HOW LONG .... ? Let's speak a bit

• How long have you lived in this country?
• How long have you lived in this city/town/village?
• How long have you lived in your apartment/flat/house?
• How long have you been married?
• How long have you known your best friend?
• How long have you studied English?
• How long have you gone to this school?
• How long have you had your car?
  • Cat?
  • Dog?
  • Business?
  • House?
• How long have you been awake?
• How long have you smoked?
  • Dated?
  • Studied?
  • Travelled?
• How long have you worked at your job? 

Source:  http://iteslj.org/questions/howlong.html

• Do you like the place where you are living? Why or why not?
• What is your favourite room in your house? Why? 
•  How many rooms are there in your house?
•  What do you like about your home? What don't you like?
• If you could change anything about your present home, what would it be?
• Is your home in a convenient location? 
• What do you think is the worst colour for a living room?
•  What things in your home couldn't you live without?
• What things in your house could you easily live without?
• Where would your dream home be?
  • What would it be like inside and out?
• Which room do you spend the least time in?
• Which room do you spend the most time in?
• Who are your neighbors?
  • Do you get along well with your neighbors?
  • How well do you know them?
  • What have you done with your neighbors?
• Who lives with you? / Who do you live with? 
• Make a list of the 10 most important things you would look for when choosing a house to live in.
• Some people say houses are too much like boxes or cages. Do you agree or disagree? Why? 

Source:  http://iteslj.org/questions/home.html

ELEMENTARY COURSE: WRITING TASK 6

Hello everybody,

We have been working a lot along this course, so now I propose you a task about cities and towns.

Choose one of the these tasks and try to do as usual, I mean as good as you usually do.

1. Describe the main buildings and services in your town.
2. Find a small plan of a city or village, locate some of its interesting buildings and write where they are placed. ( You can do it about your village).
   
3. Think about the city you would like to live, describe it and tell us why you like it, I mean what are the most interesting places there and many other things.  You can think in a town here in Spain or just abroad.

Take care,
Loli

PLACES IN A CITY AND MEANS OF TRANSPORT

LEARN SOME BASIC MEANS OF TRANSPORT AND PAY ATTENTION TO ITS PRONUNCIATION

LEARN SOME BUILDINGS IN A TOWN WHILE DOING THIS QUIZ

And now, try this other one about buildings

 

AND HARRODS

Means of transport	Places and buildings
on foot	Hospital
by car / by a rented car	Museum
by train	Bank
by Tube	Theatre / Cinema
by underground	Shopping centre
by bike	Shops / Stores
by motorbike / by motorcycle	Department store
by taxi	Beauty salon
by bus	Bookshop / bookstore
by van	College / school / university
by plane / by aeroplane	Church / cathedral
by boat	Town hall
by ship	Baker's / Butcher's
by ferry	Shoe shop
	Supermarket
	Hardware store
	Flower shop
	Electronics shop
	Gas station
	Restaurant
	Pet shop
	Post office
	Stationer's / News agent's
	Chemist's / Pharmacy
	Restaurants / Pubs / Bars
	Café
	Candy shop / Confectioner's
	...  .....

PREPOSITIONS WHEN ASKING AND GIVING DIRECTIONS

Excuse me, Could you tell me where is the Hilton hotel, please?

Excuse me, Can you tell me the way to....?

Go straight ahead!  Go straight on!  Go ahead!  Go along this street!
Take the first turning on your right.  Take the second on your left.
It's next to the (bank).
It's near the (hospital).
Pass the roundabout and continue straight on!
The (school) is opposite the (town hall).
The (parking) is in front of the (building).
The (cinema) is close to the (church).
The (theatre) is just over there.

Cross this street, turn on your left and go along the street for 50 metres.

 HAVE A LOOK AT THIS LIST OF EXPRESSIONS MADE BY AN INTERMEDIATE CLASSMATE

And now, watch this Real English video

PRESENT CONTINUOUS

• Hello Carol!  How are you?  What are you doing now?

• Hi Mike!  I'm very well, thank you.  I'm working in a new project right now.

• How interesting!  And what is it about?

• Well, I'm always trying to find something different, d'you know?  and I'm not telling my previous job was wrong but this time I think I have found the perfect one.

• Wonderful, but are you working in the same field, I mean, are you still working in a travel agency or something similar?

• You're almost right, but this time I am running my own agency and I'm working hard to keep the business going.
  

• Great!  We are preparing our holidays with another couple, so I think I will phone you next week since we will need some help for preparing all the travel arrangements.

• I'll wait for your call and be sure you will have an unforgettable holiday.

• See you then.

• Bye, bye.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

-  Excuse me, I'm looking for a chemist's near here.  Could you help me?

-  Yes, of course.  The nearest one is quite close from here.
-  Oh, good!

-  You just go ahead this street and take the first on your right.  The chemist's is just turning that street, just over there.

-  Very kind of you, thanks a lot!
-  You're welcome.  Have a good day!
-  Goodbye.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

NOW PRACTISE DOING THESE PRESENT CONTINUOUS ONLINE EXERCISES

A READING ABOUT DIRECTIONS

Have a look at this easy reading and try to do the multiple choice to check your understanding.

Best wishes.

SCHOOLS AND NURSERY SCHOOLS

- Excuse me¡ Can I make you some questions?

- Yes, of course.

- Can you tell me how many schools and nursery schools are there here?

- Here we have two Primary Schools, two Nursery Schools (one public school and another one private) and besides an Adult learning Centre .

- Where is the Adult learning Centre, please?

- Very near here. In Barrio Nuevo Street.

- What subjects could I study there?

- Many courses: English, Spanish, computing skills, Secondary degree, piano classes and many other ones.

- Where could I get some information about these courses and their timetables?

- At the Adult learning Centre, the teaching staff will inform you.

- I’m going there just now! Thank you very much.

- You're welcome.

PUBS AND RESTAURANTS

-  Excuse me, Can I make you some questions, please?

- Oh, yes of course.

- I would like to celebrate a party and I need to know something about the restaurants, pubs and bars. How many restaurants are there in this village?

- I think there are nine or ten, more or less. Three of them are very good restaurants, and we have five cafés and one pub, too.

- Do you also have any sports centre?

- Yes, we have a swimming pool, two tennis courts and a basketball court. The village is full of sports facilities. We also have a theatre called Sala Fleta.

- Do you have any hospital?

- No, we don’t have any hospital but we have a new Medical centre.

-  Do you have banks?

- Yes, we have five banks.  Besides the village is very good, and it is very well road connected.

- Thank you very much for all this useful information.  I think I will come to live here, it seems quite calm and nice.

- You will be welcome.

- Thanks. Goodbye!

LIBRARIES AND OTHER SOCIAL SERVICES

- Excuse me! Can you give me some information about your town?
- Yes, of course. What do you like knowing about?
- I would like to get information about different social services in La Puebla.
- There is a little library but it is visited for many people, from infants to elder ones.

- As well, there is an Adult learning center for attending different courses, for example languages, secondary education, computing skills, painting, music, singing and many other subjects.

- There is also an elder center and besides periodically there are other cultural ceremonies.

- Do you want to know anything else?

- That's all, thank you very much.

- Not at all. You're welcome.

PEDESTRIAN STREETS

- Excuse me! Can I make you some questions, please?

- Yes, of course!

- Are there any pedestrian street around here?

- Yes, there are some of them, so people can be playing quietly with their children without any danger, talking to the family and so on.

- Is there enough light in these streets? I mean, are they bright or dark?

- Of course they are bright!  People can be even in the morning or at night.

 ­ - Do people drive by these pedestrian streets in any occasion?

- It depends! When they go to the garage or in an emergency they drive by the street, but it is not very usual, they are quite safe.

- Do the neighbours get on very well?

- Yes, they organize parties in the streets.

- Are the streets clean?

- Yes, there are streets which the neighbours clean by themselves and other ones are cleaned by the Town Hall workers.

- I would like to live in this town. I think it’s very nice.

- See you then.

- Bye, bye.

OUR TOWN

 Through dialogues, try to describe your town to a visitor who is really interested in living in your village in the next future.

Imagine you meet this person in the street and he/she asks you some questions in a very polite way, try to spent your time and give him/her all the required information and more.

Here I propose you some topics to talk about, choose one of them and make your dialogue with a partner:

+ Shops & supermarkets.
+ Banks
+ Leisure services and sports facilities.
+ Schools and nursery schools.
+ Pubs, bars and restaurants.
+ Houses and flats.
+ Health services.
+ Inhabitants and demographic growth.
+ Libraries and other social services.
+ Elder people services.
+ ... ....