Manuals > General English > Rosetta Stone Advantage > Beginner - Book 1 > Lesson 11
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By the end of the lesson, the student should be able to describe their hometown.
Communication strategies:
The student should be able to able to describe their hometown to someone by following the 5 steps below:
1) state where it is
2) state what it’s famous for
3) state what you can do there and what different buildings exist
4) give their opinion of it using a simple adjective (e.g. it’s crowded)
5) state what the weather is like
e.g. I’m from Los Angeles. LA is on the West Coast of USA. It’s famous for Hollywood. It has a nice beach and lots of good restaurants. LA is very big. In Summer, LA is hot and dry.
Words and rules:
The student should be able to use existence. e.g. There is a hotel.
The student should be able to use prepositions of place. e.g. It's in the west of Japan.
The student should be able to use adjectives and nouns together in the correct word order. e.g. It's a big city.
Appropriateness:
Register: When talking to a friend about where they live we usually use a casual register.
Cultural references: "Where are you from?" can be pronounced "Where ya from?"
Track #8
Track #17
Hello, my name is Barbara. I live in New York. New York is
amazing. My favorite part of the city is Central Park. I go jogging in
Central Park every Sunday.
Track #18
Hi, I’m James. I’m a chef and I work in a big restaurant. I live and
work in Miami. I like Miami because the weather is great.
Track #19
Hey, I’m Brad. I’m a salesman. I live in Sydney and work in an
office near my house. Sydney is nice, but it’s very expensive.
Track #20
Hey, I’m Keiko. I’m a student at Keio University. I live in the
dormitories. I love living on campus because it’s very convenient.
Because the lesson touches on the topic of things in a city, you are welcome to introduce some of the following vocabulary if you like.
1) an airport (n)
2) a skyscraper (n)
3) a temple (n)
4) a shrine (n)
5) a museum (n)
6) a stadium (n)
7) a mall (n)
8) a shopping street / arcade (n)
9) a police station (n)
10) a beach (n)
Option 1:
Difficulty ★
Type: Vocabulary introduction and skit
Purpose: Describing where cities are located
Method: Introduce the four points of the compass, then using Google maps look up some
different cities and practice stating where they are.
e.g. Tokyo is south of Gunma.
You can then introduce other phrases like
“In the south of” and “on the west coast of”
Option 2:
Difficulty ★★
Type: Comparison speech
Purpose: Grammar practice - Existence / Conjunctions / Adjectives
Method: Think of two cities then compare them. Model the example first so that the student’s
expectations are set correctly. You can use your imagination if you like.
e.g. In my hometown, there are 3 schools, but in Tokyo there are many schools.
Also, my hometown is warm in summer, but Tokyo is very hot in summer.
Tokyo has two airports, but my hometown doesn’t have an airport.
Option 3:
Difficulty ★★★
Type: Relia presentation
Purpose: Describing one’s hometown using authentic information
Method: Use Google Maps to bring up a map of the student’s hometown. Then have them tell
you about it using authentic information. You can model this first if you like using
information from your hometown.
Naruhodo point
We say "west of Tokyo" when the area is outside Tokyo.
We say "in the west of Tokyo" when the area is inside Tokyo.
We say “on the west coast” because we are thinking of a surface (e.g. on the wall)
Extra questions you might like to ask in the lesson
- Where are you from?
- What’s your hometown like?
- What it famous for?
- What can you do there?
- Do you like living there? Why?
- What’s the weather like there?
- When’s the best time to visit?
Let’s start
Match the famous landmarks to the cities.
Top Line (L>R)
London / Tokyo / Pisa
Bottom Line (L>R)
New York / Sydney / Paris
Let’s try
Listen to the four people. Where do they live?
Barabara = New York
James = Miami
Brad = Sydney
Keiko = Tokyo - Keio University dormitories
Tell your teacher about the four people.
Track #17
Her name is Barbara. She lives in New York. She thinks New York is amazing. Her favorite part of the city is Central Park. She goes jogging in Central Park every Sunday.
Track #18
His name is James. He’s a chef and he works in a big restaurant. He lives and works in Miami. He likes Miami because the weather is great.
Track #19
His name is Brad. He’s a salesman. He lives in Sydney and works in an office near his house. He thinks Sydney is nice, but it’s very expensive.
Track #20
Her name is Keiko. She’s a student at Keio University. She lives in the dormitories. She loves living on campus because it’s very convenient.
Can you tell your teacher about where you live?
I live in Ueno. It’s very nice. There is a big zoo near my house.
Let’s practice
Use the phrases and the information below to practice describing different cities.
Name: Los Angeles
Country: USA
Location: on the West Coast
Famous places: Hollywood
Things to do: a nice beach
lots of good restaurants
Adjectives: big
Weather: hot and dry in summer
LA is in America. It’s on the West Coast. It’s a very big city. It’s famous for Hollywood There are lots of good restaurants There is a nice beach. It’s hot and dry in summer.
Let’s speak
Tell your teacher about your town in detail.
e.g. I live in Sydney. Sydney is on the East coast of Australia, it’s about 2 hours from Melbourne by plane. It’s a really nice town. It’s very multicultural. It’s famous for the Opera house and the Harbour Bridge. It has lots of great malls. My favorite one is called Westwood. It also has a great beach called Bondi. I sometimes go there to surf.