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Understanding Grammar: Quantifiers

Understanding Grammar: Quantifiers

In this week's Premier Skills English Podcast, Jack and Rich talk about collecting things and quantifiers. These are the words we use to describe the amount of something. We use different quantifiers depending if the noun is countable or uncountable and some quantifiers can be used with both types of noun. Your task this week is to tell us about two things that you collected when you were younger. Don't forget to listen to the end of the podcast because we have a new football phrase for you to guess. Enjoy!

Transcript

If the listening was a bit difficult, you can listen again and read the transcript at the same time.
Read the transcript and listen at the same time.

Opening - Quantifiers

Rich: Have you ever collected anything, Jack?

Jack: I used to collect coins, I think I still have a few of them. 

Rich: Those coins could be worth a bit of money. You should take them to a collector.

Jack: Why are you asking?

Rich: I’m reading about some of the things footballers collect.

Jack: Oh, I bet they have some great collections. I read once about a player that has collected football shirts from every professional match they’ve ever played in. He has hundreds of them!

Rich: A nightmare to wash I imagine!

Jack: Yeah, very good. So, who are you reading about?

Rich: Actually, none of these collections are connected to football.

Jack: Oh. 

Rich: I tell you what, I’ll give you a challenge. I’ll give you five football names and a collection and you tell me whose collection it is.

Jack: OK, let’s go.

Rich: OK, hold on. Let me look at the article. So, the people are Manchester Utd’s Paul Pogba, Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil, Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, ex-Manchester Utd player David Beckham and the Watford Chairman and singer Elton John.

Jack: Well, I know one of them. Mesut Ozil collects trainers. He has loads of them. In fact, I think he has thousands of trainers.

Rich: You’re right. OK, who collects modern art? This person has several works of art by some of the most famous modern artists of this century.

Jack: I’ll go with Elton John for that one.

Rich: No, it’s actually David Beckham. OK, who collects caps? This person has a large number of them and I’ve heard he never wears the same one twice.

Jack: You can never have enough caps. I’m going to go with Paul Pogba.

Rich: Nope it’s Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Right, who collects glasses.

Jack: Glasses to drink from or glasses that help you see?

Rich: Glasses you wear. This person has a quarter of a million of them.

Jack: OK, I’m going to go with Elton John again.

Rich: You’re right. He has 250,000 pairs of glasses. No problem if he loses a few pairs!

Jack: That means Paul Pogba collects cars.

Rich: Yep, he has a fleet of cars probably worth a bit more than your coin collection.

Jack: Probably, but you never know!

Welcome - Quantifiers

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich

Jack: and I’m Jack

Rich: and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast

Jack: Where we talk about football and help you with your English.

Jack: What’s happening this week, Rich?

Rich: In this week’s podcast, we’re going to help you with some grammar. We’re going to talk about quantifiers.

Jack: Quantifiers are words that we use to give the number of a noun or the quantity of it.

Rich: In the opening dialogue we used quantifiers a lot, for example, Jack said; ‘Mesut Ozil has loads of trainers’ and I said, ‘Those coins could be worth a bit of money’.  

Jack: The quantifiers here are loads of and a bit of. 

Rich: Some quantifiers are only used with uncountable nouns like ‘a bit of’ while others are only used with countable nouns and some like ‘loads of’ can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns.

Jack: We’ll talk more about quantifiers in the language focus later.

Rich: First, we’re going to do talk about the things we used to collect.

Jack: Don’t forget to listen to the end of the podcast because we have this week’s football phrase for you to guess.

Topic Focus

Jack: You are going to listen to two roleplays. We are both going to speak about things we collected when we were younger. 

Rich: Jack will speak first and then me. While you are listening, we would like you to answer these three questions.

Rich: Question one: What did Jack use to collect? 

Jack: Question two: What did Rich use to collect? 

Rich: And question three: Have you ever collected any of these things?

Jack

Jack: Let me think … when I was a kid I collected coins. I had loads of coins from all over the place. I had plenty from Europe; Francs from France, Deutschmarks from Germany, Pesetas from Spain.

Rich: You can’t use them now though.

Jack: No, they all use the Euro now, but I didn’t want to spend them anyway. I had a few from further afield too. I had a couple of coins from India and several from Australia and New Zealand.

Rich: Did you have a favourite?

Jack: I did actually. I had a few coins with holes in the middle that I thought were really cool. I think a couple were from Japan and maybe another few from Spain or Greece., I’m not sure. Anyway, I put them on string and wore them around my neck.

Rich: Do you still have them?

Jack: Not sure. Maybe my dad has them somewhere in his house. Maybe they are worth a bit of money? 

Rich: Did you ever collect anything else?

Jack: Mmm, not sure I suppose I collected music, too.

Rich: Music?

Jack: Yeah, I had a huge collection of records. I used to go to the shops and buy a couple every weekend.

Rich: Did you listen to music a lot?

Jack: Actually, I don’t think I listened to that much music but I definitely collected a large amount of it!

Rich: Do you still have the records? 

Jack: I think I have a few, yes, but I can’t listen to them because I don’t have a record player. They’re probably at my dad’s house with the coins!

Rich

Jack: What about you? What did you use to collect?

Rich: This might sound a little strange, but I collected sand when I was little.

Jack: Sand? Why?

Rich: Well, I didn’t spend a great deal of time at the beach when I was young because it was so far away. So, when we did go, a couple of times a year, it was special and I’d always collect a little sand before we went home.

Jack: Is it not the same everywhere you go?

Rich: No, every beach is different. I had lots of yellow sand but also plenty of pebbly sand with lots of little stones or pebbles, I had a small amount of grey sand and I even had a bit of black sand from a family holiday in Tenerife in Spain. It’s a volcanic island. That was my favourite for sure.

Jack: Do you still have it?

Rich: No, my little sister threw it all away when I left home for university. I’m still angry now!

Jack: Ha ha! Did you ever collect anything else?

Rich: When I was about nine or ten I collected football stickers. I was a football-mad kid. I still have quite a few of the albums in the attic, I think. I never finished them though. There was always a small number of stickers missing - just a couple usually. It was always difficult to find the sticker for the Liverpool striker, Ian Rush, for some reason.

Jack: Ian Rush? Who is he? Only joking. If anyone can send us a football sticker of Ian Rush from around 1986, Rich would be very happy!

Rich: Yes, I would!

Language Focus

Jack: You just listened to us speaking about things we used to collect when we were children. While we were speaking we used lots of quantifiers.

Rich: Remember, a quantifier is a word that we use to give the number of a noun or the quantity of it.

Jack: We use different quantifiers to describe small and big quantities and different quantifiers with countable and uncountable nouns.

Rich: Jack spoke about collecting coins and I spoke about collecting football stickers. Both of these are countable nouns so let’s start by looking at some of the quantifiers we use with countable nouns.

Jack: Let’s start with quantifiers to describe small quantities with countable nouns.

Rich: In the previous section, Jack said, ‘I had a few coins with a hole in the middle’ and ‘I had a couple from India and several from Australia and New Zealand’.

Jack: When Rich was talking about football stickers he said, ‘I still have quite a few of the albums’ and ‘there was always a small number of stickers missing’.

Rich: All of these phrases; a few, a couple, a couple of, several quite a few and a small number of are quantifiers we use to talk about small amounts of countable nouns.

Jack: Quite a few is an interesting phrase. We use this to talk about small amounts but we use it to tell people that we have more than they thought. It often surprises the speaker.

Rich: Hey Jack have you ever met anyone famous?

Jack: I’ve actually met quite a few famous people.

Rich: In this sentence, Jack might only have met three or four people but I thought he would have met no famous people so I am surprised. Who have you met then?

Jack: No one. It was just an example!

Rich: How disappointing! Right, now let’s talk about quantifiers with uncountable nouns to describe small amounts.

Jack: In the previous section, I spoke about music and Rich spoke about collecting sand. Both of these are uncountable nouns. We also used quantifiers with some other uncountable nouns.

Rich: In the previous section, Jack said, ‘I don’t think I listened to that much music’ and ‘the collection might be worth a bit of money’.

Jack: And Rich said, ‘I had a small amount of grey sand’ and ‘a bit of black sand’.

Rich: There are some quantifiers about small amounts that we only use with uncountable nouns. Some examples are: ‘a bit of’, ‘a bit’, ‘not much’, ‘a little’ and ‘a small amount of’.

Jack: Let’s now look at quantifiers we use to talk about large numbers or amounts.

Rich: One key difference are the words ‘amount’ and ‘number’. When we describe countable nouns we say ‘a large number of’ but when we describe uncountable nouns we say ‘a small amount of’. 

Jack: I have a large amount of music and Rich has a large number of sticker albums.

Rich: Another useful phrase to use with uncountable nouns and especially abstract nouns is ‘a great deal of’. I didn’t spend ‘a great deal of time at the beach when I was young’. 

Jack: It is often used in quite formal contexts.

Rich: You might read or write things such as, ‘A great deal of research has been done …’ or ‘She has a great deal of knowledge in the field of …’

Jack: When we use numbers to quantify nouns we can only describe countable nouns, for example when we say ‘hundreds of’, ‘thousands of’ or millions of’.

Rich: Lots of these phrases we are using use ‘of’. The word of is always weak; we don’t pronounce it fully. Listen to those last phrases again. Millions of, thousands of, hundreds of.

Jack: Can I have a bit of milk in my tea, please?

Rich: I’ve got loads of money.

Jack: Have you really got a lot of money?  

Rich: Lots of people love watching football.

Jack: If you are not saying a number, you can use the same quantifier with countable and uncountable nouns for large amounts.

Rich: I had lots of yellow sand and plenty of pebbly sand.

Jack: I had loads of coins and plenty from Europe.

Rich: Quantifiers such as, ‘lots’, ‘a lot of’, ‘lots of’, ‘loads’, and ‘plenty of’ can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns.

Jack: One thing to remember is that ‘loads’ or ‘loads of’ is very informal with ‘a lot of’ being a more neutral term to use in more formal situations.

Rich: We have loads of, lots of, plenty more activities on the website for you to practise and understand quantifiers.

Task

Jack: This week’s task is to tell us about two things you collected when you were younger.

Rich: If possible we’d like you to choose one thing that is countable and another thing that is uncountable.

Jack: This will allow you to use the quantifiers that we have been talking about in this lesson.

Rich: Write your comments at the bottom of the page on www.britishcouncil.org/premierskillsenglish

Football Phrase

Rich: Have you got a football phrase for us this week? 

Jack: Yes, I have, but first, last week’s football phrase. The phrase was 'set-piece'. Set-pieces are things like corners and free-kicks. It was an easy one and loads of you got it right.

Rich: Well done to Lakerwang from China, Sabanoleg and Liubomyr from Ukraine, Acicala from Sapin, aid from India, Kwesimanifest from Ghana, Elghoul from Algeria and Ahmed Adam from Sudan. You all got it right! What’s this week’s phrase, Jack?

Jack: This week’s football phrase is ********* *****. A ********* ***** is usually played when a player has been at a club for 10 years. In the past, the money raised was used for the player’s retirement but these days it’s more common to give the money to charity. Manchester City, captain, Vincent Kompany has a ********* ***** soon and he is going to give all the profits to homeless people in Manchester.

Rich: That’s a nice way to finish this week’s podcast. Don’t forget to write your answers to the task in the comments section below.

Jack: And make a guess at our football phrase. Bye for now and enjoy your football!

Vocabulary

How much did you understand?

In the podcast, Rich and Jack used some words and phrases that might be new for you. Do you know the words in bold?

Manchester Utd's Paul Pogba has a fleet of cars.

I had a few coins from further afield, too.

When I was nine or ten, I collected football stickers

There were a few more tricky words and phrases in the podcast. Do you know what they all mean? Try the activity below, then, listen to the podcast again to hear how we used the words. This can really help your understanding.

Activity 1

Activity 1: In this activity, try to match the words and phrases to their definitions. All of the words were in this week's podcast.
Can you match the words to their definitions?

Did you know that Arsenal's Mesut Ozil has a collection of hundreds of trainers?

Language

Quantifiers

In this week's podcast, Jack and Rich spoke about quantifiers. We often use different quantifiers to describe countable nouns and uncountable nouns. Look at the example sentences from the podcast:

Describing small quantities of countable nouns:

I had a few coins with a hole in the middle.

I had a couple from India and several from Australia and New Zealand.

Describing small quantities of uncountable nouns:

The collection might be worth a bit of money.

I had a small amount of grey sand.

Describing large quantities of countable nouns:

Rich had a large number of sticker albums.

Arsenal's Mesut Ozil has thousands of trainers.

Describing large quantities of uncountable nouns:

I didn't spend a great deal of time at the beach when I was younger.

Jack has a large amount of music in his dad's attic.

Take a look at the following activity to check your understanding of quantifiers. Can you choose the right quantifier?

Activity 2

Activity 2: IN this activity, complete the sentences with the right words. All of the sentences were in this week's podcast.
Can you write the right word?

Did you know that Manchester Utd's Paul Pogba collected cars?

Language

Quantifiers that can be used with countable and uncountable nouns

There are some quantifiers that can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns. These are usually used to describe large amounts that are non-specific. Take a look at the sentences below. Can you try to complete the sentences using countable and uncountable nouns? You may need to use more than one word to complete the sentences.

Don't worry! I have loads of ___________ in the fridge.

We have plenty of ___________.  You don't need to bring anything.

A lot of the ___________ in the second half.

I haven't had enough ___________ today.

Much, Many & Enough

Two of the most common quantifiers when describing countable nouns are 'much' and 'many'. Remember that we use 'many' with countable nouns and 'much' with uncountable nouns. They are often used in negative sentences and questions along with 'enough' (which can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns). Take a look at these examples:

I don't have much money.

I don't have many days left until my holiday.

Have you enough time to finish this activity?

Take a look at the next activity. Can you choose the right words for each gap?

Activity 3

Activity 3: In this activity put the quantifiers in the correct group. Decide if they can be used with countable nouns, uncountable nouns or both.
Can you put the quantifiers in the right group?

The Watford chairman and singer, Elton John, is said to have thousands of pairs of glasses.

Quiz

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Have you ever collected football stickers? How many Premier League players can you see?

Task

My Collections

This week's task is to write about two things you collected when you were younger. Try to choose one thing that is countable and another which us uncountable. This will help you use more of the quantifiers we used in this week's podcast.

When you describe your collections answer these questions:

  • When did you collect these things?
  • How big was your collection?
  • Was your collection complete?
  • Do you still have these things?

Write your answers in the comments section below.

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Comments

hsn's picture
hsn
07/04/2021
TR
5525
points

• When did you collect these things? I used to collect Captain Miki and Teksas (Il Grande Blek) Italian cartoon books. I also used to collect small cards on which footballers' picture.They were inside package of chewing gums and not sticky.

• How big was your collection? Not so many. Less than twenty each of them.

• Was your collection complete? No

• Do you still have these things? No. I handed all of them out to my friends.

LANGUAGE
Don't worry! I have loads of BOTTLES in the fridge.
We have plenty of DRIED NUTS AND FRUITS. You don't need to bring anything.
A lot of the FOULS in the second half.
I haven't had enough TIME today.

PHRASES;
• I got a bit of salad from buffet as a appetizer which contains lots of olives.

• In my opinion, the things which are collected mustn't be expensive and not worth lots of money.

• I bought small amount of pastry but a large numbers of bottles of lemonade.

• I asked them only a question but got a great deal of answers. None of them included what was asked.


hsn's picture
hsn
07/04/2021 17:53
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5525

• When did you collect these things? I used to collect Captain Miki and Teksas (Il Grande Blek) Italian cartoon books. I also used to collect small cards on which footballers' picture.They were inside package of chewing gums and not sticky.

• How big was your collection? Not so many. Less than twenty each of them.

• Was your collection complete? No

• Do you still have these things? No. I handed all of them out to my friends.

LANGUAGE
Don't worry! I have loads of BOTTLES in the fridge.
We have plenty of DRIED NUTS AND FRUITS. You don't need to bring anything.
A lot of the FOULS in the second half.
I haven't had enough TIME today.

PHRASES;
• I got a bit of salad from buffet as a appetizer which contains lots of olives.

• In my opinion, the things which are collected mustn't be expensive and not worth lots of money.

• I bought small amount of pastry but a large numbers of bottles of lemonade.

• I asked them only a question but got a great deal of answers. None of them included what was asked.

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
30/05/2020
TR
6510
points

This week's football phrase is ( Testimonial match )


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
30/05/2020 22:20
Turkey
Manchester United
6510

This week's football phrase is ( Testimonial match )

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
30/05/2020
TR
6510
points

When I was young , I used to collect football stickers like Rich especially PANINI albums. Although I had loads of stickers but I haven't completed a single album of them.
There were plenty of stickers with me and my friends that we used to swap with each other. I still have a few albums in my room but most of them were lost unfortunately.

I like to collect money as well and I think I have a bit of money from different countries. I like collecting new banknotes and I have quite a few of them in my big envelope

I like collecting football merchandise as well related to Manchester United especially kits as I have a plenty of classic and retro United shirts

One last thing I used to collect is the football news from newspapers and magazines so I used to cut the important news by scissors and stick them on a big diary notebook of mine.
There were large amounts of news in that notebook


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
30/05/2020 22:19
Turkey
Manchester United
6510

When I was young , I used to collect football stickers like Rich especially PANINI albums. Although I had loads of stickers but I haven't completed a single album of them.
There were plenty of stickers with me and my friends that we used to swap with each other. I still have a few albums in my room but most of them were lost unfortunately.

I like to collect money as well and I think I have a bit of money from different countries. I like collecting new banknotes and I have quite a few of them in my big envelope

I like collecting football merchandise as well related to Manchester United especially kits as I have a plenty of classic and retro United shirts

One last thing I used to collect is the football news from newspapers and magazines so I used to cut the important news by scissors and stick them on a big diary notebook of mine.
There were large amounts of news in that notebook

ldzingirai's picture
ldzingirai
20/02/2019
ZW
1745
points

When I was a boy in the 80s I used to collect stickers of WWF wrestlers and some of their important matches like Royal Rambo.My room had loads and loads of these stickers.With age and change in tastes I begin to fall in love with other things.When I moved to another city I left my collection.


ldzingirai's picture
ldzingirai
20/02/2019 18:38
Zimbabwe
Chelsea
1745

When I was a boy in the 80s I used to collect stickers of WWF wrestlers and some of their important matches like Royal Rambo.My room had loads and loads of these stickers.With age and change in tastes I begin to fall in love with other things.When I moved to another city I left my collection.

dedmazai
11/11/2018
DE
66
points

When I was a little kid I used to collect stamps. I didn't have a huge number of stamps but, anyway, I used to have several albums with very valuable stamps from further afield. And now I'd really like to collect many. But I still don't have a large amount of them just a bit. You can never have enough of that bloody money


dedmazai
11/11/2018 18:10
Germany
Liverpool
66

When I was a little kid I used to collect stamps. I didn't have a huge number of stamps but, anyway, I used to have several albums with very valuable stamps from further afield. And now I'd really like to collect many. But I still don't have a large amount of them just a bit. You can never have enough of that bloody money

pot
12/10/2018
FR
1
points

When I was a child, I used to collect stones, very small one. I had a lot of them in my room and my parents was not really agree and happy. When we were on beach holidays, I collected also peace of glasses eroded by the sea.
Now I don't collect anything, I have a lot of books because I love reading, perhaps It ‘s like a collection!


pot
12/10/2018 08:37
France
AFC Bournemouth
1

When I was a child, I used to collect stones, very small one. I had a lot of them in my room and my parents was not really agree and happy. When we were on beach holidays, I collected also peace of glasses eroded by the sea.
Now I don't collect anything, I have a lot of books because I love reading, perhaps It ‘s like a collection!

RafaelRC's picture
RafaelRC
04/10/2018
BR
663
points

When I was a child I used to collect stickers too. But here in Brazil it was more common stickers about programs on TV like cartoons. It was really funny, we changed with our friends repeated stickers and there was a game colled "Tampão" in my region, where we have bet our stickers.

Unfortunately I never got complete my album.

Today I don't have any kind of collection.


RafaelRC's picture
RafaelRC
04/10/2018 01:51
Brazil
Arsenal
663

When I was a child I used to collect stickers too. But here in Brazil it was more common stickers about programs on TV like cartoons. It was really funny, we changed with our friends repeated stickers and there was a game colled "Tampão" in my region, where we have bet our stickers.

Unfortunately I never got complete my album.

Today I don't have any kind of collection.

kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
03/10/2018
GH
4768
points

While I was growing up, my friends and I used to go searching for crown corks of soft drinks so we could used them for our mathematics class and home assignments.
During break time, we used them for playing football matches on the cemented floors and it is popularly known as counters ball... Not very popular these days with Play Station available almost everywhere.


kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
03/10/2018 12:57
Ghana
Manchester United
4768

While I was growing up, my friends and I used to go searching for crown corks of soft drinks so we could used them for our mathematics class and home assignments.
During break time, we used them for playing football matches on the cemented floors and it is popularly known as counters ball... Not very popular these days with Play Station available almost everywhere.

kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
03/10/2018
GH
4768
points

This week's phrase is a *********** *****.


kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
03/10/2018 12:52
Ghana
Manchester United
4768

This week's phrase is a *********** *****.

acicala's picture
acicala
02/10/2018
ES
1646
points

When I was child I collected a loads of things. At the present time I don’t have any of those things, except my stamp collection. I spent a great deal of time trying to get them and I have a large number of them and a few of them ("of them" again?) might be worth a bit of money, but I’m not sure about that.

I think this week’s football phrase might be “*********** *****”.

Another great podcast. Congratulations!


acicala's picture
acicala
02/10/2018 15:59
Spain
Chelsea
1646

When I was child I collected a loads of things. At the present time I don’t have any of those things, except my stamp collection. I spent a great deal of time trying to get them and I have a large number of them and a few of them ("of them" again?) might be worth a bit of money, but I’m not sure about that.

I think this week’s football phrase might be “*********** *****”.

Another great podcast. Congratulations!

milos
02/10/2018
RS
2663
points

I used to collect comic books.I have had a large number of.I can't remember how many I have had exactly.It was a long time ago.I started when I was 8 years old,and was doing that up to age 14.
I don't have these collection anymore,only a few copy still left in my desk.
These week fotball pharase is farewell


milos
02/10/2018 07:36
Serbia
Manchester United
2663

I used to collect comic books.I have had a large number of.I can't remember how many I have had exactly.It was a long time ago.I started when I was 8 years old,and was doing that up to age 14.
I don't have these collection anymore,only a few copy still left in my desk.
These week fotball pharase is farewell

sabanoleg
01/10/2018
UA
2337
points

I think the week's phrase is"*********** *****"


sabanoleg
01/10/2018 20:28
Ukraine
Arsenal
2337

I think the week's phrase is"*********** *****"

Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
01/10/2018
SD
2903
points

This week's football phrase is a '*********** *****'. That means the Man City capitain is going to be let go by the end this campaign. He probably won't hang up his boots at this age, maybe he would join another PL side.


Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
01/10/2018 09:31
Sudan
Liverpool
2903

This week's football phrase is a '*********** *****'. That means the Man City capitain is going to be let go by the end this campaign. He probably won't hang up his boots at this age, maybe he would join another PL side.

Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
01/10/2018
SD
2903
points

Correct me.

When I was a kid I used to collect many different and interesting stuff. One of the things that I loved collecting were WWE stickers. And because I grew up in a costal town, I always found it exhilarating to collect coral reefs and seashells. I'm going to tell you about these two exciting collections.

The inner part of the cupboard was a perfect place to stick my WWE stickers. There were a lot of them, a few hundreds actually, with the DX team and the Undertaker ones being my favourites. Once I opened the cupboard door wide and my brother jokingly called me a 'WWE crazy' after he'd seen my collection. In fact, I dedicated a couple of columns just for the Dead Man stickers. However, the annoying thing was that several of the WWE superstars stickers were always missing including those of Chris Jerrico, CM punk and Rob Van Dam. Although my collection wasn't complete, it was a very big one. Today this collection is more than a decade years old, but only a handful of them survived.

The basic school summer holidays were fantastic opportunities for collecting loads of sea stuff. Every week or fortnight I would go to the seaside with my friends and then I'd come home loaded with plenty of seashells and quite a few coral reefs. I collected a great deal of them and they were all colours of the rainbow! The collection was never complete because every week new and different stuff were added to the pile in the garage. Unfortunately, there's nothing left from this charming collection. I don't know when or how, but all of a sudden it all went missing! I suspect my little brother sold them since they could be used as decorations. He probably made a fortune!


Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
01/10/2018 09:22
Sudan
Liverpool
2903

Correct me.

When I was a kid I used to collect many different and interesting stuff. One of the things that I loved collecting were WWE stickers. And because I grew up in a costal town, I always found it exhilarating to collect coral reefs and seashells. I'm going to tell you about these two exciting collections.

The inner part of the cupboard was a perfect place to stick my WWE stickers. There were a lot of them, a few hundreds actually, with the DX team and the Undertaker ones being my favourites. Once I opened the cupboard door wide and my brother jokingly called me a 'WWE crazy' after he'd seen my collection. In fact, I dedicated a couple of columns just for the Dead Man stickers. However, the annoying thing was that several of the WWE superstars stickers were always missing including those of Chris Jerrico, CM punk and Rob Van Dam. Although my collection wasn't complete, it was a very big one. Today this collection is more than a decade years old, but only a handful of them survived.

The basic school summer holidays were fantastic opportunities for collecting loads of sea stuff. Every week or fortnight I would go to the seaside with my friends and then I'd come home loaded with plenty of seashells and quite a few coral reefs. I collected a great deal of them and they were all colours of the rainbow! The collection was never complete because every week new and different stuff were added to the pile in the garage. Unfortunately, there's nothing left from this charming collection. I don't know when or how, but all of a sudden it all went missing! I suspect my little brother sold them since they could be used as decorations. He probably made a fortune!

Rich's picture
Rich
04/10/2018
ES
594
points

 


Rich's picture
Rich
04/10/2018 13:23
Spain
Liverpool
594

 

Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
04/10/2018
SD
2903
points

Seems like there's something written here, but I can't see anything. It's blank!


Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
04/10/2018 15:42
Sudan
Liverpool
2903

Seems like there's something written here, but I can't see anything. It's blank!

Rich's picture
Rich
04/10/2018
ES
594
points

That's a pity. You should see a little audio player. What browser are you using? 

Is there any way you can try looking on a different device or change the browser you use to see if you can see it?


Rich's picture
Rich
04/10/2018 20:35
Spain
Liverpool
594

That's a pity. You should see a little audio player. What browser are you using? 

Is there any way you can try looking on a different device or change the browser you use to see if you can see it?

Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
06/10/2018
SD
2903
points

Hi teacher Rich! I actually wasn't online for the last two days, apologies.

By switching from Opera Mini to Google Chrome, I was able to spot the audio and then download it, just like the podcast. And I'd say not only was it a brilliant idea, but also an entertaining listening practice.

As for the corrections, thanks a lot mister. Please keep them coming.

Now regarding the phrase 'I dedicated a couple of columns...', I stuck the stickers in rows and columns forming something like a rectangular matrix. What I was trying to say was that there were two columns wholly occupied by the Undertaker stickers.

Finally, I've just listened to you saying 'that's connected to this week's podcast'. I'm really excited about this idea -- the voice comment. Can't wait to listen to the upcoming pod!


Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
06/10/2018 19:32
Sudan
Liverpool
2903

Hi teacher Rich! I actually wasn't online for the last two days, apologies.

By switching from Opera Mini to Google Chrome, I was able to spot the audio and then download it, just like the podcast. And I'd say not only was it a brilliant idea, but also an entertaining listening practice.

As for the corrections, thanks a lot mister. Please keep them coming.

Now regarding the phrase 'I dedicated a couple of columns...', I stuck the stickers in rows and columns forming something like a rectangular matrix. What I was trying to say was that there were two columns wholly occupied by the Undertaker stickers.

Finally, I've just listened to you saying 'that's connected to this week's podcast'. I'm really excited about this idea -- the voice comment. Can't wait to listen to the upcoming pod!

lakerwang
01/10/2018
CN
337
points

When I was in primary school, I used to collect lyrics, which was nothing special because that was what a large number of kids were doing. You know, most of kids didn't have that much money to buy music cassetes, so we had to copy songs to blank tapes, and transcript the lyrics in a notebook. I had several notebooks with plenty of lyrics in them which was categorized according to the singers. Loads of singers were my favourite, and I would put a sticker of each singer on the page along with his/her song lyrics.
This week's football phrase is "*********** *****" which I reckon is correct according to other person's answers. But there are nine asterisks of the first word in the original transcript. Is it a synonym?


lakerwang
01/10/2018 04:46
China
Chelsea
337

When I was in primary school, I used to collect lyrics, which was nothing special because that was what a large number of kids were doing. You know, most of kids didn't have that much money to buy music cassetes, so we had to copy songs to blank tapes, and transcript the lyrics in a notebook. I had several notebooks with plenty of lyrics in them which was categorized according to the singers. Loads of singers were my favourite, and I would put a sticker of each singer on the page along with his/her song lyrics.
This week's football phrase is "*********** *****" which I reckon is correct according to other person's answers. But there are nine asterisks of the first word in the original transcript. Is it a synonym?

Rich's picture
Rich
10/10/2018
ES
594
points

Ha Ha!

No, that's just me getting carried away with the asterisks! Sorry.

Rich - The Premier Skills English Team


Rich's picture
Rich
10/10/2018 08:46
Spain
Liverpool
594

Ha Ha!

No, that's just me getting carried away with the asterisks! Sorry.

Rich - The Premier Skills English Team

Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
01/10/2018
SD
2903
points

Hi lakerwang.

That's interesting Lakerwang. And sounds like you established a lyrics library at home! Do you still have them today?


Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
01/10/2018 14:48
Sudan
Liverpool
2903

Hi lakerwang.

That's interesting Lakerwang. And sounds like you established a lyrics library at home! Do you still have them today?

lakerwang
06/10/2018
CN
337
points

"A lyrics library" may be a kind of expression a little bit exaggerating. They were just a few notebooks with lyrics of my favourite singers, not all singers, in them. I think they must be still in my parents' basement, if my mom hasn't sent them to trash recycling station with my children books.


lakerwang
06/10/2018 14:26
China
Chelsea
337

"A lyrics library" may be a kind of expression a little bit exaggerating. They were just a few notebooks with lyrics of my favourite singers, not all singers, in them. I think they must be still in my parents' basement, if my mom hasn't sent them to trash recycling station with my children books.

Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
07/10/2018
SD
2903
points

Haha. Alright, a mini lyrics library then!! Btw, I didn't know you were married.


Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
07/10/2018 05:33
Sudan
Liverpool
2903

Haha. Alright, a mini lyrics library then!! Btw, I didn't know you were married.

elghoul's picture
elghoul
30/09/2018
DZ
3988
points

football phrase, decade anniversary.


elghoul's picture
elghoul
30/09/2018 19:05
Algeria
Manchester City
3988

football phrase, decade anniversary.

elghoul's picture
elghoul
30/09/2018
DZ
3988
points

My first and unique collection was football and movie star stickers. It was a fever that spread among us as chilfren in the sixties. I had lots of French footballers stickers and also Hollywood stars cards. Six months later I lose them without noticing any detail of this missing. I never had tried again to collect anything.


elghoul's picture
elghoul
30/09/2018 18:22
Algeria
Manchester City
3988

My first and unique collection was football and movie star stickers. It was a fever that spread among us as chilfren in the sixties. I had lots of French footballers stickers and also Hollywood stars cards. Six months later I lose them without noticing any detail of this missing. I never had tried again to collect anything.

Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
01/10/2018
SD
2903
points

Wow! Stickers from the sixties. I was wondering if the pictures were colourful, not only black and white.

You know, my seashells and coral reefs also suddenly disappeared, just like yours!


Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
01/10/2018 15:06
Sudan
Liverpool
2903

Wow! Stickers from the sixties. I was wondering if the pictures were colourful, not only black and white.

You know, my seashells and coral reefs also suddenly disappeared, just like yours!

Rafael Robson's picture
Rafael Robson
30/09/2018
BR
615
points

When I was a child I collected comic books from the Brazilian cartoonist Maurício de Sousa. For some years, I got a new one every week. I still have quite a few of them.
I also collected material from my school days. It includes many books, many notes and a lot of tests. I still have a plenty of them in my bedroom.

I think the phrase is a *********** *****.


Rafael Robson's picture
Rafael Robson
30/09/2018 14:13
Brazil
Tottenham Hotspur
615

When I was a child I collected comic books from the Brazilian cartoonist Maurício de Sousa. For some years, I got a new one every week. I still have quite a few of them.
I also collected material from my school days. It includes many books, many notes and a lot of tests. I still have a plenty of them in my bedroom.

I think the phrase is a *********** *****.

Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
01/10/2018
SD
2903
points

Comic books are really exciting and refreshing to read. My dad actually used to bring us a couple every weekend. They were really lovely!

Tests in which you scored high marks, or even those you only managed to pass? Or perhaps something else.


Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
01/10/2018 15:26
Sudan
Liverpool
2903

Comic books are really exciting and refreshing to read. My dad actually used to bring us a couple every weekend. They were really lovely!

Tests in which you scored high marks, or even those you only managed to pass? Or perhaps something else.

Rafael Robson's picture
Rafael Robson
05/10/2018
BR
615
points

Hi Ahmed. Actually, all the tests available to bring home. Fortunately, I scored high in most of them.


Rafael Robson's picture
Rafael Robson
05/10/2018 21:34
Brazil
Tottenham Hotspur
615

Hi Ahmed. Actually, all the tests available to bring home. Fortunately, I scored high in most of them.

Zaid
30/09/2018
IN
63
points

Hi Jack and Rich. I have a doubt but not connected to the topic of this podcast but a different one. Hope you will answer.
When we write/talk about any of the football clubs, do they refer as a singular or plural? Like - Is Everton struggling without a prolific striker? or Are Everton struggling without a prolific striker? which one is correct and why? Please help me with this.
I think this week's football phrase is - *********** *****


Zaid
30/09/2018 11:37
India
Manchester United
63

Hi Jack and Rich. I have a doubt but not connected to the topic of this podcast but a different one. Hope you will answer.
When we write/talk about any of the football clubs, do they refer as a singular or plural? Like - Is Everton struggling without a prolific striker? or Are Everton struggling without a prolific striker? which one is correct and why? Please help me with this.
I think this week's football phrase is - *********** *****

Rich's picture
Rich
10/10/2018
ES
594
points

Hi Zaid,

Lakerwang's answer below is correct and very useful. In British English, we tend to refer to teams in the plural. Have a look at a few football websites from the UK (BBC Football, Guardian Football etc.) and you will see this is the case. However, we usually refer to the club in the singular. This happens when we are talking about the cub as a whole. We will say, 'Manchester Utd was founded in 1878' rather than 'were founded' because we are referring to the club/business with little connection to the idea of team. On top of this, in American English teams are referred to in the singular!

It's a tricky topic, but I hope that's helped a little.

RIch -  The Premier Skills English Team


Rich's picture
Rich
10/10/2018 08:45
Spain
Liverpool
594

Hi Zaid,

Lakerwang's answer below is correct and very useful. In British English, we tend to refer to teams in the plural. Have a look at a few football websites from the UK (BBC Football, Guardian Football etc.) and you will see this is the case. However, we usually refer to the club in the singular. This happens when we are talking about the cub as a whole. We will say, 'Manchester Utd was founded in 1878' rather than 'were founded' because we are referring to the club/business with little connection to the idea of team. On top of this, in American English teams are referred to in the singular!

It's a tricky topic, but I hope that's helped a little.

RIch -  The Premier Skills English Team

lakerwang
06/10/2018
CN
337
points

Hi, Zaid. I think I can try answering your question. If you check every ‘This Week’ on Premier Skills English, you will notice that the name of any football club is referred to as a plural. Let's take "Matchweek 7" for example. You can find such a sentence as "City are back at the top of the table ", and that's obvious. Then look at this one "The Champions go back to the top", "the Champions" of which refers to Man City. It's not "champion" but "champions", which means we see "Man City" as a group of people rather than a thing.


lakerwang
06/10/2018 15:23
China
Chelsea
337

Hi, Zaid. I think I can try answering your question. If you check every ‘This Week’ on Premier Skills English, you will notice that the name of any football club is referred to as a plural. Let's take "Matchweek 7" for example. You can find such a sentence as "City are back at the top of the table ", and that's obvious. Then look at this one "The Champions go back to the top", "the Champions" of which refers to Man City. It's not "champion" but "champions", which means we see "Man City" as a group of people rather than a thing.

Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
01/10/2018
SD
2903
points

Hi Zaid.
I think I know the answer to this question. Can I through it in?


Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
01/10/2018 14:34
Sudan
Liverpool
2903

Hi Zaid.
I think I know the answer to this question. Can I through it in?

Liubomyr's picture
Liubomyr
28/09/2018
UA
4408
points

I think that the phrase is a '*********** *****'


Liubomyr's picture
Liubomyr
28/09/2018 15:23
Ukraine
Watford
4408

I think that the phrase is a '*********** *****'

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1mobeckham6510
2Alex_from_Ukraine6278
3hsn5525
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4768
6Liubomyr4408
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia71478
2Ukraine33300
3Spain28277
4Serbia27289
5Brazil23896
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8Turkey19810
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United141846
2Liverpool110282
3Chelsea88559
4Arsenal85717
5Manchester City56951
6Tottenham Hotspur19169
7Newcastle United10457
8West Ham United7454
9AFC Bournemouth4454
10Crystal Palace4240

Level

3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Goals

Skills: Listening

Language: Quantifiers

Task: Talk about something you collected when you were younger