Learning Vocabulary - Phrasal Verbs connected to travel

Introduction: 

Rich: I’ve got a few days off in a couple of weeks so we’re thinking of going away.

Jack: Lucky you! I wish I could get some time off but I’m snowed under at work at the moment. Where are you thinking of going?

Rich: Not sure yet. I’ve been looking at flights.

Jack: Flights! Wow! Sounds like more than just a little break, it sounds like a real holiday.

Rich: Well, I think I’ve got three days off so we’re not going to be travelling to the other side of the world, but the kids would really like a bit of sun and the beach.

Jack: What about the Canary Islands in Spain, or Morocco maybe. It’ll be warmer there and I’m sure it’ll be sunny.

Rich: Yes, they’re pretty good ideas but I’m thinking it might be better to go somewhere closer to home.

Jack: It’s a bit cold in the UK in February … but you could visit friends and family or you could always go to London there’s loads to do for kids.

Rich: But the kids love the beach. I’m thinking we could go to Southampton for the weekend.

Jack: Southampton? Really? It’s by the coast but I don’t think it even has a beach. It’s a port.

Rich: It doesn’t have a beach? That’s not good. It could still be a good place to go though. We could stay in a little Bed and Breakfast in the city centre.

Jack: Do you know anyone in Southampton?

Rich: No, no one.

Jack: You could go to Bournemouth instead. It’s not far from Southampton and has a great beach or maybe Brighton. You could watch a match too - they both have Premier League teams!

Rich: Well, it’s funny that you mention that. You see Southampton play Liverpool the weekend we want to go away.

Jack: Ahh! Now I understand. That’s why you want to go to Southampton. Maybe the kids can watch the boats while you are at the match!

Welcome - Travel

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich

Jack: and I’m Jack

Rich: and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast

Jack: Where we talk about football and help you with your English.

Jack: What’s happening this week, Rich?

Rich: In this week’s podcast, we are going to talk about travelling to different places and we’re going to introduce ten phrasal verbs that are connected to travelling.

Jack: That’s right. Rich and I are both going to tell you about a time we visited a different city or place, how we got there, why we went there, where we stayed and what we did there.

Rich: And we will have lots of different tasks and activities for you to do that are connected to this podcast. A few of these tasks will be on the podcast page on the Premier Skills English website.

Jack: But, we will also be publishing some other activities and tasks for you to do connected to this podcast in the next few days. There will always be links on the side of the podcast page to help you find it all.

Rich: Let’s start by telling everyone about a time each of us travelled to a different city or place.

Jack: Your task is to answer these five questions. Where is the place? How did we get there? Why did we go there? Where did we stay? What did we do in the place?

Topic Focus

Jack: Rich, you said earlier that you’re thinking of going to Southampton to watch Liverpool play. Have you travelled to many away matches?

Rich: When I was younger I used to go to loads of matches - home and away. I used to go to home matches with my dad when I was little but when I was a teenager I started going to away matches with friends.

Jack: Where did you go?

Rich: All over. We used to catch a coach. There would be loads of us and loads of coaches - we’d all get on one of the coaches. We’d always get picked up and dropped off at the football stadium. Sometimes if we were going to London we’d set off really early, especially if the match kicked off early. There was a great atmosphere on the coaches - singing … chanting. Everybody got on really well.

Jack: Did you stay over or come back straight after the match?

Rich: We nearly always came back straight after the match. My mum wouldn’t let me stay over in a different city and it would have been too expensive anyway.

Jack: It must have been fun though?

Rich: Yes, it was. Thanks to football I got to travel all over the country. Many of my friends who didn’t go to the football only left the city once a year for a holiday. I think I really got a taste for travel because of football and my knowledge of geography got better too.

Jack: Geography?

Rich: Because of football I can pinpoint Sunderland, Ipswich, Wigan, Coventry and Portsmouth on a map! And European places too thanks to European football!

Jack: Alright then, here’s a challenge. Where do Panathinaikos play?

Rich: Athens in Greece.

Jack: Ferencvaros?

Rich: Budapest in Hungary.

Jack: That’s enough. I believe you.

Rich: What about you, Jack? Did you use to go to away matches?

Jack: No, I didn’t but there is a trip to a different place that I remember well.

Rich: Where did you go?

Jack: Well, when I was a kid we always loved to go to Cornwall on holiday.

Rich: Oh! I’ve never been, but people tell me it’s very pretty. They call it the English Riviera.

Jack: It’s true. Anyway, every year we would set off very early in the morning and would drive down to Cornwall. We always stayed in the same little village called Perranporth and we would go back to the same little bed and breakfast every year.

Rich: Sounds good.

Jack: It was. I think my dad liked it because it was very quiet and a place you could get away from it all. I liked it too because the beach was brilliant. We would check in at the B&B and then go straight to the beach.

Rich: Was there much to do there?

Jack: Exploring the beach and the sea was enough, but we would always spend one day in a place called Newquay - a nearby town. We’d always get a taxi - I can’t remember why. It would pick us up in the morning and drop us off in the centre of Newquay.

Rich: What would you do there?

Jack: This was the best bit. My dad would go for a look around the town and I would go surfing!

Rich: Cool.

Jack: It was. Newquay has some of the biggest waves in the UK and it was great to have surfing lessons.

Rich: I’d love to be able to surf. Do you still do it?

Jack: No, but I'm sure I could pick it up again quite quickly. I suppose it’s like riding a bike or swimming - you never forget how to do it.

Language Focus

Jack: In the last section, we spoke about different places that we have travelled to.

Rich: And while we were speaking we used lots of different phrasal verbs.

Jack: We’ve looked at phrasal verbs before in the podcast and if you want to find out more about how to use them then check out our podcast on 10 phrasal verbs. I’ve put a link on the side of this page.

Rich: In short, a phrasal verb is a verb with two or three parts. They often have non-literal meanings which makes them difficult to understand.

Jack: For example, when Rich was talking about travelling to away matches he said that everybody got on very well. To get on is a phrasal verb which means to be friendly.

Rich: We are now going to look at ten more phrasal verbs that are connected to travel that we used in the previous section.

Jack: Before we explain what they mean we want you to do something.

Rich: We want you to listen to the previous section again. Listen to me talking about away matches and Jack talking about his childhood holiday. While you are listening, write down ten phrasal verbs that you hear that are connected to travelling.

...

Jack: Right, let’s look at the phrasal verbs that you heard. Rich said we’d get on one of the coaches. The phrasal verb is get on. It means to enter a coach.

Rich: One thing to remember is we get on a bus, we get on a train and we get on a plane but we get in a car.

Jack: Rich also said that the coach picked him up and dropped him off at the football stadium. Here the phrasal verbs are to pick up and to drop off.

Rich: Pick up means to collect someone from a place in a car or other type of transport and to drop off means to take someone in a car or other type of transport and leave them in a specific place.

Jack: One thing to remember with these two phrasal verbs is that they can be separated. It’s possible to say I’ll pick Rich up from the football stadium and I’ll pick up Rich from the football stadium.

Rich: I also said that we set off really early. To set off means to start a journey and this phrasal verb can’t be separated.

Jack: I asked Rich if he stayed over or came back after the match. Stay over means to sleep in a different place and come back means to return to a place. These are another two phrasal verbs that can’t be separated.

Rich: Jack used a very similar phrasal verb to come back. He said we would go back to the same hotel every year. The phrasal verb is go back and also means to return to a place and also can’t be separated.

Jack: Another important phrasal verb connected to travel is to check in.

Rich: Jack said that they would check in at the hotel. To check in means to register at the hotel and the opposite is to check out.

Jack: This phrasal verb is useful at airports too. You have to check in at the check-in desk. You have to register by giving your flight tickets and passports.

Rich: Not all phrasal verbs are non-literal though. Some are easier to understand. Jack said that they wanted to get away on holiday and that his dad liked to look around the town. These phrasal verbs are easier - to get away and look around mean exactly what they appear to mean.

Jack: One final thing. Did you notice that I said that I could pick up surfing again? Here I used the phrasal verb to pick up. In this example, it means to learn something with little effort not to collect someone in a car.

Rich: Yes, it’s important to say that phrasal verbs often have more than one meaning.

Jack: So, there are 10 phrasal verbs connected to travel. Are they the same phrasal verbs that you wrote down?

Rich: The ten were: to get on, to pick up, to drop off, to check in, to set off, to stay over, to come back, to get away, to go back and to look around.

Task

Jack: This week’s task is for you to write about a city or place that you have travelled to.

Rich: This could be a place that you travelled to when you were a child, somewhere that you have been to lots of times or somewhere that you have been to more recently and maybe only been once.

Jack: Your task is to answer these five questions. Where is the place? How did you get there? Why did you go there? Where did you stay? What did you do in the place?

Rich: We want you to use as many of the phrasal verbs from this podcast as you can. Write the phrasal verbs in capital letters so everybody can see them more easily.

Jack: And if you can include more or different phrasal verbs connected to travel, that’s great.

Rich: Write your answers in the comments section below.

Football Phrase

Rich: Have you got a football phrase for us this week?

Jack: Yes, I have, but first, last week’s football phrase. The phrase was transfer gossip. The transfer window is open at the moment so there is a lot of transfer gossip in the newspapers and online - rumours about which players are signing for which clubs and things like that.

Rich: It was difficult because you might have thought the answer was transfer rumours. But if you listen carefully you will notice that the answer we need is an uncountable noun not a countable one.

Jack: Well done to Liubomyr from Ukraine and Ahmed Adam from Sudan who got there in the end.

Rich: What’s this week’s phrase, Jack?

Jack: This week’s phrase is just a word. The football word is ******. This is a match that is played in some cup competitions when the first match finishes in a draw.

Rich: Got it! Nice and easy. Let’s see how many of you get it.

Jack: Right, that’s all we have time for this week! Don’t forget to write your answers to our questions and make a guess at our football phrase in the comments below.

Rich: And don’t forget to listen to our round-up show called ‘This Week’.

Jack: If you have enjoyed this podcast or found it useful, leave us a review or rating and that will help other people find us. Bye for now and enjoy your football!