English in architecture & building

People use language differently to communicate with each other. They may express same meaning with various different functions of speech. These differences are contributed to social factors. Understanding social conventions and paying attention to such concepts as politeness and face, which are important to members in a particular culture, will certainly enable us to better comprehend the different ways of speaking by people from different cultures, thus helping eliminate ethnic stereotypes and misunderstandings.

English for Construction is designed for the students of NamDinh Construction College with a basic knowledge of general English who now require an elementary (CEF level A1 – A2) English course in this specific field It consists of 7 units written in the English language, according to various topics of construction

Each unit was shortened, simplified to fit the skill level, the interests

as well as the need of the students Difficult and new vocabularies were extracted from each unit to create a glossary list for each unit and were translated into Vietnamese as well

The book includes:

 Topics that reflect the latest developments in construction, making them immediately relevant to students’ needs.

 Clearly defined language and function objectives.

 Essential glossary list.

 Audio script.

Contents

FOREWORD

Introductions p 4 - Introducing yourself

Sections Function Vocabulary

Sections Function Vocabulary

-Measurements

- Dimensions

- Units of measurements

Schedules p 40 - telling the time - prepositions of time

Calculations p 41 - Writing calculations - Calculations

Review p 42

Function and ability

p 43

- Writing function of some buildings

Site safety p 52 - Describing problems- Completing a vehicle

safety checklist

- Health and safety

- Vehicle parts

First aid p 54 - Explaining injuries - Parts of the body

- first aid kit

Waste disposal p 56

- Understanding wastedisposal and colour codes

* introduce yourself and others

* talk about jobs in the construction industry

* describe types of construction

Vocabulary  Match photos A – E to texts 1 – 5

1 Hello, I’m Kamal, from Morocco I’m a plumber

2 I’m Isabelle Roux, from France I’m an architect

3 Hi, my name’s Santiago Cruz I’m from Venezuela I’m

a crane operator

4 Hi, I’m Karol I’m from Poland I’m a roofer

5 Hello there My name’s Jun Takahashi I’m from Japan.I’m a building inspector

Listening  Complete these conversations Then listen and compare your answers

1 Jun: Hi! I’m Jun Takahashi, from the Ministry.Isabelle: Hi, Mr Takahashi (1) _ Isabelle Roux I’m from (2) _ I’m the architect on this project

Jun: Ah, I’m a building (3) .

Isabelle: Pleased to (4) _ you

2 Karol: Hi! Karol Nowacki

Santiago: Santiago Cruz

Karol: What do you do, Santiago? Santiago: I’m a crane (5) _ And you?

Karol: Me? I’m a(n) (6) _

3 Kamal: Hi! My ( 7 ) _ is Kamal Boukhaled Santiago: Hi, Kamal I’m Santiago

Kamal: ( 8 ) _ are you from?

Santiago: From Caracas, Venezuela

Kamal: Ah, Caracas A beautiful city I come from (9)

4 Kamal: Hello! (10) _ name’s Kamal Boukhaled

Karol: Hi, Kamal I’m Karol Nowacki And this is Isabelle Roux

Isabelle: Please to meet you

Karol: What do you (11) _ , Kamal?

Kamal: I’m a plumber

Karol: I’m a roofer And Isabelle designs buildings Kamal: She’s a (n) (12) _ ?

Isabelle: Yes, that’s right

Reading  Read this text and underline the verbs.

Harun always works hard Sometimes he has meetings with clients.Sometimes he visits construction sites And sometimes he deals withsuppliers He is always busy

But Friday is different Harun never works on Fridays Friday is a day off

 Correct these sentences.

1 Harun Rashid is a plumber _

2 He hires clients to work on building projects _

3 He has a lot of experience in the tourist industry _

4 He never visits construction sites _

5 He always works on Fridays _

Speaking  Work in pairs and introduce yourselves Use this model

to help you.

Hi!/ Hello./ Good morning

Hi!/ Hello./ Good morning

I’m / My name’s

What’s your ?

I’m / My name’s

Please to meet you

Where are you ?

I’m from And you?I’m from

Harun Rashid is 35 years old He comesfrom Alexandria, but lives and works in Cairo

Harun is a general contractor He hires subcontractors to work on buildingprojects He also organizes the material and equipment Harun has a lot ofexperience in the construction industry

The construction industry

Listening  Listen and write the missing letters.

 Listen and write the types of construction

Job : building inspector Job : roofer

Typical projects: factories , schools Typical projects: residential

projects (houses, apartments)

From : New York, America From : Toronto, Canada

3 Name: Mohamed bin Ali 4 Name: park Ji - Wung

Typical projects: hospitals Typical projects: bridges

Hi! I’m

My name’s

I’m / My name’s

What’s your ?

I’m / My name’s

Please to meet you Where are you ?

I’m from And you? I’m from

The apprentice Listening  Listen to a conversation between a foreman and an apprentice and complete these sentences about Mickey, the apprentice 1 Mickey’s real name is 2 He comes from 3 He lives in 4 He goes to college 5 He’s a(n) 6 He’s years old  Match questions 1 – 7 to answers a – g

A B

2 What’s your name? b) It’s 265775

3 Where do you live? c) It’s seven o’clock

5 What’s your telephone number? e) It’s John Smith

7 What time is it? g) I’m 1.78 m

 Complete this form with information about yourself

Name: (1) .

Surname: (2) .

Nickname: (3)

Address : (4) .

Tel N o : (5) .

Age : (6) .

Height (in cm): (7) .

Speaking  Work in pairs Practice this conversation

A: What’s your telephone number?

B: It’s And yours?

A: It’s How old are you?

B: I’m And you?

A: Where do you live?

B: In / At And you?

A:

Reading  Read this CV and answer the questions about

Arnold Keller

1 How old is he?

2 Which school did he go to?

3 Where did he do his apprentieship?

4 What is his highest qualification?

5 Does he know anything about project management?

Writing  Write your own CV Use the Europass CV structure to help you plan and organise your details Then swap CVs with a partner Check that your partner’s CV is clear and easy to understand

Writing  Complete the sentences with information about yourself.

1 My name’s

2 I’m a ( an )

3 I live in

4 I come from

Vocabulary  Complete the sentences.

1 The industry consists of four sectors

2 The sector deals with houses and apartments

3 The sector deals with roads, bridges and tunnels

4 The sector deals with schools, hospitals and office blocks

5 The sector deals with factories and power plants

 Complete this text with the words in the box.

apprentice(s) between on-the-job qualification safety years

Today I have three meetings First, I have a meeting (1)

project is an apartment block in a(n) (3) I have a

lot of experience with apartment blocks, but not in this part ofCairo After lunch, I have a meeting with a new (4) .

on a construction site in Al Nasr Road This meeting is aboutlabourers and equipment for (5) In the evening, I

have a meeting with a(n) (6) to discuss materials for

a construction site in Tura It’s a busy day as always!

The Institute of Masonry is in the centre of town, (1)

a factory and an office block It has 28 (2) .and three instructors All the work is supervised and includes

(3) training, instruction on the use of modernequipment, tools and materials, and instruction on health and

(4) The training takes three (5) tocomplete At the end of the course, apprentices get the Level 2Diploma in Stone Masonry (6)

Trades and training

Vocabulary  Labels tradespeople 1 – 10 with the words in the box

electrician glazier plumber weldercarpenter decorator brick layer

painter concrete finisher plumber

2 Trades * introduce and describe some trades * introduce some trade materials

7

6

Reading  Read this text and underline the trades Use the photos in  to help you

 Note : You can refer to tradespeople in several ways:

Vocabulary  Write the plurals for 1 – 5

1 trade

2 craft

3 tradesman

4 housing project

5 general contractor

Listening  Listen to Sam Smith talking about trades and complete these sentences Stage 1: Apprentice: He/ She is at work Stage 2: Journeyman: He / She works

Stage 3: Master: He/she supervises

Trade materials Vocabulary  What materials do these tradespeople use? Match materials A – F to tradespeople 1 – 6

The construction industry has different trades or “crafts”

A tradesperson is a specialist and normally has a qualification from a vocational school or other training institutes Plumbers, electricians and roofers are all tradespeople Other tradespeople on residential housing projects include carpenters, painters and concrete finishers Tradespeople are often subcontractors and work for a general contractor or a client

1 carpenter 4 bricklayer and mason

3 painter 6 concrete finisher

 Complete the sentences Write one word in each gap.

1 I'm a bricklayer I lay

2 I’m a (n) I install electrical equipment

3 I’m a capenter I work with

4 I’m a painter I use to decorate houses

5 I’m a I put in glazing

 Complete this table with the missing verbs.

decorator ( 2 )instructor ( 3 )

What’s it made of ?

Glass and wood

Listening  Listen and tick  the word you hear

1 thirteen □ / thirty □ 3 sixteen □ /sixty □

2 fourteen □ / forty □ 4 nine □ / ninety □

 Listen to an architect talking about an

office block What do the numbers refer to? Match

4 32 d) number of rooms per floor

5 two e) windows per room

Ordering materials

Reading  Read the four texts Decide the order they were written

in

Vocabulary  Match the items in 1 – 7 with their meanings a – g Use the texts in 1 to help you

1 BLOCK CAPS

2 price quote

a) a document from the seller to the buyer, giving details of a delivery

c) information about how much

5 signature

d) a person’s name, written in his/ her own handwriting e) CAPITAL LETTERS

6 delivery note f) Frequently Asked Questions

7 request

g) the seller has the items in his store

 Find words in the texts in  that are similar in

meaning to these words

1 The name of the seller is

2 The goods were ordered by

3 The goods cost

4 The goods were delivered by

5 The goods were signed for by

6 The goods were delivered at

 Put these words in the correct order to make questions

and sentences about delivery problems

1 late/ Did/ say/ you/ ?

2 please/ Could/ you/ that/ repeat/ ?

3 you/ exactly/ mean/ do/ What/ ?

4 Are/ deliver/ you/ that/ saying/ you/ can’t/ today/?

5 Who/ please/ speaking/ am/ I/ to/?

6 problem/ I’m/ about/ a/ calling/ delivery/

7 problems/ call/ again/ if/ I/ any/ have/ I’ll/

 Imagine you have just received spare parts for a

generator by motorbike courtier Complete the delivery note

Shapes

Vocabulary  Labels shapes with the words in the box

a pyramid a rectangular prism a triangular prism

a cube a phere a cone a hemisphere a cylinder

and Shapes

* describe the shapes of construction

* describe properties of some materials

 Look at these drawings of buildings and building

components:

a hotel a minaret an Egyptian a mosque

a brick an Arabic arch a Roman arch the structure of a factory

 Read the example then complete the sentences: The brick is shaped like a rectangular prism. a) A hotel is shaped like a

b) The top of the minaret is shaped like

c) The dome of the Egyptian house

d) The column

e) The slab

 Match then listen and check

N Adj

1 cylinder circular

2 rectangle triangular

3 triangle spherical

4 circle cylindrical

5 sphere rectangular

column

Listening  Listen and write the conversation letter

next to the shape ( column 1 )

 Listen again and complete the table using the

words in the box ( column 3, 4 )

I – shape rectangular sphere square triangular

Vocabulary  Look at these dawings of two dimensional shapes:

a square shape a circular shape a semi-circular shape

a rectangular shape a triangular shape

• Now look and read

The cross- section of a square prism is square in shape.

The longitudinal section of a square prism is rectangular in shape.  Make sentences from this table. The cross section of the brick hotel square circular The longitudinal section of the top of the minaret cylinder column triangular prism is semi-circular rectangular triangular in shape ………

………

………

………

………

………

………

……… …

………

……… …

 Complete these sentences with words to describe shapes

1 The pendulum in Taipei 101 is

2 This page is

3 My cup of coffee is

4 A 90o cross – section of a pipe is

5 Many steel beams are

Speaking  Work in a small group Make a list of things that are the following shapes.

1 Circular

2 Rectangular

3 Cylindrical

4 Square

5 Spherical

6 I – shaped

7 Triangular

Properties Vocabulary  Match the properties in the box with the materials Materials Properties 1 glass a non- combustible 2 concrete b flexible 3 rubber c impermeable 4 wood d good conductor of heat 5 stone e permeable 6 bitumen f opaque 7 stainless steel g transparent 8 copper h corrosion resistant  Can you add some more properties for the materials above? Reading  Look at these examples, fill in the blank with “can” or “can not” roll of glass wool

A man …… easily lift a large roll

of glass wool but …… lift a concrete beam easily

concrete beam

rubber tile.

A man …… bend a rubber tile but

…… bend a concrete tile

Rubber is flexible but concrete is rigid

(go rusty easily)

Stainless steel …… resist corrosionbut mild steel ……

Stainless steel is corrosion resistant but mild steel is not corrosion resistant.

Heat …… be easily transferredthrough copper but …… throughwood

Copper is a good conductor of heat

rubber tile

 Look at these diagrams Match the letter A- H in

the diagrams with the sentences below:

Complete these sentences with properties:

rubber block

compressive force deforms block

returns to original shape

when force removed

cratch

copper pan

Rubber …… stretched or compressedand will then return to its original shapebut clay ……

Rubber is elastic but clay is plastic

Bitumen …… be dented or scratchedeasily but glass ……

Bitumen is soft but glass is hard

a) The polythene membrane can prevent moisture from rising into the concrete floor This means that polythene

is ………

b) The T- shaped aluminium section can resist chemical action, i.e aluminium is ……… ………… c) The stone block cannot be lifted without using a crane This means that stone is ……… ……… d) The corrugated iron roof cannot prevent the sun from heating up the house, i.e iron is ……… e) Glass wool can help to keep a house warm in the winter and cool in the summer, i.e glass wool is f) The ceramic tiles on the floor cannot be scratched easily

by people walking on them This means that ceramic tiles are ………

g) Asbestos sheeting can be used to fireproof doors In other

words asbestos is ………

h) You can’t see through wood because it is

 Make sentences about four other properties of materials from

this table:

1 Steel

2 Stone3.Glass wool

4 Brick

has the property of

good sound insulation.good thermal insulation

strength

high tensile strength

This means

it can resist high compressive forces

it can resist high tensile forces

it does not transmit heat easily

it does not transmit sound easily

Speaking  Work in pairs Imagine you are going to build a driveway to a house Think about the materials and the different layers you will need Give reasons for your

choices Use these sketches to help you

REVIEW

Vocabulary  Match the materials 1-5 to their properties a- e.

3 reinforced concrete c) elastic

4 ceramic tiles d) permeable

 Write the missing words in the following sentences:

1. Glass wool is used to keep the heat in hot water tanks because it has the property of good thermal

i

2 Zinc has the property of corrosion r………

3 The minaret is pencil in s………

4 The concrete beam can resist high c……….

a light d opaque

c combustible f permeable

 Word forms: Choose the appropriate form of the word

to complete the sentences.

2.1 permeable , impermeable

a Concrete roof is ……… …………

b Cotton is ……… …

2.2 combustible, non - combustible

a Glass is a(n) ……… …… material

b Wood is a(n)……… material

Vocabulary  Look at this diagram of a building under construction

in the southern part of a building site

Railway line

It is a west- facing wall.

a) The back of the building

It is ……… b) The sides of the building ………

The longer walls of the building face north and south

to minimise the area of wall exposed to the sun

d) The shorter walls of the ………

Example:

The site is bounded by a road to the west.

 A road runs along the western boundary.

e) The site ……… an irrigation ditch ………….…

 An irrigation ditch ……… f) The site is bounded ……… to the east

 … ……… runs along the eastern boundary

Example:

The site has vehicular access from the road to the west.

It does not have vehicular access from the north, south

or east.

g) The site has ……… the open space ………… …

It does not have ………

 Prepositions

Look at these drawing of the exterior of a single- storeyhouse:

The side walls are perpendicular to the front wall.

at right angles to The front wall is parallel to the back wall

The roof of the house is removed by cutting along line AB which is parallel to the floor.

Now look at a cut-away view of the interior of the house:

A view looking straight down on a cut-away view of the interior of a building is known as a plan:

North

Looking north, the

living room is on the

right of the house

Looking north, the

bedroom is to the left of

Plan the living room.

The kitchen is next to / a djacent to the living room

 Use the prepositions and preposition phrases

in the box to fill in the gaps.

Viewed from the front, the kitchen is …… … the bedroom (or, the bedroom is ………… the kitchen.)Views at right angles to the front, rear and sides of thebuilding are knownas elevations:

Viewed from the front, the chimney stack is the house.

There is a lintel ………… the window opening

There is a sill ………… the window opening

There is a window …… …… the door

The knocker is …… …… the door

The letter box is … ……… the door

There are windows ………… the door.

The door is ……… … the windows

 Study these plans of a two - storey house:

Now say whether these statements are true or false Correct the false statements.

a) The dining room is located under the main bedroom.b) A hall is located in the centre of the first floor

c) There are three adjacent bathrooms on the first floor d) There is a toilet between the kitchen and the dining room.e) Bedroom 2 is situated over the family room

f) There is a cupboard under the stairs

g) Bedrooms occupy most of the ground floor

h) Viewed from the front, the dining room is on the left of

bathroom 1 bathroom 2

bedroom 2

bedroom 3 bedroom 4

cupboard

covered porch

Reproduced with permission

entrance

the entrance.

i) Viewed from the rear, the living room is behind the family room

j) A door in the garage leads to the kitchen

Listening  Look at house plans A and B Then listen.

Does the speaker describe the house correctly?

First floor

second floor

• Listen again then fill in the blanks

A: Can you tell me about the ?

B: Yes, of course The house has floors We have a , two and two The kitchen out into a area and a area We also have a porch

A: Did you say two ?

B: Yes, that’s right And A: Ok What about the ?

Estimates

Vocabulary  What is the surface area of this book? Estimate it and then measure to check

Reading  Read a contractor’s talking about estimating

First we look at various documents, such as preliminaryspecifications, drawings, utility requirements and so on –anything which can give us relevant information We thencalculate our initial estimate As the design moves on intospecific details – for example, floor plans, fittings, - we getmore accurate This means we include cost of labour,materials and plant, subcontractor quotes, and overheads-that’s things like legal fees, building permits, on sitetemporary construction, transport and so on We even allowfor stoppages due to weather For example, if it snows, we

can’t work on roofs And then we add the profit we expect.Finally, we produce an estimate that can be sent to you, theclient This is the bid price

 Complete the contractor’s summary of the

estimating process, look at various documents.

1 our initial estimate

Reading  Read the email and answer these questions

1 Who is the email from?

2 Who is the email to?

3 What is the enquiry about?

Speaking  Imagine a friend asks you to help him estimate the