2.1. I'll never forget the day...

 

 
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HOW TO TELL ANECDOTES?

An anecdote is a short story that you tell people about something funny or interesting that has happened to you or to somebody you know.

  • Which are the stages of an anecdote?
    1. Introduction: Give the background to the story. Explain why people will find it funny or interesting.
    2. Beginning: Explain how the story started.
    3. Story: Tell the main events in order.
    4. The end: Tell the listener what happened or how things are now.
    5. Moral: Make a final comment about the story.

  • Make it a simple story for listeners to understand by using:
    a) Sequencing words which let you show the chronological sequence of events.
     b) Linking words showing reason, result, contrast, additional information....

  • Vocabulary: try to use a wide range of words to make your story more interesting. Remember that you can "exaggerate" when you tell a story so, instead of using words like "nice" or "bad", experiment with more interesting words such as "beautiful", "fabulous", "wonderful", "horrible", "awful" or "terrible". Don't forget to use strong adjectives when telling your anecdote.

  • Verb Tenses: normally, past tenses are used when telling anecdotes - Past Simple, Past Continuous, Past Perfect...

Finally – remember that you are telling a story – not giving a lecture. Look at the people listening and try to "involve" them in the story or anecdote. Keep eye contact, use the right intonation and try to make your face expressive. You might also want to try practising a few anecdotes in the mirror before "going live". Have fun!

Adapted from: http://www.english-at-home.com/speaking/telling-a-story/

Let's start talking about the form and use of PAST PERFECT since, as we have read in the introduction, it is one of the verb tenses normally used when telling anecdotes.

Watch the video below to understand when to use it and how to use it and have a look at this table, which summarises the structure of the Past Perfect tense.

 

Reflexión

After watching the video, answer the following questions. If necessary, watch the lesson again.

1. Which is the form of Past Perfect?

2. Which is the past participle of the following verbs: bring, choose, fall, fly, grow, let, pay, see, throw?

If you are not sure, have a look at this list of common irregular verbs.

3. Look at this sentence: Barry had driven 10 miles when he ran out of petrol.

a) How many actions in the past are there in this sentence?

b) Which of the 2 events took place first? Which verb tense is used?

4. In the following 2 sentences, is the action in Past Perfect the first event?

- The car had crashed into a wall which totally collapsed.

- Ruby walked down the street and saw the boy who had stolen her purse.

Now, it's time to practise the use of PAST PERFECT!

Rellenar huecos

Read the following anecdote which has been jumbled up. Read the strips and put it back into the correct order. Write a number (01-10) in the space provided.

When you have finished, read through again and pay attention to:

- the stages of the anecdote

- the sequencing words and linking words used

- the verbs tenses

- the language used to speak to the audience directly

I’ll never forget the day I had to hand my first company report in to my new boss – what a nightmare!
You won’t believe it, but the file was far too big. I decided I’d better save it to a USB stick and then have it couriered to him.
Can you imagine it? By 9.45, they still hadn’t arrived. In the end, I just got into my car and drove to the conference.
Oh, here’s a good story to show why you shouldn’t leave things to the last minute!
So, I got to work at 7.30 am and read through my report one more time.
My boss was not very happy when I arrived with the report just 5 minutes before his presentation. Believe me, I’ll never rely on last minute checking again!
Funnily enough, all the USB sticks in the office were too small and I didn’t know where to find one with a bigger memory – so I dashed out to buy one and came back to the office.
He called me at 7 am to say he needed the report by 10.30 – could I email it to him?
 After I had saved the file to the USB, I called the courier company and arranged for them to pick up the USB immediately.
Then I logged onto my email account to begin uploading it – my boss was at a conference, you see, and he needed it for a presentation he was giving.

SOURCE: http://www.onestopenglish.com/community/lesson-share/pdf-content/speaking/telling-an-anecdote-lesson-plan/552697.article

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Objetivos

Share your anecdote - Prepare an anecdote that happened to you and tell it to your partner. Remember to use the guidelines studied above.

Here's some useful language for telling an anecdote. Choose phrases from each section.

1. HOW TO INTRODUCE AN ANECDOTE

  • I'll never forget the time ...
  • Did I ever tell you about the time when ...?
  • Talking about/of..., that reminds me of the time when...

2. SETTING THE CONTEXT

  • I was on my way to... when...
  • It's quite a few years ago now.
  • I'm sure you all know about...

3. HOW TO CREATE EXCITEMENT, EMOTION AND INTEREST

  • Oh! Here's a good story about...
  • You're not going to believe this, but...
  • What a nightmare!
  • Unbelievably,...
  • And the strangest/funniest/best/worst thing was...

4. SPEAKING TO THE AUDIENCE

  • You won't believe it!
  • Can you imagine it?
  • Believe me, ...
  • And, you'll never guess what happened at the end of the story, well...

5. THE ENDING

  • So, in the end, what happened was....
  • Anyway, it turns out that....

 Adapted from: http://www.onestopenglish.com/community/lesson-share/pdf-content/speaking/telling-an-anecdote-lesson-plan/552697.article

 http://britishenglishcoach.com/how-to-tell-anecdotes-in-english/