Northanger Abbey

by Jane Austen

Chapter Thirteen: A Letter from Isabella

Author: Adrian Tennant

LISTENING SKILLS teacher’s notes

Level: Beginner – pre-intermediate

Age: Teenagers / adults
Time needed: 30 minutes approx

Activity 1

1 Start by eliciting adverbs of frequency from the

students and write them up on the board (e.g. always,
usually, sometimes)
Ask students to imagine the daily life of one of the
2 Then ask your students to put them in order with characters in Northanger Abbey and to write four
the most frequent on the left and the least frequent on sentences using each of the adverbs. Monitor and help
the right (100% always to 0% never). with vocabulary. In groups or as a class, ask students
to read their sentences. Ask the rest of the group or
3 Now ask your students to listen carefully and class to comment on whether they think the sentence
write down the number of times they hear each of is true, e.g. Student: Isabella always goes to bed early.
the following adverbs of frequency: always, often, Class: No, she doesn’t. She sometimes goes to balls.
sometimes, never.

4 Play the whole of the letter from Chapter Thirteen Activity 2

from My dearest Catherine to Your loving friend,
Isabella. 1 On the board write the following questions:
Why did Isabella write to Catherine?
5 Put students in pairs and get them to compare their
How does she feel?
answers.
What does she want Catherine to do?
What do you think Catherine will do?
6 Now tell the students you will play the letter again
and this time they should write down what each adverb 2 Ask students to listen to Chapter Thirteen and
refers to.
answer the questions.

7 Play the recording. 3 Play the recording.

8 Put the students in pairs and have them compare 4 Put students in pairs and get them to compare
their answers before checking as a class.
their answers.

Answers: 5 Monitor and play the recording again, if necessary.

always = 0; often = 1; sometimes = 1; never = 3
often – Isabella often saw Captain Tilney. Extension: Love stories
sometimes – She must enjoy herself sometimes.
never – She will never love anybody but James.
(Catherine’s brother); She never liked Captain Tilney Ask students to try and think about other famous ‘love
and she never goes to balls anymore. stories’ they know from books or films, e.g. Romeo
& Juliet. Put students in groups and ask them to talk
Extension activity: Habits about these love stories and see how much they can
remember. Then ask groups to tell the class about the
love story.
On the board write up the following adverbs of
frequency: always, often, sometimes, never.
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© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2007

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Podcasts / Northanger Abbey: Chapter Thirteen

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 Northanger Abbey
by Jane Austen

Chapter Thirteen: A Letter from Isabella

Transcript
LISTENING
subject title

On Friday morning, two things happened. Henry

came back to Northanger Abbey and a letter
arrived for Catherine. The letter was from Isabella.

My dearest Catherine,

My family will leave Bath tomorrow. I hate this place. All my friends have left.
James is in Oxford, but he has not written to me. Why not? I will never love
anybody else.
SKILLS transcript

Catherine, please write to James. Did I make him unhappy? I do not know. Will
he write to me? Then everything will be well again.

Another man has left Bath too - Captain Tilney. I hate him. I often saw him, but I
never liked him. I only like your dear brother.

I never go to balls now, but I went to the theatre last night. I must enjoy myself
sometimes.

Please, please write to your brother. And write to me too.

Your loving friend,
Isabella

Catherine showed the letter to Eleanor and Henry.

‘I understand,’ Catherine said. ‘Captain Tilney did not love
Isabella. She will be sad.’
‘No, Miss Morland,’ Henry said. ‘Isabella will not be sad. She did
not love my brother, Frederick. They were both wrong. Write to
your brother, James. Forget Isabella Thorpe.’
The next day was Saturday. General Tilney went to London. But
Henry stayed at Northanger Abbey. ‘I will go back to Woodston
next Saturday,’ he said.
Catherine was happy. She was with her two dear friends.
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© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2007

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FR BE C
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Podcasts / Northanger Abbey: Chapter Thirteen

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