Learning Vocabulary: A memorable journey

Introduction

Jack: Hello my name’s Jack

Rowan: My name’s Rowan

Rich: and I’m Rich

Rowan: And welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast.

Jack: In the Premier Skills English podcast, we talk about football and help you with your English.

Rowan: Don’t forget you can find the transcript for all our podcasts on the Premier Skills English website.

Jack: This week we have three different roleplays for you. In each of the roleplays, we’re going to talk about a journey.

Rowan: Each roleplay focuses on travelling on a different type of transport: planes, trains and buses.

Jack: We think that this topic will be useful for two reasons. Firstly, this is essential language if you ever visit an English speaking country and want to, well, use public transport and also because this language is really common in exams.

Rowan: When you do an English exam, you often have to talk about public transport so this is valuable vocabulary to revise.

Rich: After each roleplay, we’ll look at words and phrases that you might need when travelling by bus, by train or by plane.

Jack: In the role play, I’m going to be talking about a bus journey. I can’t stand traveling by bus and the journey I’m talking about was really annoying.

Rowan: Mine was the opposite. I was going on a long train journey. I love traveling by train and this was a really exciting journey for me.

Rich: And I was traveling by plane. It was the first time I ever flew - I’ll never forget it. In fact, all of these journeys will be hard to forget. And that’s part of the reason we’ve chosen this topic. You see, talking about a memorable journey is a really common English exam task.

Rowan: And that’s why your task this week is to tell us about a journey or trip which you’ll never forget, a journey you remember well - a memorable journey.

Jack: If you are listening to us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or any other podcast platform, you should also check out our website.

Rowan: On the Premier Skills English website you’ll find the transcript, examples and activities to help you understand the language, and the task for you to complete.

Rich: But if you listen on Apple Podcasts you can always write answers to our questions or any other comments in the review section.

Jack: Before we do the roleplays let’s look back at last week’s football phrase.

Last week’s Football Phrase 

Rowan: Before we start this week’s roleplay we need to look back at last week’s football phrase.

Rich: OK, our football phrase. If you’ve not listened to the podcast before, every week we set our listeners a language challenge. We explain a football phrase or word and you have to guess what it is.

Rowan: When you know the answer, go to the Premier Skills English website and write the word or phrase in the comments section for this podcast. If you’re correct we’ll announce your name on next week’s podcast.

Rich: We had lots of correct answers last week but a big congratulations to Alex from Ukraine who was the first to get the correct answer.

Jack: And a big well done to the following listeners who also got the correct answer: Liubomyr from Ukraine, Hayato and Keisuke M from Japan, Navid from Iran, Emmanuel from France, Max Alex from Vietnam, Marco Zapien from Mexico, HSN and MoBeckham from Turkey, Elghoul from Algeria and Robert Tavares from Brazil.

Rowan: The new football phrase is at the end of this podcast but we’re going to give you one more chance to guess last week’s football phrase. Are you ready?

Rich: The phrase was a ******** **** which connects passing with getting injured. A ******** **** is when you give an opponent the same chance of getting the ball as a teammate. Both players will need to tackle to win possession of the ball and this increases the chance of injury

Rowan: We’ll give you the answer and a new football phrase at the end of this podcast.

Jack: If you remember, our last podcast was the last in our series of podcasts connected to different sports and fitness activities.

Rich: Don’t worry if you want to learn more English connected to sport and fitness because we will soon have some new content on the website about this. Keep your eyes open for that.

Rowan: Last week’s podcast was about football training and football and we asked you about the last time you played football.

Jack: Vic from Mexico told us about playing for his school team and hurting his knee. Ouch!

Rich: Navid from Iran told us that it’s been a while since he played but he used to play in midfield and the last time he played he had the coach on his side who was also the referee. Naturally, Navid’s team won!

Rowan: And HSN from Turkey really enjoyed last week’s podcast and had a lot to say on the website. The last time he played football with friends in his neighbourhood the losers had to buy the winners lemonade. However, HSN didn’t say whether he finished on the winning or losing team!

Jack: Thanks for all your comments and your answers to the tasks. We do enjoy reading all of them and think it’s a really good way to practise your English so keep writing those comments!

Rich: If you haven’t heard this podcast it’s called Learning Vocabulary: Football Training and you can find it on the Premier Skills English website or on Apple Podcasts.

Introduction to roleplay: 

Rowan: We have three roleplays for you this week. We’re talking about trips we remember well or memorable journeys.

Jack: You will hear me talking about a bus trip, Rowan’s talking about a train journey and Rich is talking about the first time he went on a plane.

Rich: As always, the main focus is the language. After each roleplay, we’re going to focus on words and phrases connected to these three types of transport: buses, trains and planes.

Rowan: While you listen to each roleplay we want you to answer two questions.

Rich: Question one: Why did Jack have to get off the bus?

Rowan: Question two: What has Jack forgotten?

Roleplay 1

Jack: Sorry, I’m late. I had an absolute nightmare getting here.

Rich: I just saw you getting off the number forty-one at the bus stop. We should still make kick-off.

Jack: I should have been here half an hour ago but as you saw, I had to get the bus.

Rowan: Why are you not in the car?

Jack: It broke down yesterday. I hate buses and I forgot my wallet so I didn’t have my card.
...

Rich: How did you pay the fare?

Jack: I didn’t!

Rowan: You didn’t pay the fare?

Jack: I had a tenner in my pocket but the driver said they only accept the exact fare if you pay in cash. They don’t give any change.
...

Rich: So you had to go home?

Jack: I asked the other passengers if anyone had any change.

Rowan: Good idea.

Jack: No-one did, but the driver let me on anyway but only for a couple of stops so I could go and get some change at the shops.

Rich: That was a bit mean. He could have let you off.

Jack: That’s what I thought. Anyway, I went to the newsagents and bought a paper.

Rowan: The bus had gone I suppose?

Jack: Yeah, I had to wait for ages at the bus stop and then three arrived at the same time.

Rich: Always the way.

Jack: And none of them were coming here. I had to get a bus into town and then change. And they were packed - I’m just happy the driver let me get on. I had to stand up all the way.

Rowan: Ah well! You’re here now. Have you got the tickets?

Jack: Tickets?! Tickets! They’re in my wallet!

Language Focus 1

Rowan: Before the roleplay, we asked you two questions. The first question was: Why did Jack have to get off the bus?

Jack: Usually I pay by card on the bus but I’d forgotten my wallet. I did have some money but only a ten-pound note and the bus driver needed the exact money.

Rich: Our second question was: What did Jack forget?

Jack: The answer was the tickets. They were in my wallet.

Rowan: In the roleplay, we used lots of language connected to travelling by bus. You might have heard get the bus, get on and off, the number 41, bus stop or stops as well as words connected to money such as bus fare and change.

Jack: Let’s look at some of that language now. Listen to this section of the roleplay again. Can you hear any words and phrases connected to buses?

Rich: I just saw you getting off the number forty-one at the bus stop. We should still make kick-off.

Jack: I should have been here half an hour ago. I had to get the bus.

Rowan: The word get is super useful when we speak about transport.

Rich: How do you get to work in the morning?

Rowan: I get the bus. I get the train. I get the underground.

Jack: I got the bus in the roleplay to meet Rowan and Rich.

Rich: We can also use the verbs take or catch. I take the train to work or I catch the bus.

Rowan: You might have noticed that we said get the bus and not get a bus.

Jack: We can actually use either - they mean the same thing. You can get the bus to work or get a bus to work. When you get the bus you are probably talking about a route you know well and use a lot.

Rich: But when we talk about the underground we always use the because we are talking about the transport system and not the individual trains.

Rowan: We usually use the definite article ‘the’ when talking about the route we take by bus. Jack got the number 41.

Jack: When I got on the bus I realised that I’d forgotten my wallet so I had to get off the bus.

Rich: We get on and off buses. It’s the same with trains, coaches and planes. We get on and off them but cars are different - we get in a car and we get out of a car.

Rowan: The other word you might have noticed in the clip we played is where you wait for a bus. Where do you wait for a bus?

Jack: At the bus stop. Let’s play another section of the roleplay again. What words do you hear that are connected to money?

Rowan: You didn’t pay the fare?

Jack: I had a tenner in my pocket but the driver said they only accept the exact fare if you pay in cash. They don’t give any change.

Rich: An important word here is fare - f-a-r-e, fare. This is short for bus fare - the amount of money you have to pay to travel. You have to pay a fare on all types of transport: bus fare, train fare, plane fare or taxi fare.

Rowan: Jack didn’t pay his fare. He didn’t pay his bus fare.

Jack: It’s because I had to pay the exact fare and I didn’t have any change.

Rich: This happens a lot on buses in the UK if you can pay in cash. If the bus fare is 75 pence you have to give the driver 75 pence, not a pound because the driver won’t give you any change.

Rowan: Think about the prepositions I use here: On buses, I can usually pay by card or in cash.

Jack: The other keyword is change. The driver didn’t have any change. Change here is used to describe small amounts of money - normally coins.

Rich: I’ve always got some change in my jeans pocket.

Jack: It is also used to describe the money you get back when you pay for something with more money than it costs.

Rowan: If the fare is 75 pence and I give the driver a pound I need 25 pence change.

Jack: In the roleplay, I had to get off the bus to change a ten-pound note to get some change because the driver wouldn’t give any change.

Rich: That’s complicated. Let’s play another section of the roleplay again. What words do you hear that are connected to buses?

Jack: No-one did but the driver let me on anyway but only for a couple of stops so I could go and get some change at the shops.

Rich: That was a bit mean. He could have let you off.

Rowan: We’ve already said that the place where you wait for a bus is called a bus stop.

Jack: Stop is used to describe the place where the bus usually stops to collect more passengers.

Rich: Jack got on the bus for two stops. My bus journey to work is twelve stops. Can you stop the bus? I think I’ve missed my stop!

Jack: There were a couple of useful phrases with the word ‘let’ in this section. The driver let me on. This means the driver permitted or allowed me to get on the bus.

Rowan: And Rich said the driver should have let Jack off. This could mean he allowed him to get off the bus but here it is a phrasal verb and has a different meaning.

Rich: Here to let off means to allow someone not to do something. I thought the driver could have let Jack not pay his bus fare.

Jack: Remember you can check your understanding of all this vocabulary on the Premier Skills English website.

...

Jack: Let’s move on to our second roleplay. We’re at the train station and Rowan tells us about a memorable train journey she went on in the past.

Rowan: Here are the two questions we want you to answer as you listen.

Rich: Question one: Where did Rowan stop on her journey?

Jack: Question two: How did she get back from her destination?

Roleplay 2

Rowan: Have I ever told you about the time I saw Fulham play in Hamburg?

Jack: Loads of times, Rowan! Fulham’s best-ever season. It was the Europa League Final - the first-ever - about ten years ago now. You played Atletico Madrid.

Rich: Oh, you lost, didn’t you? I didn’t know you went to the final though. How cool!

Rowan: I know we lost, but it was a brilliant trip. Do you know how I got there?

Jack: By plane I imagine.

Rowan: No actually, so you don’t know everything. I went by train. I always remember my trip to Hamburg when I’m getting a train somewhere.

Rich: The UK to Germany by train. That must’ve been really exciting.

Rowan: It was. I remember the journey like it was yesterday - I remember waiting on the platform at St. Pancras Station in London.

Jack: I’ve never caught the Eurostar.

Rowan: The whole trip took a week.

Jack: It must’ve been a really slow train.

Rowan: The trip was a week not the train journey. I remember the train rolling into Gare du Nord in Paris. We stayed for three days. We did all the touristy things; the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, we even went to see cabaret at the Moulin Rouge.

Rich: And then you got back on the train to Hamburg?

Rowan: Not quite. We could have got a direct train but we took the train to Brussels and then to Amsterdam instead.

Jack: I bet you got really good at reading train timetables.

Rich: And they were always on time?

Rowan: Yes, I can’t remember one train being delayed or cancelled. We tried to avoid peak times when trains are really busy though.

Rich: And more expensive!

Jack: So, Hamburg after Amsterdam?

Rowan: Yes, for the match. I know we lost but it was still a great experience.

Rich: I’ve never done anything like that. I’d love to watch Liverpool abroad.

Jack: And did you get singles or returns?

Rowan: Always singles. We took a plane home. I had to be back at work on Monday.

Language Focus 2 

Rich: Before the roleplay, we asked you two questions. The first question was: Where did Rowan stop on her journey?

Rowan: I stopped in Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam on the way to Hamburg in Germany.

Jack: And our second question was: How did Rowan get back from her destination?

Rowan: The answer was by plane. I would have liked to have done the return journey but I needed to get home for work.

Rich: In the roleplay, we used lots of language connected to travelling by train. Let’s play another section of the roleplay again. What words do you hear that are connected to trains?

Rich: The UK to Germany by train. That must’ve been really exciting.

Rowan: It was. I remember the journey like it was yesterday - I remember waiting on the platform at St. Pancras Station in London.

Jack: I’ve never caught the Eurostar.

Rowan: I went to Germany by train. Did you notice the preposition here? The preposition we use when talking about travel in general is ‘by’. We say by plus the type of transport.

Rich: By train, by bus, by plane, by car, by underground.

Jack: But when you walk from one place to another we say on foot.

Rowan: Just one foot?

Jack: It’s strange, isn’t it?

Rich: We mentioned a couple of places in the clip you just heard. The train station and the platforms.

Rowan: The station or train station is simple enough but platform might be a new word for some of you.

Jack: A train station has a number of platforms. These are the places where you wait for your train and get on when it arrives.

Rich: Let’s play another section of the roleplay again. What words do you hear that are connected to time?

Rowan: Not quite. We could have got a direct train but we took the train to Brussels and then to Amsterdam instead.

Jack: I bet you got really good at reading train timetables.

Rich: And they were always on time?

Rowan: Yes, I can’t remember one train being delayed or cancelled. We tried to avoid peak times when trains are really busy though.

Rich: Sometimes trains are late but Rowan didn’t have any problems. She said all the trains she took were on time.

Jack: To be on time means to be punctual - to arrive at the expected time. The time it says on the train timetable.

Rowan: The train timetables are what you often see in train stations or on platforms that tell you all the arrival and departure times of trains at that station on each day.

Rich: Rowan said that she tried to avoid peak times. These are the times that trains are busiest. In the UK, peak times are between seven and nine in the morning and five and seven in the afternoon.

Jack: Sometimes trains are delayed which can be annoying. It means that the train arrives later than planned.

Rowan: And sometimes trains can be cancelled which is even more annoying. This means that they don’t arrive at all.

Rich: Luckily that didn’t happen to Rowan on her trip to Germany.

...

Jack: Let’s move on to our final roleplay. We’re at the airport and Rich tells us about the first time he went on a plane.

Rich: Here are the two questions we want you to answer as you listen.

Rowan: Question one: Why are we at the airport?

Jack: Question two: What do Rich and Rowan agree on when it comes to flying?

Roleplay 3

Rich: It was good to get through check-in and security, quickly. We’ve got some time for shopping. Boarding time is over an hour away.

Rowan: I’ve never been on a business trip abroad before.

Jack: Neither have I but why are we flying economy?

Rich: You wanted business class? It’s only a two-hour flight!

Jack: A shame we didn’t get upgraded at check-in.

Rowan: I’m just happy I didn’t have to pay any excess baggage my carry-on bag weighs a ton.

Jack: It’s been ages since I’ve been on a plane.

Rowan: Me, too, but I’ve never been a frequent flyer. I get a bit nervous before take-off.

Rich: I love flying. I still remember my first ever time on a plane.

Jack: Where did you go?

Rich: Manchester to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands. I was about twelve I think. I was so excited that I was going on a plane. I remember the plane taking off and seeing the clouds and then going through them. It was amazing.

Rowan: And weren’t you scared? I was petrified my first time. I still am and when there’s turbulence. Oh my god - I go to pieces.

Rich: I love it when it gets a bit bumpy - like a roller coaster.

Jack: I’m not sure about that. I’m not a fan of turbulence either but jet lag’s the worst thing about flying for me.

Rowan: Well, you’ve been lucky enough to go to quite a few long-haul destinations.

Rich: I like taking off but landing is the best bit of a plane journey. I remember landing in the Canary Islands and seeing the blue sea and the tiny runway ahead of us. It was breathtaking although I do remember a bit of turbulence and holding my mum’s hand as we touched down.

Rowan: I think we can agree that landing is the best bit of a plane journey.

Jack: Did that say last call for passengers on flight 2756. Come on guys! I think that’s us.

Language Focus 3

Rowan: Before the roleplay, we asked you two questions. The first question was: Why were we at the airport?

Rich: We were at the airport because we were going on a business trip together.

Jack: And our second question was: What did Rich and Rowan agree on about flying?

Rich: We agreed that the plane landing was the best bit of the journey.

Rowan: Although the reasons were different. Rich thinks the plane landing is exciting but I think it’s terrifying.

Jack: In the roleplay, we used lots of language connected to travelling by plane. Let’s look at some of that language now. Listen to this clip from the roleplay again.

Jack: Neither have I but why are we flying economy?

Rich: You wanted business class? It’s only a two-hour flight!

Jack: A shame we didn’t get upgraded at check-in.

Rowan: I’m just happy I didn’t have to pay any excess baggage my carry-on bag weighs a ton.

Jack: When you arrive at the airport the first place you usually go is check-in. This is the place where you leave your bags, or more formally baggage, and show your ticket.

Rowan: There are different types of tickets you can buy. The cheapest is usually called economy class or just economy.

Rich: Most people fly economy.

Jack: But other people may fly business class or even first class. These tickets are really expensive.

Rowan: There’s something similar on trains. In the UK you can travel first-class or standard class.

Rich: I think on buses it’s the same for everyone although lots of buses in the UK have two decks - they are called double-deckers. I love going upstairs on a bus.

Jack: Back to planes. I was disappointed that we didn’t get upgraded. To get upgraded on a plane means to be given a better seat or class when you check-in.

Rowan: It can be a verb or a noun. I’ve never got an upgrade on a plane.

Rich: More generally, upgrade means to make something better or to improve the condition of something.

Jack: We’ve already said that we leave our baggage at check-in. Rowan was worried about excess baggage. This is when your bags weigh more than is permitted and you have to pay extra.

Rich: At check-in, people usually have baggage to check-in - to go in the hold of the plane and small bags they want to take on or carry onto the plane. This is called carry-on or hand baggage.

Rowan: Let’s play one final section from the roleplay. What words do you hear that are connected to planes?

Rich: I like taking off but landing is the best bit of a plane journey. I remember landing in the Canary Islands and seeing the blue sea and the tiny runway ahead of us. It was breathtaking although I do remember a bit of turbulence and holding my mum’s hand as we touched down.

Jack: Let’s start with two very important words: take off and land.

Rich: Planes go up into the sky - they take off and they come down from the sky - they land.

Rowan: Planes take off and land on runways. The runway is the straight strip of road that planes travel along to build up and reduce speed.

Jack: A phrasal verb for land is touch down. The plane touched down at 3:47.

Rowan: And finally something that happens on planes that nobody likes: turbulence.

Rich: Turbulence happens when there are changes in the wind speed that cause the plane to rock and move about a lot.

Jack: Remember that we’ve got vocabulary activities for you to check your understanding of everything we’ve looked at today on the Premier Skills English website.

TASK

Rich: In this week’s task, we want you to tell us about a memorable journey or trip.

Rowan: This journey could have been recent like Jack’s bus trip or a long time ago like my trip to Germany or Rich’s flight to the Canary Islands.

Jack: It could have been a fantastic experience or a not so nice experience, but the important thing is that it was a memorable trip.

Rich: The trip should either have been on a bus, train or aeroplane.

Rowan: And of course as you tell us about the trip we want you to use some of the language we introduced in this podcast connected to buses, trains or planes.

Jack: Write all your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website or Apple Podcasts if that’s where you listen to us.

Football Phrase

Jack: It’s time for this week’s football phrase. Have you got one Rich?

Rich: I have. This week’s football phrase is **** **** ****. In this podcast, we’ve been talking about travelling and being **** **** **** a lot. We also use this phrase when football teams are not playing in their own stadiums. Manchester City are **** **** **** this weekend - they’re playing at Anfield.

Jack: Let’s see if anyone gets it right and who is first this week. If you are still wondering what the answer was to last week’s football phrase it was a hospital pass.

Rowan: 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. If you get it right, we’ll announce your name on next week’s podcast.

Rich: If you have a question for us about football or English you can email us at premierskills@britishcouncil.org

Jack: or you can leave your questions and comments on the website in the comments section or on our Facebook page.

Rowan: or you could give us a rating and a fantastic review on Apple Podcasts.

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football!