Ireland's Language Revival: A Story Still Being Written
Grammar: Present perfect continuous
A Level 5 English lesson exploring culture.
What's in this lesson
A Level 5 (advanced) ESL lesson on culture, practising present perfect continuous. The worksheet has a reading, target vocabulary, a grammar reference with practice and discussion questions.
From the reading: Ireland's Language Revival: A Story Still Being Written
For centuries, linguists have been predicting the death of Irish. By the early twentieth century, fewer than twenty thousand people were speaking it as a first language, clustered along the windswept Atlantic coastline in a narrow band of communities collectively known as the Gaeltacht. What nobody predicted was that the language would stage one of the most culturally contested revivals in European history — a revival that, depending on who you ask, has been either succeeding brilliantly or failing quietly for the past hundred years.
Vocabulary
- attracting audiences
- clustered along
- concentrated on
- dwarfs the
- drawn to
- fall back on
- give up on
- iron out
- take up
- turn to
Grammar: Present Perfect Continuous
- PPC — form
- She has been learning Irish for three years. — have/has + been + -ing
- PPC — ongoing action
- Activists have been pushing for policy reform since 2015. — still happening now
Discussion questions
- Have you ever tried to learn a language that almost nobody speaks?
- Should governments spend public money saving dying languages?
- What makes a language feel like part of your identity?
Ireland's Language Revival: A Story Still Being Written
Grammar: Present perfect continuous
What's in this lesson:
Full lesson plan with reading, grammar, vocabulary, and discussion.
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