Functional English Training for Professionals. Everyday English. Describing a Place: Student guide. 2013, Wadhwani Foundation. All Rights reserved.

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1 Functional English Training for Professionals Everyday English Describing a Place: Student guide

2 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.

3 Learning Objectives

4 Grammar and Vocabulary Grammar Adjectives Adverbs Vocabulary Located, Close, Far Population, Community Cold, Hot, Foggy, Rainy Beautiful, Famous Big, Small, Tall, Very, Too, Many

5 Describing a Place - Location 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.

6 Describing a Place - People 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: 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.

7 Describing a Place - Climate 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: The mornings in Ooty are usually cold and foggy. It rains heavily in Mumbai between July and September.

8 Describing a Place Tourist Attractions 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: Ooty has 4 beautiful waterfalls. Mysore is known as the City of Palaces.

9 Interactive Exercise: Match the Following 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

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

11 Adjectives and Adverbs 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'.

12 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.

13 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 Climate Tourist Attractions

14 Pair Activity: Describing Hyderabad Location People Climate Tourist 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.

15 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

16 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

17 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

18 Check your Learning Adjectives & Adverbs The cricket match was good. Three Two To Too Utility building is the building in Bangalore. Tall Taller Tallest Short The Taj Mahal is the popular tourist attraction in India. Very More Most Much New Delhi is than Agra. Bigger Biggest Big Very Big

19 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!