More practice with the language you're learning
Supplementary support — grammar, vocabulary, speaking and review — built from language already taught in the course. Not a lesson, and never a test.
1.Transformation: express the same meaning without repeating the original wording — "**Placement**: X's new book sits in the long English tradition of the novel about no one in particular doing nothing very much, and survives the inheritance."
2.Transformation: express the same meaning without repeating the original wording — "**Praise**: The dialogue, sentence-for-sentence, is the most economical she has written; the speech of the older sister is calibrated as finely as anything in recent fiction."
3.Transformation: express the same meaning without repeating the original wording — "**Damage**: The book loses its nerve around page 180 — exactly where the thesis it has spent half the novel daring requires it to commit."
4.Calibrated praise for a film with one outstanding lead performance.
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'The film holds, scene for scene, on a lead performance whose stillness is the most controlled work the actor has yet given.'
5.Calibrated damage for a podcast that wanders in its second hour.
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'The first hour earns its run-time; the second is what happens when no one in the room is willing to be the one who says it's time to stop.'
6.Mini-context: someone disagrees with you in a meeting. Reply in two turns, using this structure at least once.
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Reviewing at C2: (a) PLACEMENT — locate the work in a tradition or moment ('X joins the late-Carver lineage of…') without burying judgement; (b) CALIBRATED PRAISE — specific, scoped admiration that doesn't inflate ('the dialogue, sentence-for-sentence, is the best she has written'); (c) CALIBRATED DAMAGE — specific, scoped objection that doesn't dismiss the whole ('the middle third loses its nerve about its own thesis'); (d) THE COMPARATIVE RANKING — placing this work against its near-neighbours to clarify, not show off.
1.Sort these into "positive", "neutral" and "critical" in tone, and be ready to defend a borderline case: a brave failure, to damn with faint praise, to lose (its / one's) nerve, to earn (a moment / a tone / a length), to rank (something) with / above / below, the (writer's / director's / artist's) ear
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a brave failure — a work whose ambition outruns its execution but earns respect | to damn with faint praise — to compliment so mildly that the effect is criticism | to lose (its / one's) nerve — to retreat from a difficult commitment the work made earlier | to earn (a moment / a tone / a length) — to do enough work to justify a difficult choice | to rank (something) with / above / below — to place a work in a comparative order | the (writer's / director's / artist's) ear — their reliable sense for the specific feature they handle well
2.Odd one out: which of these is least like "a brave failure" in meaning or use — to damn with faint praise / to lose (its / one's) nerve / to earn (a moment / a tone / a length)? Explain why.
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Compare against: a work whose ambition outruns its execution but earns respect
3.Odd one out: which of these is least like "to damn with faint praise" in meaning or use — to lose (its / one's) nerve / to earn (a moment / a tone / a length) / to rank (something) with / above / below? Explain why.
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Compare against: to compliment so mildly that the effect is criticism
4.Odd one out: which of these is least like "to lose (its / one's) nerve" in meaning or use — to earn (a moment / a tone / a length) / to rank (something) with / above / below / the (writer's / director's / artist's) ear? Explain why.
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Compare against: to retreat from a difficult commitment the work made earlier
5.Odd one out: which of these is least like "to earn (a moment / a tone / a length)" in meaning or use — to rank (something) with / above / below / the (writer's / director's / artist's) ear / a brave failure? Explain why.
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Compare against: to do enough work to justify a difficult choice
6.Semantic map: place "a brave failure" on a scale from mild to strong against two other words you know. Then use the strongest one.
7.Semantic map: place "to damn with faint praise" on a scale from mild to strong against two other words you know. Then use the strongest one.
8.Semantic map: place "to lose (its / one's) nerve" on a scale from mild to strong against two other words you know. Then use the strongest one.
9.Mini-dialogue: write four lines in which two of this lesson's words appear naturally.
1.Word family: give the noun, verb, adjective and adverb forms linked to "a brave failure" where they exist, then use the form that is hardest for you.
2.Word family: give the noun, verb, adjective and adverb forms linked to "to damn with faint praise" where they exist, then use the form that is hardest for you.
3.Word family: give the noun, verb, adjective and adverb forms linked to "to lose (its / one's) nerve" where they exist, then use the form that is hardest for you.
4.Word family: give the noun, verb, adjective and adverb forms linked to "to earn (a moment / a tone / a length)" where they exist, then use the form that is hardest for you.
5.Spot the mismatch: which partner does NOT work with "a brave failure" — and what would a proficient speaker say instead?
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Natural model: It is a brave failure; the next one may be the one.
6.Spot the mismatch: which partner does NOT work with "to damn with faint praise" — and what would a proficient speaker say instead?
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Natural model: The review damns the book with faint praise — 'pleasant', 'serviceable'.
7.Spot the mismatch: which partner does NOT work with "to lose (its / one's) nerve" — and what would a proficient speaker say instead?
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Natural model: The novel loses its nerve in the third act.
8.Rewrite one sentence from your last piece of writing, swapping a weak combination for a precise one from this lesson.
1.Shift the register twice: make this markedly formal, then markedly conversational — "**Placement**: X's new book sits in the long English tradition of the novel about no one in particular doing nothing very much, and survives the inheritance."
2.Shift the register twice: make this markedly formal, then markedly conversational — "**Praise**: The dialogue, sentence-for-sentence, is the most economical she has written; the speech of the older sister is calibrated as finely as anything in recent fiction."
3.Shift the register twice: make this markedly formal, then markedly conversational — "**Damage**: The book loses its nerve around page 180 — exactly where the thesis it has spent half the novel daring requires it to commit."
4.Diplomatic vs direct: soften this, then sharpen it. Which version would you actually use, and to whom? "Would the damage land without the praise that precedes it?"
5.Compress: express the idea behind "It is a brave failure; the next one may be the one." in six words or fewer without losing the nuance.
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a work whose ambition outruns its execution but earns respect
6.Compress: express the idea behind "The review damns the book with faint praise — 'pleasant', 'serviceable'." in six words or fewer without losing the nuance.
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to compliment so mildly that the effect is criticism
7.Compress: express the idea behind "The novel loses its nerve in the third act." in six words or fewer without losing the nuance.
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to retreat from a difficult commitment the work made earlier
8.Read one of your own paraphrases aloud. Which word choice is doing the most work? Replace everything around it.
1.Rank and justify: order the ideas in Would the damage land without the praise that precedes it? / Where would a less disciplined reviewer have over-claimed? / Could the review have skipped placement and still worked? from most to least convincing. Defend your top choice.
2.Role-play: Two minutes to pick the work + sketch the four moves before writing. Take the position you least agree with.
3.Decision task: you have two minutes to reach a single recommendation on A 350-word review + one sentence naming the move you found hardest to write honestly.. State it in one sentence.
4.Now switch sides and argue the opposite for 60 seconds. Which language had to change?
5.Follow-up — push further: Three recent films by the same director. Add a counter-example.
6.Follow-up — push further: Three novels you've read in the past year. Add a counter-example.
1.Paragraph ordering: draft your four topic sentences only, then decide their best order and say why.
2.Partial writing: write only the concession paragraph of Write a 300–320-word critical review of a work of your choice. You MUST: (a) place it in a tradition or alongside near-neighbours, (b) deliver one piece of scoped praise, (c) deliver one piece of scoped damage, (d) end with a comparative ranking, (e) use at least four target items, (f) avoid the four banned adjectives from the challenge. — 60–80 words.
3.Editing pass: cut 15% of your words without losing content. What went first?
4.Audience switch: rewrite your opening for a hostile reader, then for a sympathetic one.
5.Self-check: underline every repeated word and replace two with precise choices from this lesson.
1.Pick any book or film. Draft and read aloud ONE calibrated praise sentence and ONE calibrated damage sentence — both specific.
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Open with placement; spend the middle on one specific praise and one specific damage; close on a comparative ranking. No vague adjectives.
2.Find the evidence: which exact words in the text/script support this — Find the PLACEMENT move.
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'sits inside the long tradition of the contemporary domestic novel that wants to be larger than it is.'
3.Find the evidence: which exact words in the text/script support this — Find the calibrated PRAISE move (and note its scope).
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'her ear for the speech of children is not matched, at present, in English fiction' — narrow scope, specific praise.
4.Find the evidence: which exact words in the text/script support this — Find the calibrated DAMAGE move.
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'The middle third loses its nerve.' (with explanation of which thesis the writer abandoned)
5.Key word transformation: rewrite "**Placement**: X's new book sits in the long English tradition of the novel about no one in particular doing nothing very much, and survives the inheritance." using the structure from The critic's voice: praise, damage and the place in a tradition, in 3–8 words.
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Reviewing at C2: (a) PLACEMENT — locate the work in a tradition or moment ('X joins the late-Carver lineage of…') without burying judgement; (b) CALIBRATED PRAISE — specific, scoped admiration that doesn't inflate ('the dialogue, sentence-for-sentence, is the best she has written'); (c) CALIBRATED DAMAGE — specific, scoped objection that doesn't dismiss the whole ('the middle third loses its nerve about its own thesis'); (d) THE COMPARATIVE RANKING — placing this work against its near-neighbours to clarify, not show off.
6.Reflection: which part of this task type costs you most time, and what will you do differently next time?
1.True, false or not stated? Decide for each, then correct the false ones: "'sits inside the long tradition of the contemporary domestic novel that wants to be larger than it is.'" · "'her ear for the speech of children is not matched, at present, in English fiction' — narrow scope, specific praise." · "'The middle third loses its nerve.' (with explanation of which thesis the writer abandoned)"
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Find the PLACEMENT move. → 'sits inside the long tradition of the contemporary domestic novel that wants to be larger than it is.' | Find the calibrated PRAISE move (and note its scope). → 'her ear for the speech of children is not matched, at present, in English fiction' — narrow scope, specific praise. | Find the calibrated DAMAGE move. → 'The middle third loses its nerve.' (with explanation of which thesis the writer abandoned)
2.Retrieval race: in 60 seconds, list every word from this lesson you can remember, then check what you missed.
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a brave failure, to damn with faint praise, to lose (its / one's) nerve, to earn (a moment / a tone / a length), to rank (something) with / above / below, the (writer's / director's / artist's) ear
3.Use "a brave failure" in a sentence about a completely different topic from the lesson.
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a work whose ambition outruns its execution but earns respect
4.Use "to damn with faint praise" in a sentence about a completely different topic from the lesson.
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to compliment so mildly that the effect is criticism
5.Use "to lose (its / one's) nerve" in a sentence about a completely different topic from the lesson.
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to retreat from a difficult commitment the work made earlier
6.Teach it back: explain The critic's voice: praise, damage and the place in a tradition to someone who has never met it, in under 45 seconds.
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Reviewing at C2: (a) PLACEMENT — locate the work in a tradition or moment ('X joins the late-Carver lineage of…') without burying judgement; (b) CALIBRATED PRAISE — specific, scoped admiration that doesn't inflate ('the dialogue, sentence-for-sentence, is the best she has written'); (c) CALIBRATED DAMAGE — specific, scoped objection that doesn't dismiss the whole ('the middle third loses its nerve about its own thesis'); (d) THE COMPARATIVE RANKING — placing this work against its near-neighbours to clarify, not show off.
7.Which work have you damned with faint praise when you should have been honest?
1.Warm-up — call the technique — 'She walked in. What was she going to say. Honestly.' — name it.
2.Warm-up — call the technique — 'Quietly, in the way people leave rooms when they have already decided, she left.' — name it.
3.Warm-up — call the technique — 'The CEO is the butler. The marketing deck is the candelabra.' — name it.
4.Warm-up — call the technique — 'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man with a podcast must be in want of an audience.' — name it.
5.You lead — the reading circle opens — You bring the 600–900-word passage prepared for homework. You open by stating your reading in one sentence. Teacher plays a sceptical reading-circle member: they push on your evidence and float the alternative reading you prepared. You must distinguish what the text SAYS from what it IMPLIES or INVITES, and name anything you as reader are bringing.
6.Diagnose the voice — Using the same passage, you and teacher jointly mark: (a) where narrative distance opens or closes, (b) whether irony, parody or pastiche is present and on what target, (c) the dominant sentence shape and what it buys the writer. Teacher challenges one of your three calls.
7.Style transplant — rewrite in a new register — Which shift changed the meaning, not just the surface?
8.Style transplant — rewrite in a new register — Which rewrite would you actually publish?
9.The critic's round — place, praise, damage, rank — Teacher names a second text (a near-neighbour: same genre, era or author). In 3 minutes, deliver a spoken review of your reading-circle passage that: (a) places it in a tradition or alongside the second text, (b) gives ONE specific, scoped praise, (c) gives ONE specific, scoped damage, (d) ends with a comparative ranking against the second text. Banned words: 'enjoyable', 'engaging', 'powerful', 'thought-provoking'.
10.Bring it together — a critic's paragraph — Write a 150-word paragraph on your reading-circle passage that: states your reading in one sentence, defends it with one piece of textual evidence, and closes with one scoped piece of criticism (praise or damage). Use at least FIVE Unit 4 vocabulary items naturally.
11.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "narrative distance".
12.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "an unreliable narrator".
13.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "free indirect style".
14.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "cadence".
15.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to suspend the verb".
16.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to break the rhythm".
17.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "tongue-in-cheek".
18.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to send up (something)".
19.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to land (the satire)".
20.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "textual evidence".
21.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to over-read".
22.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "the strongest reading".
23.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to lose (its / one's) nerve".
24.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to rank (something) with / above / below".
25.Which was harder to defend today — your reading of the text or your judgement of its quality?
26.Where did leading the discussion expose a gap between what you noticed silently and what you could argue aloud?
27.Which Unit 4 vocabulary item are you most likely to reach for the next time you talk about something you've read?