This is something I’ve been doing with my learners and I have seen tremendous results in the past two years! It works extremely well with low-intermediate level. If you remember the chunking techniques back in the ELT school days, this is definitely it!
It’s as simple as drag and drop.
I normally introduce them a cycle when answering this part of the question. (which i might discuss in another entry). There are two important elements here: OPENING & ENDING.
I want to give our learners some ready-packed openings and endings so that they could simply drag and drop or make slight adjustments later on. However, I also don’t want to kill their creativity so I always provides several options and difficulties to them, depending on how much they can take in.
To this date, my learners have used these useful phrases/sentences in their writing and it’s helped them to see that they too can produce something. (Extremely important realisation for them in my opinion!) And more importantly, they have shown great progress.
Think you need them too?
Let’s get started!
OPENING |
|
ENDING |
|
1. in the best of healthe.g: I hope you are in the best of health . |
Sihat/健康 |
1. pen offe.g.: I need to pen off now. |
Berhenti menulis/停笔 |
2. fit as a fiddle.e.g.: I hope you’re fit as a fiddle. |
Sangat sihat/ 很健康 |
2. I have bigger fish to fry.e.g.: I have got bigger fish to fry, I need to get my homework done before my mother comes back. |
Saya ada hal yang lebih penting/我有更重要的事 |
3. over the moone.g. I am over the moon to know that you’re coming to Malaysia. |
sangat gembira/很开心 |
3. drop me a line.e.g.: Remember to drop me a line when you have time. |
hantar mesej,nota/写信给我 |
4. around the cornere.g.: The examination is around the corner, I hope you are ready. |
Dekat/靠近 |
4. wait around the clock.e.g.: I’ll be waiting around the clock for your reply my friend. |
Menunggu/等待 |
＊the translations may not be precise, I tried my best to keep the meaning as close as possible.
After I introduce these words to them. I normally show them how to arrange them in their answers:
OPENING
OPTION A:
Hi, how are you? I hope you are in the best of health. I am over the moon because you are coming.
OPTION B:
Hi, how’s it going? I hope you are fit as fiddle. I am over the moon to know that you are coming to Sarawak.
OPTION C:
Hello, how are you? I hope you are fit as fiddle. The holiday is around the corner. I am excited as I can spend my time watching The Walking Dead.
OPTION D:
(I think you’ve got the hang of it. yea?) Mix and match. Simple or complex. However you like.
ENDING
OPTION A:
Okay. I think I need to pen off now. Drop me a line when you have time. Bye.
OPTION B:
Okay, I think i need to pen off now. I have got bigger fish to fry. See you soon my friend! Goodbye!
OPTION C:
Okay, I need to pen off now. My mother is calling. Don’t forget to drop me a line as I will be waiting around the clock for your reply. Take care. Bye!
*Just remember to help learners work from the basic ones, and gradually move to the more complex ones. They will be able to come out with something later on.
Once they can write this confidently, they will only have to focus on the content after this.
stay tune for more
Happy Teaching, Happy learning!
11 thoughts on “PT3-USEFUL IDIOMS TO USE IN THE OPENING & THE ENDING OF 3(J)”
Good
thank you Isyrah for your comment, please continue to leave us feedback to help us provide better resources for you in the future. 🙂
Grace
PT3English
Hi Grace, do u hv anything on form 3 novel, We did not mean to go to the Sea?
Hi sakinah,
we are working hard on that, stay tuned. 🙂
this notes really helps me alot..thank you so much
thank you for all the notes.it really helps me
Hi Grace,
Is it mandatory to begin a NOTE with a greeting like “Hi, how are you?” in the PT3 exam? I mean, a note is a note. It has to go direct to the point after saying “Hi” or “Hello, John”. What’s your take on this? I’ve never been an examiner and this is my first time teaching a PT3 batch. Thank you for this very informative website.
Hi Kevin,
You definitely got your point. I would totally go with your way when learners are able to write freely.
However, I have a group of learners who struggle at sentence level. Having these starters for them encourages them to create some content for themselves. And sometimes they feel more confident having a few sentences that they can put to use.
I think you’re on the right track Kevin.
Good luck.
Grace
this help me a lot for my pt3 exam! thank you…
thanks a lot for these tips…it is very useful for me myself as a teacher and definitely i’ll share it with my students.
thanks for the invaluable tips. I find it very useful and am sure this is going to help my students a lot.
I am going to share these tips with my students.