C21-22

• English
• Special Education

Services

• catering facilities

• banks

• repair and maintenance

• emergency services (ambulance, police, Automobile Association)

There are several services in the world, such as restaurants, banks, hairdressers, dry-cleaners, patrol services and so on.

People are usually in a hurry and they don’t have time to wait for meals in restaurants. They go to self-service restaurants, which don’t offer many kinds of dishes, but the service is quick and the food is acceptable. There are cheaper and some more expensive ones. You can buy your food at takeaway restaurants if you don’t have time to cook but would like to eat at home. Fast food restaurants are very popular but not so healthy. I like these foods but I eat there rarely.

Many students complain about the canteen food, saying that it is tasteless and full of fat. I think the situation is not that bad. The kitchen provides food for several hundred students a day and can’t afford to use the best ingredients. There are some dishes that they cook really well.

It’s much cheaper to do all the work yourself and with the help of your family and friends, but you might not be so satisfied with the result. Employing professionals is quite expensive but they work faster and better.

I take suits, overcoats, leather jackets, fur coats and other clothes made of materials that can’t be washed to the dry-cleaner’s.

At the post office you can buy stamps, envelopes, cards, scratchcards and so on. You can post letters and parcels, pay your bills, transfer money, etc. I transfer money by internet.

Banks offer a wide choice of services. They deal with savings, payment services, lending, insurance, foreign currency exchanges, leasing, giving advice on investments, and so on. Nowadays more and more banks provide telebanking services. It means that people use their phones or the internet to give orders to the banks to carry out different kinds of business transactions for them. 

Patrol services are ambulance, police, fire service and auto club. Ambulance callable in 104, police in 105 and fire service in 107 in emergencies. In Hungary these services are not so quick and modern. Auto club helps the motorists in default. It’s available in 188, and it has 80 modern “yellow angels’.

SMS language

Discussion:

What is SMS language?

How does it help texting?

What are the origins of it?

Do you know any acronyms or shortenings?

0 - nothing

2 - two, to, too

2DAY - today

A - a / an

B - be

B4 - before

BC - because

BF - boyfriend

BK - back

BRO - brother

BT - but

BTW - by the way

C - see

D8 - date

DNR - dinner

EZ - easy

F8 - fate

GF - girlfriend

GR8 - great

HOLS - holidays

HV - have

I - I, it

Its - it is

L8 - late

L8R - later

M8 - mate

NE1 - anyone

PLS - please

PS - parents

QT - cutie

R - are

SIS - sister

U - you

WR - were

A3 - anyplace, anytime, anywhere

ASAP - as soon as possible

B4N - Bye for now

BAU - business as usual

BRB - I'll be right back.

BTW - by the way

CUL - see you later

CWOT - complete waste of time

FTF - face to face

FYI - for your information

GMTA - great minds think alike

HAND - have a nice day

HRU - how are you

ICBW - it could be worse

IDTS - I don't think so

IMHO - in my humble opinion

IYKWIM - if you know what I mean

JK - just kidding

KOTC - kiss on the cheek

LOL - laughing out loud

LSKOL - long slow kiss on the lips

LTNS - long time no see

Luv U - I love you.

Luv U2 - I love you too.

MON - the middle of nowhere

MTE - my thoughts exactly

MU - I miss you.

MUSM - I miss you so much.

NP - no problem

OIC - oh, I see

PC&QT - peace and quiet

PCM - please call me

ROTFL - rolling on the floor laughing

RUOK - are you ok?

THNQ - thank you

THX - thanks

U4E - you forever

UROK - you are okay

WUCIWUG - what you see is what you get

XLNT - exellent

Homework

(reading)

How good is your SMS English? Try to read the text below.

• My smmr hols wr CWOT.  
  
• B4, we usd 2 go 2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :-@ kds FTF.  
  
• ILNY, its gr8.  
  
• Bt my Ps wr so {:-/ BC o 9/11 tht they dcdd 2 stay in SCO & spnd 2wks up N. 
  
• Up N, WUCIWUG - 0. 
  
• I ws vvv brd in MON.  
  
• 0 bt baas & ^^^^^.  
  
• AAR8, my Ps wr :-) - they sd ICBW, & tht they wr ha-p 4 the pc&qt...  
  
• IDTS!!  
  
• I wntd 2 go hm ASAP, 2C my M8s again. 
  
• 2day, I cam bk 2 skool. 
  
• I feel v O:-) BC I hv dn all my hm wrk. 
  
• Now its BAU ...  
  

Match the terms with the images by dragging the yellow boxes!

Weather

Frosty

Blizzard

Humid

Sleet

Downpour

to hibernate – to sleep through the winter months (also used metaphorically)

black ice – a very thin coating of ice found on roads and sidewalks that is difficult to see, and therefore quite dangerous

wind chill – when the wind makes the air temperature feel colder

to bundle/wrap up – to dress in warm clothes. A bundle is a tightly wrapped package, so bundling up is like wrapping yourself in warm clothes or blankets like a package!

to be snowed in - When it snows a lot, the snow can pile up high outside your house, so you can't open the door.

a cold snap – a sudden short period of very cold weather. Think of snapping your fingers: quick, short and sudden.

to come down with - to get sick or catch a cold.

Text:

Mark: We're having a _____________ in Seoul this week.

Jake: Yeah, I know, I'm freezing my butt off! I just want to __________ until spring comes!

Mark: I think it'll go down to -18C tonight so remember to __________ if you go out.

Jake: Wow, with the _________, it'll feel like -23C! I hope I won't catch my death!

Mark: I know! I think I'm ___________ something – don't come too close to me!

Jake: At least it hasn't snowed... there's no danger of __________.

Mark: True, but you have to be careful of __________.

black ice

hibernate

cold snap

bundle up

wind chill

being snowed in

coming down with

Discussion

1. Do you ever really hope that it snows?

2. What do you think it would be like to have snow drifts 3 metres high come to your town?

3. Do you think weather patterns are changing? If so, why do you think this is?

4. Do you like snowy or sunny weather?

5. Do you think weather affects the way people feel?

6. How can extreme weather conditions affect the economy and social life in countries?

7. What are your earliest memories of snow?

8. Has your region or country ever experienced a weather-related disaster like a serious storm? What happened and how much damage was caused? 

Talk for 5 minutes about the topic you spin!

Goodbye!