APIEVocabulary and Pronunciation: Neighbours and Community
Neighbours and community
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Neighbours and Community
Learn 10 everyday neighbourhood words, practice them in real situations, and speak with confidence.
💡 How to use this lesson
For the Teacher
Use this 20-minute lesson to build everyday neighbourhood vocabulary and pronunciation.
Check answers together after each practice step and listen to the audio recordings.
For the Learner
First, read the 10 words, their memory tricks, and examples in the word table.
Next, complete the 16 practice tasks and read the shadowing sentences out loud.
Word table
Study these 10 words. Each word has a meaning, collocations, an example sentence, and a quick memory tip.
| Word | Meaning | Common collocations | Example sentence | Memory tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| fence (noun) | A wooden or metal wall outside around a garden. | wooden fence, build a fence | We put a wooden fence between the gardens. | Picture: posts that stand straight like little pencils. |
| gate (noun) | A small outdoor door in a fence or garden wall. | front gate, open the gate | Close the gate so the dog stays inside. | Sound: "gate" rhymes with "late" – run through the gate when late! |
| hedge (noun) | A line of green bushes planted close together. | green hedge, cut the hedge | Our neighbour cuts the hedge every summer. | Contrast: a fence is wood or metal, but a hedge is alive and green. |
| balcony (noun) | A platform outside an upstairs room to stand on. | small balcony, stand on the balcony | She drinks coffee on the balcony every morning. | Picture: imagine throwing a ball from a high window. |
| Word | Meaning | Common collocations | Example sentence | Memory tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| noise (noun) | A sound that is loud, unpleasant, or unwanted. | make noise, loud noise | Please do not make noise late at night. | Sound: "noise" hurts your ears and wrinkles your nose! |
| favour (noun) | A kind action that you do to help another person. | ask for a favour, do a favour | Can you do me a favour and feed my fish? | Word part: sounds like "favourite" – do something nice for a friend. |
| lend (verb) | To give something to someone for a short time. | lend a tool, lend money | My neighbour will lend me his garden ladder. | Contrast: lend is give out; borrow is take in. (Lend = let it go). |
| Word | Meaning | Common collocations | Example sentence | Memory tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| doorbell (noun) | A button on a house wall that rings inside. | ring the doorbell, hear the doorbell | Somebody rang the doorbell, but no one was there. | Word part: door + bell = a bell next to your door! |
| bench (noun) | A long wooden or stone seat for two or more people. | sit on a bench, wooden bench | Two neighbours sat on the bench in the sun. | Picture: a long wooden board with legs for friends to sit together. |
| greet (verb) | To say hello or welcome someone in a friendly way. | greet neighbours, greet with a smile | They always greet their neighbours every morning. | Sound: "greet" rhymes with "meet" – when you meet people, greet them! |
Practice
Complete 16 tasks from easy to hard. Every word appears at least twice.
Part A: Words that go together
Items 1–4Match each verb or action with the correct word.
1. Which word goes naturally with "make"?
2. Which words go naturally with "ask for"?
3. Which words go naturally with "ring"?
4. Which words go naturally with "sit on"?
Part B: Fill in the blank
Items 5–85. Neighbour dialogue:
"Can you ____ me your garden ladder for an hour?" — "Sure, here you go!"
6. Garden maintenance:
The green bushes grew too tall, so Mr. Miller had to cut the green ____.
7. Outdoor safety:
Please close the front ____ so the dog does not run into the road.
8. Friendly neighbourhood:
Every morning, our kind neighbours always ____ us with a warm smile.
Part C: Choose the word
Items 9–12All options are real English words. Choose the only word that makes sensible meaning.
9. The neighbours decided to build a wooden _____ between their two back gardens.
10. On sunny mornings, Anna likes to stand on her upstairs _____ to drink her tea.
11. When you walk past your neighbours, it is polite to _____ them with a cheerful "Good morning!".
12. The old man sat down on a wooden _____ in the park to rest his feet.
Part D: Put words in order
Items 13–16Type the words in the correct order to make a good English sentence. Use capital letters and a full stop.
13. Words: built / a / They / wooden / fence.
Write the sentence in order:
____14. Words: the / on / She / balcony. / sat
Write the sentence in order:
____15. Words: make / loud / not / Please / noise. / do
Write the sentence in order:
____16. Words: front / the / rang / Somebody / doorbell.
Write the sentence in order:
____Shadowing
Listen to each phrase or sentence, repeat it out loud, and record your voice to practice natural pronunciation.
1. Common collocations
4 items[Bài tập luyện nói]
____[Bài tập luyện nói]
____[Bài tập luyện nói]
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____2. Natural sentences
6 itemsShort, everyday sentences that real neighbours say to each other.
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____[Bài tập luyện nói]
____[Bài tập luyện nói]
____[Bài tập luyện nói]
____[Bài tập luyện nói]
____[Bài tập luyện nói]
____3. Hard words focus
2 itemsPractice these two tricky words carefully. Focus on clean sounds and stress.
Stress on first syllable: BAL-con-y (/ˈbæl.kə.ni/)
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____Compound word: DOOR-bell (/ˈdɔː.bel/)
[Bài tập luyện nói]
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