miércoles, 10 de agosto de 2016

Talking point: Around the globe

This week's talking point is tourism. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.
  • Do you prefer travelling alone or with other people?
  • What do you usually do while you’re waiting in an airport?
  • What are the positives and negatives of going on long jurneys?
  • How do you get about discovering a new town -a tourist bus, guidebooks/maps, tours?
  • What negative aspects of tourism can you think of?
  • Do these negative aspects stop you from wanting to see traditional tourist sights?
  • Why do you think we all like visiting the same tourist attractions?
  • Do you think it’s important to see all the famous sights and landmarks if you visit a new place?
  • How do you think tourism will change in the future?
  • Think of some interesting and beautiful things you’ve seen as a tourist. Use these adjectives to describe them:
impressive – remarkable – superb – astonishing – stunning – 
dramatic - exotic - unique - breaktaking - memorable

INTERACTION
Go over these off-the-beaten track destinations and with your partner decide on the pros and cons of visiting each of these places before choosing one to go together.

Uruapan
Uruapan is one of the oldest cities in Mexico. A beautiful river runs through it, and there are spectacular waterfalls on the outskirts of the city. However, the most amazing feature you can see here is the nearby volcano, Paricutin. It really is quite impressive. You can go trekking up the volcano (it's about 420 metres high). The volcano is extinct so it's perfectly safe. So for some history and some really remarkable scenery, Uruapan is a good choice.

Ha Long Bay
Ha Long Bay (Vietnam) is a place where everyone lives on a floating house! On top of that, all around the bay there are astonishing islands made of limestone. Some of them look like beautiful towers - they're really quite breathtaking. And there are lakes and caves on some of the islands, as well as monkeys. Ha Long Bay is dramatic and beautiful. But best of all, there aren't thousands of tourists – not yet anyway!

Kizhi Island
Kizhi Island is in the middle of Lake Onega in Karelia, Russia. In the 1950s, lots of, historic wooden buildings were moved from different parts of Karelia on to the island in order to save them. When you visit the island, you feel transported to another world. Although it's a UNESCO site, not too many people know about it so you won't meet loads of tourists.