It was a disaster

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Ilka X@!

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Welcome to English Online

Prepare
before class

How does it work? prepare practise

Remember, you need to Live class

complete all three parts
to get the most out of live
progress
class
English Online.
Practise
after class
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Pre-lesson activities

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Lesson objectives
In this live part of the lesson, you will describe a holiday that went wrong.
about good holidays you have been on.
You will also review phrases to express interest and adjectives to
describe bad experiences that you learned before the lesson.

Highlighted skills:
Speaking (live class) and Listening (before class)
Language focus:
Vocabulary: adjectives to describe bad experiences
Functional Language: showing interest, sympathy and surprise

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Lead-in
Discuss the following questions.

What factors make a good holiday?

What factors make a bad holiday?
What’s the worst holiday you’ve had?
Lead-in
Discuss the following questions.

1. What factors make a good holiday?

- group of friends
- location
- good weather
- itinerary (schedule/plan)
- hotel, transportation, good food

1. What factors make a bad holiday?

- horrible weather
- fight, argument
- crime
- getting sick, horrible living condition
Language focus 1

Read the listening transcript and highlight the phrases that:

describe bad experiences

phrases that show sympathy.

Two examples are done for you.

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 Language focus 1
Michael: How was your holiday?

Zara: Actually, it was a disaster!

Michael: Oh no! What happened?

Zara: Well, first of all, our flight was delayed. We had to wait around in the airport for eight hours!

Michael: That’s too bad. Delays are annoying, but at least you made it.

Zara: Yes, but things only got worse from there. When we arrived, our bags weren’t there. It was three days before the airline finally
found them and we got them back. Also, it was rainy and chilly when we arrived, and we weren’t wearing jackets. The jackets and
umbrellas were in our bags!

Michael: What bad luck! I hope things got better when you arrived at your hotel.

Zara: Unfortunately, they didn’t. The hotel was overbooked, and there wasn’t any room for us. The only hotel that had rooms was very
dirty and far from the downtown area.

Michael: I’m sorry you had such a terrible experience. Did the weather get any better?

Zara: It actually got worse. The rain turned into a small flood. We couldn’t go anywhere, so we ended up spending most of the week
in our hotel room.

Michael: Wow, that really was a disaster!

Zara: Yes. After that, coming back to work feels like a holiday!

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 Language Focus

• Our flight was delayed.

• When we arrived, our bags weren’t there.
• It was three days before the airline finally found them and we got them back.
• The weather was rainy and chilly when we arrived, and we weren’t wearing jackets. The jackets and
umbrellas were in our bags!
• The hotel was overbooked, and there wasn’t any room for us.
• The only hotel that had rooms was very dirty and far from the downtown area.
• We couldn’t go anywhere, so we ended up spending most of the week in our hotel room.
It was a disaster!

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 Language Focus
Here are some negative adjectives to describe disastrous holidays. Rank them on the
line.
Very irritating 0ooo / disappointing oo0o / unpleasant / shocking / awful / annoying

Bad Really bad

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 Language Focus
“The service in the restaurant was shocking. We waited an hour for our food.”
“Delays are annoying, but at least you made it.”

Bad Really bad

annoying irritating disappointing unpleasant really awful absolutely
shocking

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 Pronunciation
Delays are annoying, but at least you made it
Delays are annoying, but at least you made it.

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Language focus 2
Look at the text again. How many negative adjectives can you find?
Michael: How was your holiday?

Zara: Actually, it was a disaster!

Michael: Oh no! What happened?

Zara: Well, first of all, our flight was delayed. We had to wait around in the airport for eight hours!

Michael: That’s too bad. Delays are annoying, but at least you made it.

Zara: Yes, but things only got worse from there. When we arrived, our bags weren’t there. It was three days before the airline finally found them and we
got them back. Also, it was rainy and chilly when we arrived, and we weren’t wearing jackets. The jackets and umbrellas were in our bags!

Michael: What bad luck! I hope things got better when you arrived at your hotel.

Zara: Unfortunately, they didn’t. The hotel was overbooked, and there wasn’t any room for us. The only hotel that had rooms was very dirty and far from
the downtown area.

Michael: I’m sorry you had such a terrible experience. Did the weather get any better?

Zara: It actually got worse. The rain turned into a small flood. We couldn’t go anywhere, so we ended up spending most of the week in our hotel room.

Michael: Wow, that really was a disaster!

Zara: Yes. After that, coming back to work feels like a holiday!

I'm sick, I'm scared. I'm broke/penniless.

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 Language focus 1 (answers)
Michael: How was your holiday?

Zara: Actually, it was a disaster!

Michael: Oh no! What happened?

Zara: Well, first of all, our flight was delayed. We had to wait around in the airport for eight hours!

Michael: That’s too bad. Delays are annoying, but at least you made it.

Zara: Yes, but things only got worse from there. When we arrived, our bags weren’t there. It was three days before the
airline finally found them and we got them back. Also, it was rainy and chilly when we arrived, and we weren’t wearing
jackets. The jackets and umbrellas were in our bags!

Michael: What bad luck! I hope things got better when you arrived at your hotel.

Zara: Unfortunately, they didn’t. The hotel was overbooked, and there wasn’t any room for us. The only hotel that had
rooms was very dirty and far from the downtown area.

Michael: I’m sorry you had such a terrible experience. Did the weather get any better?

Zara: It actually got worse. The rain turned into a small flood. We couldn’t go anywhere, so we ended up spending most
of the week in our hotel room.

Michael: Wow, that really was a disaster!

Zara: Yes. After that, coming back to work feels like a holiday!

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 Pronunciation
When we are listening to someone describe something they have done, we often
express our feelings with words and phrases.
This is especially true when someone is talking about something negative or bad.
Look at the phrases below.
Oh what a shame 
Oh no! 
Really? 
Oh yeah? 
That’s a shame 
That’s not good/fair/right 

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 Pronunciation
Practise saying these phrases with a partner using the prompts below.
• When we got back, our door was unlocked and our room had been robbed.
• I could feel myself being dragged out to sea and the beach was getting smaller.
• Then the bill arrived and it was so expensive I nearly fainted.
• I couldn’t move that night because my body was so sore from the sun.
• The airline told me my luggage was on the wrong plane and would not arrive for a week.
• The next day I woke up on the beach and couldn’t remember how I got there.
Oh what a shame 
Oh no! 
Really? 
Oh yeah? 
That’s a shame 
That’s not good/fair/right 
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Language focus 2
What other adjectives do you know to describe something negative on
holiday? Write as many negative adjectives as possible.

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English Online | www.britishcouncil.org
Task Preparation
Think about a time when something went wrong on holiday. Use the table
below to make notes to help you when you’re speaking.

Things to include

Where did you go?

When was it?

Who were you with?

Main events: What happened and what went wrong

What was the consequence / resolution?

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Task
You are going to tell your partner/s about your holiday disaster.
Remember to actively listen by using the expressions to show sympathy and
surprise, and clarify anything you don’t understand.

Negative outcomes:
It was a disaster
Sympathy and surprise: But things only got worse from there.
Oh no! Unfortunately, they didn’t improve.
That’s too bad It actually got worse
What bad luck!
I’m sorry you had such a terrible
experience Negative adjectives:
Wow, that really was a disaster! Terrible
annoying
Awful
Disappointing
Etc.
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Review

Think/talk about:

3 new words you want to remember from today’s lesson

2 activities you liked in today’s lesson

1 thing you will do after class to revise what you learned today

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Lesson materials

Make sure you have

• downloaded the *.pdf with this
presentation
• saved the Zoom Chat

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How can you make more progress?
Complete the Progress activities online.

Review the the past tenses to help you talk about what happened in the
past like we did today.

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-
reference/talking-about-the-past

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What’s next?

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What do you think?

Do you like the platform?

What did you think of the activities?
What further information do you need?

For more information, write to

[email protected]

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Teacher’s Notes

This slide deck was made by Lydia Simmonds

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