Click the speaker button to hear the word. Repeat it aloud.
meeting/ˈmiːtɪŋ/
manager/ˈmænɪdʒər/
developer/dɪˈveləpər/
project/ˈprɒdʒekt/
engineer/ˌendʒɪˈnɪər/
colleague/ˈkɒliːɡ/
🎤
Read Aloud
Click "Listen" to hear the sentence, then click "Speak" to record yourself. The system will check your pronunciation.
She is a project manager at our company.
The developers were not at the meeting yesterday.
?
Odd One Out
Which word has a different stress pattern or vowel sound?
1. Which word has stress on the SECOND syllable?
2. Which word has a different vowel sound in the first syllable?
🔊
Minimal Pairs Quiz
Listen to the word and type what you hear.
REVIEW: SPEAK & CHECK
🎤
Translate & Speak
Read the Russian sentence. Say the English translation aloud. The system will check your answer. This is a diagnostic exercise - sentences cover different grammar topics.
1. «Меня зовут Анна.»
My name is Anna.
2. «Я менеджер проекта.»
I am a project manager.
3. «Он был на встрече вчера.»
He was at the meeting yesterday.
4. «Мы будем готовы завтра.»
We will be ready tomorrow.
5. «Она не была в офисе.»
She was not in the office.
6. «Вы готовы к встрече?»
Are you ready for the meeting?
GRAMMAR
1
Complete the email with the correct form of "be".
Subject: My new team
Hi Marco,
I 1 in my new job now! The company 2 called TechFlow. It 3 a software company in Berlin. My team 4 great - there 5 12 developers and 2 QA engineers.
Last week 6 really busy. The sprint 7 very short and the deadlines 8 tight. But everyone 9 helpful.
Next month 10 even better - we 11 in the new office. It 12 far from the train station.
See you soon!
2
Choose the correct form of "be".
1 Our Product Owner
is/are
from Poland.
2 The developers
is/are
in a stand-up meeting right now.
3 I
wasn't/weren't
at the office yesterday.
4 The clients
was/were
happy with the demo.
5Are/Is
you the new team lead?
6 The retrospective
weren't/wasn't
very long last Friday.
7 The new release
will be/will is
ready next week.
8 We
won't are/won't be
in the office tomorrow.
3
Write the question. Use the words in brackets.
Example: Answer: "Yes, I am." (you / a developer) - Question: Are you a developer?
1 Answer: "Yes, I am." (you / a developer)
2 Answer: "No, she wasn't." (she / at the meeting)
3 Answer: "Yes, it will." (it / ready on time)
4 Answer: "Yes, they were." (they / at the conference)
5 Answer: "No, he isn't." (he / the Scrum Master)
6 Answer: "Yes, it will." (the team / bigger next year)
4
Put the words in the correct order to make sentences.
5
Find and correct the mistake in each sentence. Write the correct sentence.
1 She are a QA engineer.
2 They was at the conference.
3 I is not a manager.
4 The project were difficult.
5Will the demo is on Friday?
6 We is a cross-functional team.
6
Writing
Write 5 sentences about your workplace. Use am/is/are, was/were, and will be.
Example: I am a front-end developer. My team is small - there are 5 people. Last year, the office was in the city centre. Next month, we will be in a new building.
Lesson 1: To Be - Results
Exercises
Email
-
Choose
-
Questions
-
Word order
-
Errors
-
Writing
-
Total
-
GRAMMAR: there is / are / was / wereVOCABULARY: office, prepositionsREADING
Click the speaker button to hear the word. Repeat it aloud.
office/ˈɒfɪs/
printer/ˈprɪntər/
kitchen/ˈkɪtʃɪn/
building/ˈbɪldɪŋ/
furniture/ˈfɜːnɪtʃər/
reception/rɪˈsepʃən/
🎤
Read Aloud
Click "Listen" to hear the sentence, then click "Speak" to record yourself.
There is a large kitchen on the second floor.
Are there any meeting rooms near the entrance?
?
Odd One Out
Which word has a different stress pattern or vowel sound?
1. Which word has stress on the FIRST syllable?
2. Which word has a different vowel sound in the stressed syllable?
🔊
Minimal Pairs Quiz
Listen to the word and type what you hear.
REVIEW: SPEAK & CHECK
🎤
Translate & Speak (Review: to be)
Read the Russian sentence. Say the English translation aloud. This section reviews "to be" from Lesson 1.
1. «Она менеджер проекта.»
She is a project manager.
2. «Они были на совещании.»
They were at the meeting.
3. «Он будет свободен завтра.»
He will be free tomorrow.
4. «Я не разработчик.»
I am not a developer.
5. «Мы были заняты вчера.»
We were busy yesterday.
6. «Ты готов к презентации?»
Are you ready for the presentation?
GRAMMAR
1
Complete the office description with there is / there are / there isn't / there aren't / is there / are there.
Our new office
We moved to a new office last month. 1 two floors. On the first floor, 2 a large open-plan workspace for developers. 3 about 30 desks, but 4 enough meeting rooms - only two!
On the second floor, 5 a big kitchen with free coffee. 6 a gym, but 7 a quiet room for relaxation.
8 a parking area? Yes, 9. 10 any bicycle racks? No, 11 - but maybe next year!
2
Choose the correct word: some or any.
1 There are
some/any
new laptops in the IT room.
2 Are there
some/any
free desks on this floor?
3 There aren't
some/any
printers near my desk.
4 I have
some/any
questions about the project.
5 There isn't
some/any
coffee left in the kitchen.
6 We need
some/any
more whiteboards for the meeting rooms.
7 Is there
some/any
space in the parking area?
8 There are
some/any
plants in the reception area.
VOCABULARY
3
Complete the sentences with the correct preposition.
inonatnext tonearbetweenbehindopposite
1 The monitor is the desk.
2 My desk is the window.
3 The printer is the corner of the room.
4 The meeting room is the kitchen and the reception.
5 The server room is the main office. You can't see it from here.
6 The IT department is the HR department - on the other side of the corridor.
7 The coffee machine is the entrance, not far from the door.
8 We usually have lunch our desks.
READING
4
Read about the coworking space. Then answer the questions.
HubSpace - A Modern Coworking Space
HubSpace is a popular coworking space in central Manchester. There are three floors with over 200 desks. On the ground floor, there is a large cafe and a reception area. There are some comfortable sofas near the entrance for informal meetings.
On the first floor, there are private offices for small teams. Each office has space for 4-8 people. There is also a large conference room with a projector and a whiteboard. On the second floor, there is an open workspace with hot desks. There aren't any fixed desks - you can sit anywhere you like.
There is free Wi-Fi everywhere, and there are some phone booths on each floor for private calls. There isn't a gym, but there is a rooftop terrace where people can relax. There aren't any parking spaces, but there is a bike storage area near the building.
1 How many floors does HubSpace have?
2 What is on the ground floor?
3 How many people can work in a private office?
4 Are there fixed desks on the second floor?
5 Where can people relax?
6 Is there parking at HubSpace?
5
Find and correct the mistake in each sentence.
1There is five people in my team.
2There is a printer on this floor?
3 There aren't some meeting rooms.
4 There are a kitchen on the second floor.
5 There was two meetings yesterday.
6 There are any new computers in the office.
6
Writing
Describe your ideal office. Use there is / there are and prepositions (in, on, at, next to, near, between, behind, opposite).
Write at least 6 sentences. Think about: desks, meeting rooms, kitchen, relaxation areas, equipment.
Example: In my ideal office, there is a large open workspace. There are some comfortable sofas near the window. The kitchen is next to the meeting room...
Lesson 2: There Is/Are - Results
Exercises
Office
-
Some/any
-
Preps
-
Reading
-
Errors
-
Writing
-
Total
-
GRAMMAR: Present Simple (+/-/?)VOCABULARY: daily routine, adverbs of frequencyREADING
Click the speaker button to hear the word. Repeat it aloud.
schedule/ˈʃedjuːl/
usually/ˈjuːʒuəli/
routine/ruːˈtiːn/
frequency/ˈfriːkwənsi/
colleague/ˈkɒliːɡ/
department/dɪˈpɑːtmənt/
🎤
Read Aloud
Click "Listen" to hear the sentence, then click "Speak" to record yourself.
She usually checks her email before the stand-up.
How often do you have meetings with your manager?
?
Odd One Out
Which word has a different stress pattern or vowel sound?
1. Which word has stress on a DIFFERENT syllable?
2. Which word ends with a different consonant sound?
🔊
Minimal Pairs Quiz
Listen to the word and type what you hear.
REVIEW: SPEAK & CHECK
🎤
Translate & Speak (Review: there is/are)
Read the Russian sentence. Say the English translation aloud. This section reviews "there is/are" from Lesson 2.
1. «В офисе есть принтер.»
There is a printer in the office.
2. «На столе нет ноутбука.»
There is no laptop on the desk.
3. «Есть ли свободные переговорные?»
Are there any free meeting rooms?
4. «В здании есть кафе.»
There is a cafe in the building.
5. «Рядом с офисом нет парковки.»
There is no parking near the office.
6. «На стене несколько мониторов.»
There are some monitors on the wall.
GRAMMAR
1
Complete the text with the correct Present Simple form of the verb in brackets.
A day in the life of a DevOps engineer
Tom 1 (work) as a DevOps engineer at a fintech startup. He 2 (start) his day at 8:30. First, he 3 (check) the monitoring dashboards for any overnight alerts.
At 9:00, the team 4 (have) a daily stand-up. Tom 5 (not like) long meetings, so the stand-up usually 6 (take) only 15 minutes.
After lunch, he 7 (review) pull requests and 8 (fix) deployment issues. His manager 9 (not micromanage) him - she 10 (trust) the team to manage their own tasks.
2
Put the adverb in the correct position. Rewrite the sentence.
Example: She checks her email in the morning. (always) - She always checks her email in the morning.
1 We have a stand-up at 9. (usually)
2 He is late for meetings. (never)
3 They work from home. (sometimes)
4 She writes detailed reports. (always)
5 The deployment is at night. (often)
6 I miss a deadline. (hardly ever)
7 We order lunch to the office. (often)
8 The CEO visits our floor. (rarely)
3
Write questions using do or does.
Example: She works from home. - Does she work from home?
1 You use Slack.
2 He manages a team.
3 They have daily stand-ups.
4 The company offers remote work.
5 We need more developers.
6 She writes code every day.
READING
4
Read the job description. Then answer the questions.
Junior Front-End Developer - DataStream Inc.
About the role: We are looking for a Junior Front-End Developer to join our product team. The developer works closely with the design team and writes clean, responsive code. The role involves daily collaboration with the QA team.
Responsibilities: The developer builds user interfaces using React. They attend sprint planning meetings every two weeks and participate in code reviews. The team uses Jira for task management and GitHub for version control. The developer does not manage other team members.
Schedule: The position is full-time (40 hours per week). The company offers flexible hours - employees start between 8:00 and 10:00. The team has a daily stand-up at 10:30. On Fridays, the team finishes at 16:00.
Requirements: The candidate needs at least 1 year of experience with JavaScript. Knowledge of React or Vue is essential. The candidate does not need a university degree.
1 Who does the front-end developer work with?
2 How often do they have sprint planning meetings?
3 What tool does the team use for task management?
4 What time do employees start work?
5 What time does the team finish on Fridays?
6 Does the candidate need a university degree?
5
Find and correct the mistake in each sentence.
1 She work from home on Fridays.
2 He don't like long meetings.
3Do your team use Scrum?
4 The QA engineer test the code every day.
5 We doesn't have meetings on Mondays.
6 My manager always give clear feedback.
6
Writing
Describe the daily routine of someone in your team (not yourself).
Write at least 5 sentences. Use Present Simple and adverbs of frequency.
Think about: What time does he/she start? What does he/she do first? How often does he/she have meetings? Does he/she work from home?
Example: Maria is a UX designer. She usually starts work at 9:00. She always checks Figma first. She often has meetings with developers in the afternoon...
Lesson 3: Present Simple - Results
Exercises
Gap-fill
-
Adverbs
-
Questions
-
Reading
-
Errors
-
Writing
-
Total
-
Do not do this in one sitting. It is built as five short pieces, one a day, 20-25 minutes each.
Twenty minutes a day genuinely produces more than one long evening - the forgetting curve is what you are fighting,
and short repeated contact is what flattens it. Each day is one written task plus a few sentences said out loud.
DAY 1 · THE -S THAT DISAPPEARS
Writing first, then four sentences out loud. About 20 minutes.
1
Complete the text with the correct Present Simple form of the verb in brackets.
What a Product Owner actually does
Irina 1 (work) as a Product Owner. She 2 (not write) code, and she 3 (not test) the product either.
Every Monday she 4 (prioritise) the backlog. She 5 (talk) to the customers, then she 6 (decide) what the team builds next.
The developers 7 (estimate) the tasks, and the Scrum Master 8 (remove) the blockers. Irina 9 (watch) the numbers and 10 (say) no far more often than she says yes.
Careful: four of these are he/she/it. Three of the ten need a spelling change, not just an -s.
🎤
Say it out loud: the -s you keep dropping
Read the Russian sentence, then say the English version aloud before you press Speak. The Hint button gives you the skeleton first, the answer last.
1. «Он деплоит каждую среду.»
He deploys every Wednesday.
2. «Она проверяет код перед мержем.»
She checks the code before merging.
3. «QA-инженер тестирует новые функции.»
The QA engineer tests new features.
4. «Он чинит баги перед демо.»
He fixes the bugs before the demo.
DAY 2 · ASKING WITH DO AND DOES
The question form is the one that collapses first under pressure. About 20 minutes.
2
Write the question. The answer is given - you write what was asked.
Example: "At 9:30." (the stand-up / start) - What time does the stand-up start?
1 "Twice a week." (you / deploy / how often)
2 "She prioritises the backlog." (the Product Owner / do / what)
3 "In Moscow and Belgrade." (your team / work / where)
4 "No, he doesn't." (he / write code)
5 "Every second Monday." (you / have sprint planning / when)
6 "The DevOps engineer." (who / deploy to production)
🎤
Say it out loud: questions
Say the question aloud first, then press Speak. Listen for the do or does at the front.
1. «Как часто вы деплоите?»
How often do you deploy?
2. «Что делает владелец продукта?»
What does the Product Owner do?
3. «Он пишет код?»
Does he write code?
4. «Где работает ваша команда?»
Where does your team work?
DAY 3 · WHERE THE ADVERB GOES
Before the main verb - but after be. That single swap is the whole exercise. About 20 minutes.
3
Put the adverb in the right place. Rewrite the whole sentence.
Two of these six have be in them. Those are the ones that move the other way.
1 We deploy on Friday. (never)
2 He is late for the stand-up. (always)
3 She works from home on Tuesdays. (usually)
4 The build is slow in the morning. (often)
5 We skip the retrospective. (sometimes)
6 The Product Owner changes the sprint goal. (rarely)
🎤
Say it out loud: adverbs
Card 2 is the be exception. Say it slowly enough to get the order right.
1. «Мы никогда не деплоим в пятницу.»
We never deploy on Friday.
2. «Он всегда опаздывает на стендап.»
He is always late for the stand-up.
3. «Мы обычно планируем спринт в понедельник.»
We usually plan the sprint on Monday.
4. «Она иногда работает из дома.»
She sometimes works from home.
DAY 4 · MIXED - AND A LOOK BACK AT LESSONS 1 AND 2
Old material on purpose. Pulling something back after a few days is what makes it stay. About 25 minutes.
4
Each sentence has one mistake. Rewrite it correctly.
Three of them are Present Simple. Three come from lessons 1 and 2 - to be and there is / there are.
1 She don't write code.
2 There is eight people in our team.
3 How often does the team deploys?
4 Our Scrum Master are very experienced.
5 Does they have a stand-up every day?
6 The release last week were successful.
🎤
Say it out loud: everything so far
Mixed on purpose - you do not know which form is coming. That is the point.
1. «В нашей команде шесть разработчиков.»
There are six developers in our team.
2. «Наш тимлид очень опытный.»
Our team lead is very experienced.
3. «Она не ходит на ретро.»
She doesn't go to the retro.
4. «Сколько встреч у вас на этой неделе?»
How many meetings do you have this week?
DAY 5 · SAY IT, THEN WRITE IT
The same task you did in class, now on your own. About 25 minutes.
🎤
First, out loud - 60 seconds, no notes
"A new developer joins your team on Monday. Explain how your team works."
Set a timer for 60 seconds and talk. No writing, no preparation, no stopping to fix yourself.
It will come out worse than what you write below - that is expected and it is not a problem.
Then do it a second time. The second run is always better, and the gap between the two runs is the thing
you are actually training.
5
Now write it
Explain your team's process to the new developer. At least 6 sentences.
Use the frames from the lesson: We usually ___ every ___. We never ___ on ___. The ___ ___s the ___.
I'm responsible for ___ing. She doesn't ___.
Include at least one he/she sentence (watch the -s), one negative, and two adverbs of frequency.
Example: We plan the sprint every second Monday. We never deploy on Friday. The QA engineer tests
the new features before the release. I'm responsible for talking to the customers...
Lesson 3+: Present Simple - Results
Exercises
Day 1 · -s
-
Day 2 · Questions
-
Day 3 · Adverbs
-
Day 4 · Mixed
-
Day 5 · Writing
-
Total
-
GRAMMAR: Past Simple (regular + irregular)VOCABULARY: project incidentsREADING
Click the speaker button to hear the word. Pay attention to the -ed ending pronunciation.
started/ˈstɑːtɪd/ - /ɪd/
crashed/kræʃt/ - /t/
deployed/dɪˈplɔɪd/ - /d/
escalated/ˈeskəleɪtɪd/ - /ɪd/
fixed/fɪkst/ - /t/
occurred/əˈkɜːd/ - /d/
🎤
Read Aloud
Click "Listen" to hear the sentence, then click "Speak" to record yourself.
The server crashed and the team fixed it quickly.
Did you deploy the new version yesterday?
?
Odd One Out
Which word has a different -ed pronunciation?
1. Which word has the -ed ending pronounced as /ɪd/?
2. Which word has the -ed ending pronounced as /t/?
🔊
Minimal Pairs Quiz
Listen to the word and type what you hear.
REVIEW: SPEAK & CHECK
🎤
Translate & Speak (Review: Present Simple)
Read the Russian sentence. Say the English translation aloud. This section reviews Present Simple from Lesson 3.
1. «Она работает каждый день.»
She works every day.
2. «Мы обычно начинаем в 9 часов.»
We usually start at 9 o'clock.
3. «Он не проверяет код по пятницам.»
He doesn't review code on Fridays.
4. «Как часто вы деплоите?»
How often do you deploy?
5. «Менеджер всегда приходит вовремя.»
The manager always arrives on time.
6. «Они иногда работают удаленно.»
They sometimes work remotely.
GRAMMAR
1
Write the Past Simple form of these regular verbs.
Example: work - worked
1 start
2 plan
3 deploy
4 try
5 stop
6 discuss
7 manage
8 carry
9 occur
10 escalate
2
Choose the correct Past Simple form of the irregular verb.
1 go:
goed/went/gone
2 have:
had/haved/has
3 write:
writed/written/wrote
4 send:
sended/sent/send
5 run:
ran/runned/run
6 find:
finded/found/founded
7 make:
maked/maken/made
8 know:
knew/knowed/known
9 see:
seed/seen/saw
10 take:
took/taked/taken
3
Make negatives or questions. Follow the instructions.
Example: I finished the report. (negative) - I didn't finish the report.
1 She sent the email. (negative)
2 They fixed the bug. (question)
3 We had a meeting yesterday. (negative)
4 You saw the error message. (question)
5 The server crashed. (negative)
6 He deployed the new version. (question)
7 I knew about the problem. (negative)
8 The team finished the sprint on time. (question)
READING
4
Read the incident report. Then answer the questions.
Incident Report - Server Downtime
Date: 15 March 2026 Reported by: Alex Chen, DevOps Engineer
Summary: On Monday 15 March at 14:23, the main production server stopped responding. Users could not access the application for 47 minutes.
Timeline: At 14:23, the monitoring system sent an alert to the DevOps team. Alex saw the alert at 14:25 and immediately checked the server logs. He found a memory leak in the payment module. He contacted the back-end team at 14:30. Two senior developers, Sara and Tom, started working on the fix at 14:35.
Sara found the problem in the code at 14:50. Tom wrote a hotfix and deployed it to the staging server at 15:00. They tested it for 5 minutes and then deployed it to production at 15:05. The server came back online at 15:10.
Root cause: A recent code change did not handle large transaction volumes correctly. The team did not catch the bug during code review.
Actions: The team added new automated tests for the payment module. They also updated the code review checklist.
1 What time did the server stop responding?
2 How long were users unable to access the application?
3 What did Alex find in the server logs?
4 Who found the problem in the code?
5 When did the server come back online?
6 What did the team do to prevent similar problems?
5
Find and correct the mistake in each sentence.
1 I didn't went to the office yesterday.
2Did you finished the report?
3 We haved a retrospective last Friday.
4 She writed the documentation last week.
5 The team didn't knew about the bug.
6 He sended an email to the client.
6
Writing
Write a short incident report (5-8 sentences).
Use Past Simple. Think about:
- What happened?
- When did it happen?
- Who found the problem?
- Who fixed it?
- How long did it take?
It can be a real incident or an imaginary one.
Example: On Tuesday at 10:15, the database stopped working. The monitoring system sent an alert. Our DBA, Viktor, checked the logs and found the problem. He restarted the service at 10:30. The system came back online at 10:35.
Lesson 4: Past Simple - Results
Exercises
Regular
-
Irregular
-
Neg/Q
-
Reading
-
Errors
-
Writing
-
Total
-
Do not do this in one sitting. It is built as five short pieces, one a day, 20-25 minutes each.
Twenty minutes a day genuinely produces more than one long evening - the forgetting curve is what you are fighting,
and short repeated contact is what flattens it. Each day is one written task plus a few sentences said out loud.
DAY 1 · THE -ED THAT GETS DROPPED
Writing first, then four sentences out loud. About 20 minutes.
1
Complete the report with the correct Past Simple form of the verb in brackets.
Incident report: payment feature
Last month, our team 1 (launch) a new payment feature. We 2 (test) it carefully before the release, but we 3 (not test) one rare edge case with foreign currencies.
Two days later, the payment service 4 (crash) for almost an hour. The on-call engineer 5 (try) to reproduce the bug locally, then 6 (escalate) the incident to the team lead.
They 7 (stop) the deployment pipeline and 8 (roll back) the release immediately. The next morning, the whole team 9 (plan) a proper fix together, and the team lead 10 (apologize) to the customers in a short email.
Careful: three of these ten need a spelling change, not just -ed (a doubled consonant, or y → ied).
🎤
Say it out loud: the -ed ending
Read the Russian sentence, then say the English version aloud before you press Speak. The Hint button gives you the skeleton first, the answer last.
1. «Мы выпустили новую версию в прошлую пятницу.»
We launched the new version last Friday.
2. «Команда развернула хотфикс.»
The team deployed a hotfix.
3. «Она протестировала каждую фичу дважды.»
She tested every feature twice.
4. «Они уронили стейдж-сервер.»
They crashed the staging server.
DAY 2 · IRREGULAR VERBS
No -ed at all - these change their own shape, or do not change. About 20 minutes.
2
Complete the story with the correct Past Simple form of the verb in brackets.
After the incident
During the incident, Sasha 1 (find) the root cause in the payment module. She 2 (write) a detailed report and 3 (give) it to the team lead.
The retrospective 4 (begin) at 10 a.m. The team lead 5 (think) the bug came from a recent library update, so the team 6 (buy) a better monitoring tool that same week.
The vendor 7 (bring) a specialist to help. QA 8 (catch) two more similar bugs before the next release. Fixing the config file only 9 (cost) ten minutes, so a junior developer just 10 (reset) it and moved on.
Careful: two of these ten do not change at all in the past.
🎤
Say it out loud: irregular verbs
These do not follow the -ed rule at all - say the whole new word, not the base form plus an ending.
1. «Мы нашли ошибку через два часа.»
We found the bug two hours later.
2. «Команда написала отчёт для ретро.»
The team wrote a report for the retrospective.
3. «Это стоило нам всего десять минут.»
It cost us only ten minutes.
4. «Разработчик просто сбросил настройки.»
The developer just reset the settings.
DAY 3 · ASKING WITH DID
The question form is the one that collapses first under pressure. About 20 minutes.
3
Write the question. The answer is given - you write what was asked.
Example: "Two hours." (it / take / how long) - How long did it take?
1 "At 9 p.m." (the app / crash / what time)
2 "Because of a config error." (it / crash / why)
3 "No, they didn't." (the team / test / the edge case)
4 "Two hours." (it / take to fix / how long)
5 "The team lead." (you / tell about the bug / who)
6 "Last Friday." (you / release the update / when)
🎤
Say it out loud: did-questions
Say the question aloud first, then press Speak. Listen for the did at the front - the main verb stays in its base form.
1. «Во сколько время упало приложение?»
What time did the app crash?
2. «Команда протестировала этот случай?»
Did the team test this case?
3. «Сколько времени это заняло на исправление?»
How long did it take to fix?
4. «Когда ты выпустил обновление?»
When did you release the update?
DAY 4 · MIXED - AND A LOOK BACK AT LESSONS 1 AND 2
Old material on purpose. Pulling something back after a few days is what makes it stay. About 25 minutes.
4
Each line has one mistake. Rewrite it correctly.
Three of them are Past Simple. Three come from lessons 1 and 2 - to be and there is / there are (now in the past).
1 The deploy pipeline crash at 2am and stayed down for an hour.
2 Our on-call engineer were very tired after the night shift.
3 There was three failed deployments that week.
4 We didn't rolled back the release until midnight.
5 Did the QA team wrote a postmortem the next day?
6 Next time, the team will careful with testing.
🎤
Say it out loud: everything so far
Mixed on purpose - you do not know which form is coming. That is the point.
1. «У нас было три неудачных деплоя.»
There were three failed deployments.
2. «Наш дежурный инженер очень устал.»
Our on-call engineer was very tired.
3. «Мы не откатили релиз до полуночи.»
We didn't roll back the release until midnight.
4. «В следующий раз команда будет осторожнее.»
Next time, the team will be more careful.
DAY 5 · SAY IT, THEN WRITE IT
The same task you did in class, now on your own. About 25 minutes.
🎤
First, out loud - 60 seconds, no notes
"Tell the story of a time something went wrong with a project or a system. What happened, and how did you fix it?"
Set a timer for 60 seconds and talk. No writing, no preparation, no stopping to fix yourself.
It will come out worse than what you write below - that is expected and it is not a problem.
Then do it a second time. The second run is always better, and the gap between the two runs is the thing
you are actually training.
5
Now write it
Write your own incident story. At least 6 sentences.
Use at least three connectors from the lesson: First, Then, After that, But, So, In the end.
Include at least one irregular verb (like found, wrote, went) and one negative with didn't + base verb.
Example: First, we launched the update on Friday. Then it crashed two hours later. After that, Sasha found
the bug. But we didn't test that case before the release. So we rolled back immediately. In the end, we fixed
it the next day.
Lesson 4+: Past Simple - Results
Exercises
Day 1 · -ed
-
Day 2 · Irregular
-
Day 3 · Questions
-
Day 4 · Mixed
-
Day 5 · Writing
-
Total
-
Do not do this in one sitting. It is built as five short pieces, one a day, about 20 minutes each.
Open one tab at a time. Twenty minutes a day beats one long evening - short repeated contact is what makes
vocabulary stay. Each day is one written task plus four sentences said out loud.
DAY 1 · THE STATUS REPORT
The twelve words back in a real report. About 20 minutes.
1
Complete the status report with the words from the box.
on trackbehind scheduleat riskblockerdelayprogressmilestonedeadlineestimateworkload
Weekly update - Orbit Studio
Status: amber. We made good 1 this week, but one part of the project is 2.
The design is 3. We finished the home page and the client approved it. The next 4 is the test release, and the 5 for it is 30 November.
The payment page is three days 6. There is one 7: we are waiting for the bank. This 8 is not our fault, but it is still a problem.
My 9 for the rest of the work is eight days. The team's 10 is heavy this month, so I cannot promise less.
🎤
Say it out loud: where the project is
Read the Russian sentence, then say the English version aloud before you press Speak. The Hint button gives you the skeleton first, the answer last.
1. «Проект идёт по плану.»
The project is on track.
2. «Мы отстаём от графика на две недели.»
We are two weeks behind schedule.
3. «Есть один блокер.»
There is one blocker.
4. «Следующая веха - тестовый релиз.»
The next milestone is the test release.
DAY 2 · WHICH WORD GOES WITH WHICH
Collocations. English fixes these pairs - "do progress" is not wrong grammar, it is simply not said. About 20 minutes.
2
Choose the natural partner.
1 We always ___ our deadlines - we have never been late. meet/make/take
2 The team is starting to ___ behind schedule. go/come/fall
3 Can you ___ the team an update before Friday? do/give/put
4 We ___ good progress this sprint. did/took/made
5 If something stops you, ___ it at the stand-up. lift/raise/grow
6 There is a two-day ___ because of the client. delay/late/slow
🎤
Say it out loud: the fixed pairs
Say the English before you press Speak.
1. «Мы уложились в срок.»
We met the deadline.
2. «Мы хорошо продвинулись на этой неделе.»
We made good progress this week.
3. «Я хочу поднять один вопрос на стендапе.»
I want to raise one blocker at the stand-up.
4. «Я дам команде апдейт в пятницу.»
I will give the team an update on Friday.
DAY 3 · WHAT DOES IT MEAN
Definitions, both directions. If you can explain a word in English, you own it. About 20 minutes.
3
Write the word that matches each definition.
1 something that stops the work until someone fixes it
2 a big, important point in a project
3 the day and time when something must be finished
4 your idea of how long something will take - not a promise
5 how much work is inside the project, and what is outside it
6 how much work one person or team has right now
7 maybe it will go wrong - we are not sure yet
8 going exactly as planned
🎤
Say it out loud: explain the word
These are definitions, not translations. Say them in English.
1. «Блокер - это то, что останавливает работу.»
A blocker is something that stops the work.
2. «Оценка - это не обещание.»
An estimate is not a promise.
3. «Эта задача не входит в объём проекта.»
This task is not in the scope of the project.
4. «У моей команды большая загрузка в этом месяце.»
My team has a heavy workload this month.
DAY 4 · FIND THE MISTAKE
Three sentences use today's words, three come back from the first block on purpose. About 20 minutes.
4
Each sentence has one mistake. Write the whole sentence correctly.
1 We did good progress this week.
2 There is a two-day late.
3 We have behind schedule.
4 There is three tasks in the backlog.
5 He deploy every Tuesday.
6 Last week we miss the deadline.
🎤
Say it out loud: mixed
Two from today, two from the first block.
1. «Релиз под угрозой.»
The release is at risk.
2. «Мы пропустили срок.»
We missed the deadline.
3. «В бэклоге три задачи.»
There are three tasks in the backlog.
4. «Он делает релиз каждый вторник.»
He deploys every Tuesday.
DAY 5 · YOUR OWN REPORT
The same task you will do in class, now on your own. About 25 minutes.
5
Write a short status report about a real project of yours.
Six sentences or more. Use the four parts from the lesson, and at least six words from the box.
green / amber / redon trackat riskbehind scheduleprogressblockerdelaymilestonedeadlineestimatescopeworkload
The four parts: 1. the colour and why · 2. progress - what is finished ·
3. problems - any blocker or delay · 4. the next milestone and its deadline.
🎤
Sixty seconds out loud
No recording this time. Read your report aloud, then say it again without looking. Sixty seconds. That is the whole task.
Block 3, Lesson 1: Reading the Signals - Results
Exercises
Day 1 · Report
-
Day 2 · Collocations
-
Day 3 · Definitions
-
Day 4 · Mistakes
-
Day 5 · Writing
-
Total
-
GRAMMAR: to be, there is/are, Present Simple, Past SimpleVOCABULARY: L1-L4TEST - ONE ATTEMPT
This is a test, not practice. New team, new story - not the ones from L1-L4. Each exercise has one Check button and no Reset, so answer carefully. Talk to your teacher about anything you got wrong.
The Falcon team - choose am/is/are/was/were/will be.
1 Maria is/are the Scrum Master of the Falcon team.
2 The developers is/are in the office today.
3 Last year, the team was/were much smaller.
4 Two years ago, there was/were only two developers.
5 Next month, the team will be/is based in a new office.
6Is/Are you the new Product Owner?
2
Complete the text with there is/are.
The Falcon team has a new office. 1 a big kitchen on the ground floor, and 2 three meeting rooms upstairs. 3 any car park for visitors, but 4 a bike rack outside. 5 there a server room? Yes, 6, next to reception.
3
The Falcon team's routine - choose the correct form.
1 The team deploy/deploys every Thursday.
2 Maria assign/assigns tasks every morning.
3 We don't have/doesn't have a stand-up on Fridays.
4Do/Does the QA team test every release?
5 He review/reviews pull requests before lunch.
6 They don't deploy/doesn't deploy on Fridays.
4
Complete the text with the correct Past Simple form.
Last Tuesday, the Falcon team 1 (launch) version 2.4 of the app. Two hours later, a customer 2 (find) a bug on the login page. The app 3 (crash) every time someone tried to log in. The team 4 (decide) to roll back immediately. They 5 (not / test) the login page enough before the release. 6 the team fix the problem quickly? Yes - they 7 it within an hour.
5
Choose the correct word for each definition.
1 A list of tasks waiting to be done: backlog/deadline
2 A meeting where the team looks back at what happened: retrospective/stand-up
3 To publish a new version to users: release/assign
4 A quick, urgent fix for a serious bug: hotfix/milestone
5 The date by which something must be finished: deadline/backlog
6 Going back to the previous, working version: rollback/crash
7 The person who leads Scrum ceremonies: Scrum Master/QA
8 A board that shows tasks in progress and done: Kanban board/server room
PART B - READING
6
Read about Orbit Studio, then answer the questions.
Orbit Studio is a small game development company. There are twelve people in the team, and most of them work remotely. The studio doesn't have a big office - there's just one small meeting room in the city centre. Every day, the team has a short stand-up call at ten o'clock. They usually deploy new updates on Wednesdays. Last month, the team launched a big update, but they found a serious bug two days later. The bug crashed the game for some players. The team worked all weekend and fixed it by Monday morning. Now they always test updates for a full week before release.
1 How many people are in the Orbit Studio team? Twelve/Five/Twenty
2 Where do most of the team work? Remotely/In the office/In the city centre
3 What happened two days after last month's update? They found a bug/They hired new staff/They moved office
4 What does the team do differently now? Test updates for a week before release/Deploy every day/Work only on Mondays
PART C - WRITING
7
Writing
Write about your team (or an imaginary one). Cover all three: who is on it, what a typical day/process looks like, and one thing that went wrong recently and how you fixed it. Try to use to be, there is/are, Present Simple, and Past Simple.
GRAMMAR: Present Simple & there is/areVOCABULARY: products & servicesREADING
Bonus material. Not the IT story this time - real companies, for variety. Extra practice for the Present Simple and there is/are you worked on in the Student's Book.
Click the speaker button to hear the word. Pay attention to the 3rd person -s ending: /s/, /z/ or /ɪz/.
produces/ɪz/
exports/s/
develops/z/
manages/ɪz/
provides/z/
employs/z/
🎤
Read Aloud
Click "Listen" to hear the sentence, then click "Speak" to record yourself.
The company produces cars and provides financial services.
Does it export to Europe or Asia?
?
Odd One Out
Which word has a different -s pronunciation?
1. Which word has the -s ending pronounced as /ɪz/?
2. Which word has the -s ending pronounced as /s/?
🔊
Minimal Pairs Quiz
Listen to the word and type what you hear.
REVIEW: SPEAK & CHECK
🎤
Translate & Speak (Review: Past Simple)
Read the Russian sentence. Say the English translation aloud. This section reviews Past Simple from Lesson 4.
1. «Вчера мы выпустили новую версию.»
We launched a new version yesterday.
2. «Сайт не работал два часа.»
The website didn't work for two hours.
3. «Кто нашёл ошибку?»
Who found the bug?
4. «Мы не тестировали этот случай.»
We didn't test that case.
5. «Команда быстро исправила проблему.»
The team fixed the problem quickly.
6. «Вы откатили релиз?»
Did you roll back the release?
VOCABULARY
1
Product or service?
1 Nike: product/service
2 HSBC (a bank): product/service
3 Airbnb: product/service
4 Pfizer: product/service
5 Adecco (a recruitment agency): product/service
6 Ford: product/service
2
Complete the text with the correct Present Simple form.
Nordwind Airlines is a European airline. It 1 (fly) to 40 countries. The company 2 (have) a fleet of 60 planes. It 3 (employ) 5,000 people. Nordwind 4 (not / own) any hotels, but it 5 (provide) holiday packages. The airline 6 (sell) tickets online and 7 (offer) a loyalty programme. It 8 (not / fly) to South America yet.
3
Complete the text with there is/are, some/any.
Welcome to our new office. 1 a reception area on the ground floor, and 2 two meeting rooms upstairs. 3 any car park for visitors, but 4 a bike rack outside. 5 there a canteen? Yes, 6, on the first floor.
4
Bright Solar - choose the correct verb form.
1 Bright Solar produce/produces solar panels.
2 We export/exports to 15 countries.
3 The company have/has 200 employees.
4 It develop/develops new battery technology.
5 We don't/doesn't sell directly to consumers.
6Does/Do the company provide installation services?
5
Each sentence has a mistake. Write it correctly.
1 She work in Marketing.
2 There is three meeting rooms.
3 Does the company has an office in Berlin?
4 We doesn't export to Asia.
5 Is there any employees from abroad?
6
Writing
Write 5-6 sentences about a company you know well.
Use Present Simple (produces / provides / has / employs) and there is/are (office, employees, departments).
Example: My company produces software for hospitals. It has offices in three countries. There are about 300 employees. We don't sell directly to patients - we sell to hospitals.
Click the speaker button to hear the word. Pay attention to the stressed syllable.
receptionistreCEPtionist
postcodePOSTcode
exhibitionexhiBItion
conferenceCONference
telephoneTELephone
addressaDDRESS
🎤
Read Aloud
Click "Listen" to hear the sentence, then click "Speak" to record yourself.
Can I have your delivery address, please?
This is Anna calling about the meeting.
?
Odd One Out
Which word is stressed differently?
1. Which word has the stress on the SECOND syllable?
2. Which word has the stress on the FIRST syllable?
🔊
Minimal Pairs Quiz
Listen to the word and type what you hear.
REVIEW: SPEAK & CHECK
🎤
Translate & Speak (Review: Language Skills 1)
Read the Russian sentence. Say the English translation aloud. This section reviews Present Simple and there is/are from Language Skills 1.
1. «Компания производит программное обеспечение.»
The company produces software.
2. «У нас есть офис в Берлине.»
We have an office in Berlin.
3. «Она не работает по субботам.»
She doesn't work on Saturdays.
4. «В офисе есть комната для переговоров?»
Is there a meeting room in the office?
5. «Мы экспортируем в 20 стран.»
We export to 20 countries.
6. «В компании нет столовой.»
There isn't a canteen in the company.
VOCABULARY
1
Choose the correct word.
1 I work for/with/in a bank.
2 I work for/with/in the finance department.
3 I work for/with/in a colleague from Spain.
4 The company has about/exactly 500 employees (≈500).
5 Our HQ is in London. HQ means: head office/holiday quarters
6 A public/private office - anyone can enter.
2
Complete the phone call with the Key Expressions.
A: Good morning, Speedy Deliveries. How 1 I 2 you?
B: Hello, this is Mark Davis from GreenTech. I'm 3 about my order.
A: Of course.
B: Thanks for your 4.
A: You're 5.
A: 6 Mr Davis there, please?
B: Yes, that's me.
A: I'll 7 you 8 to our manager.
3
Who says this - the customer or the supplier?
1 "I want to order 10 chairs." Customer/Supplier
2 "What's the product code?" Customer/Supplier
3 "Can you deliver by Friday?" Customer/Supplier
4 "Can I have your address?" Customer/Supplier
5 "I'll confirm by email." Customer/Supplier
6 "Is that everything?" Customer/Supplier
4
Complete the questions.
1 Can I ___ some chairs, please?
2 Can you ___ the price?
3 Can I ___ your address?
4 Can you ___ that, please?
5 Can you ___ by email?
6 Can you ___ that more slowly?
5
What does the symbol mean?
1 @ at/and/dot
2 & dash/and/underscore
3 . dot/dash/at
4 _ dot/department/underscore
5 St Street/Road/department
6 Rd Street/Road/and
7 Dept department/dash/at
8 - underscore/hyphen (dash)/dot
6
Writing
Write a short phone script: you are ordering something for your company.
Use at least 3 Key Expressions from this lesson (Can I order..., Can you tell me..., Can I have your..., Can you confirm...).
Example: A: Good morning, ABC Supplies. How can I help you? B: Hi, this is Elena from Bright Solar. Can I order 20 laptops, please? Can you tell me the product code? A: Sure, it's LT500. Can I have your delivery address?
