Knowing how much English learners struggle with B1 phrasal verbs, when they reach the Cambridge B1 (PET) Preliminary level, made me think of what else can be done to help them get the hang of these verbs.
Eureka! I’ve got it!
Some time ago, during the summer school, I organized a scavenger hunt. The goal was to help A1 learners realize that there are lots of English words all around the city, and also to show them how many English words they already know, without them being aware of. The task was to walk through the city and take photos of all the words in English they would come across, and all this had to be done in a limited amount of time. Unbelievable how many they have eventually found!
The idea I have come up with springs from this successful game.
Why not look for short signs around a city in an English-speaking country, or one which is a popular tourist destination, in places like a restaurant, a library, an airbus, a cinema, a park, a hotel, roads, shop windows, etc, and show you that phrasal verbs are everywhere? Whether we like it or not, we must be familiar with these unfriendly at times verbs.
Let’s therefore easily learn them by picking them up from the very city life!
In this activity, you should read the signs and complete them with the missing verbs:
1. Please …………………. OFF your mobile phone before the film begins.
2. …………………. DOWN!
Road works ahead!
3. Please …………………. OUT before midday!
4. The best pizza in town. Eat it here or …………………. AWAY.
5. If you want to …………………. ON clothes, please use the changing rooms on the second floor.
6. Please …………………. OFF the grass.
7. Please …………………. IN an hour before your plane takes off.
8. Please …………………. UP this seat if an elderly person needs it
9. Warning! Construction site. …………………. OUT!
10. Fine for littering. Be responsible and …………………. your trash AWAY!
B1 phrasal verbs are not as difficult to learn as you might think. At this level, this task is achievable. There are two main reasons for this. First, the list of B1 phrasal verbs is still finite. Second, most of them refer to concrete actions, rather than abstract. They depict real actions, like the ones you have seen in the city signs above. That’s why learning B1 phrasal verbs is doable. You just need to learn them steadily and surely.
Last but not least, read up on B1 phrasal verbs in our previously written article Phrasal Verbs By Topics. You will see how easy it is to learn phrasal verbs through categorization. Teachers will also find here some useful tips to help students learn and remember the B1 phrasal verbs.
P.S. If you are preparing yourself for Cambridge B1 Preliminary exam, do you know what one of the key ingredients in the writing paper is? The use of PHRASAL VERBS! Check this out How to successfully write a story in B1 Preliminary exam
Stay tuned for more words of advice and handy material!
