What do you usually/normally do?

"What do you usually/normally do?" type questions.
- What do you do on an average day?
- What is your normal daily routine?
- Can you describe your typical day? 
- What do you usually do on weekends?

VOCABULARY:
- routine (n) 
- schedule (n)
- review
- meet up with somebody
- corridor (n): hành lang
- gossip (v): ngồi lê đôi mách
- regular (adj)
- sharp (adv): đúng
- overtime (adv/n)
- hang out with somebody

ADVERBS OF FREQUENCE
1. Adverbs that go after the subject and before the verb:
- always: "I always go out partying every night when I'm on holiday"

- often: "She often goes running after class"

- never: "She never rides her bike in winter"

- almost never: "We almost never go out dancing"

- rarely: "He rarely eats rice"

- hardly ever: "She hardly ever exercises"

2. Adverbs that can go before of after the subject:
- usually: "Usually I wake up around 8 a.m"
              "I usually ride my bike to school"

- normally: "Nomarlly I help my mum with the cooking"
                "I normally help my mun with the cooking" 

- sometimes: "We sometimes go shopping"
                   "Sometimes we go shopping"

TIMES OF DAY
The present simple is often used together with times of day, so make sure you are aware of the following:
1. at + hour + o'clock
I get up at 6 o'clock

2. at + hour + a.m/in the morning
I usually wake up at 8 a.m
I usually wake up at 8 in the morning

3. at + hour + p.m/in the afternoon/in the evening
My father often comes home at 9 p.m
My father often comes home at 9 in the evening

4. at + dawn (bình minh)/noon (trưa)/midnight (nửa đêm)
I never get up at dawn

5. at/on the weekend
I normally just relax at the weekend
I normally just relax on the weekend

SEQUENCE MARKERS
To talk about your usual or normal routine, you should use sequence markers. These help you logically link the different activities that you do together and also make things much clearer for the listener.
Remind yourself of the following sequence markers:
- before
- then 
- after (activity)
- after that

Do you prefer X to Y?

GRAMMAR: prefer + Ving (I prefer walking)
                  or prefer + to Verb (I prefer to walk)

VOCABULARY:
- convenient (adj)
- actually (adv)
- get stuck
- traffic jam
- means of transport
- smiley (n)
- online (adj)
- sociable (adj)

NOTE:
1. The first thing you need to tell the examiner for this type of question is whether you prefer X or Y?

2. prefer + verb-ing can be followed by either "to" or "rather than"
I prefer eating to cooking
I prefer reading a book rather than watching TV

3. prefer + to verb can only followed by "rather than"
I prefer to eat rather than cook
I prefer to read a book rather than watch TV

4. Nếu 2 đối tượng so sánh sử dụng cùng động từ thì chỉ cần sử dụng động từ đó 1 lần là được
I much prefer to live in a town rather than a big city
My mother prefer shopping at the market rather than/to in supermarkets

5. Afer you have told the examiner whether you prefer X or Y, you should compare them, so it's very important to use comparatives corectly

6. Chú ý quy tắc thêm "-er" vào tính từ chứa 1 âm tiết; "-ier" vào tính từ chứa 1 âm tiết có tận cùng là "y"; "more" trước tính từ có 2 hay nhiều âm tiết

7. Một số ngoại lệ: good - better; bad - worse; fun - more fun

8. Thêm much vào tính từ so sánh đế nhấn mạnh: much better; much more expensive

9. When you compare X and Y, you should use one of the following comparative structures:
X + to be + COMPARATIVE + THAN + Y
example: watching TV is more interesting than listening to the radio

or
X + to be + NOT AS + ADJECTIVE + AS + Y
example: Listening to the radio is not as interesting as watching TV

10. Try to use the following words more offen when you speak English, as they will help make you sound more like a native speaker.
- actually/ in fact
It is actually a lot cheaper to go that supermarket (A LOT dùng giống như much để nhấn mạnh so sánh)
In fact public buses are lot more enviromentally friendly than many people think.

- needless to say = obviuosly = everybody knows that...
I like eating lots of cakes, but needless to say, that will make me fat"

- also/ in addition: to add extra or further information.
"I'm a very sociable person. I prefer team sports SUCH AS baskeball and football and in addition I like going to KTV with my friends"
"I prefer cycling rather than driving a car because it helps me keep fit; in addition it's better for the environment and it's also cheaper.

- besides:
"besides" at the beginning of the sentence means "AS WELL AS"
whereas in the middle of sentence it means "ANYWAY"
Besides watching the TV and talking to my friends, I can relax while travelling on the subway.
I like riding a byke as it's a very convenient way to travel. Besides, it's cheap and I can't afford a car.