By car. He drives, and the traffic is bad.

Talk about it:

And you? What time do you get up? How do you go to work?

Part 2 — Meetings

Leo's day is meetings. At nine, a meeting with the team. At eleven, a phone call with a customer in Germany. At one, lunch — usually a sandwich at his desk. Anna doesn't like this.

Anna: A sandwich again?

Leo: I don't have time.

Anna: You have thirty minutes. Come to the café.

Leo: OK. Thirty minutes. Not more.

Quick check — answer from memory, then reveal:

1. What does Leo usually have for lunch? Where?

2. Where do Anna and Leo go?

1. A sandwich, at his desk.

2. To the café, for thirty minutes.

Talk about it:

And you? Are you busy at work? What do you do at lunch?

Part 3 — Home

Leo finishes at seven. At home, he has dinner with Carla and the children. Marco talks about football. Sofia talks about school. After dinner, Leo watches the news, and at eleven he goes to bed.

At the weekend, it is different. He doesn't get up at six. He sleeps until nine, and Carla makes pancakes.

Carla: Leo, it's Saturday. Sleep!

Leo: I can't. My phone…

Carla: Give me the phone.

Quick check — answer from memory, then reveal:

1. What time does Leo finish work? What does he do in the evening?

2. What is different at the weekend?

1. At seven. He has dinner with his family, watches the news and goes to bed at eleven.

2. He doesn't get up at six. He sleeps until nine.

Talk about it:

And you? What do you do in the evening? Is your weekend different?

Grammar: he gets up / at, on, in

To talk about your day, you need the present simple — and the small words for time.

I / you → no -s. He / she → -s. "I start at nine." "She starts at eight." "He has lunch at one." (have → has)

Negative: "I don't work on Sunday." "He doesn't like meetings." (don't / doesn't + verb, no -s)

Questions: "What time do you get up?" "What time does he finish?" "Do you work on Saturday?" — "Yes, I do. / No, I don't."

at / on / in: at six, at the weekend, at night · on Monday, on Sunday morning · in the morning, in the evening

1. Put the verb in the right form

Use the verb in brackets. Careful with he and she.

1. Leo (get up) at six.

2. I (finish) at five.

3. She (not / like) meetings.

4. he (work) on Sunday?

1. gets up

2. finish

3. doesn't like

4. Does he work

2. Make the sentence

Put the words in order. Then say the sentence out loud.

1. time / What / get up / does / he?

2. at / I / seven / to work / go

3. doesn't / She / on Sunday / work

4. in / meetings / I / the morning / have

1. What time does he get up?

2. I go to work at seven.

3. She doesn't work on Sunday.

4. I have meetings in the morning.

3. Complete the conversation

Fill each gap with one word. Read the conversation out loud when you finish.

"What time you start work?" — "At nine. I meetings in the morning, and lunch one." — "And your wife?" — "She at home. She work on Friday."

do · have · at · works · doesn't

she works (-s) · she doesn't work (no -s).

Role Play

Your first week in a new job. A colleague asks about your day.

Round 1 — you are yourself. Read your partner's line, then say your own line from the cue in italics. Use your real answers. Then click to compare with a model.

Maria: What time do you get up?
You: time · early or late?

Maria: Do you have breakfast?
You: yes or no · what

Maria: How do you go to work?
You: car, bus, train, walk · how long

Maria: What do you do at work in the morning?
You: meetings, emails, phone calls, customers

Maria: What time do you finish?
You: time · busy?

Maria: And in the evening?
You: dinner, family, TV, bed

Maria: What time do you get up?
You: I get up at half past six. It's early.

Maria: Do you have breakfast?
You: Yes, I do. Coffee and bread.

Maria: How do you go to work?
You: By car. It's thirty minutes. The traffic is bad.

Maria: What do you do at work in the morning?
You: I have meetings, and I call customers.

Maria: What time do you finish?
You: At six. Sometimes seven. It's a busy job.

Maria: And in the evening?
You: I have dinner with my family, and I watch TV. I go to bed at eleven.

Round 2 — change roles. Now you are Maria. Ask the questions, and listen to the answers. Then say one thing you remember.

Quick-fire questions

Answer fast, in full sentences. No time to think. Then check a model answer for the ones that were hard.

1. What time do you get up?

2. Do you have breakfast?

3. How do you go to work?

4. What time do you start work?

5. What do you do at lunch?

6. What time do you finish?

7. What do you do in the evening?

8. What time do you go to bed?

9. Do you work at the weekend?

10. What time does your wife get up?

1. I get up at seven.

2. Yes, I do. Coffee and toast.

3. By car. / By bus. / I walk.

4. At nine.

5. I have a sandwich at my desk.

6. At six.

7. I have dinner and I watch the news.

8. At eleven.

9. No, I don't. / Sometimes.

10. She gets up at seven.

Speak

Do all three tasks out loud. Use the timer to keep talking.

Useful language: "I get up at…" · "I go to work by…" · "I have meetings in the morning." · "I finish at…" · "In the evening, I…" · "At the weekend, I don't…"

Time remaining: 1:00

Task A · Tell Leo's day

Tell Leo's day in your own words. Use these steps: six o'clock → coffee → the car and the traffic → meetings → a sandwich → dinner with the family → the news → bed → Saturday: pancakes.

Careful: he gets up, he has, he finishes.

Task B · My day (2 minutes)

Tell your normal day from morning to night. Say a time in every sentence: "At seven, I…" Start the timer and keep talking.

Task C · Ask me

Ask me six questions about my day: get up, breakfast, work, lunch, finish, evening. Then tell me my day back: "You get up at… You…"

To finish

Is your day busy? What is the best part of it?
Leo has a sandwich at his desk. Is this a good idea? What do you do?
From memory: say one sentence with I, and the same sentence with he.