Refine Your Solution and Take a Hint

B2 · Upper-intermediate1 hr 10 minIT & TechnologyLesson 3 of 6 · Outline

Aims

Say how fast and how heavy your code is in plain spoken English, improve a first solution out loud, and change direction politely when the interviewer gives a hint

The lesson, stage by stage

  1. Warm up5 min

    Warm-up: Today's Goal: Improve a Solution Out Loud

    4 warm-up questions

  1. Reading10 min

    Reading: Working First, Then Better

    Read a 273-word text about Working First, Then Better

  2. Vocabulary8 min

    Vocabulary: Words for Improving a Solution

    8 items

  3. Framework6 min

    Framework: Working First, Then Better: Five Steps

    Working First, Then Better, 5 steps

  4. Practice7 min

    Practice: Say It Out Loud: Match the Phrase

    Matching exercise, 6 items

  5. Practice7 min

    Practice: Code It: First Character That Does Not Repeat

    Short-answer exercise, 1 item

  6. Practice7 min

    Practice: Code It: Rotate a List to the Left

    Short-answer exercise, 1 item

  7. Dialogue10 min

    Dialogue: The Interview Itself: Take the Hint

    Role-play: A technical interview where the interviewer gives you a hint (4 lines)

  8. Discussion10 min

    Discussion: Second Take

    4 discussion questions

Open the full lesson

All 9 stages of this lesson, with the procedure, the examples and the exercises, are included with Starter, along with the interactive version you can teach from. Lesson 1 of this course is free: the full plan is on this site, and a free account opens it in the interactive player.

Target vocabulary

In a Tuton account these words become your student's vocabulary deck, so they come back in practice between lessons.

brute forcetime complexityspace complexitylinear timebottlenecktrade-offdead endhint

This plan comes from the Technical Interview English course in the Tuton library. Browse all free lesson plans.