everyday english describing a place: student...

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Everyday English

Describing a Place: Student guide

Functional English Training for Professionals


Introduction

“Hello everyone! My name is Malini, and I stay in

Mysore.

Mysore has a small population and a rich historical

background. It is known as the City of Palaces, and is

a famous tourist attraction in India.

Why don’t you tell me about the place you live in? “

Take five minutes to write about it in your

handbook.


Learning Objectives


Grammar and Vocabulary

Grammar

• Adjectives

• Adverbs

Vocabulary

• Located, Close, Far

• Population,

Community

• Cold, Hot, Foggy,

Rainy

• Beautiful, Famous

• Big, Small, Tall,

• Very, Too, Many


Let’s learn some commonly used categories for describing a place:

Location: A place can be described by its location, or its relation to other

locations. For example, you can describe a place by saying “Ooty is about

600 kilometers from Chennai.”

Here are other ways of describing a place by its location:

Ooty is located in the

Nilgiri Hills.

It takes about 4 hours to reach Mysore

from Bangalore.

Describing a Place - Location


People: A place can also be described by the number of people living

there, or the type of people and what they do. You can describe a place

by saying “It has a population of 8 lakh people.”

Here are other ways of describing a place by its location:

Describing a Place - People

The Todas are a tribal

community that live in

Ooty.

Tipu Sultan was once the ruler of

Mysore. He is known as ‘The Tiger of

Mysore.’


Climate: Climate describes the weather of a place over a long time

period. You can describe a place by its climate by saying “It has a cold

climate.”

Here are other ways of describing a place by its climate:

Describing a Place - Climate

It rains heavily in Mumbai

between July and September.

The mornings in Ooty

are usually cold and

foggy.


Tourist Attractions: The tourist attractions of a place are the things that

a place is famous for. You can describe a place by saying “It is known for

its flower gardens.”

Here are other ways of describing a place by its tourist attractions:

Describing a Place – Tourist Attractions

Mysore is known as

the City of Palaces.

Ooty has 4 beautiful

waterfalls.


Match the following sentences to the type of description.

• It’s 3 kilometers from my house X Tourist Attractions

• It has a population of 30,000 X Climate

• It gets very hot in July X Location

• There is a very beautiful fountain at X People

the center of that building

Interactive Exercise: Match the Following


Writing Exercise: Describe the Picture

Look at the picture given below. The description for the picture is incomplete. Fill in the blanks in your handbook with the words given here.

The Taj Mahal is a famous _______ in India that

draws millions of visitors every year. It is _____ in

Agra, a city in Uttar Pradesh. It was built as the final

resting place for Mumtaz Mahal, the third wife of

Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The name _______

means “crown of palaces”. It is made of _____

marble and took ______ years to be built.

The Taj Mahal has a large white dome that is called

an ‘onion dome’ due to its______ . It is surrounded

by four smaller domes. The Taj Mahal complex includes a large_____ , a pool, and mosques.

(garden, located, shape, Taj Mahal, tourist attraction, twenty, white)


Adjectives and Adverbs are words or groups of words that describe a

noun and a verb respectively. Adverbs can also be used to describe an

adjective, or another adverb.

For example:

• Ajay bought a yellow scooter which is very fast.

• Ajay is quickly learning to drive long distances.

In the above sentences, 'yellow', 'fast' and 'long' are adjectives as they

describe the nouns 'scooter' and 'distance' respectively.

‘Very’ is an adverb as it describes the adjective ‘fast’ and in the first

sentence. ‘Quickly’ is also an adverb as it modifies the verb 'learning'.

Adjectives and Adverbs


Summary: Describing a Place

Here are different ways of describing a place. Take 5 minutes to read this table.

Location:

A place can be described by its location, or its relation to other locations.

People:

A place can also be described by the number of people living there, or the type of people and what they do.

Climate:

Climate is the weather condition of a place over a long time period.

Tourist Attractions:

The tourist attractions of a place are the things that the place is famous for.


Pair Work: Describing Hyderabad

• Form pairs.

• Read the sentences carefully and identify the category where

each sentence should belong. You have 7 minutes for this.

• As soon as the time is up, read out your answers to your

partner.

• After all the students have read their answers, the facilitator

will read out the correct answers.

• The students should make corrections in the notebook,

wherever necessary.

• Remember, you need to identify if the description is based on

location, people, climate or tourist attractions.

Location People ClimateTourist

Attractions


Pair Activity: Describing Hyderabad

Location People ClimateTourist

Attractions

• Hyderabad is a famous Indian city located in South

India.

• Hyderabad is known for the Golkonda Fort, Hussain

Sagar lake and Hyderabadi biryani.

• Hyderabad has a population of about 6.8

million people.

• Hyderabad is known for its hot weather.

• Hyderabad was historically known as a pearl and

diamond trading centre, and it continues to be known

as the City of Pearls.

• In summer, the temperature is Hyderabad can go as

high as 40 °C.

• The people of Hyderabad speak Telugu, Hindi and

Urdu.

• Currently, Hyderabad is the common capital for the

states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.


Group Activity – Describe a Place

1. Form groups with 5 people in each group.

2. One person from each group will step forward and describe their

hometown or neighbourhood.

3. You need to describe your neighbourhood using all the

categories (location, people, climate and attractions), as well as

adjectives and adverbs.

4. At end of the activity, the team should share the best answers

with the other groups in the room.

Time: 10 minutes


Check your Learning – Describing a

Place

Match the following sentences to the type of description.

• New Delhi is quite far from Bangalore. X People

• New Delhi is very hot in the summer. X Location

• New Delhi is famous for the Red Fort. X Climate

• New Delhi has a large population

of Punjabis. X Tourist Attractions


Check your Learning – Adjectives & Adverbs

• Hyderabad is a ____city.

• Bigger

• Biggest

• Big

• Too Big

• The _____ sun was shining all

day

• Bright

• Sunny

• Confused

• Brightly

• The sun was shining _____.

• Very Bright

• Brightly

• At night

• Confused

• I was _____ tired after climbing

the hill.

• How

• Very

• Much

• Two


Check your Learning – Adjectives & Adverbs

• The Taj Mahal is the ____ popular

tourist attraction in India.

• Very

• More

• Most

• Much

• New Delhi is ___ than Agra.

• Bigger

• Biggest

• Big

• Very Big

• The cricket match was ___ good.

• Three

• Two

• To

• Too

• Utility building is the ____building in

Bangalore.

• Tall

• Taller

• Tallest

• Short


Action Plan

Think of all that you have learnt in this class, and apply it in everyday situations.

Maintain a diary and show your progress to your teacher.

• In the next 2 days:

• Describe the area you live in to your friend.

• Describe the area you live in, using 3 adjectives and 2 adverbs.

• In the next 14 days:

• Write a postcard to your friend describing your hometown.

• Listen to your teachers and make a note of all the adjectives and adverbs you

hear.

• In the next 1 month:

• Write a short essay on your favorite place in India. Use all the categories of

places, adjectives and adverbs.

Keep practising!

everyday english describing a place: student...

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