A Typical Day (Novice-Intermediate)

Practice on Your Own

One of the common tasks in learning any language is the ability to talk about daily habits, what one does on a typical day in the current stage of one’s life. What is the order of events; the expressions of time or frequency; the verb tense to express regular activities…?

• Think of the activities you do daily (or most days). Find the verbs that can express those activities: to sleep, to get up (wake up), to shower/bathe, to eat, to drive/take a bus, to work, to study… Now that you have the verbs, write them in the forms that are used to talk about everyday activities.
• Think of the expressions of time or frequency that you need, such as “every day,” “always,” or “never.”
• Write a short passage in which you talk about a typical day.
  • I get up at 7:00 in the morning. I make coffee. After that, I take a shower. After I shower, I have breakfast. Every day, I take the 9:00 bus. I arrive at work around 9:30…
    • Make sure to practice describing your daily activities out loud as well.
• Now prepare a dialogue in which two people talk about their daily activities. Person 1: When do you wake up every day/usually?
  • Person 2: I get up at 9:00 in the morning.
  • Person 1: Do you have breakfast every day/usually? When? What do you eat? Person 2: I don’t eat breakfast at home. I buy something on my way.
  • Person 1: What time do you usually come home?
  • Person 2: …
    • Practice these types of conversations out loud as well. If you don’t have another person to practice with, play both parts yourself!
• Take notes about daily habits that you cannot express in the target language. You can look them up or ask your conversation partner about them.

Practice in Conversation Session

• Read out loud the verbs you have prepared to talk about your daily activities. Have you written them in the correct form?
• Share the list of expressions of time or frequency that you have prepared.
• Read the passage about your daily activities to your conversation partner. How is your pronunciation? What are the common mistakes in the passage? Let your conversation partner ask you questions about your passage. Pay attention to how one asks a question about a statement.
  • I go to school by bus every day. (How do you go to school every day?)
• Role play the dialogue that you have prepared. Alternate the roles. Then practice other similar conversations.
  • If there are differences between formal and informal situations, practice both.
• Ask your conversation partner about their daily activities. What are the differences between your activities and your conversation partner’s?