HOUSES

1. Learn about houses in England. Do this vocabulary exercise (answers in "comments").

2. Listen to this phone conversation in which a man is asking questions about a house he wants to rent. (easy)

3. Listen to this conversation about renting apartments and choose the right answer. Then you can listen and read the script and learn some vocabulary.

LONDON

Watch this video about London and do these exercises. (the answers in "comments")

A. Choose the right answer or answer the questions.

1. The Home of British Government is…
a) Westminster Abbey
b) Buckingham Palace
c) The Houses of Parliament
d) The Gherkin

2. What’s the name of the best known clock tower in the world?

3. What part of London is famous for its shopping and nightlife?
a) The West End
b) The East End
c) The Mile End
d) The South End

4. What would you find at Covent Garden?
a) Bistros and bars
b) Shops and offices
c) Banks and building societies
d) Fruit and vegetables

5. Brick Lane is home of the ‘Great British’ what?
a) Curry
b) Museum
c) Bulldog
d) Breakfast
6. One of London’s newest bridges is…?
a) Tower Bridge
b) The Albert Bridge
c) The Millenium Bridge
d) Waterloo Bridge

B. Watch it again and complete the sentences.

7. The name Big Ben refers to …

8. Westminster Abbey has been the site of …
since …
Much of the current building is…

9. The London Eye is … tall and it’s the largest…
with views across London stretching...
10. There are __________________ theatres in the West End.
11. In the East End, Colombia Road is famous for ...
12. The City is ...
13. From the Gherkin, one of the newest landmarks, you have some of the best views of...
14. The Millenium Bridge leads from... to ...

A trip to India

Bollywood (Hindi: बॉलीवुड) is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the Indian film industry. Bollywood is the largest film producer in India and one of the largest centers of film production in the world. The name is a portmanteau of Bombay (the former name for Mumbai) and Hollywood, the center of the American film industry.
Bollywood is formally referred to as Hindi cinema, though frequent use of poetic Urdu words is fairly common. There has been a growing presence of Indian English in dialogue and songs as well. It is not uncommon to see films that feature dialogue with English words and phrases, or even whole sentences.



THE TAJ MAHAL




Lonely Planet author Sarina Singh gives an interesting tour of the beautiful Taj Mahal. Enjoy!
Complete the sentences and answer the questions. The answers are in "comments".

1. The Taj Mahal is the most _________________ , most _________________ _________________ in the most populous state in India.
2. Watching _________________ _________________ over this magnificent building is on most people’s list of ____________________________________________________________ .
3. It is said that it is the most extravagant monument _________________ _________________ ever built and the story of its creation is full of _________________, _________________ and _________________.
4. How far is it from New Delhi?
5. How can you get there? How long does it take?
6. How many people visit it every year?
7. It was built by the 5th moghul emperor Shah Jahan in dedication to his _________________ _________________ Mumtaz Mahal, who died after _________________ _________________ to their 14th child.
8. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not a _________________ , but a mausoleum, which houses the tombs of the Shah and his _________________ _________________ .
9. What did they need to build it?
10. What happens if you look through all the arches?
11. Are the 4 minarets in perfect line? Why? Why not?
12. Can tourists go inside?
13. What does the legend say the Shah did to ensure that no other building could ever be built to match this?
14. It’s also worth visiting the nearby Agra Fort. When the Shah was deposed by his _________________ _________________ in 1659, he spent the rest of his days imprisoned there. He could see the Taj Mahal, so as he would die of a _________________ _________________ .
15. What is the “Oberoi Amarvilas”? Why is it special?
16. What’s her advice?

The Washington Monument

Watch this short video about the Washington Monument and do the activities.

MORE TRIPS

THE BIG APPLE
- Listen to a guide giving information about a trip to New York and choose the right answers. You can also take notes and then check them reading the quiz script. Finally you have some vocabulary activities to practise the vocabulary that appears in the script.


UTAH
- Listen to a travel ad for Utah in the USA and choose the right answers. Again you can also read the script and do some vocabulary activities.

Travel Tips

Here are some basic travel tips to remember when packing and preparing for a trip. Watch the video and answer the questions or complete the sentences. (The answers will be on "comments"). Leila Lemghalef

1. The aim of this video is to provide people with a basic checklist for what to bring in their carrier. Why?
2. The obvious:
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3. Why is it important to carry your camera in your carrier?
4. What do you have to print in advance? Why?
5. Some items to make your trip more enjoyable and the reasons for them:
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6. Your carrier is also useful if, for example, your luggage gets lost, so bring:
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Milford Track in New Zealand

Remember the e-mail you have to write? If you want, you can use the information on the handout and write about Milford Track. Here's more about it.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

How do you pronounce the name of the new year?
Listen to the Grammar Girl explaining the different ideas and giving examples to support them. You can also read the text.

January listening handout

January listening handout:

1. How do you feel about living in London (2’ 26”): Go to “ live from London 6: living in London”

http://www.onestopenglish.com/podcast_feed.asp?catid=59984

2. Annoying co-workers. Listen to the podcast ( 5’) and take notes. Then listen and read it and have a look at the vocabulary list. http://www.betteratenglish.com/real-english-conversations-annoying-coworkers/

3. Patrick’s restaurant (5’) http://potatopals.podomatic.com/entry/eg/2006-07-10T01_26_05-07_00

4. How to behave in a hotel (6’29”). http://manners.quickanddirtytips.com/hotel-manners.aspx

5. Better Speaking: Episode 1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/webcast/tae_betterspeaking_archive.shtml