Please read the vocabulary lesson at your natural speed, though it should not be too fast so that I could hear what you speak naturally and imitate yours. Thank you.
Describe somebody who has influenced your life in a positive way
Who are they?
How did you come to meet them?
Why do you admire them?
That’s a tricky question because there are so many people in my life who have influenced me such as my parents and my grandparents, however the person who had a major impact on me was a teacher whilst I was studying at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. Up until that point I was not really sure what I wanted to do with my life, but Dr Pritchard was so passionate about English language and her passion rubbed off on me. She was quite fierce and scary at times, however when I had got used to her I grew to really like her. She would be strict in the classroom, but extremely warm as well so it made me feel that I could go and speak to her about anything. I admire her in particular for her love of teaching which she passed on to her students. Although she was strict, she always made the lessons fun. That inspired me to try and make my classes as fun as possible. At Christmas and the end of the year, she organised a party at her house and I remember going for the first time and I was extremely nervous, but she was so welcoming and an excellent host that I really looked forward to these social occasions. She was in many ways a larger-than-life character, what I mean by that is she had a big personality and when she was in a room she tended to dominate it. As I have said, at first this came across as intimidating but after a while I realised that she was actually a lovely person and she made a big impression on me. I kept in touch with her for a while after I completed my course, but I have lost touch recently.
