What do you think is the best way to get fit and do some fun exercise? Do you ever play football, and have you played for a team? Learn some useful phrases to talk about sport and exercises in this free English listening lesson from Oxford Online English. This is an intermediate lesson.
Listen to the dialogue at normal speed here:
or listen to a slower version here:
Woman: How did you get that bruise1 on your leg?
Man: What? Oh, that one. I think it’s from playing football last weekend.
Woman: I didn’t know you played football. Do you play often?
Man: Yeah, we play five-a-side2 every weekend, just for fun, nothing too serious.
Woman: You know, I used to play when I was at school.
Man: Really? Well maybe you should get involved3. It’s a mixed4 league, and there are plenty of women playing.
Woman: Yeah, I think I need to do some sport. I was doing yoga, but I got bored, and now I feel very out of shape5.
Man: Well, come along next Saturday. You can check it out6, maybe sign up for a team as well.
Woman: It’s been so long since I’ve played. I don’t know if I’ll still be any good.
Man: Don’t worry about it! There are all kinds of players there – a few good ones, but most people are just there to get some exercise and have a laugh7.
Woman: Okay, I’ll come and have a look.
Man: Cool, I can give you a lift, if you’d like.
Woman: Oh, okay, thanks.
1. A bruise is a blue-purple mark on your skin, which appears when you hit yourself or bump into something.
2. Five-a-side means each team has five players, instead of eleven.
3. If you get involved in something, you take part in it.
4. Mixed here means for both men and women.
5. If you do no exercise, you will be out of shape. You can also say unfit.
6. Check it out means to have a look, or see what something is like.
7. Have a laugh means have fun.
Playing Football – exercise 1
Listening skill: doing two things at once
In some official higher-level English listening exams, you have to do two tasks at the same time. For this, you need to practise multi-tasking.
In this exercise, unlike in the official tests, you do not need to think about understanding or meaning. Just concentrate on listening for the words.
Playing Football – exercise 2
Vocabulary: verb-noun collocations
Now, let’s focus on the meaning of some of the language in the dialogue. There are lots of examples of collocations – combinations of words that are commonly used together. With very common verbs, you should learn collocations that go with them.
Listen to the second half of the dialogue again and find the five collocations used.
Playing Football – exercise 3
Grammar: review of past verb forms
The dialogue includes a range of verb forms that refer to the past. Do you know why each one is in the form used?
Listen to five sentences from the dialogue and answer a question about the verb forms.
Playing Football – exercise 4
Comprehension: short-answer questions
Now that you have studied the language in the dialogue, listen again to the whole thing and answer five short questions about it.
Write one word or a number in each answer space.
