Sport

WARM UP, WORK OUT, WIN

SPORTS VOCABULARY

How many words do you know for different sports?

Well, there’s: tennis, football, scuba diving, bmx riding, skateboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, judo, cycling, rollerblading (mmmm is that a sport?) handball, volleyball, basketball, skiing, hockey………

How many different verbs do you know that are connected to different kinds of sports?

• Tennis: To play, To volley, To smash
• Football: To play, To kick, To dribble, To foul, To defend, To attack
• Surfing: To surf, To balance, To fall off?!
• Judo: To do judo, To throw
• Swimming: To swim, To dive, To do breast stroke, To do backstroke, To do doggy paddle
• Running: To run, To jog, To sprint

When do we use: Play, Go and Do when we are talking about sport?  Watch and listen to this video to find out.

What are the names of the following sports?
Do you need more vocabulary?  If the answer is yes, then check out this website: Sports Vocabulary

VOCABULARY QUIZ:

Which sports are the following words describing?
For example: Goal, ball, goalkeeper, and striker.  The answer is Football.

• Cue, table, chalk, pocket?
• Shuttle cock, net, racket?
• Weights, bar, lift?
• Saddle, gears, handlebar, tyre?

INTERACTIVE ONLINE GAMES:

The British Council has published a series of learning activities which will help you improve your English and your general knowledge about sports.  There are lots of interactive games and interesting ways of learning more vocabulary, expressions and idioms.  Check it out:British Council Interactive Games

READING: SPORT: You either LOVE it, or LOATHE it.

I LOVE IT.  I love doing sport, I love watching sport, I love talking about sport. Why?

Well, there are a lot of reasons.  However, in a nutshell: sport makes me think LIFE is GREAT, when in fact it is widely reported that maybe LIFE SUCKS.  Watch this interesting video which describes  the history of the world and mankind in 2 minutes and then make your own mind up:The History of Mankind

So, when did this love affair start?

It started at school, where I realized very quickly that if you didn’t ‘fit into’ a group, your best option to avoid being bullied and therefore years and years of complete misery, was to learn how to RUN. If you wanted to survive, you had to be able to run, and run very, very, fast. So, that’s what I did.  By the time I was 10, I was taking part in school athletics championships, and I competed in the 200 and 400 metre events.  I did want to join the school’s long jump team, but the athletics coach just pointed at my legs and said: Too short!

My tastes changed when I went to high school and I became much keener on team sports than individual sports. I ‘was into’ netball, rounders and football, although I couldn’t stand cricket.  Seriously, who likes cricket?!  It truly is a boring sport.

So, are you like me, or do you hate sport?

These people hate sports.  I mean, they really, really, really hate sports:  If you want to practice your reading comprehension and learn a lot of expressions in context, then please click here:We hate sport

LISTENING: THE OLYMPIC and PARALYMPIC GAMES

The Paralympic Games are a major international multi-sport event where athletes with a physical disability compete; this includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy.

Meet Team GB Paralympians. Not only will this series of videos help you to improve your listening skills, they will also help you to become accustomed to different British accents and motivate you to keep learning, even when you are thinking, ‘OMG, what are they talking about’?!Meet the Superhumans

Listen to London 2012 Olympic Boxing Gold Medalist, Nicola Adams, talking about her sport:Leeds Gold Boxer

By the way, Nicola comes from my home county, Yorkshire, and was born in my home city of Leeds.  BRING ON THE LEEDS LASSES!

SPEAKING ABOUT SPORT

Can you talk about the following topics for 1 minute?

• Do you like sports?
• What sports did you do when you were younger?
• Which sport is the most boring to watch?
• Have you ever had a sports injury?
• What sports are popular in Spain?
• Many people think there is too much sport shown on television.  Would you agree?
• Many people think that footballers are paid too much money.  Would you agree?
• What 3 things would you change in your city to encourage people to take up a sport, or do more exercise?

WRITING
1: Your local council is running a competition to try and encourage young people to be more active and healthy.

To enter the competition you must write a short article (180 -240 words) giving 3 different suggestions on how this could be achieved. Your article must use one of the following 3 titles:

1) A little less conversation a little more ACTION
2) Ready, Steady, Go
3) Get up, Get Out, Get Active

2: Can you write a slogan for the following photographs?