Objectives & Sequence: This lesson is intended to be used as a preview of Grammar - Present Perfect: How Long?.
Part One: Warm Up
Discuss the following questions with a partner or group:
- Do you play any instruments? If so, how long have you been playing it / them?
- How many members are there in a usual rock band? Which instruments do they usually play?
- Do you know anyone that can play more than one instrument?
- Are there any art universities where you live? What kinds of things do you think students study at these universities?
Part Two: Listening
Exercise
Open Exercise One to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document. Then go on to Exercise Two & Three.
Transcript
Hi, my name's Peter. I'm 25 years old and I live in Vancouver, Canada. I'm a musician and an artist. The people at SMART asked me to talk a little bit about myself and my life, so here goes. First of all, as for music, I've been playing instruments since I was a child. My parents gave me my first guitar when I was 5. I fell in love with making music right away. I played it all the time when I was a kid, and as I grew older, I started learning other instruments. When I was 10, my father brought home a piano. Also, I've been playing the drums since I was 13. In total, I've learned the guitar, bass guitar, drums, and piano. I haven't tried the saxophone, so I think that will be the instrument I try to learn next. Now, I have a band with my friends. We've been composing and playing songs together since high school. The band consists of just three members. My friend, Joe, is the singer and guitarist. I play bass. My girlfriend, Claire, plays the drums. We play mostly punk songs, so most people don't like our sound. Our taste in music is pretty strange. However, we've been performing live for a few years now, and we're starting to get a lot of fans. Maybe we'll be rich and famous one day. During the day, I study art. I've been going to Emily Carr University in Vancouver for three years, and I'm almost done. I've studied painting, sculpture, and photography, which is my favorite. This is my last year of school, and all students need to make a final project to display at the school's graduate exhibition in March. I've been working on my project for the past few months, and I'm really excited about it. I've been going to a lot of concerts and taking photos of the bands I see. That may sound boring to some, but I've taken some really good shots so far. I don't know if you've ever heard of a photographer named Jenny Lanz, but she took some pretty famous photos of punk musicians in the 70s. I guess you could say her work is my inspiration. So yeah, I guess that's it. I know I'm not the most interesting person in the world, but I enjoy what I do. I don't know what I'll do for work after I graduate, but I'm sure it will involve art or music. They're pretty important in my life, and I can't imagine doing anything else.