Go to Script | Idioms Quiz | Gap-fill Exercise
1. Warm Up
Study abroad can provide students with a wonderful way to see the world and learn new a language, and once you are at your destination, you can join travel groups to see the country or travel on your own. This conversation deals with this topic.
2. Conversation
Pronunciation Tip: WANT TO changes to WANNA and WANTS TO changes to WANTS TA.
Listen to the conversation and answer the questions. Alex and Sarah run into each other at college after not having seen each other for six months since they finished a study abroad program.
3. Retelling the Story
Instructions: Retell the story above using the vocabulary you have learned. Talk about the man’s trip and what he enjoyed most about it.
4. Expanding Your Learning
Instructions: Select one or more of the activities below to expand your understanding and use of the slang studied in this unit.
- Discussion: Talk with a partner about the ideal tour package and where he or she would go if they had the time and money to do so.
- Improvisation: Give your partner(s) a new vocabulary word from this unit and ask the partner to think up a sentence or more with the slang used in context. Sharing something from personal experience will make the activity more real and interesting to the listeners.
- Writing: Write a two-paragraph essay discussing the advantages and disadvantages of going on a trip with a tour group verses going by yourself. Try to use appropriate transition words to show comparison and contrast (e.g., both, and, not only ~ but, on the other hand, in contrast, although, etc.)
Example: Traveling on your own allows you the freedom to choose your destinations, but going with a tour group takes the headache away of having to make all the travel arrangements.
- Real Speak: Interview a native speaker at your school or in the local community about the writing topic above. How does the person feel about organized tours verses planning things out yourself.
- Internet Search: Conduct an Internet search of three types of tours to the following locations: an Arctic polar bear tour, a tour of Europe, and a tour of the ancient ruins of Peru. Compare prices, accommodations, sites and attractions, safety, and length of trip.