2.1. I wish I had a smart home
Focus on
Fancy controlling your washing machine, cooker or air conditioning when you are at work? The video below will show you how to control your home from your smartphone.
Vídeo alojado en YouTube
What are the benefits of being able to control your home from your smartphone?. Would you like to be able to do so?
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- If you speak to the device and you say 'Going out', your lights and air conditioning turn off and the robot vacuum cleaner starts to work.
- If you want to know what's going on at home when you're out, you can use an application on your smartphone called 'home view' and wirelessly it connects with a camera you have at home.
- Using your smartphone you can communicate with all your home appliances e.g. you can turn on the washing machine or control any of them from the palm of your hand.
- If you speak to the device and you say 'Coming home', the lights turn on, the air conditioning starts again and the robot finishes cleaning and it goes back to its charger.
- When you turns on your smart TV, it reminds you that the laundry cycle is done.
- While in the kitchen, the screen on your fridge allows you to go on watching the programme you were watching in the living room.
- Your remote control follows your voice commands to control your devices at home.
Vídeo alojado en YouTube
Imagen de kirikiri en Flickr. Licencia CC
Wish and If only
- I wish I was taller.
- If only she hadn't invited him- he ruined the party
- I wish people wouldn't chew gum- it's a horrible habit.
We use wish and 'If only' to talk about regrets – things that we would like to change either about the past or the present.
Talking about the present: wish/if only + past
- If only I didn't have so much homework I could go to the concert tonight. (= She has a lot of homework and she can't go to the concert.
- I wish I knew what to do. (= he doesn't know what to do)
Talking about the past: wish/if only + past perfect)
- I wish I'd studied harder when I was at school. (= He didn't study harder when he was at school)
- If only I hadn't eaten all that chocolate. I feel sick.
Present annoying behaviour (Wish/if only + would + infinitve)
We use wish + would to talk about something in the present that we would like to change – usually something that we find annoying.
- I wish you wouldn't borrow my clothes without asking.
- I wish you'd give up smoking. it's really bad for you.
NB We can only use wish + would to talk about things we can't change.
So I wish I wouldn't eat so much chocolate is not possible ( although we can say I wish I didn't eat so much chocolate.
Source: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/intermediate-grammar/wish-and-if-only
Moving on
Imagen de HA! Designs - Artbyheather en Flickr. Licencia CC
Now, you are ready to practise how to use I wish/If only:
- I wish / If only (1)
- I wish / If only (2)
- Complete the sentence with the correct tense of the verb in brackets.
- Practice 1 & 2
Work in pairs and talk about some of the following situations using 'I wish / If only'. Take it in turns and give reasons for your choices.
1. If a genie came out of a bottle and granted you three wishes, what would you wish?
2. A famous singer you wish you had seen in concert.
3. Something you wish the Town Council did to improve your town.
4. A foreign language you wish you could speak apart from English.
5. Something you wish a member of your family wouldn’t do.
6. Something you wish had never been discovered or invented.
7. A very expensive possession you wish you had.
8. A quality you wish you had.
9. A famous person you wish you could meet.
10. A sport you wish you were very good at.
11. An aspect of your personality you wish you could change.
12. Something you wish people in Spain wouldn’t do.
13. Something you wish you could understand about people’s behaviour.
14. Something you wish you had learnt to do but still can’t do.
15. Something you wish you hadn’t bought.
16. A present you wish you had got at Christmas.
17. A present you wish you hadn't received at Christmas.
18. Somebody you wish you could see more often.
19. Something you wish you hadn’t done this week.
20. The number of brothers or sisters you wish you had had.
21. When and where you wish you had been born.
22. A country / a city / a town you wish you lived in.
23. Something you wish you could say to an important person in politics.
24. The mistakes you made when you were young that you wish you hadn’t made.
25. Something you wish you knew how to do.
SOURCE: https://intermedio2cristina.wordpress.com/2014/03/07/i-wish-speaking-activity/