ROAD TO B1+: LESSON 2

1) USE OF LANGUAGE: CONNECTORS

Here you have a list of useful connectors. Do you know them all? Look them up if necessary!




Sentence Connectors are a great way of improving your English. Why? Because we use them to make more sophisticated sentences.

Example: “London is a very exciting city; nevertheless it is also very expensive” or

“Despite the fact that London is very expensive, it is also very exciting”

! Some connectors are followed by a NOUN/ -ING FORM (despite/ in spite OF/ because OF/...), whereas other connectors need to be followed by a subject+verb.

There are various types of connectors. It's not important that you know them all yet, but this information will be handy in a few months.

We can divide sentence connectors into:

Coordinating Conjunctions

They connect words, phrases and clauses. They are usually found in the middle of a sentence with a comma (,) just before the conjuction, or at the beginning of the sentence.

Coordinating Conjunctions:

for and nor but or yet so

Correlative Conjunctions

They connect equal sentence elements together (like two nouns) and are always composed by two words.

Correlative Conjunctions:

both…and not only…but also not…but either…or neither…nor whether…or as…as

Subordinating Conjunctions

They connect a dependent clause and an independent clause and establish a relationship between them. They happen at the beginning of a sentence (with a comma in the middle separating the clauses) or in the middle of a sentence with no comma.

Subordinating Conjunctions:

after	if	though	although
if only	till	as	in order that
unless	as if	now that	until
as long as	once	when	as though
rather than	whenever	because	since
where	before	so that	whereas
even if	than	wherever	even though
that	that	while

Linking Adverbs and Transition Words

They connect two independent sentences. They provide transition between ideas. They come at the beginning of a sentence or after a strong pause, such as ";" and are often followed by a comma.

Linking Adverbs and Transition Words:

accordingly	however	nonetheless	also
indeed	otherwise	besides	instead
similarly	consequently	likewise	still
conversely	meanwhile	subsequently	finally
moreover	then	furthermore	nevertheless
therefore	hence	next	thus

Now practise the use of connectors (there are 14 exercises, with answers): CLICK HERE


2) SPEAKING PRACTICE: EDUCATION

a) You'll watch a short video (7 min) in which you'll see how a set of 6 questions regarding education could be answered. Remember that in your final exam you'll be asked to answer some questions too, so this is going to help you a lot. Watch, listen and read!

b) Now prepare your own answers for the 6 questions. Remember to use connectors to link your ideas.