B2 Feelings

B2 VOCABULARY: FEELINGS

Five Messages

PICTURE

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"I'm crying into the good tea towels, and both things are true at once."

Ordinary and strong adjectives · grading with absolutely / very · informal feelings · prepositions

Listening

Speaking

A · LEAD-IN

The word your language has and English doesn't

Some languages have feeling-words English lacks - and the other way round.

• Is there a feeling-word in your language that's hard to translate into English?

• Teach it to your partner in under a minute - definition, example, when you'd use it.

• Which English feeling-word do you find hardest to use naturally?

PICTURE

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B1 · VOCABULARY

Ordinary to strong: match each adjective to its "turbo" version.

Careful with grading: strong adjectives take absolutely / completely / utterly, not very.

1. pleased

2. happy / excited

3. surprised

4. upset

5. confused

6. shocked and disgusted

7. hopeless, ready to try anything

8. feeling far too much at once

a) delighted

b) thrilled

c) astonished / stunned

d) devastated

e) bewildered

f) horrified

g) desperate

h) overwhelmed

B2 / B3 · VOCABULARY

Which feeling?

homesick · relieved · offended · fed up · grateful · proud · lonely · disappointed.

Your test results came back clear.

You didn't get the job you'd hoped for.

A stranger helped you carry a pram up four flights of stairs.

Your daughter just finished her first marathon.

You've moved abroad and you miss your mum's cooking terribly.

A colleague joked about your accent. Again.

It's week three of rain, delays and small annoyances.

You've moved to a new town and know nobody.

6. Informal register. Match the informal versions with their more regular ones:

scared stiff · down · shattered · gobsmacked · sick of · gutted

terrified · astonished · sad fed up with · extremely disappointed · exhausted

C · BEFORE YOU LISTEN

Five messages

Anouk announced some big news and then turned her phone off for a day. You will hear the five voicemails waiting for her.

LISTEN ONCE AND ANSWER

1. What is Anouk's news?

2. How does each caller feel about it?

3. First: whose voicemail would you listen to first after big news?

PICTURE

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C · TAPESCRIPT

Five messages

"Nobody has ever complained about the view."

JOSEFA Anouk. It's your mother. I have read your message four times and I am... well, I'm gobsmacked, there's no other word - Lisbon! You're moving to Lisbon! Darling, I'm thrilled for you, genuinely thrilled, and I'm also crying into the good tea towels, and both things are true at once.

Your father is pretending to be calm. He's watered the same plant three times. Call me. Call me tonight. I'm so proud of you I could burst - and if you don't call me I'll be extremely offended. Kisses. It's your mother.

KOFI RIGHT. First of all: gutted. Absolutely gutted. Who am I supposed to complain about work to on Thursdays? Second of all: I am so, so happy for you it's actually annoying.

Third: I've already looked at flights, they're basically nothing, I'll be there by October - you can't escape me with geography, Anouk, people have tried.

...Seriously though. You've been miserable in that job for two years. Watching you finally do something about it? Best thing I've seen all year. Shattered from the gym, going to bed, love you, bye.

MIRIAM Anouk, hello, it's Miriam. I'll be honest - when your resignation arrived this morning I was stunned. Sat there with my coffee going cold, completely bewildered, thinking, did I miss something?

C · TAPESCRIPT (continued)

Five messages

And then I read your reasons and... no. No, I understood every word, and frankly some of it we deserved. I'm disappointed to lose you - that's the professional version; the human version is that the fourth floor will be unbearable without you. We're grateful for everything. Door's open if Lisbon ever gets boring. It won't. Bye now.

SISTER It's me. So, mixed news from the front line: your nephew is devastated - actual tears at breakfast, he thinks Lisbon is "basically the moon" - but then he found out there are beaches and now he's asking if you have a spare room and whether sharks are an issue, so, emotional recovery in progress.

Me? Honestly, when you told me I was scared stiff for you - new country, no job lined up, the whole thing - and about an hour later the fear wore off and now I'm just... relieved. You've been down for so long, and on the phone yesterday you sounded like you again. That's worth an ocean. Right - he wants to say something - "TELL HER ABOUT THE SHARKS" - you heard him. Love you.

TOME Good evening, this message is for Ms Anouk Verhoeven. My name's Tome, calling from Casa do Miradouro in Lisbon - you emailed about the top-floor flat, the one with the terrace. I'm delighted to say it's yours if you still want it.

I must warn you, the stairs are a horror - four floors, no lift, every visitor arrives shattered and swearing - but then they see the view, and... well. Nobody has ever complained about the view. Welcome to Lisbon, Ms Verhoeven. Call me back when you land.

D · COMPREHENSION

Listen again. Who...?

1. ...uses two informal words, one for "astonished" and one for "extremely disappointed"?

2. ...was initially confused and shocked by the news, then understood it?

3. ...describes another person's feelings changing from devastated to hopeful?

4. ...admits to feeling frightened on Anouk's behalf at first?

5. ...is offering something, and warns that it comes with exhausting stairs?

6. ...threatens to be offended, but not seriously?

E · LANGUAGE FOCUS

Grading, register and prepositions

1. Find in the messages: absolutely gutted · completely bewildered · so proud · extremely offended. Which adjectives took absolutely / completely, and which took so / extremely?

2. Register sort. Which belong in Miriam's professional message, and which in Kofi's: stunned · gutted · disappointed · gobsmacked · grateful · shattered? What do you notice about who says what?

3. Prepositions: proud ______ you · grateful ______ everything · sick ______ hearing it · scared stiff ______ something · disappointed ______ lose you / disappointed ______ the result.

4. Down and shattered both have literal meanings too. What tells you Kofi means "exhausted" and the sister means "sad"?

E · THE GRADING RULE

Complete the rule

Complete with the right intensifiers.

• Ordinary adjectives (pleased, happy, surprised, upset, confused, annoyed) take very / so / ______.

• Strong adjectives (delighted, thrilled, astonished, devastated, bewildered, horrified) take absolutely / completely / ______ - not very.

• So works with both: so proud, so delighted. What does so add that very doesn't?

• The informal set (gutted, gobsmacked, shattered, scared stiff) behaves like the ______ adjectives - hence absolutely gutted.

CAREFUL

You will hear very delighted from native speakers, especially in speech. Understand it, don't produce it - in an exam it costs you a mark.

F1 · CONTROLLED PRACTICE

Replace the words in brackets with a stronger or more natural adjective.

1. When I saw the bill, I was (very surprised) ______.

2. She was (very happy) ______ with her exam results.

3. He was (very upset) ______ when the dog died.

4. We were (very confused) ______ by the new timetable.

5. I'm (tired of) ______ hearing about their wedding. (informal)

6. After the night shift I was (extremely tired) ______. (informal)

7. They were (very shocked and disgusted) ______ by the state of the kitchen.

8. He was (extremely disappointed) ______ when his team lost the final. (informal)

F2 · CONTROLLED PRACTICE

Complete with a suitable adjective. More than one may work - justify it.

1. Thanks so much for your help - I'm really ______.

2. She hasn't made a single friend in the new city yet. She's terribly ______.

3. When the plane finally landed safely, we were all incredibly ______.

4. Don't be ______ - it was a joke about the food, not about your cooking!

5. He's ______ of his son - first person in the family to go to university.

6. Three cancelled trains this week. I am officially ______ up.

7. She's been a bit ______ since the divorce - call her, would you?

8. When they announced my name, I was too ______ to move. Just froze.

G · FREER PRACTICE

The sixth message

Individually, script the voicemail Anouk sends back - 45 to 60 seconds.

• React to at least three of the five messages, and use a minimum of six feeling adjectives: at least one strong, at least one informal, all correctly graded.

• Perform it to a partner, who checks the grading: absolutely thrilled yes, very thrilled no.

• Vote for the message that sounds most like a real human.

• Homework (optional): write the text thread (8-10 messages) between Anouk and Kofi one month after the move - homesickness, delight, one disaster, one triumph. Ten feeling items, register consistent.

PICTURE

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TEACHER'S REFERENCE · HIDE OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key

B1 pleased -> delighted · happy/excited -> thrilled · surprised -> astonished / stunned · upset -> devastated · confused -> bewildered · shocked and disgusted -> horrified · hopeless and ready for anything -> desperate · too much at once -> overwhelmed.

B2 1 relieved · 2 disappointed · 3 grateful · 4 proud · 5 homesick · 6 offended · 7 fed up · 8 lonely.

B3 scared stiff = terrified · down = sad or depressed · shattered = exhausted · gobsmacked = astonished · sick of = fed up with · gutted = extremely disappointed. The pub, mostly - not the interview.

C GIST Anouk has resigned and is moving to Lisbon. Mother: gobsmacked, thrilled, proud (and weepy). Kofi: gutted but delighted. Miriam: stunned and bewildered, then understanding - disappointed but grateful. Sister: scared stiff at first, now relieved; the nephew went from devastated to negotiating about sharks. Tome: delighted - the flat is hers.

D 1 Kofi and Josefa between them (gobsmacked - Josefa; gutted - Kofi). 2 Miriam, the boss. 3 The sister, about the nephew. 4 The sister. 5 Tome. 6 Josefa.

E 1 Strong adjectives take absolutely / completely; ordinary ones take very / so / extremely. 2 Miriam: stunned, disappointed, grateful. Kofi: gutted, shattered. Gobsmacked is Josefa's - informal and affectionate. 3 proud of · grateful for · sick of · scared (stiff) of · disappointed to lose / with the result. 4 Context: Kofi has just come from the gym; the sister is describing a long low period.

RULES very / so / extremely · utterly · so adds emotional warmth and works with both · strong.

F1 1 astonished / stunned (gobsmacked) · 2 delighted / thrilled · 3 devastated · 4 bewildered · 5 sick of · 6 shattered · 7 horrified · 8 gutted.

F2 SUGGESTED 1 grateful · 2 lonely · 3 relieved · 4 offended · 5 proud · 6 fed · 7 down · 8 stunned (astonished, overwhelmed).