English lessons and practice games are intended for people aged 13 and over.
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Lesson 94 / Clubs & games
5 phrases · 12 minutes · Look, listen and try.
Form a club, split into teams, balance the groups and begin an activity.
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A randomly assigned, fixed male or female synthetic voice for each phrase or sentence · Slow playback at 0.7× preserves pitch.
We want to start up a chess club at school.
We want to start up a chess club at school.
My aunt started up a small business last year.
My aunt started up a small business last year.
Here this means establishing an organisation, rather than simply beginning one game or starting a machine.
We split up into two groups for the game.
We split up into two groups for the game.
The teacher split the class up into small teams.
The teacher split the class up into small teams.
Here it means dividing a group, rather than ending a romantic relationship. The past form of “split” is also “split”.
Cambridge Dictionary · split up
One more point will even up the score.
One more point will even up the score.
We moved one player to even the teams up.
We moved one player to even the teams up.
This makes the sides equal or more balanced; it does not simply increase both sides together.
Cambridge Dictionary · even up
We counted down from five before starting the game.
We counted down from five before starting the game.
Everyone counted the last ten seconds down.
Everyone counted the last ten seconds down.
The numbers decrease towards a starting point, rather than increasing.
Our club meetings begin with a quick welcome.
Our club meetings begin with a quick welcome.
Let us begin with an easy question.
Let us begin with an easy question.
The first part of the activity follows “with”. The past form of “begin” is “began”.
The examples were written for this course. Usage was checked against Matt Errey’s book, pages 121, 120, 41, 29, 11. A2–B1 is the course’s intended level.
One step forward every day
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Sentences using suggestions are counted as needing more practice. Review schedule based on each phrase's meaning.
OBSERVE · UNDERSTAND · MATCH
Drag a wire from the dot beside a phrase to the dot beside its matching picture. You can also tap a phrase, then a picture. Drag again to change a pair before checking.
Read the picture descriptions for more context. Similar expressions are accepted when they fit the particular scene.
Bảo and his teacher establish a chess club, setting out a chessboard and welcoming students to its first session.
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Bảo and five classmates divide into two separate groups of three.
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Bảo adds a score card so the two teams’ scores change from 2–3 to 3–3.
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Bảo holds number cards before the group; three small sequential insets show 3, 2, 1 before the game begins.
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Bảo and his classmates begin the club session with a greeting circle before moving to the chess table.
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Choose a phrase to begin.
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Read the conversation and find the expressions you have learned.
Let us split up into two teams.
Let us split up into two teams.
One team has more people. We need to even them up.
One team has more people. We need to even them up.
Then we can count down and begin with the first challenge.
Then we can count down and begin with the first challenge.
“Split up” can divide a group into smaller groups; “even up” makes numbers more balanced. Dividing the group does not guarantee equal teams.
Try answering before revealing the suggested answer. This practice is not scored.
The answers below are models. Other answers can also work if they preserve the facts, meaning and structure requested in the task.
A workshop divides into two groups, but one has four more participants. The leader wants equal team sizes.
Describe the division.
The workshop splits up into two groups.
The workshop “splits up into two groups”; division alone does not ensure equal team sizes.
Replace “the teams” with “them”: Even the teams up.
Even them up.
“Them” replaces the teams needing equal numbers, so use “even them up”, not “even up them”.
Give the next instruction before starting.
Even up the teams before we count down to the first task.
Balance the teams before the countdown; moving two people from the team with four extra members makes the sizes equal.
The usage comparisons are checked against the Cambridge Dictionary entries linked beside the compared expressions. The additional conversations and exercises are written for this course.
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