Listening: Listening for Specific Information A1 - Lesson 2: Identifying Times and Dates in Simple Announcements
🎯 Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Recognize and identify simple spoken English times (e.g., "two o'clock," "half past three").
- Recognize and identify simple spoken English dates (e.g., "May first," "Monday").
- Extract specific time and date information from short, clear announcements or sentences.
- Feel more confident understanding times and dates in basic English.
💡 Key Concepts: Listening for When
Hello! Knowing times and dates is very important. When is your class? When is your friend's birthday? When is the shop open? This lesson will help you listen for this specific information in English.
We will listen for:
- Times: Like "four o'clock" (4:00), "seven thirty" or "half past seven" (7:30).
- Days of the week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
- Months (some common ones): January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.
- Simple Dates: Like "March fifth" (March 5) or "December twenty-first" (December 21).
🇰🇭 Cambodian Context: Times and Dates for Daily Life
Sua s'dei! In Cambodia, knowing the time (ម៉ោង - maong) and date (ថ្ងៃ ខែ ឆ្នាំ - thngai khae chhnăm) is important for everything – going to school or work in Battambang, market days, festivals like Chaul Chnam Thmey (បុណ្យចូលឆ្នាំថ្មី)!
When you learn English, understanding times and dates helps you make appointments, understand travel information if tourists ask, or know when special events are happening. English ways of saying dates and times can be a little different from Khmer, so we will practice listening carefully.
🎧 Pre-Listening Activity: Times and Dates Review
Let's look at some ways we write times and dates. Click "Listen" to hear how they are said.
Three o'clock
Six thirty / Half past six
Monday
July fourth
Ten A M
Next week
🔊 Listening Tasks: What's the Time or Date?
Important Note for Learners: This lesson uses your browser's Text-to-Speech (TTS) to "speak" sentences. Click the "🔊 Listen" buttons. For the best learning on your full platform, use clear, pre-recorded human audio.
Task 1: What Time Is It?
Click "🔊 Listen" to hear a short sentence. Write the time you hear in the box (e.g., 2:00, 5:30).
1.
2.
Task 2: What's the Day or Date?
Click "🔊 Listen" to hear a short sentence. Choose the correct day or date you hear.
1.
When is the party?
2.
When is the birthday?
📝 Post-Listening Activity: Calendar Check
Look at a calendar (ปฏิทิน - bpatihthin). Can you find these dates and say them in English?
- Today's date (e.g., "May twenty-fifth")
- Your birthday
- A Cambodian holiday (e.g., Khmer New Year date, Pchum Ben date)
Practice saying a time too, like: "It is ten o'clock."
🚀 Key Takeaways & Listening Strategies
- Listen for keywords like "o'clock," "thirty," "half past" for times.
- Listen for names of days (Monday, Tuesday...) and months (January, May...).
- Numbers for dates are often said like "first, second, third, fourth, fifth..." then "sixth, seventh..." etc. (e.g., May 1st is "May first").
- If you hear a day, like "Friday," that tells you about the date.
💬 Feedback & Learner Tips (Self-Assessment)
When you practice:
- Could you hear the difference between times like "two o'clock" and "two thirty"?
- Were the days of the week easy to recognize?
- Dates can be tricky! Did you catch both the month and the number?
🇰🇭 Tips for Cambodian Learners:
In English, we often say the month BEFORE the day number for dates (e.g., "April tenth" for April 10). This might be different from how you say dates in Khmer. Also, practice the "th" sound for numbers like "fourth," "fifth," "sixth." For times, when you hear "o'clock" it means exactly on the hour (e.g. 2:00, 3:00). "Half past" means 30 minutes after the hour (e.g., half past two is 2:30).
This is very useful for booking appointments or understanding schedules, maybe for a bus from Battambang to Phnom Penh!
📚 Further Practice & Application
- Look at an English calendar and practice saying the dates aloud.
- Listen to simple English videos that mention times or dates (e.g., weather reports, simple daily routine videos).
- Ask a friend about their schedule in English: "What time is your English class?" "When is the holiday?"
- Use A1 English learning apps that have exercises on times and dates.