Topic 1.7.3 Learning from Mistakes
LEARNING FROM MISTAKES
Warm up
1A. Look at different comments about making mistakes. Discuss if you agree with them and why.
I believe that honesty is very important. Not admitting mistakes is a huge weakness.
With so much complexity at work, mistakes are inevitable.
I’m so busy I inevitably make mistakes. If I tried to deliver 100 percent all the time, I’d go crazy.
I hate making mistakes. I’m a perfectionist.
I’ve learnt most of the important things in life by making mistakes.
My boss says, if you fail, then fail fast, but don’t make the same mistake again.
1B. Write a sentence which expresses your own attitude to making mistakes. In small groups, read out your sentences and see if others agree or disagree with you.
Listening
2A. [Audio 6.02] Listen to Paul Hayes, a project leader, and his project team discussing mistakes made during an IT project.
2B. Work in pairs. Discuss Paul’s comment at the end of the meeting. How do you think the team should answer his question and why?
‘But senior management will read this report. We need to be careful what we say about ourselves. So, what do we put in the report?’
2C. [6.03] Listen to a later part of the meeting. The team brainstorms alternative actions they could have taken to avoid mistakes and agrees on specific recommendations to help future projects.
2D. How far do you agree with the recommendations of the project team? Why?
Pronunciation – Scottish English
3A. English around the world is often heard with different accents. Some typical features of Scottish English pronunciation include:
There is a relatively small number of different vowel sounds, and all vowels are approximately the same length, e.g. the same vowel is used in put, boot and poor.
The letter r is always pronounced, e.g. bear/ber/ (not /beə/).
/h/is pronounced at the beginning of words spelled with wh-, e.g.which /hwɪtʃ/.
/t/is often pronounced as a glottal stop.
A few particular words have different stress or pronunciation, e.g. realise, with /wɪθ/ (not /wɪð/), though/θəʊ/ (not /ðəʊ/)
3B. [Audio P6.02] Listen to two versions of these words. Which is the Scottish English version, the first or the second?
- careful
- mistake
- more
- learned
- with
- where
- pressure
- all
- need
- main
- under
- deliver
Watch this video about the Glasgow accent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FBDCmibOM4&t=460s
Functional language – Analysing and learning from mistakes
4A.
4B. Read the text about a challenging tunnel project in Georgia. Complete the text with phrases from Exercise 4A. There may be more than one possible answer.
TASK
5A. Prepare to talk about a ‘useful mistake’ you made at work or in life and the important lessons which you learnt from the experience. Use the questions below to help you.
- Make notes first and include phrases from Exercise 4A.
- What was the mistake and what happened exactly?
- What unforeseen events happened, and with what results?
- What could have been done to avoid the mistake?
- What was your main learning point from this mistake?
What advice would you give to prevent others from making this kind of mistake?
5B. Work in small groups. Use your notes to talk about your experience. When everyone is finished, vote for which story is the most interesting
