Listen and consider : Give advice

🔊 La maîtresse lit pour toi

A friend tells you: “I have an English test on Monday and I have done nothing.” You want to help. You could say “Study!”, or “You should start tonight.”, or “Why don't you ask Yasmine for her notes?”, or “If you start now, you will be ready.” Four sentences, one intention — and they do not sound the same at all. Which one would you actually use with a friend, and why?

🎓في نهاية هذا الدرس ستكون قادرا على:

الاستماع إلى حوار واستخراج النصيحة المقدَّمة فيه، وتحديد من نصح من
تمييز صيغ النصح الأربع : ⁦should · why don't you · you'd better · the imperative⁩
إدراك درجة اللطف في كلّ صيغة، واختيار الأنسب بحسب المخاطَب
صياغة نصيحة كاملة : الصيغة، ثمّ السبب الذي يجعلها مقنعة

🔑يفترض هذا الدرس أنّك تتقن:

صيغة الأمر في الإنجليزيّة : الفعل مجرّدا، والنفي بـ⁦don't⁩
المضارع البسيط والمستقبل بـ⁦will⁩
الاستماع مرّتين : الفكرة العامّة أوّلا، ثمّ التفاصيل

Before you listen

قبل الاستماع : اقرأ الأسئلة، ثمّ اضغط زرّ الاستماع أعلى الصفحة. لا تفتح النصّ إلّا بعد أن تجيب.

1. Say what the word “advice” means, and give one example of advice you received this week. 2. Read the questions of the first listening before you listen. ⭐ On this page the recording is read aloud by the listening button, at the top. Listen once without opening anything — exactly as you would in class.

The recording

نصّ المسموع. ⛔ لا تفتحه قبل أن تستمع وتجيب.

At the school gate — Yasmine meets Karim, president of the environment club Yasmine: Karim, our street is full of plastic bags every Friday morning. It is horrible. What can we do about it? Karim: You should start with your own building. Talk to your neighbours first — people listen to someone they know. Yasmine: And then? Nobody will follow me. Karim: Why don't you join our club? We are twelve, and we meet every Tuesday afternoon. Twelve people asking is not the same as one person asking. Yasmine: Maybe. But I am not good at speaking in front of people. Karim: Then you had better begin with something small. Make a poster. Put it in the entrance of your building. Don't write a long text — nobody reads a long text on a wall. Yasmine: A poster… What should I put on it? Karim: The day the truck passes, and one short sentence. If you tell people when the truck comes, they will stop putting their bags out on the wrong day. Most of them are not careless — they simply do not know. Yasmine: That is true. I did not know it myself until last month. Karim: And come on Tuesday. You should see what the others are doing before you decide.

First listening

الاستماع الأوّل : أسئلة عامّة.

1. Who are the two speakers, and where are they?

من المتحدّثان ؟ وأين هما ؟

Yasmine and Karim, the president of the school's environment club. They are at the school gate.

2. What is Yasmine's problem?

ما هي مشكلة ياسمين ؟

Her street is full of plastic bags every Friday morning, and she does not know what to do about it.

3. How many pieces of advice does Karim give? List them.

كم نصيحة قدّم كريم ؟ اذكرها.

Start with your own building, and talk to your neighbours first.
Join the environment club.
Begin with something small: make a poster and put it in the entrance.
Do not write a long text.
Write the day the truck passes, and one short sentence.
Come on Tuesday and see what the others are doing.

Six pieces of advice in one short conversation — and not one of them is an order. Look at how each one is built: that is the whole lesson.

4. Why does Karim say that most people are not careless?

لماذا يقول كريم إنّ أغلب الناس ليسوا مهملين ؟

Because, in his opinion, they simply do not know which day the truck comes. And Yasmine proves him right straight away: she did not know it herself until last month. ⟹ Notice the argument: Karim does not blame anyone. He turns a problem of behaviour into a problem of information — and a problem of information can be solved with a poster.

Second listening — the language of advice

الاستماع الثاني : صيغ النصح.

Find in the recording one example of each way of giving advice

استخرج من المسموع مثالا عن كلّ صيغة من صيغ النصح.

Form	From the recording	How strong is it?
should + base verb	“You should start with your own building.”	a normal, friendly suggestion — the most common of all
Why don't you + base verb?	“Why don't you join our club?”	the gentlest: it looks like a question, so it is easy to refuse
had better + base verb	“You had better begin with something small.”	stronger — it hints that something will go wrong otherwise
the imperative	“Make a poster.” · “Don't write a long text.”	the most direct — fine between friends, rude with a stranger
If + present, will	“If you tell people when the truck comes, they will stop.”	not advice by itself: it gives the reason why the advice works

⭐ Read the last column again. English does not have one way of giving advice — it has a scale, from the softest to the most direct. Choosing the right level is not grammar, it is politeness, and it is judged as such.

To give advice in English: — You should / You shouldn't + base verb — the standard form. “You should ask your teacher.” — Why don't you + base verb? — the gentlest, because it is a question. “Why don't you ask your teacher?” — You had better (you'd better) + base verb — stronger, almost a warning. “You'd better ask your teacher.” — The imperative — the most direct. “Ask your teacher.” / “Don't wait until Monday.” ⛔ After should, had better and in the imperative, the verb is always in its base form: no “to”, no “-s”, no “-ing”.

⛔ Three mistakes to bury now. — not “You should to start” — there is no “to” after “should”. — not “He shoulds” — “should” never takes an “-s”, whoever the subject is. — not “You had better to begin” — same rule, and remember that “had better” is written “you'd better” when you speak.

⛔ خطأ شائع : الفعل بعد ⁦should · had better⁩ يبقى مجرّدا دائما، ولا تلحق ⁦should⁩ سين المفرد الغائب.

Now it is your turn

إنتاج : اكتب نصيحتك، ثمّ افتح النموذج وقارن.

Give advice to each of these people — use a different form each time

a. Your little brother watches television until midnight and cannot wake up for school. b. A classmate never speaks in the English lesson because he is afraid of making mistakes. c. Your neighbour throws his rubbish out on the wrong day. d. A friend wants to improve his English but does not know how to start.

Four possible answers

You should go to bed before ten. If you sleep enough, you will wake up easily.
Why don't you answer just one question tomorrow? Everybody makes mistakes — that is how we learn a language.
Don't put your bags out on Thursday. The truck comes on Friday morning.
You'd better start with something you enjoy: watch a short video every evening and write down five new words.

Look at what each answer does after the advice: it gives a reason. “…that is how we learn a language”, “The truck comes on Friday morning”. ⟹ Advice without a reason is an order. The reason is what makes someone follow you.

At the BEM, the written part is the Situation of Integration (6 points), and it lists the points to cover: in 2023, a blog passage about your childhood memories; in 2025, an article about your ideal teacher. Advice was the topic of neither paper, but it can close your text: one piece of advice to the reader, with its reason. Keep three things ready: at least two different forms (“should” and “why don't you” are enough) ; a reason after each piece of advice ; and the base verb after “should” and “had better”. ⛔ The mistake examiners see every year: writing four sentences that all begin with “You should”, with no reason after any of them.

Giving advice is not one structure, it is a scale: “why don't you…?” barely pushes, “should” suggests, “had better” warns, and the imperative tells. Choose your level according to the person in front of you, then add the one thing that makes advice work — a reason. And if you want the reason to convince, put it in a condition: “if you do this, this will happen”.

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