PERSONAL INTERVIEW

Here you've got a set of questions which can be useful to prepare your oral exam. They are all personal questions and the aim is for you to be able to express yourself in correct basic English about your life and experience. When speaking try to expand your sentences, do not use short answers all the time.

1. What's your name?
2. Can you spell your surname, please?
3. How old are you?
4. Can you tell me your e-mail address?
5. Where do you live?
6. Could you tell me something about your family?
7. How long have you been learning English?
8. Can you speak any other languages?
9. Have you ever been abroad? Where?
10. Can you drive?
11. Do you smoke?
12. What do you do in your spare time?
13. What is the last film you've seen or the last book you've read?
14. What do you use the Internet for?
15. Why did you choose these studies?
16. How did you find the information about the school?
17. What tasks do you carry out in your training?
18. Do you wear a uniform? If so, what does it consist of?
19. Do you have any working experience? Where?
20. What would you like to do in the future?

HOTEL RESERVATIONS

If you want to improve your language skills when taking reservations at a hotel, why don't you have a look at this page? You will see the most important sentences receptionists and guests utter when making reservations.
You can also practise making reservations by listening and completing the following dialogue.

VOCABULARY: ENGLISH FOR HOTEL STAFF

By doing this hotel vocabulary quiz you can practise and review some vocabulary we have seen in class related to hotels. Enjoy it!

MODAL VERBS

Here is an exercise about modal verbs for you to practise.

INTERVIEW. BARAJAS AIRPORT

Here you can see one of the videos recorded by two of your classmates. I hope you like it. Thank you, students!

PRESENT PERFECT

In order to practise this tense -the present pefect- I recommend you to visit this page where you will find some useful grammar explanation about it.

Then, you can do the exercises that follow the explanation:

• In exercise 5 you can practise with sentences in isolation. 
• Exercise 6 6 is about present perfect in context.

You can also practise on www.agendaweb.org

JOB ADS - RECEPTIONIST

Have a look at this ad and answer the following questions.

1. What are they looking for?
2. Where is the place they are advertising?
3. Is it a part-time job? Why?
4. How many days per week would you work?
5. Which duties would you have to carry out?
6. What qualities should you have?
7. Can anybody from any country apply for the job?
8. How much would you earn? How much is it in euros?

Now read this one. Answer the following questions:

1. Where is it located?
2. Is it for the same position as the previous advertisement? Why?
3. What responsibilities would you have?
4. What personal qualities should you have?
5. What benefits, if any, would you be given?
6. Which one of the two ads is more interesting for you? Why?

HOTEL FACILITIES

Have a look at the following webpage and answer the following questions.

1. What is the name of the hotel?
2. Where is it located?
3. How many stars does it have?
4. How many rooms and restaurants does it have?
5. How many conference and banqueting rooms does it have?
6. Write six items a disabled room is equipped with.
7. Write another name for 'accessible room'.
8. Could you tell me the way to Marble Arch?

APPLYING FOR A JOB. CURRICULUM VITAE EUROPASS

Have you ever heard of the Europass Curriculum Vitae?
It is an EU initiative to increase transparency of qualification and mobility of citizens in Europe. It aims to be a Life Long Learning Portfolio of documents containing the descriptions of all learning achievements, official qualifications, work results, skills and competencies, acquired over time, along with the related documentation. The aim is to make a person's skills and qualifications clearly understood throughout Europe.

I would like you to have a look at the following example. http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/img/dynamic/c1349/type.FileContent.file/ELPExamples_en_GB.pdf.
Here you can see the instructions for using the Europass Curriculum Vitae.
Once you know how it works you can either download the Europass CV documents or create your Europass CV online now.
Once it is ready, send it to me by email. The name of the file should be: cv_hm_2010_yoursurnameinitialofyourname
Deadline: Monday 15th November 2010.

INTERVIEW AT BARAJAS AIRPORT 2010

Here you have the document with the guidelines you need to do the project.
Good luck!

PROJECT

A PASSENGER SURVEY AT BARAJAS AIRPORT

Assignment: This project should be carried out at Barajas airport. You must interview two people and ask for permission to video-record the interview. If not, at least ask permission to record the sound. Do it in pairs. Some interviews will be published on the blog www.agr8tourblog4u.blogspot.com for educational purposes.

Aim: To use English as a tool for communication and to get to know the people who visit our country (nationalities, reasons for travelling, accommodation expectations…)

Assessment criteria: It will be graded from 1 to 10 and will be part of the mark of the oral skills.

Deadline: By Monday 8th November.

You can begin like this:
Good morning/afternoon/evening. I’m a student of Hotel Management / Tourism at Hotel Escuela High School, Madrid. We are doing a project about why people travel. Would you mind answering a few questions? If you don’t mind, we would like to record the interview as a class practice. Thanks a lot.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS: CHECK-IN/DEPARTURE AREA

1. Where are you from?
2. Where are you travelling to? What’s the name of the airport?
3. How long have you been here?
4. Have you been in Spain before?
5. Where did you stay? (Accommodation)
6. What’s a hotel for you? Tick the right option.

a) A bed for the night                                       c) A bit of luxury once in a while
b) The office when away from the office           d) Home far from home


7. What was the purpose of your visit?
8. How often do you travel abroad?
9. Which countries have you visited?
10. What did you like most about Spain?

Thanks for your help. Have a nice trip.

WELCOME

Hello, students,

Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic

I would like to begin this school year by welcoming Bietka, our Comenius English language assistant. As you already know, she comes from the Czech Republic so I recommend you to visit this page so that you get to know a bit about its capital city, Prague, a very important tourist destination.

ENGLISH MAN IN NEW YORK

Here is a very famous videoclip by Sting: English Man in New York. It was a great hit some years ago. I hope you enjoy it.

THE USA

To begin with, if you want to learn a bit more about the USA I recommend you to test your knowledge here. It was easy, wasn't it?

Now click on the map of the USA you have above (picture taken from www.mapsoftheworld.com) so that you can see it bigger. Which state would you like to visit? Why? What can you visit there?

Here you have a more challenging quiz. You have to point out to the right state. Ready? Click here.

And if you enjoy quizzes and you want to test your knowledge in geography, you can try another quiz on the same page. There are plenty. Good luck!

TRAVEL AGENT'S FORMATIVE CYCLE

Here you are, students. This is the part of video that was on TV in June. I hope you enjoy it.

BRITISH ENGLISH VS AMERICAN ENGLISH

Here you have some links for you to practise some vocabulary in both British and American English.
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/languages/american_english.htm
http://www.isabelperez.com/hotpot/br_am_2.htm

CUSTOMER CARE - DEALING WITH COMPLAINTS

Here you have a ppp where you can see possible complaints in a restaurant but... What happens at the end? Have a look and say if this has also happened to you.
Customer Care Ppp

TIPS ON ORAL PRESENTATIONS

In this ppp you will find some pieces of advice in order to improve your oral presentations. Take them into account when speaking in front of an audience.

Tips on oral presentations blog

View more presentations from dgmmm.

ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES

Do you know the difference among the UK, England, Great Britain and the British Isles? If you press here you will be able to find it out.

In order to test your knowledge of the British Isles I recommend you this webpage where you will have the chance of answering the questions of a quiz. I hope you enjoy it. If you have any doubts, have a look at the following map.

Here you have a map with the UK airports. I consider this map very important for you because it will help you locate some of the most important cities in the UK.

PERSONAL LANGUAGE FILE

Can you remember this? It is the document I included in "useful documents" at the beginning of the course. It was an idea I learned in Glasgow last year and I modified it to suit my students. I hope you find this tool useful because by using it you can review not only all the vocabulary and expressions but also the grammar points we have seen in class throughout the course.
Language File

INTERVIEW AT BARAJAS AIRPORT

Here you have an interview that one of your classmates did at Barajas Airport. It was an assignment all of you had to do and I am sure it was a very productive activity even though asking someone in English represented a great effort for you.
The project was like this:

A PASSENGER SURVEY AT BARAJAS AIRPORT
Good morning/afternoon/evening. I’m a student of Travel Agencies / Tourism at Hotel Escuela High School, Madrid. We are doing a project about why people travel. Would you mind answering a few questions? If you don’t mind, we would like to record the interview as a class practice. Thanks a lot.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS: CHECK-IN/DEPARTURE AREA

1. Where are you from?
2. Where are you travelling to?
3. How long have you been here?
4. Have you been in Spain before?
5. Where did you stay? (Accommodation)
6. What was the purpose of your visit?
7. How often do you travel abroad? Which countries have you visited?
8. What did you like most about Spain?

Thanks for your help. Have a nice trip.

Now listen to Diana Can you answer the questions Diana asked? Listen carefully and try, please.

INTERVIEW AT THE AIRPORT

MMD's Podcast

Do the same with Noemí's interview.

Noemi's survey

MMD's Podcast

And the same with Bàrbara's.

INTERVIEW AT THE AIRPORT - BARBARA'S SURVEY

MMD's Podcast

TICs AND THE TEACHER


Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

MARKETING ANG PROMOTION

Here you can see a nice power point presentation where different countries are promoted. The ads have been taken mainly from two magazines: Time and Newsweek.

Why don't you advertise another holiday destination? Tell me when you have yours ready by sending me a comment.

Promotion Presentation

This is José's
Buenos Aires - José Arias

This is Jenny's.
Maldives - Jenny Muñoz

And here is Noemí's.
Seychelles - Noemi

What's your opinion about Jessica's project? Have a look.
Morocco - Jessica

Bárbara wants to recommend us Egypt. Look!
Egypt - Bárbara

Why don't you have a look at Víctor's?
Munich - Víctor

PREPOSITIONS

Here you have two pages where you can practise prepositions.

The first one is related to prepositions of time. You can have a look at the explanation (very graphic) and do the exercise below which has to do with travel.  http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/preps_time.html.

The second one has to do with using prepositions for time and place. It is prepositions in context because you have a text to fill in about Michael Phelps, an Olympic swimmer. http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/preps_paragraph.html.

If you are more interested in prepositions you can press the different options at the top of the page.

COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES

Have a look at the following presentation. It is about the use and structure of comparatives and superlatives that summarises what we have seen and practised in class. I hope you find it useful. Then you can do the following geography quizzes and at the same time you check your geography knowledge you can practise comparatives http://www.eclecticenglish.com/quizzes/ComparativeQuiz/comparativeQuiz.html or superlatives http://www.eclecticenglish.com/quizzes/SuperlativeQuiz/superlativeQuiz.html

Comparative And Superlative Adjectives

View more presentations from guest1639c2.

TRAVEL INSURANCE - ANSWERS TO THE EXERCISE

Once we have corrected the exercises, you can have a look at the key in order to check your answers.

Travel Insurance Answers Blog

FREE TIME ACTIVITIES - LEISURE

If you want to see some of the activities people want to do when going on holiday have a look at the following webpage. http://www.sundayriver.com/EventsActivities/SummerActivities/index.html
There you will see an activity guide for visitors who go to the four season resort Sunday River in Newry, Maine -The USA-. They go from 'berry picking' to 'whale watching' or 'mining tours'.
Which one is your favourite? Why? Can you practise that activity in Spain? If so, where? Which of those activities would you recommend to a couple with two children aged 12 and 8?

TRAVEL INSURANCE

Here is a summary of a travel insurance policy by Churchill Travel taken from the website http://www.churchill.com/travel/travelpolicydocuments.htm.
Read it and answer the following questions:


1. How many sections are there? Write them down.
2. If your luggage is delayed for more than 12 hours after your arrival at your final destination, what does the policy cover? In which section can you find this information?
3. How much will they pay you if your departure is delayed because of a strike that had been announced on TV or radio when you booked your trip? Where did you find this information?
4. What happens if you arrive late at your departure point because your transport breaks down? In which section did you find this?
5. How much money will you receive if all the snowboarding facilities in your resort are closed due to snow conditions? Where can you find this piece of information?
You can check your answers below (in a few days)
Travel Policy Summary CHT54

MAKING SUGGESTIONS

If you work in the field of tourism you will realise that you will have to make suggestions when dealing with the clients. Have a look at some of the formulas Kenneth Beare shows in this page http://esl.about.com/od/grammarstructures/a/f_suggestions.htm and do the quiz that follows.

BOOKING A HOLIDAY

If you want to practise for the orals here there is a very useful link. There you can see the most common questions people ask when they contact a travel agent. They are related to types of rooms, facilities, flighst, clothing, etc. As a travel agent, I know this is not enough, so there you will also be able to see the answers.
Once you are on the page, in order to see all the questions and answers, choose the topic you are interesting in from the list you have on your left.
http://www.hoho.co.uk/html/qlanzarote.html
 
Photo: Michael Clayton-Jones


Another interesting link is http://www.languages.dk/archive/ws1_materials/Spanish_scenarios.pdf. You will see several dialogues. Number 4 takes place in a travel agency but there are some others which are also interenting in the field of tourism.


And if you want to practise listening, visit
http://www.audioenglish.net/english-learning/english_dialogue_air_travel_reservations_airline_2.htm where you will find a dialogue that also takes place at a travel agency.
You can see the tapescript below.
(AudioEnglish.net)
Reservations clerk: — Northwind Airways, good morning. May I help you?
Mary Jones: — Yes, do you have any flights to Sydney next Tuesday afternoon?
Reservations clerk: — One moment, please... Yes. There´s a flight at 16:45 and one at 18:00.
Mary Jones: — That´s fine. Could you tell me how much a return flight costs? I´ll be staying three weeks.
Reservations clerk: — Economy, business class or first class ticket?
Mary Jones: — Economy, please.
Reservations clerk: — That would be €346.
Mary Jones: — OK. Could I make a reservation?
Reservations clerk: — Certainly. Which flight would you like?
Mary Jones: — The 16:45, please.
Reservations clerk: — Could I have your name, please?
Mary Jones: — My name is Mary Jones, that´s M-A-R-Y J-O-N-E-S.
Reservations clerk: — How would you like to pay, Ms. Jones?
Mary Jones: — Can I pay at the check-in desk when I pick up my ticket?
Reservations clerk: — Yes, but you will have to confirm this reservation at least two hours before departure time.
Mary Jones: — I see.
Reservations clerk: — Now you have been booked, Ms. Jones. The flight leaves at 16:45, and your arrival in Sydney will be at 9:25 a.m., local time. The flight number is NWA 476.
Mary Jones: — Thank you.

HOTEL FACILITIES, THE PALACE HOTEL.

Here you can see a ppp about the Palace Hotel in Madrid. The pictures were taken by me when visiting the hotel in 2009 with a group of students of Travel Agencies. Have a look at the different types of room, pieces of furniture and equipment, and some facitilites this splendid hotel offers. Then write a brief composition about it. Be ready to do this orally too.

The Palace Hotel by MMD is licensed under a Creative Commons Reconocimiento-No comercial-Sin obras derivadas 3.0 Unported License.
Palace Hotel

WILL VS GOING TO FUTURE

Would you like to practise these two tenses? Can you remember when to use each of them? Try visiting this webpage.
http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/339.html

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE

Here you have some links to webpages related to the definite article 'the'.
THE VS ZERO ARTICLE
This is one of the best for Tourism students
The definite article exercises
The definite article exercises (text about the USA)
The definite article exercises (text about soccer and basket)
The definite article exercises (multiple choice)

READING COMPREHENSION

In order to improve your reading skills, I recommend you to visit the following websites.
1. Manchester
2. Tourist Industry
3. The Channel Tunnel
4. Angkor Wat
5. History of Tourism

NATURAL DISASTERS

Why don't you do the following wordsearch and crossword. I hope you enjoy yourself!

NATURAL DISASTERS crossword puzzle game » make crossword puzzle

NATURAL DISASTERS word search game » word searches

NATURAL DISASTERS

In order to review vocabulary related to natural disasters, I recommend you to have a look at the following website and do the exercises you can find at the bottom of the page.
http://www.syvum.com/cgi/online/serve.cgi/learn/vocabulary/English/natural_disasters.html

BEYONCÉ - HALO

To those who like Beyoncé, I hope you enjoy this video.



If you feel like singing along, have a look at the lyrics.
Beyonce Halo

PASSIVE VOICE IN CONTEXT

In order to practise the passive voice, I recommend you to do two exercises. The first one, about The Statue of Liberty, can be found on http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive/exercises?text01.
If you want to do the sencond one, about Portal Dolmens, go to http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive/exercises?text02.
What about practising a bit more? Visit http://www.agendaweb.org/ and do some exercises related to the passive voice.
You can also see some more explanations and execises here.

TYPES OF HOLIDAY, DESTINATIONS, FESTIVALS, ETC.

If you really want to become a travel agent or work in the field of tourism, have a look at the following page. There you will find different types of holiday, different destinations, festivals and events, brochures and a lof of information about different places around the world.
You can travel around the world with only one click of the mouse.
Cox & Kings is the longest established travel company in the world.
http://www.coxandkings.co.uk/home.aspx

JOURNEY, TRAVEL, TRIP...

As you already know, to distinguish the differences among 'journey', 'travel', 'trip', 'voyage', 'excursion', 'outing', 'expedition', etc. is not easy. In order to practise a bit more, you can visit the following website, where you can test your knowledge about this topic.

I hope you enjoy the activity!http://www.usingenglish.com/handouts/58.html

If you still have some problems, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv209.shtml

And now, I think you are ready to do the following crossword. Have fun!

TRAVEL, TRIP crossword puzzle game » crossword maker

READING AND UNDERSTANDING FIGURES

Once we have studied how to read figures, I recommend you to visit the following page and do the listening exercise to see if you can really understand them.
http://esl.about.com/library/listening/blnumbers1.htm

TRAVEL DESTINATIONS WORLD MAP

Here you can see a world map with the most popular travel destinations. Try to find out some information about some of them, e.g. country in which they are situated, places to see, things to do, what to eat...
Which of these places would you like to visit? Why? How would you get there? Where would you stay? How long would you spend there?
World Map Showing Travel Destinations

WEB QUEST: GETTING TO KNOW POPULAR TOURIST DESTINATIONS

As you can see, this activity will take you to different parts of the world. Answer all the questions and you will know a little bit about some interesting places to visit.
Webquest Popular Destinations

TOURIST INFORMATION - COUNTRIES AND CITIES. TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

For this topic, I recommend you a very good website www.aviewoncities.com. Please, have a look, it's gr8! There are more than 30 cities, you can see their tourist attractions and you can also test yourself because there also some quizzes about maps and attractions.

If you want to practise countries and nationalities, you can also visit http://www.agendaweb.org/ and in 'vocabulary' you will see 'countries-nationalities'. Click on and you can do plenty of exercises.