talking about travel, past simple tense...

TALKING ABOUT TRAVEL, PAST SIMPLE TENSE ADJECTIVES, ASKING FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS

HTTP://WWW.COLLEGEENGLISH.WEEBLY.COM COLLEGE ENGLISH © 2010 PHOTOCOPIABLE

A Magical Vacation?

1. What country did the writer visit last year?_____________________________________________

2. Why did the writer choose that country? _____________________________________________

3. Find a word that means the same as the following:

a place to book a vacation! ______________ a night-time bird! ! ! ______________ very old! ! ! ! ______________looking at interesting places! ______________things you buy on vacation! ______________people on vacation! ! ______________

4. Use words from the article to complete the following sentences

• I don’t like going on vacation without a plan. I prefer to book a _____________.

• We visited a very old _____________ where a famous battle was fought.

• I heard an_____________ hoot in the trees.• I ate some _____________ food on vacation,

such as kangaroo steak. • Disney Land is a famous _____________.

6. What is your dream vacation?________________________________________________________________________________

Preparatory Reading

Last year I went on the most wonderful vacation. I’m a huge fan of the Harry Potter books and movies, so I went over to the UK to do some sightseeing a t t h e p l a c e s w h e r e t h e y f i l m e d t he movies. I booked a five night package tour of Harry Potter locations through a travel agent. It was actually my first time to go abroad. We started in London. We visited King’s Cross Station to see the place where Harry gets on the train to go to school. We even tried to run through the wall, just like Harry and Ron in the movies. We visited Oxford and went to the famous university there. For me it was all so exotic. Universities in my country are not so old and beautiful. There were actually quite a lot of tourists there. The buildings were wonderful and there was a real sense of history. We went into the Bodleian Library, where we saw some real ancient magic books. There are also a lot of owls in the Harry Potter movies. So we went to see some owls at the National

Bird of Prey Center in Gloucestershire and tried our hand at training and flying them. They were absolutely amazing, but actually I was a bit scared of them too.

Next , we went up to Scotland and took a ride on the Jacobite Steam Train run by West Highland Railway past a magnificent mountain called Ben Nevis. It was incredible - just like going back in time. We didn’t see any flying cars though! Finally, we went to a castle where they filmed Hogwarts

School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was just like the castle in the movies. I took loads of photos and bought a lot of souvenirs. The vacation was really busy, but it was the trip of a lifetime for me. Next, I want to go to the Harry Potter theme park in the US. But I will have to start saving up some money first. I’m an absolute Potter-holic!

Picture courtesy of www.visitbritain.com



1. Do you like to travel?2. Where did you go recently?3. Where did you go on your last vacation?

A - Discussion Questions: Talk with your partner

B - Mingling Activity: Stand up and ask questions of your classmates

C - Vocabulary: Match the words to their meaning

___ 1. I recently went on vacation to France.___ 2. I didn’t go abroad for my vacation. I just stayed here.___ 3. I ate a lot of exotic food when I visited China.___ 4. I went on a package tour that included a hotel, flights and a hired car.___ 5. I went sightseeing in London. I saw Buckingham Palace.___ 6. I went backpacking around Europe, staying in youth hostels.___ 7. I bought a T-shirt and some local drinks as souvenirs.___ 8. There are always a lot of tourists at the castle.

Ask questions to your classmates. If your classmate answer ‘Yes’ write his or her name and

ask some more questions.

Name Find someone who... Details

went on vacation this year

went abroad on their last vacation

went on a skiing trip in the winter

went to the beach in the summer

ate something delicious on their last vacation

did something exciting on vacation

went sightseeing this year

went on a package tour this year

a. a trip somewhereb. to another countryc. interesting and foreignd. looking at interesting placese. things you buy as gifts or

memories of your holidayf. people who are on vacationg. traveling cheaply with not much

luggageh. a vacation where everything is

arranged by a travel agency



Ask your partner these questions. Don’t forget to ask follow up questions to make your conversation interesting.

D - Conversation: Use the words to fill the gaps

vacation abroad exotic tourists sightseeing package tour backpacking souvenirs

SARAH: Hi there. Welcome back. Did you have a good ___________?

JUN: Yeah, thanks. It was brilliant.

SARAH: Did you go ___________?

JUN: Yes. I went on a trip around Thailand.

SARAH: Wow! That sounds fantastic! Did you go on a ___________?

JUN: No, I like to arrange things myself. So I just went ___________ and stayed in youth hostels. SARAH: That’s pretty adventurous. I’ve never tried that. Did you travel alone? JUN: No, I went with a couple of friends from college. We had a lot of fun together.

SARAH: Really? What kind of things did you do there?

JUN: Well we went to a lot of the popular places for ___________. We went ___________ around a lot of amazing temples. We went shopping at an amazing floating market. But we also went off the beaten track and trekked through the jungle.

SARAH: Cool! I’m so jealous! Did you eat any of the local food?

JUN: Yeah. We tried quite a few ___________ dishes. We ate lot of spicy curries.

SARAH: Oh, I nearly forgot to ask. Did you bring back anything for me?

JUN: Oh sorry. I was having so much fun I forgot to buy any ___________.

Comprehension Questions

1. Where did Jun go on vacation?_____________________________________ 2. Who did he go with?_____________________________________3. What did he do there?_____________________________________4. What did he eat there?_____________________________________5. Did he buy any souvenirs?_____________________________________

Personalization Questions

1. Have you ever been abroad?_____________________________________2. What was your best vacation?_____________________________________3. Do you like to go on package tours?_____________________________________4. What food did you eat on vacation?_____________________________________5. Do you like to visit tourist areas or go ‘off the beaten track’?_____________________________________



E - Language Focus: Past Simple Tense

Past Simple Tense

Did you visit any famous places in Spain? Yes, I did. I visited a famous cathedral. No, I didn’t. I just relaxed on the beach.Where did you stay on your vacation? We stayed in a nice hotel.

Irregular Verbs

be - was get - got go - went see - saw do - did hit - hit say - said catch - caughtThere are many more irregular verbs.

Use the correct verb form in each sentence.

1. A: Where did you __________ (go) on vacation this year? B: I __________ (go) to Australia. I __________ (have) a great time!

2. A: What did you __________ (eat) while you were there? B: Well, we __________ (eat) a lot of beef. We also __________ (try) kangaroo meat!

3. A: Did you __________ (stay) in a hotel? B: No, we __________ (do not). We __________ (stay) with an old friend of mine.

4. A: Did you __________ (visit) Ayer’s Rock? B: No, we didn’t __________ (have) time. It’s too far. But we __________ (visit) a lot of other beautiful places.

5. A: What was the most amazing thing that you __________(see) while you were there? B: Well, we __________ (see) some crocodile wrestling. But we __________ (not try) it!

1

3

2 Rearrange the words to make questions in past simple tense.

1. did / go / vacation / where / you / on ?!! _______________________________ ?2. what eat did there you ?!! ! ! _______________________________ ?3. have did you nice a time ?! ! ! _______________________________ ?4. buy / souvenirs / any / did / you ! ! _______________________________ ?5. stay / where / did / on / vacation / you ?! _______________________________ ?

Write some questions in the past tense for your partner. Then ask your partner and make a write the answers.1. _______________________________ ? ! _______________________________.2. _______________________________ ?! _______________________________.3. _______________________________ ?! _______________________________.4. _______________________________ ?! _______________________________.



F - Express Yourself

Keeping a Conversation Going

1. Reactions 2. Follow-Up Questions 3. Answer PlusThat sounds great / terrible! How about you? I went to Australia. It wasThat’s too bad. Oh, what’s that? great. We spent a lot of What bad luck. Did you do anything else? time on the beach.Lucky you! What did you do there?I’m so jealous! Where did you go?

Read through the conversation aloud with a partner. Then add some reactions and questions and extra information to make the conversation flow more naturally (you could use some of the examples above). Finally, practice the conversation again.

Are the comments reactions to something positive (P), negative (N), or either (E)?

___ That’s too bad.! ! ! ___ Aw. That sucks.!! ! ___ Oh. Really?___ That’s great news!! ! ___ I’m so jealous.! ! ! ___ It that right?___ I’m sorry to hear that.! ! ___ What bad luck.! ! ! ___ Congratulations!___ Wow! Lucky you!! ! ___ Oh, is it? Oh, did it / was it?! ___ Oh, that’s dreadful!___ That sounds great!! ! ___ Hmm. That’s interesting.! ___ My sympathies.

1

2

Make conversation with a partner. Use ‘Reactions, Questions and Answer Plus’.

• Someone You Met Recently• Last Weekend

• Your Last Vacation• Hobbies

N

Rob: Hi there. How’s it going?Dan: Not bad. _________________________________? Rob: I’m fine too. I just got back from my vacation.Dan: Oh. ___________________________ . ______________________________________?Rob: Yeah, I went to Japan. It was just amazing.Dan: Hmm. _______________________________________________________Rob: We visited Tokyo and Kyoto. Kyoto was absolutely beautiful. We visited Kinkakuji.Dan: Ah. ____________________________ . _____________________________________?Rob: It’s an amazing golden temple set in some lovely zen gardens.Dan: Right. _________________________ . _____________________________________?Rob: We had some wonderful food too. We had sushi and some delicious noodles. The only bad thing was that I lost my bag at the airport on the way home.Dan: Oh. ____________________________ . Rob: How about you? Did you go anywhere nice?Dan: I went to Australia. ____________________________________________.

3



1. What did you think of the topics in this unit?2. What new words have you learned?3. What would you still like to study a bit more?

Final Discussion

Project Work

Review

Prepare a presentation on this topic: A Travel Plan. Go to http://college-englishmag.com/ to print the presentation preparation worksheet.

Travel Puzzle

Read the clues to solve the puzzle.

1

2 3

4

5

6 7

8 9 10

11

12

13 14

15

16

17

18

Across

4. In a foreign country.5. You lost your suitcase! Aw, that _______!8. A place where you can go on rides and have fun.10. A cheap place for young backpackers to stay.12. You went to France. Wow! I envy you. I'm so ________!13. A relaxing trip with no work.15. You won the lottery? Wow! ________ you!16. A person trvaeling on vacation.17. Very old.18. Looking at interesting places on a trip.

Down

1. A trip with everything arranged by a travel agent.2. Past tense of visit.3. I don't like the tourist areas. I like to get off the beaten _______.6. Traveling with just a bag and no plan.7. An item bought while on vacation.9. Unusual and foreign.11. Very tasty.14. Past tense of go.

IN THIS UNIT YOU:

1. talked about travel and tourism

2. reviewed past simple tense

3. practiced keeping a conversation going

At http://www.college-englishmag.com, you can find plenty more exercises

http://college-englishmag.com

http://college-englishmag.com

talking about travel, past simple tense...

Documents