Age of students: 18-19 (2-nd year of studying)
General topic of the unit that is being studied: On the Move
Topic of the class: Travelling
Goals of the class:
Practical: to form and develop the foreign communicative competence, i.e. skills of introductory reading, monological and dialogical forms of speech and writing;
Sociocultural: to make the students acquainted with the national and cultural peculiarities of speech behaviour in the country, which language is being studied;
Educational: to cultivate the positive attitude to the country, which language is being studied, to its culture and way of life; to teach the culture of communication;
Professional: to form professional knowledge, skills and abilities.
Description of the activity:
1. The beginning of the class:
Warming-up activity:
The students should answer the following questions:
1. Why are many people fond of travelling?
2.2. Speech practice:
Ex. 1. Check the words in italics. Tick (/) the good things about a holiday and cross (X) the bad things.
1. You stay in really nice accommodation.
2. You get sunburnt.
3. You eat delicious food.
4. Your flight is delayed.
5. There are lots of traffic jams during the journey.
6. The airline loses your luggage.
7. The hotel food is disgusting.
8. You have time to relax.
9. You visit some really interesting places.
10. The weather's awful.
11. You get food poisoning.
12. You have lots of fun.
Ex. 2. Look at the cartoons 1 - 3. Guess which complaint, a or b, matches each cartoon. Then read the text and check.
1 a) The fish bit us. b) There are fish in the sea.
2 a) There was no air-conditioning outside. b) It was very hot.
3 a) She didn't understand Spanish. b) People speak Spanish in Spain.
Ex. 3. There are four more complaints in the text. Choose the best description for each.
1. One customer was unhappy because …
a) a mosquito bit him.
b) the company did not tell him that mosquitoes bite.
c) there wasn't any wildlife in the area.
2. Another customer complained because
a) the sand was yellow.
b) there was no beach.
c) the sand looked different in the brochure.
3. A British tourist complained because
a) American tourists had a shorter journey than him.
b) he was angry about the number of American tourists in Jamaica,
c) his journey to Jamaica took three hours.
4. A woman complained because the hotel gave her and her husband a room with
a) an uncomfortable bed.
b) twin beds.
c) a double bed.
Ex. 4. Guess the meaning of the words from the context. Find the words, 1 - 5, in the text and then choose the right definition, a or b.
1. to deal with
a) buy or sell something
b) find the answer to a problem
2. compensation
a) money you pay for a holiday
b) money you get if something goes wrong
3. startled
a) surprised and frightened
b) sid and lonely
4. genuine
a) strange
b) real
5. to blame someone
a) to say someone is responsible for a problem
b) to make a mistake e
Ex. 5. Discuss the following questions.
1) Are any of the complaints in the text fair?
2) Which complaint do you think is the most ridiculous? Why?
3) Have you ever complained about the service of travel companies?
2.2.2. Listening:
The students should watch the video GLOBAL TRAVEL 'TRAVEL SMARTER' and discuss the following questions:
- What is the title of the travel agency presented in this video?
- Which services can you book being an associate agent?
- What are the Travel Packages the agency suggests?
- Can you provide any information about the flights?
Goals of the activity:
• to study new vocabulary on the topic "Travelling";
• to develop language skills in reading, monological and dialogical forms of speech;
• to develop logical thinking and interpreting skills;
Description of the activity:
Warming-up activity:
The students should answer the following questions:
1. Why are many people fond of travelling?
2. What means of travelling do you know?
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a sea-voyage/ hitch-hiking/ travelling by air/ travelling by train/walking tours?
4. What kind of people usually object to travelling by sea?
5. What is, in your opinion, the most enjoyable means of travelling?
2. The main part:
2. The main part:
2.1. Studying the new vocabulary: The students should read and translate the new words and word-combinations (with the teacher's help if it's necessary).
Topical Vocabulary
travel company, accommodation, to get sunburnt, delicious, genuine, to delay a flight, luggage, traffic jams, food poisoning, holidaymaker, complaint, customer, mosquito, wildlife, bite (bit, bitten), brochure, to queue, air conditioning, hotel staff, to book (a holiday), twin-bedded room.
Topical Vocabulary
2.2. Speech practice:
Ex. 1. Check the words in italics. Tick (/) the good things about a holiday and cross (X) the bad things.
1. You stay in really nice accommodation.
2. You get sunburnt.
3. You eat delicious food.
4. Your flight is delayed.
5. There are lots of traffic jams during the journey.
6. The airline loses your luggage.
7. The hotel food is disgusting.
8. You have time to relax.
9. You visit some really interesting places.
10. The weather's awful.
11. You get food poisoning.
12. You have lots of fun.
Ex. 2. Look at the cartoons 1 - 3. Guess which complaint, a or b, matches each cartoon. Then read the text and check.
1 a) The fish bit us. b) There are fish in the sea.
2 a) There was no air-conditioning outside. b) It was very hot.
3 a) She didn't understand Spanish. b) People speak Spanish in Spain.
2.2.1. Reading and translating the text:
“The Sea is full of Fish”
Travel companies often have to deal with people who are unhappy about bad accommodation and food, or lost luggage. But according to Britain's leading tour operators, holidaymakers also try to get compensation for some very strange reasons...
One company received a complaint from a parent who was unhappy about the fish in the sea.'No one told us there were fish in the sea,' he wrote. 'My children were startled!'Another customer wrote,'A mosquito bit me. No one told us they bite!'
It isn't just the local wildlife that causes problems. One holidaymaker complained about the beach: The sand in the brochure looked yellow but when we got there, we found it was white.' Another unhappy customer wrote, 'We had to queue and there was no air-conditioning outside.'
A travel agent spokesman said,'In the past, going abroad was a real treat. But people are travelling abroad much more nowadays and they don't accept anything that they are not happy with.'
Even geography, it seems, can be a problem. One customer complained angrily because British tourists had to travel nine hours to reach their holiday destination (Jamaica) and American tourists got there in just three hours.
Another British holidaymaker wrote, ‘There were too many Spanish people. The hotel staff spoke Spanish and the food was Spanish.' And where did the woman choose to book her holiday? Spain, of course!
Airtours deal with 17,000 customer complaints every year. They use complaints like this to help their staff deal with the problems they may meet in the summer. A spokesman for the company said they always take genuine complaints seriously even if they are sometimes strange. 'We give holidaymakers as much information as we can about their trip but sometimes there are still problems. When things go wrong, people feel they need to blame someone. They always think the travel company is responsible.'
Perhaps the most extreme example was the woman who wrote, 'My husband and I asked for a twin-bedded room but the hotel put us in a room with a double bed. I am now pregnant and in my opinion your company is responsible.'
“The Sea is full of Fish”
Travel companies often have to deal with people who are unhappy about bad accommodation and food, or lost luggage. But according to Britain's leading tour operators, holidaymakers also try to get compensation for some very strange reasons...
One company received a complaint from a parent who was unhappy about the fish in the sea.'No one told us there were fish in the sea,' he wrote. 'My children were startled!'Another customer wrote,'A mosquito bit me. No one told us they bite!'
It isn't just the local wildlife that causes problems. One holidaymaker complained about the beach: The sand in the brochure looked yellow but when we got there, we found it was white.' Another unhappy customer wrote, 'We had to queue and there was no air-conditioning outside.'
A travel agent spokesman said,'In the past, going abroad was a real treat. But people are travelling abroad much more nowadays and they don't accept anything that they are not happy with.'
Even geography, it seems, can be a problem. One customer complained angrily because British tourists had to travel nine hours to reach their holiday destination (Jamaica) and American tourists got there in just three hours.
Another British holidaymaker wrote, ‘There were too many Spanish people. The hotel staff spoke Spanish and the food was Spanish.' And where did the woman choose to book her holiday? Spain, of course!
Airtours deal with 17,000 customer complaints every year. They use complaints like this to help their staff deal with the problems they may meet in the summer. A spokesman for the company said they always take genuine complaints seriously even if they are sometimes strange. 'We give holidaymakers as much information as we can about their trip but sometimes there are still problems. When things go wrong, people feel they need to blame someone. They always think the travel company is responsible.'
Perhaps the most extreme example was the woman who wrote, 'My husband and I asked for a twin-bedded room but the hotel put us in a room with a double bed. I am now pregnant and in my opinion your company is responsible.'
Ex. 3. There are four more complaints in the text. Choose the best description for each.
1. One customer was unhappy because …
a) a mosquito bit him.
b) the company did not tell him that mosquitoes bite.
c) there wasn't any wildlife in the area.
2. Another customer complained because
a) the sand was yellow.
b) there was no beach.
c) the sand looked different in the brochure.
3. A British tourist complained because
a) American tourists had a shorter journey than him.
b) he was angry about the number of American tourists in Jamaica,
c) his journey to Jamaica took three hours.
4. A woman complained because the hotel gave her and her husband a room with
a) an uncomfortable bed.
b) twin beds.
c) a double bed.
Ex. 4. Guess the meaning of the words from the context. Find the words, 1 - 5, in the text and then choose the right definition, a or b.
1. to deal with
a) buy or sell something
b) find the answer to a problem
2. compensation
a) money you pay for a holiday
b) money you get if something goes wrong
3. startled
a) surprised and frightened
b) sid and lonely
4. genuine
a) strange
b) real
5. to blame someone
a) to say someone is responsible for a problem
b) to make a mistake e
Ex. 5. Discuss the following questions.
1) Are any of the complaints in the text fair?
2) Which complaint do you think is the most ridiculous? Why?
3) Have you ever complained about the service of travel companies?
2.2.2. Listening:
The students should watch the video GLOBAL TRAVEL 'TRAVEL SMARTER' and discuss the following questions:
- What is the title of the travel agency presented in this video?
- Which services can you book being an associate agent?
- What are the Travel Packages the agency suggests?
- Can you provide any information about the flights?
Ex. 6. Make up dialogues.
Suggested situations:
A. Two friends are discussing different ways of spending their holidays. They both want to travel, but one of them is an enthusiast ready for anything and the other is a cautious and a sceptical person. (Use the following: there is nothing like travel by air/by sea, etc., it is more convenient to ...; there is none of the ...; speed, comfort and pleasure combined; there is no travel so fine as by...; the rise and fall of the waves; coming in to the harbour, that's all right for those that like it; when the sea is rough; hitch-hiking; it's risky, isn't it! I prefer to be on the safe side; I'd rather stay at home.)
B. A person who has just returned from a foreign cruise is answering the questions of an eager listener. (Use the following: a most exciting experience; I really envy you; do tell me all about it, where did you sail from? what were your ports of colli go ashore; go sightseeing; what was the place that impressed you most! I didn't think much of...; the journey was tiring; but you did enjoy it, didn't you!)
C. An old lady is talking to a porter at the railway platform. She keeps forgetting the name of the place she is going to and does not quite know how many pieces of luggage she has. (Use the following: will you see to my luggage? where for, madam? it just slipped my memory, it's a sort of resort place; would you like me to have these trunks put in the luggage-van? where on earth is that suitcase? it will never go on the luggage-rack; I must have a seat facing the engine; dear me, I'm sure to miss the train; is it a through train? I hate to change; when are we due to arrive?)
A. Two friends are discussing different ways of spending their holidays. They both want to travel, but one of them is an enthusiast ready for anything and the other is a cautious and a sceptical person. (Use the following: there is nothing like travel by air/by sea, etc., it is more convenient to ...; there is none of the ...; speed, comfort and pleasure combined; there is no travel so fine as by...; the rise and fall of the waves; coming in to the harbour, that's all right for those that like it; when the sea is rough; hitch-hiking; it's risky, isn't it! I prefer to be on the safe side; I'd rather stay at home.)
B. A person who has just returned from a foreign cruise is answering the questions of an eager listener. (Use the following: a most exciting experience; I really envy you; do tell me all about it, where did you sail from? what were your ports of colli go ashore; go sightseeing; what was the place that impressed you most! I didn't think much of...; the journey was tiring; but you did enjoy it, didn't you!)
C. An old lady is talking to a porter at the railway platform. She keeps forgetting the name of the place she is going to and does not quite know how many pieces of luggage she has. (Use the following: will you see to my luggage? where for, madam? it just slipped my memory, it's a sort of resort place; would you like me to have these trunks put in the luggage-van? where on earth is that suitcase? it will never go on the luggage-rack; I must have a seat facing the engine; dear me, I'm sure to miss the train; is it a through train? I hate to change; when are we due to arrive?)
3. Home Task:
- To learn the new words and word-combinations by heart.
- To write an essay “My Last Trip”, trying to concentrate on the advantages and disadvantages of a journey.
4. Summing-up:
- Making some conclusions.
- Making some conclusions.
- Giving marks to the students.
