Towns & villages

Hello, friends! In today’s lesson we’re going to talk about the places where you live.

First, I’d like you to get acquainted with my native town.

The town I live in is not very big but it is beautiful and very old. It is in the north of Wales and it was built more than a thousand years ago by Saxons. There are a lot of ancient buildings in the centre of the town such as the town hall and the church. Near the church are the ruins of the thirteenth century castle. You can buy local newspapers at the newsagent's which is next to the castle. The exhibition centre which is opposite the castle has a wonderful collection of coins, jewellery and pottery which date back to the 1st century ВС and belonged to the Celts who had lived here before the Romans.

There is a deep river that runs through the town. There's a bridge across the river which is also in the centre of the town. If you go straight ahead along the river bank you will see some nice shops, a car park and a big department store where you can find everything you need. Next to the department store there's a sports centre, it is the place where my friends and I spend most of our free time for we just love sports. At the chemist's, which is next to the sports centre you can buy any medicine you need. It is the biggest pharmacy in my town. On the opposite bank of the river there's a railway station where you can get trains to Cardiff.

The church looks out on a big round square with the monument to our national poet. The town also has a library and a post office which are to the west of the town centre. The houses are to the east, south-east and south-west of the centre of the town. There are no skyscrapers or other modern high-rise buildings in my town that's why it looks like a place from an old fairy-tale.

What places are there in my town? Look at the picture of the town and name the places I’ll point to.

town hall

church

castle

exhibition centre

bridge

newsagent’s

department store

chemist’s (pharmacy)

railway station

square

sports centre

car park

Do you know any other places/shops in town? Complete the chart.

Well, some other places are: swimming pool, bank, supermarket, police station, bus stop, café, restaurant, block of flats, park, hairdresser’s, cinema, theatre, etc.

Listen to the description and guess the words:

You can send a letter at ……………a post office.

You can buy food at …… a supermarket.

You can watch films at ……… a cinema.

You can see plays at ……… a theatre.

You can play tennis and football at …… a sports centre.

You can look at old objects at ………. a museum or exhibition centre.

You can find a police officer at …… a police station.

You can buy medicine at ……… a pharmacy.

You can leave your car at …… a car park.

To talk about the places where you live, you’ll definitely need prepositions of place.

Match the phrases to the pictures.

Now look at the picture and say

where the sports centre is? – It’s between the department store and the chemist’s.

Where is the car park? – It’s next to the department store.

Where is the church? – It’s behind the castle.

Where is the railway station? – It’s in front of the department store.

Where is the exhibition centre? – It’s opposite the church.

Look at the pictures. Are these houses in the town or in the village?

a) A block of flats is typical for towns or cities.

b) You can see a small cottage mostly in the village.

c) A detached house can be found both in towns and villages.

What adjectives can you use to describe towns and villages? Sort them into two groups:

1. industrial, modern, large, clean

2. local, quiet, isolated, pretty, small, clean

Translate the adjectives. They can be useful when talking about flats and houses.

удобный – comfortable

современный – modern

некрасивый – ugly

симпатичный – pretty

шумный – noisy

привлекательный – attractive

старый – old

красивый – beautiful

традиционный – traditional

просторный – spacious

Now let’s talk about streets in your neighbourhood. Name the opposite of the following adjectives:

wide …. narrow

clean …. dirty

quiet …. noisy

And the final group of words is for describing shops in your neighbourhood.

Unscramble the words:

Let’s listen to some other descriptions of houses and neighbourhoods.

A. We live in a big block of flats in the centre of the city. Our flat is spacious and comfortable. My neighbourhood is noisy and crowded. Everything is close – there's a supermarket, a bank and a sports centre. There's a playground and a car park in the yard. Living here is very convenient.

В. I live in a lovely cottage in a little peaceful village about 20 minutes' drive from Bath. It's where I grew up and all my friends are here. There are beautiful traditional houses and tree-lined narrow streets. There aren’t any big shops. There’s only a small local shop not far from my house. My house looks really nice with a white chimney on its red roof and a colourful front garden. There's a green fence around my house.

C. My house is in a quiet neighbourhood in the suburbs of the city. It is a detached house with a garage and a balcony. When my friends come to my house, they often describe it as a dream house, but to me it's just home, sweet home.

Now it’s your turn to tell us about your house and neighbourhood.

Use as many words and phrases of the lesson as you can to write about your house or flat.

Use prepositions and places/shops to describe your neighbourhood.

Looking forward to your letters and, of course, photos.