First Day & Life Lessons Oxford English Daily Conversation part 1

The Epic 4 movies
TEFL Full Width | Apex TV – First Day & Past Simple
🎯 Full Width | A2/B1 Grammar

📺 Apex TV – Julia's First Day

Past Simple (narrating events) + Pronunciation /ɪ/
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Step 1: Prediction – What will happen?

Julia starts her first day as a trainee at Apex TV. What challenges might she face? What do you think happens in the episode?

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Step 2: Key vocabulary

🔊 Click the audio button to hear pronunciation. Click Show definition to see the meaning.

trainee
producer
undercover
crevasse
flatmate
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Step 3: Before you watch – Discuss

1. Who does Julia meet on her first day?
2. What undercover investigation does Julia help with?
3. What happens to Tim's girlfriend, Ellie?
4. What life lesson does Richard Bennett share?
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Step 4: Watch the video

📌 Pay attention to the characters, their actions, and the key events. You will answer the same questions after watching.

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Step 5: Answer the questions (after watching)

1. Who does Julia meet on her first day?
2. What undercover investigation does Julia help with?
3. What happens to Tim's girlfriend, Ellie?
4. What life lesson does Richard Bennett share?
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Step 6: Grammar discovery – Past simple for narration

🔍 Look at these sentences from the video:

  • "Julia started her first day as a trainee."
  • "She met Martha, Tim and Gary."
  • "The thief took customers' money but never gave them windows."
  • "Ellie left for San Francisco."

❓ Discovery questions (discuss with a partner):

  • What tense do we use to talk about completed actions in the past? (past simple)
  • How do we form the past simple of regular verbs? (add -ed)
  • What about irregular verbs? (they change form – go→went, take→took)
  • How do we make negatives? (did not / didn't + base form)
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Step 7: Pronunciation focus – Short /ɪ/ sound

🎯 Target sound: /ɪ/ – short, relaxed vowel like in "it", "first", "window".

Listen and repeat. Click 🔊 to hear each word.

first /fɜːst/ (the vowel is /ɜː/, but for /ɪ/ we use 'window' and 'investigation')
window /ˈwɪn.dəʊ/
investigation /ɪnˌves.tɪˈɡeɪ.ʃən/
begin /bɪˈɡɪn/
listen /ˈlɪs.ən/

💡 Tip: The /ɪ/ sound is short and relaxed. Your tongue is higher than for /e/ but not as high as for /iː/. Practice: "Listen to the investigation about the window company."

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Step 8: Controlled practice – Complete with past simple

1. Julia __________ (start) her first day at Apex TV.
2. She __________ (meet) Martha and Tim.
3. The thief __________ (take) customers' money.
4. Ellie __________ (not / tell) Tim she was leaving.
5. Richard __________ (fall) into a crevasse.
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Step 9: Freer practice – Speak & record

🎙️ Speaking prompt: Use the past simple to talk about a memorable first day you had (at school, work, or any new experience). Record a sentence (or two) that describes what happened.

💡 Examples:
• "On my first day at university, I got lost in the building."
• "I met my best friend on my first day of work."
• "My first day was very stressful because I didn't know anyone."

You said:

🎯 Bonus challenge: Include a word with the short /ɪ/ sound (first, window, investigation, listen).

📚 TEFL Full Width | Past Simple | Pronunciation /ɪ/ | Apex TV – Julia's First Day
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