08 Oct 2026 — Checking understanding in a debate — politics & the gender pay gap; sell-the-word revision

• Small talk — Maksym now full-time on his second project. Four-day trip: an easy canyon hike near Mykulychyn, then Chornohora (Hoverla → Nesamovyte → Turkul, 17 km), a night in Bukovel because a running race had Frankivsk fully booked, driving the whole way. No activation phrase used — third lesson running.
• Autumn try / do / skip list — picnic in the park, mushroom picking with an expert, hiking, a fall movie night, wine tasting, cycling in the park, baking pastries. Videos of the "do" ones are due by 30 Nov.
• Sell-the-word alias — explain a word, the partner guesses it and buys or rejects it with a reason: aggravate, a wet blanket, aptitude, spread the word. Then a quick definition round: exacerbate, muck in, snowed under, cast a vote, vocational training / vocation, get hung up on, bound to, reel off. New word: perky.
• Listening — two people discussing Philippa Marwell's party and the gender pay gap: summarise each position (he backs the party; she agrees with the goals but doubts they'll deliver), then fill the gaps with the debate phrases.
• Speaking — respond to statements on gender equality with checking-understanding phrases (So, in other words… / So what you're basically saying is… / Am I right in thinking that…?).
• Maksym's story: a former product owner in Germany took six months' paternity leave because his wife earned more and had the better benefits package.
• Next lesson: a debate built around Shrek — no need to rewatch it.

• Checking understanding: So, in other words… · So what you're basically saying is (that)… · Am I right in thinking (that)…? · Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like…
• Clarifying your own point: What I said was… · That's exactly what I mean · That's not what I'm saying · OK, I'll put it another way · Let me rephrase that · Perhaps I should have said…
• Am I right in thinking that… — not "am I right to say that you think".
• nice of sb = kind of them · nice for sb = good for them.
• aggravate is negative — it makes a bad situation worse; said cheerfully it sounds like a plan to make things worse.

Failed: aptitude — described as a natural talent starting with A; guessed innate / raw talent. Third miss since 13 Aug, reel off — neither of us knew it, cast a vote — guessed a non-literal meaning; it's simply voting in an election, a synonym for "good at" — offered "extremely good", "you rock"; Andriana wanted have a flair for

Needed prompting: aggravate (Maksym) — exaggerate → alleviate → aggravate, spread the word (Dariia) — spread out → spread widely → spread news; got it from an Excel / Word / PowerPoint hint, manifesto (Maksym) — said manifest first, paternity leave (Maksym) — mispronounced; word supplied, checking-understanding reply (Dariia) — needed the opener "So what you're basically saying is…"

• Autumn list — videos / Telegram circles of the "do" activities (picnic first) by 30 Nov.
• New homework words: manifesto, constitution, cast a vote, perky — ready to use next lesson.
• Optional: think through Shrek for next lesson's debate — no rewatch needed.
• Still outstanding: formal sentence-openers (21 Sep) · your own examples for the 17 Sep words · cover email · video resume · register note for the "important" synonyms · weird-professions article.

• Near-miss word pairs again: exaggerate for exacerbate, cut and dried for cut out for, manifest for manifesto.
• "cadence" for term of office is a Ukrainian false friend (каденція) — new pattern in Feedback.
• Dariia: subject–verb agreement after a singular subject three times (who… have done, a party that have, this question have). She self-corrected employers → employees.
• Activation phrases unused for a third lesson. a wet blanket came up in the game, so it's swapped for an aptitude for; keep your head above water stays.