TELLING STORIES - SEQUENCING EVENTS

Telling Stories - Sequencing Your Ideas

By Kenneth Beare, About.com Guide

See More About:

• writing skills
• linking language
• useful english phrases
• making presentations
• writing lesson plans

Telling stories is common in any language. Think of all the situations in which you can tell a story:

• Talking about your past to a friend
• Giving details about something that happened during a job interview
• Relating information about your family to your children
• Telling colleagues about what happened on a business trip

In each of these situations - and many others - you provide information about something that happened in the past. In order to help your audience understand, you need to link these ideas together. One of the most important ways to link ideas is to sequence them. Sequencing refers to the order in which events happened. These are some of the most common ways to sequence in writing or speaking: 
 Beginning:
Firstly,
First of all,
To start off with,
Initially,
Examples: Firstly, I began my education in London.
First of all, I opened the cupboard.
To start off with, we decided our destination was New York.
Initially, I thought it was a bad idea, ...  

Continuing: Then,
After that,
Next,
As soon as / When + full clause,
... but then
Immediately,
Examples: Then, I started to get worried.
After that, we knew that there would be no problem!
Next, we decided on our strategy.
As soon as we arrived, we unpacked our bags.
We were sure everything was ready, but then we discovered some unexpected problems.
Immediately, I telephoned my friend Tom. 

 Interruptions / New Elements to the Story: Suddenly,

Unexpectedly,
Examples: Suddenly, a child burst into the room with a note for Ms. Smith.
Unexpectedly, the people in the room didn't agree with the mayor.   Events

Occurring at the Same Time

While / As + full clause
During + noun (noun clause)
Examples: While we were getting ready for the trip, Jennifer was making the reservations at the travel agent's.
During the meeting, Jack came over and asked me a few questions.  

Ending:
Finally,
In the end,
Eventually,
Lastly,
Examples: Finally, I flew to London for my meeting with Jack.
In the end, he decided to postpone the project.
Eventually, we became tired and returned home.
Lastly, we felt we had had enough and went home. When you tell stories you will also need to give reasons for actions. Here is some help with linking your ideas, and providing reasons for your actions.

More Linking Language

• Expressing Conditions (if, unless, only if, even if, etc.)
• Time Expressions (when, as soon as, before, etc.)
• Expressing Opposition (though, even though, whereas, etc.)

Vocabulary to use in a restaurant.

Ordering Food in a Restaurant

Read this dialogue
Waiter: Hello, Can I help you?
Kim: Yes, I'd like to have some lunch.
Waiter: Would you like a starter?
Kim: Yes, I'd like a bowl of chicken soup, please.
Waiter: And what would you like for a main course?
Kim: I'd like a grilled cheese sandwich.
Waiter: Would you like anything to drink?
Kim: Yes, I'd like a glass of Coke, please.
Waiter... After Kim has her lunch.: Can I bring you anything else?
Kim: No thank you. Just the bill.
Waiter: Certainly.
Kim:I don't have my glasses. How much is the lunch?
Waiter: That's $6.75.
Kim: Here you are. Thank you very much.
Waiter: You're welcome. Have a good day.
Kim: Thank you, the same to you.

Use this menu to practice ordering food in a restaurant.

Joe's Restaurant

Starters
Chicken Soup	$2.50
Salad	$3.25
Sandwiches - Main Course
Ham and cheese	$3.50
Tuna	$3.00
Vegetarian	$4.00
Grilled Cheese	$2.50
Piece of Pizza	$2.50
Cheeseburger	$4.50
Hamburger deluxe	$5.00
Spaghetti	$5.50
Drinks
Coffee	$1.25
Tea	$1.25
Soft Drinks - Coke, Sprite, Root Beer, etc

Starters
Chicken Soup	$2.50
Salad	$3.25
Sandwiches - Main Course
Ham and cheese	$3.50
Tuna	$3.00
Vegetarian	$4.00
Grilled Cheese	$2.50
Piece of Pizza	$2.50
Cheeseburger	$4.50
Hamburger deluxe	$5.00
Spaghetti	$5.50
Drinks
Coffee	$1.25
Tea	$1.25
Soft Drinks - Coke, Sprite, Root Beer, etc

Ridiculous but useful for learning countables and uncountables.



Watching these short videos, you´ll get examples of the use of COUNTABLE and UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS within a conversation.

Try similar ones with your classmates.

AT THE RESTAURANT

PAY ATTENTION TO THE STRUCTURES AND VOCABULARY USED IN THIS DIALOGUE.

TRY TO CREATE ANOTHER ONE WITH THE SAME SITUATION BUT DIFFERENT VOCABULARY.

TEXT TO PRACTISE READING COMPREHENSION

READ THIS ARTICLE FOLLOWING THE STEPS OF READING COMPREHENSION. AFTER THAT TRY TO BRIEFLY SAY WHAT THE ARTICLE IS ABOUT IN SPANISH.

This article is a personal account and is limited to the perspective of the author. The information should not be generalised to reflect the diverse culture or societal values of China today. An invitation is extended to other writers and travellers who can confirm add to or substantiate the information contained in this article.

	Entertaining Essays on English Usage Printable, photocopiable and clearly structured format Designed for teachers and individual learners For use in a classroom, at home, on your PC or anywhere
	Start improving your listening skills today! Take these listening exercises now.

I am a foreign oral English teacher in Jiangsu Province, the People's Republic of China. The following story is my own reflection on an oral English lesson I gave to a class of twenty primary school children from grade 1 or grade 2 regarding "The Family".

On the surface, the lesson plan was asking the students to draw a large tree that had a thick trunk with its branches covered in green foliage. The objective was to have each child write the family titles (not personal names) of each member of their family. To simplify the drawing, the family tree would only branch out to include the child's mother/father, uncles/aunts, other siblings and grandparents.

I drew my family tree on the blackboard and gave a simple explanation of my family of origin. To the amazement of the class, my tree was very large and cluttered with smiling stick faces representing my grandparents, my parents and my three brothers and one sister, and one uncle. I could see the expression of wonder and surprise being projected by their dark eyes. To them, I was old enough to be their Grandfather and they were puzzled to see me draw such a large tree with twelve smiling faces.

The interaction with these young Grade 1 and 2 students gave me a different perspective to the meaning of China's one child policy and the style of parenting. I then asked myself what is the social structure of their families and did these young children accept as normal in their culture. My inquisitiveness uncovered the following results.

It was normal to have no brothers or sisters. In the majority of cases it was normal to have only one surviving grandmother or grandfather. Uncles and Aunts were rarely mentioned but some did have one cousin.

Here I was looking into some of the most innocent, beautiful faces I have ever seen; listening to their tiny voices struggling with oral English, and then it hit me like a lightening bolt that all these twenty children will be without a close living family relative, that is brother, sister when their parents become elderly and face eventual death. I found it difficult to image my life without the mutual and collective support of my brothers and sister throughout my lifespan.

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