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Indirect speech (and its variants such as the Indirect Question) may be seen as a whole 'second dimension' in language use: a student first needs to deal confidently with the direct originals before taking this particular plunge. In the current xenophobic state of the British immigration debate and its outworkings at the 'sharp end' when applicants arrive, very sadly it can be a useful skill for a non-native speaker to be able to say that 'Last month one of your government officials assured us that ... would ... (etc.)'. The practical outworkings of Indirect Speech are potentially almost infinitely subtle but the core structures and sequences are well-established, requiring the shunting of verb tenses 'back one step' (as an initial principle) and the switching of pronouns: one might fairly dub these at least second-order language skills, certainly in combination. If this all seems heavily complex and theoretical, it can still be had a lot of fun with in flights of fancy (such as among ambitious students with wider life-agendas), but even at the Engage stage one might be surprised how many catchy English songs they had come across beginning with that tiny yet potent trigger-word 'if ...' (It could be useful to have an updated list for reference!).
