LESSON 7 - PART 2 - DESCRIBE A PLACE

A. SAMPLE QUESTIONS
1) Talk about a flat or house you would like to own one day.
2) Talk about your ideal home.
3) Talk about a shopping centre or mall you have visited.
4) Talk about a place where people can do sports.
5) Talk about a place you know where people go to listen to music.
6) Talk about a friend or family member's house you know and like.
7) Talk about a museum you have visited.
8) Talk about a historic place in your country.
9) Talk about a lake or river you know about or have seen.

B. STRUCTURE OF AN ANSWER

Interviewer: Talk to me about a place

Stage 1: Say what it is and where it is
Stage 2: Say what it looks like.
Stage 3: Say what its purpose is.
Stage 4: Say why it is important and how you feel about it

C. LANGUAGE PRACTICE
1. STAGE 1
For STAGE 1 of a place monologue, you must: Say what it is and where it is.
Religious Tourism Shoppin Accommodatio Natural Leisure Entertainment
g n
Mosque Tourist Shopping House Scenic spot Leisure Nightclub
attractio mall centre
n
Temple Historic Shopping Flat/apartment Park Sports Theatre
site centre ground
Church Historic Plaza Mansion Botanical Stadium Cinema
building garden
Cathedral Palace Market Campsite Nature Football Concert hall
reserve pitch
Religious Museum Discount Youth hostel Countryside Sports Music hall
building store field

Examples:
Let me tell you about a theatre I once saw when I was travelling...
I would like to talk about the Lavender Fields in Norfolk, which is a very popular tourist attraction. I'm
going to talk about a lovely little park in the countryside outside London.

ACTIVITY 1: Match the types of places on the left with the activities people do there on the right.
Prepositions of Location Examples
In + an enclosed or large place In Ho Chi Minh City
In the countryside
In the middle of nowhere
At + a certain place or location At the top of the mountain
At the end of the street
On + a surface or road On the fifth floor
On a main road
On the outskirts of the city
Over/above + a certain place or location Above a Japanese restaurant
Over Ba Dinh Square
Next to/beside/by + a certain place or By the seaside
location Next to the Bell Tower
Beside Xuan Huong Lake
Opposite to/across from + a certain place or Opposite to my favourite restaurant
location Across from Ninh Kieu Park
Between + two places or locations Between the mountains and the sea
In front of + a certain place or location In front of the main historic building
Outside of + a certain place Outside of Can Tho City
Near (to) + a certain place Near to Laos
Near the sea
Far from + a certain place Far from Vietnam
Far from the city centre

ACTIVITY 2: Choose the appropriate prepositions of location from the choices below to complete
the sentences.
2. STAGE 2
For STAGE 2 of a place monologue, you must: Say what it looks like
Big Small Width Height Length
Huge/large Little Narrow Towering Long
Massive Tiny Wide High Short
Vast Minute Broad Tall Winding
Enormous Minuscule Thin Short Endless
Gigantic Cramped Thick Low Far-reaching
Immense Squat

Examples:
A vast mountain range/landscape/lake/desert
A massive/gigantic/huge/enormous/immense building/house/shopping complex/room
A cramped room/house/dormitory
A broad avenue/street
A tall/high building/mountain
A winding path/country road/mountain pass
A tiny/minuscule/incredibly small object/doorway/window

You can also use the following phrases to talk about the dimensions of the place:
(number) metres/kilometres by (number) metres / kilometres
Ba Dinh Square is 320 metres by 100 metres.
(number) metres/kilometres square
The size of Ba Be Lake in Bac Kan is about 6.5 kilometres square.

Light Dark Ugly Beautiful Impressive

Airy Dingy Horrible Appealing Awe-inspiring
Bright Gloomy Disgusting Attractive Majestic
Well-lit Dim Awful Lovely Thrilling
Clear Murky Unappealing Comfortable Significant

Examples:
A(n) airy/well-lit/light/dingy/horrible room/house/flat/dormitory
A dark/gloomy/dank cave/woodland
A murky river/lake/pool/stream
An awe-inspiring work of art/scene/panorama/building

Untidy Age Luxury

Crumbling Old Expensive
Tatty Ancient Upmarket
Run-down New Posh
Dusty Modern Luxurious
Shabby Brand-new Sumptuous
Messy Antiquated Opulent

Examples:
A crumbling old building/wall
A tatty curtain/clothes/fabric/wooden structure
A run-down/shabby old building
A dusty room/building/yard
A(n) luxurious/opulent/sumptuous/upmarket/expensive palace/mansion/five-star hotel

ACTIVITY 3: Choose the appropriate words or phrases from the choices below to complete the
sentences.
ACTIVITY 4: Work in pairs. Answer the questions.
a. What types of buildings are there in your city?
b. Do you prefer old or new buildings?
c. Are historical buildings important?
d. Would you like to live in an old building?

3. STAGE 3
For STAGE 3 of a place monologue, you must: What its purpose is.

Let's look at some more great ways of saying this:

Be famous for + noun/verb-ing
Be famous because + clause
Be renowned for + noun/verb-ing
Be noted for + noun/verb-ing
Be popular with + types of people
Be great for/excellent for/particularly good for + noun/verb-ing

Examples:
Hue is famous for the local cuisine.
Ha Long Bay is famous because it is so beautiful.
The Victory is renowned for the live music it has on the weekend.
The Cu Chi Tunnel is noted for its size and historical importance.
ACTIVITY 5: Choose the appropriate words or phrases from the choices below to complete the
sentences.

4. STAGE 4
For STAGE 4 of a place monologue, you must: Say why it is important and how you feel about it.

Look at the following useful expressions:

I like/love (the place) because…..
I value (the place) because ……..
(The place) is important to me because…..
(The place) reminds me of ……..
(The place) provides me with ……..
(The place) gives me...
(The place) lets me...

Examples:
I love the Greasy Spoon café near my house because the food is so great and such good value!
The British Museum always makes me feel inspired to learn more about other countries and cultures.
The Legion Field provides me and my friends with a pleasant, green space in which to play sports or just
hang around.

ACTIVITY 5: Write the words below in the correct spaces.

lets me gives me important to me I value love

because makes me feel provided me with reminds me
D. EXAM PRACTICE
PART 1
1. Do you like the city you are living in now?
2. Which city have you been to recently?
3. Do you prefer the city or the countryside?
4. What kinds of cities do you like?

PART 2
Describe a park or garden you visited and liked
You should say:
where it was;
what it looked like;
what you did there;
and explain why you liked it there.

Describe a place you remember well that is full of colors.

You should say:
What it is
Where it is
How it looks like
And explain why you remember it well
HOMEWORK
1. Read the sample conversation below and fill in the blanks with your own idea.
A: What street do you live in?
B: I live in the city of ___________, and the street where I live is __________ It’s called such because
______________
A: Do you like your neighbourhood?
B: Of course, I love the place and I find it very ____________ The neighbours are friendly and we have
a tight-knitted community here. It’s the sort of place that I want my children to grow up in.
A: What kind of place do you live in?
B: I live in __________ with my parents. It’s a pretty _________ with ________ and _________
A: Do you think it’s better to live in a house or an apartment?
B: I think living in a house is better. Usually, a house, which consists of a larger space, gives us
complete freedom to decorate and manage. Besides, we can practice hobbies like gardening if we own a
house. Apartment owners often do not have these perks.

2. Read the sample answer. Explain the phrases in bold by putting it into sentences.

When it comes to a place which impressed me with tons of different colours, the first one
coming to mind is the Flower Park in Da Lat city, which is located in the central high land of
Vietnam and is about one-hour flight from Danang city.
I have to say that Da Lat is known as the city of a thousand of flowers. In this city, a wide
variety of flowers bloom throughout the year, but especially in February. And of course, the
Flower park is the most popular place for locals and tourists to admire the beauty of Da Lat
flowers. Located at the end of Xuan Huong lake, the park covers more than 7,000 square metres.
The Da Lat Flower Park showcases Vietnam’s biggest collection of flowers-
comprising hundreds of species with a wide variety of colours, such as red, yellow, orange,
pink, or even blue, and their shades. Hydrangeas, orchids and roses and many other
flowers make this city a kingdom of flowers.
This Park attracts a large number of visitors every day. The park’s arched gate is naturally
decorated with colourful flowers. Along the paths in the park are fountains and pine trees.
Besides, there are carts covered with flowers going around the park to delight the visitors.
Natural flowers harmonise with man-made architectural features.
There are some reasons why the memories about this place are still vivid in my mind. The first
one is obviously its beauty. To be honest, I had never seen any place with such a wide variety of
colourful flowers in my life although I had travelled to many cities in Vietnam and other foreign
countries. The first time I entered this park, I was truly blown away.
Another reason is that I visited this place last year with my family to unwind after working
night and day in several months without any true day-offs. We really had a whale of a
time together. Also, the weather was simply perfect for my vacation, so generally speaking, it is
hardly an exaggeration to call it once-in-a-life-time vacation. I hope that I will have
opportunities to visit this Flower Park again.