This listening activity follows the storyline that the 1st edition sprinkles throughout the book. There have been rumors about the former boss, Derek (who was replaced by newcomer Camilla and hence demoted), and his former assistant Avril having some sort of fling. As well as talk of a possible semi-permanent job in Japan. I want to see the storyline through with this set of students, however their level seems quite sufficient, so I am not focusing on the vocabulary in the book, but instead on introducing new relevant vocabulary to somewhat meet their level.
Now it bears mentioning that an activity in this lesson mentions utilizing the twenty-four hour format when referring to official train or plane scheduling. In many (non-Western) countries they utilize this time reference in all (or almost all) situations, even conversationally. However in the US we refer to this as ‘Military Time”, and primarily it is only used in cases of the military, as well as train and plane scheduling. It is not used conversationally. You can read an excellent blog article about this topic (including how the British refer to time) here.
First date taught: 9 Nov 2022
6C – Travel Plans
Theme: Getting travel information.
Travel Phrasal Verb Match:
| 1. set off | a. let someone in your car, then take them somewhere. |
| 2. get away | b. start a journey. |
| 3. pick up | c. to go on holiday/vacation. |
| 4. check in | d. to be excited about something in the future. |
| 5. check out | e. arrive and register at a hotel or airport. |
| 6. look forward | f. to take someone to a place and leave them there. |
| 7. take off | g. to leave a hotel after paying. |
| 8. drop off | h. when a plane leaves and begins to fly. |
roam (v) – move about aimlessly or without any destination (synonym: wander, meander)
voyage (n) – a journey to some distant place, usually by a boat of some sort (i.e. bon voyage)
tour (n) – a route all the way around a particular place or area
tourguide (n) – a guide who leads others on a tour (synonym: docent)
trek (n) – any long and difficult trip
globetrotter (n) – someone who travels widely and often
excursion (n) – a journey taken for pleasure; wandering from the main path of a journey
expedition (n) – an organized group of people undertaking a journey for a particular purpose
safari (n) – a trip to watch (or hunt) wild animals — especially in Africa
walkabout (n) – a traditional journey (originally on foot) in Australian Aboriginal culture, made as part of the process of becoming an adult; (informal) a walking trip or tour
Idiom: go walkabout
to be lost or not where it/you should be
Example: My rucksack seems to have gone walkabout.
Vocab Used in Class:
charter (a bus) – a long-term lease, often for company or organization use, often multiple vehicles
fleet (of cars or ships) – a group of cars used for a single purpose, used also with ships for the Navy (a fleet of Naval ships)
four-state area, or tri-state area – used often in the US to describe a medium sized region of the country, often at the cusp of multiple states
third party – outside company aside from the consumer or the primary company, they often provide outside services that the primary company cannot provide (such as an IT service provider for small companies, or a paper company that provides stationary and printing services to small companies)
bargain (n) [B1] – something on sale at a lower price than its true value
shave off (ph.v) – to reduce something by the stated amount
saving time [B1] – to reduce the amount of time that you have to use
to set expectations (n) [B2] – expectations are a belief that something will happen because it is likely, when you set expectations it is defining what the expectations will be (can also be used with setting boundaries)
facilitates (v) – to make something possible or easier
mediator (n) – a person or an organization that tries to get agreement between people or groups (often due to disagreements between the parties)
obsolete (adj) – no longer used because something new has been invented (synonym: out of date)
wearing the pants (idiom) (BR ENG: wear the trousers) – (often disapproving, becoming old-fashioned) (especially of a woman) to be the person in a marriage or other relationship who makes most of the decisions
coach bus (AM ENG: Greyhound) – (British English) a comfortable bus for carrying passengers over long distances
lap of luxury (idiom) [C1] – in easy, comfortable conditions, and enjoying the advantages of being rich
amenities (n) – a feature or service that makes a place pleasant, comfortable or easy to live in
miserly (adj) – the noun form of this word is a miser (synonym: penny-pinching/pinching a penny)
wasteful (adj) – using too much of something, or using something badly when there is a limited amount of it
burn a hole in your pocket (idiom) – If money is burning a hole in your pocket, you are very eager to spend it.
splurge (v) – to spend a lot of money on buying goods, especially expensive goods
“treat yo’ self” – to do something good and pleasurable for yourself, but not something necessary – so to do something you want to do, that you might not necessarily usually be able to do.
boarding pass (plane ticket) – a card that a passenger must have in order to be allowed to get on an aircraft or a ship
pick (you) up from
drop (you) off at
to be involved (romatically or emotionally) – being in a close relationship with someone
up in the air (idiom) – not solid, still being decided (synonym idiom: not set in stone)
tarmac (n) – the area of an airport where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded, refueled, boarded, or maintained (also called the airport apron)
hub airport (n) – an airport with flights to lots of different places, where people can arrive from one city or country and get flights to other cities or countries
Activity Info:
- Flight designation: two letters and three numbers (DW027), conversationally said “D – W – Oh – Twenty-Seven”; or (DW117) said as “D – W – One – Seventeen”.
- You always use twenty-four hour format for time, when it is a professional speaking about booking the time (so people with the airline or a travel agent)
- You book a flight or hotel, a reservation is called a hotel/flight booking.
- When the plane lands you will enter the airport in Arrivals, and when you enter to airport and check in your luggage (baggage), you will find your gate in the Departures. Because you will be departing this destination, or arriving to it. If it is your first flight on this leg of the journey, it is called your origin. Each time you are on the plane it is called a leg. If you have one layover or stopover, it means you only have one transition airport where you switch flights, and if you only have one layover, there are two legs of your journey. Destination is where you are going. If you don’t have a layover, it is called a direct flight. (see more airline vocabulary here).
- The time you take off is called departure time. The time you land is called arrival time. The time between the two while you are in the air is called flight time.
Additional:
- ISL Collective – What is Your Travel Personality Quiz
- ISL Collective – Phrasal Verbs About Travel
- ISL Collective – Airport Announcement Listening
Attribution: Image by Freepik
English With Dixie 