Learn how to give directions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Finding Your Way Around the UK. David Here. |
| Kellie: Hello. I'm Kellie. |
| David: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to give directions. The conversation takes place at the supermarket. |
| Kellie: The speakers are friends. |
| David: So they will use informal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Phil: I'll help you carry this food home. Where do you live? |
| Katrina: I live in a third floor flat near the high street. Do you know the high street? |
| Phil: Yeah, I do. |
| Katrina: If you turn right at the traffic lights, my flat is on that road. |
| Phil: Which traffic lights? |
| Katrina: The lights next to the pub. |
| Phil: I know it! Let's go! |
| David: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Phil: I'll help you carry this food home. Where do you live? |
| Katrina: I live in a third floor flat near the high street. Do you know the high street? |
| Phil: Yeah, I do. |
| Katrina: If you turn right at the traffic lights, my flat is in that road. |
| Phil: Which traffic lights? |
| Katrina: The lights next to the pub. |
| Phil: I know it! Let's go! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: I have to confess something...I hate giving directions. |
| Kellie: Me too! It’s always really confusing. It’s especially confusing in the UK because cities and towns aren’t set out in neat blocks. The roads twist and turn and go in all directions. |
| David: Yeah, it’s easier to go from city to city because the motorways are well laid out and signposted, but once you’re in a city it’s difficult to find a particular place. |
| Kellie: Road names are usually well signposted and easy to spot, but you have to be in the right road to see the signs at all! |
| David: Of course! So how do people give directions in the UK? |
| Kellie: Usually by landmarks. It’s easier to say and to follow an instruction such as “turn left at the pub” than “turn left at the fifth corner”. |
| David: Yeah, that’s true. Traffic lights and traffic islands are good landmarks too. |
| Kellie: And they’re usually well signposted. |
| David: There are usually several ways to get somewhere too. |
| Kellie: Yeah, and during rush hour, sometimes the most direct way isn’t the quickest. It all depends on the volume of traffic. |
| David: I can understand why sat navs and Google Maps has become popular! |
| Kellie: Me too! But be careful, sat navs do occasionally send cars into dead ends or rivers! |
| David: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| David: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kellie: to help [natural native speed] |
| David: to make it easier for someone to do something, to give assistance |
| Kellie: to help[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: to help [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: third floor [natural native speed] |
| David: the level of a house or building that is three above ground level |
| Kellie: third floor[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: third floor [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: high [natural native speed] |
| David: having a great height, tall |
| Kellie: high[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: high [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: to know [natural native speed] |
| David: to have information in your head, to be aware of something |
| Kellie: to know[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: to know [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: to turn [natural native speed] |
| David: to rotate or revolve |
| Kellie: to turn[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: to turn [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: traffic lights [natural native speed] |
| David: red and yellow and green electric lights used to control traffic |
| Kellie: traffic lights[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie:traffic lights [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: next to [natural native speed] |
| David: in a near or adjacent position |
| Kellie: next to[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: next to [natural native speed] |
| David: And last we have.. |
| Kellie: pub [natural native speed] |
| David: a bar or tavern serving drinks, usually alcoholic, and often food |
| Kellie: pub[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: pub [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| David: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kellie: third floor |
| David: meaning "the level of a building that is three above the ground" |
| David: That sounds easy enough. |
| Kellie: It is… but the difficulty is that the third floor in the UK isn’t the same as the third floor in the US or some other countries. |
| David: Huh? Why not? |
| Kellie: In the UK, the level that is on the same level as the street is called the ground floor. In other countries it might be called the first floor. |
| David: So a UK third floor is a US fourth floor? |
| Kellie: That’s right! |
| David: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Kellie: Sure. For example, you can say.. I live on the third floor. |
| David: ..which means "I live on the third level above the street." Okay, what's the next word? |
| Kellie: high street |
| David: meaning "the main street in a town" |
| David: I don’t think that “high” here is referring to height... |
| Kellie: It isn’t! “High street” is just a common way to refer to the main area in a town. It’s the street with the most shops, services, and entertainment. |
| David: It’s where all the pubs are? |
| Kellie: Usually. You’ll often hear people say “I went to the pub in the high street.” That doesn’t sound very specific, but locals will know where the high street is. |
| David: And if you aren’t local? |
| Kellie: Ask someone who is! |
| David: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Kellie: Sure. For example, you can say.. “I often go to the club in the high street.” |
| David: .. which means "I often go to the club in the main part of town." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: In this lesson, you'll learn how to give directions. |
| David: I know that we both dislike this, but let’s talk about giving directions. |
| Kellie: When giving directions, the most important words to use and remember are prepositions of place. |
| David: What are the most common ones? |
| Kellie: Things such as “next to,” “by,” “across from,” “behind…” They all give an idea of where something is. |
| David: How do we use them in a sentence? |
| Kellie: We put them in front of the place we are using as a reference. |
| David: Let’s go through an example. |
| Kellie: Okay. Say we want to go to the bank. There is a park close to it. So, we can say “The bank is next to the park.” |
| David: The preposition is “next to.” |
| Kellie: And the place used as a reference is the park. So, next to the park. |
| David: We’ll try one more. How about, instead of being next to a park, it is a school. |
| Kellie: Let’s say that they aren’t next to each other but are instead facing each other. “The bank is across from the school.” |
| David: Okay, that makes sense. |
| Kellie: We can also use adverbs of place if we are describing the location of objects or people. |
| David: What are adverbs of place? |
| Kellie: Things such as “outside,” “nearby,” “around,” “inside.” |
| David: When I record podcasts, I always have water nearby. |
| Kellie: Oh, good one! We don’t always need a noun in these sentences, as you just showed. “The dog is outside” is as good a sentence as “The dog is outside the building.” |
| David: Keep it short and simple! |
| Kellie: Short and simple is good when making imperative sentences. These are sentences that give commands, and are used a lot when giving directions. |
| David: They are used for other things too, right? |
| Kellie: Of course! Short and simple commands such as “Shut the door!” and “Let’s go” are imperative sentences. You don’t need a subject in these. |
| David: They sound a little rude though... |
| Kellie: Yeah, if you’re asking somebody to do something for you, then don’t use an imperative sentence! “Can you please shut the door” is better than “Shut the door!”. It should only be used for instructions and commands. |
| David: Got it! |
Outro |
| David: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Kellie: Bye. |
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