Gamifying your life: using gerunds and infinitives for motivation

Gamifying your life β€” a C1 English lesson. Practise using gerunds and infinitives and expand vocabulary around productivity and motivation.

Gamifying your life: using gerunds and infinitives for motivation
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Summary

This ESL lesson for C1 English students explores Productivity and motivation. Using a real video as the basis for discussion, students develop reading and listening comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar skills across a 90-minute class.

The grammar focus is Verb Patterns: Gerunds and Infinitives. Key vocabulary includes hack (verb), mirror (verb), on task (adjective phrase) and more, all drawn directly from the source material. The practical English section gives students useful phrases for real-life situations: You're in a study group or project team, and a member is losing motivation. You want to encourage them and offer helpful suggestions without being critical..

Activities

00:00 Whether you're trying to hack your fitness, learn a new language, or be a generally more productive person, you can mirror the psychology of video games as a tool to help you stay motivated and on task.
00:11 Today, let's take a look at five of our favorites. Formerly known as Habit RPG, Habitica is a fan favorite for a reason.
00:19 This all-around productivity booster keeps you on top of your to-do list by turning it into an epic quest.
00:26 When you check off a task or complete a project, you're rewarded with experience points and gold, just like you would be in a role playing game.
00:33 Forest is perfect if your goal is simply to not get distracted by all other temptations on your phone when you want to stay focused.
00:41 Plant a tree in the app. Your tree grows while you stay on task. But if you leave the app with time remaining, your tree dies.
00:49 Even if you aren't doing the tasks that you set out to do, at least you'll be scrolling on social media while you go green digitally, at least.
00:57 Duolingo is easily the most popular and arguably the best free language app.
01:02 Rote memory work is no way to learn a language, and Duolingo lessons are all framed around challenges and rewards so that you can level up.
01:10 Plus, the Owl mascot Duo is famously aggressive when it comes to sending you your daily reminders.
01:17 Buenos dΓ­as, you bastard.
01:19 You could argue that humans already gamified fitness with the advent of sports, but if you're struggling to get yourself to the gym, you can incentivize yourself with Fitocracy.
01:31 Badges and achievements that are within reach for users of all fitness levels. It's motivating to visualize your progress in the app, and specific quests are another way to stay committed to your fitness goals.
01:41 Epic Win brings a true roleplaying feel to your boring old to-do list. Rather than just ticking off your chores and reminders, completing each one earns you XP to improve and develop your character in an ongoing quest to improve stats, gain riches and level up.
01:57 Now enough with the side quests and good luck on your main journey. Be sure to drop a comment below with your favorite ways to gamify everyday life.
02:06 And stay tuned to Lifehacker for more tips and tricks on how to do everything better.

Vocabulary focus

The vocabulary section introduces C1-level words and phrases related to Productivity and motivation. Key terms include hack (verb), mirror (verb), on task (adjective phrase), booster (noun), epic quest (noun phrase). Students practise using these terms in context through exercises drawn from the source material.

Grammar focus

This lesson focuses on Verb Patterns: Gerunds and Infinitives. In English, when one verb follows another, the second verb must be in either the gerund (-ing form) or the infinitive (to + base verb) form. The pattern is determined by the first verb.

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