Manuals > General English > Rosetta Stone Advantage > Elementary - Book 2 > Lesson 4
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By the end of the lesson, the student should be able to state where they live and describe the good and bad points about living there
Communication strategies:
The student should be able to describe where they live using the following strategy:
1) state where you live
2) describe where your town or city is
3) describe what you like or dislike about it
4) share some interesting facts about your city
I live in Omiya. It’s a city in Saitama. It’s about 40 minutes or so from Tokyo. It’s pretty countryside. I like where I live; it's pretty convenient. My apartment is really close to the station so I walk to the station each day. Also, there are lots of really nice restaurants in my neighborhood. There is always somewhere nice to go out for dinner. I especially like Lumine. It has a great Hawaiian restaurant. The only bad point is that it can be a little noisy. Oh, here’s an interesting fact about Omiya, their Soccer team - Ardija means “Squirrel” in Portuguese. How about you? Where do you live?
Words and rules:
- The student should be able to use prepositions of place e.g. It's next to my house.
- The student should be able to express existence. e.g. There is a bank
- The student should be able to express pros and cons.
e.g. One bad point is that there is no beach.
- The student should be able to share some information about famous landmarks in their city e.g. New York = Yankee Stadium
Appropriateness:
Non-verbal behaviour: NA
Register: Talking about where you live can be done in a polite or casual register. Usually the more casual the conversation, the more information about where you live you can share.
Social rules: We usually don't ask people for detailed information about where they live, e.g. their address, unless we are friends with them.
Cultural references: It's common to say "my place" to refer to one's home, house, or apartment. We can say "in the sticks" or "in the boonies" if we want to say something is in the countryside.
Track #8
I live in an apartment. It’s in the center of the city. My place is next to Central Park. There are lots of shops, bars, and cafes. There is a big museum. There is even a famous stadium near here. It is a great place to live! My apartment is on the 21st floor, so I have a great view of the city. The rent is expensive, though!
Track #9
My family and I live in a suburb. It is far from the city center. Our neighborhood is quiet and safe. We know all of our neighbors’ names. Every house has a garden. There is a convenience store at the end of the street, but there aren’t any restaurants.
Track #10
I live in a village in the countryside. Grand Central Station is 2 hours away. There are not many cars or buildings. But this is a beautiful place. We are surrounded by farms and there are lots of animals in the fields. There is a big lake close to our house.
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) a skyscraper (n)
2) a skyline (n)
3) a harbor (n)
4) a shopping arcade (n)
5) a field (n)
6) a rice paddy (n)
7) a local delicacy (n)
8) a landmark (n)
9) a tourist attraction (n)
10) a statue (n)
Option 1:
Difficulty ★★
Type: Let's start - Warm-up discussion
Purpose: Steering the student into the goal of the lesson before opening the book.
Method: Before you open the book, take turns listing and discussing what things you think are necessary to make a great city. e.g. restaurants, cheap rent, good transportation etc.
Option 2:
Difficulty ★★
Type: Let's start - Warm-up expansion
Purpose:
Giving the student some additional cultural knowledge
Method: After you have completed the “Let’s Start” activity, you are welcome to teach the student about some additional famous landmarks around the world. As a game, you can say the name of the landmark, and the student has to guess which city or country it’s in. You can also make it a true or false game, if you like. e.g. The Taj Mahal is in China. True or False?
- The Statue of Liberty in New York, USA
- The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France
- St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, Russia
- The Great Sphinx at Giza, Egipt
- The Taj Mahal in Agra, India
- Big Ben in London
- Tower of Pisa, Italy
- Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro
- Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany
- Stonehenge in the English county of Wiltshire
- Mount Rushmore in South Dakota
- Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California
- Forbidden City in Beijing
- The Colosseum in Rome, Italy
- The Louvre in Paris, France
- White Cliffs of Dover in Great Britain
- Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles
Naruhodo point
The following expressions are US English and talk about US cities.
“Downtown” is used when talking about the main business area of a city
“Uptown” is used when talking about the residential area of a city
Extra questions you might like to ask in the lesson
- Where do you live before?
- When did you move there?
- What’s good about New York?
- What do you like about living there?
- What don’t you like about living there?
A speaking hint you might like to use
AAA (Answer > Add > Ask)
> Feel free to use this speaking hint in the “Let’s Practice” / “Let’s Speak” sections of the lesson
e.g. What do you like about where you live?
ANSWER:
I really like the convenience.
ADD:
My house is only about 2 minutes from the station, so it’s really easy to get to work.
ASK:
How about you?
Some grammar that might come up in the lesson
Existence
We use “there is” to talk about singular things and “there are” to talk about plural things. This gets a little tricky with negatives, though.
We use “there isn’t a” when we talk about things that are typically singular in a city
e.g. There isn’t an airport. (it’s not typical for there to be more than one airport)
We can also say “there is no”.
We use “there aren’t any” when we talk about things that are typically plural in a city
e.g. There aren’t any banks. (it’s typical for there to be more than one bank)
We can also say “There are no”.
Let's start
The question in “Let’s Start” - “People can live in a city. Where else can they live? e.g. in a town” is designed to elicit the following vocabulary:
- in the city / in the suburbs / in the countryside
- in a city / in a town / in a village / in a ward
- in a house / in an apartment / in a condo / in a dorm
- on a farm / on a boat
Let’s try
Track #8
She lives in an apartment. It’s in the center of the city. Her place is next to Central Park. There are lots of shops, bars, and cafes. There is a big museum. There is even a famous stadium near here. It is a great place to live! Her apartment is on the 21st floor, so she has a great view of the city. The rent is expensive, though!
Track #9
He and his family live in a suburb. It is far from the city center. His neighborhood is quiet and safe. He knows all of his neighbors’ names. Every house has a garden. There is a convenience store at
the end of the street, but there aren’t any restaurants.
Track #10
She lives in a village in the countryside. Grand Central Station is 2 hours away. There are not many cars or buildings. But this is a beautiful place. She is surrounded by farms and there are lots of animals in the fields. There is a big lake close to her house.
Let’s practice
Content
Lives in: the city center
Location: 10 min. from station
Good points
• Exciting
• Lots of shops
• Many restaurants
• A famous museum
Bad points
• No public park
• Noisy
• Expensive
Expected outcome
She lives in the city center. Her place is about 10 from the station. She likes living in the city because it’s exciting; there are lots of shops and restaurants. Also, there is a famous museum close to her house. Some things she doesn't like about living in the city is that it’s expensive and noisy. Also, she’s a little sad that there are no public parks.
Let’s speak
Asking someone about where they live
A) Where do you live?
B) I live just north of Sydney in a place called Hornsby.
A) What do you like about living there?
B) Living in the Hornsby is very convenient; it’s really close to the city, and the rent isn’t too expensive. Also, there are lots of great restaurants.
A) What don’t you like about living there?
B) Well, some of my friends are a bit far away, so I usually need to travel into Sydney to see them.
A) How far away is Sydney?
B) About 40 minutes.
A) What else can you tell me about Hornsby?
B) Well, we have a large Chinese population, so there are lots of great Chinese restaurants around.