A conversation about travelling and backpacking, with plenty of useful vocabulary for talking about this subject.
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Vocabulary
Here is the list of expressions which I use and explain in this podcast. It is all very useful for when you are travelling.
You’ll notice a lot of uses of Present Perfect Tense (have/has + past participle) in questions.
You’ll also notice the phrasal verbs – made of a verb + particle combination. They are very common, and there are lots in this podcast. There’s a transcript of the travelling conversation from this episode, just scroll down.
Here are the expressions:
Mind if I join you?
How’s it going?
Whereabouts?
Where in London?
I’m just up the road
No way!
How weird!
That’s right by my work
Really?
It’s a small world
How long have you been here?
I’ve been here about a week now
Are you staying long?
What about yourself?
We’re travelling through the whole area
Just travelling up through Vietnam
Where have you been so far?
I flew into Ho Chi Min City
I saw the sights
I flew up to Hanoi
I’ve got a mate up there
We had a laugh
Are you just travelling down the coast now?
Have you been to Hue?
No, we’re travelling south to north
I’m a bit templed out
They’re worth visiting
Beautiful views on the way
It’s pretty rank
Are you just going to stick around in Hanoi for a bit?
The plan is, just stick around here for a while
and then head down to Nha Trang
Chill out on the beach
I’m going to pass through Dalat
Do you know any good places to stay around here?
Just walk down this street
There’s an ATM on the corner
See you around!
Transcript [12:37] to [16:32]
L – Luke
C – Claudia
[12:37]
L: Excuse me, do you mind if I join you?
C: No, yes, fine.
L: All right. Cool, thanks. How’s it going?
C: Yeah, pretty good, thanks. Yourself?
L: Yeah, not bad, thanks. So where are you from?
C: I’m from England.
L: Yeah, yeah, me too.
C: Oh yeah, whereabouts?
L: London.
C: Yeah, me too.
L: Really? Where in London?
C: Do you know it quite well?
L: Yeah, yeah.
C: West London.
L: Really? Me too.
C: Yeah.
L: Me too.
C: Really? Chiswick?
L: I’m in Hammersmith.
C: Really?
L: I’m just up the road.
C: Yes, literally just up the road.
L: No way.
C: How weird.
L: So, where in Chiswick are you?
C: You know the green where the church is?
L: Yeah, do.
C: Just there. What about you?
L: Really? I’m up the road. Do you know the Tescos up the road?
C: Yeah.
L: I live opposite the Tescos.
C: Really? That’s right by my work.
L: Is it?
C: Yeah.
L: No way. Where do you work?
C: At the London school of English.
L: Really? So do I.
C: (sound of surprise) What the? no way.
L: Yeah. I’ve been working there for about three years.
C: Really? I only started just two months ago.
L: Ok, Are you Westcroft Square.
C: Yeah, just over your flat.
L: I haven’t been there for a while. I’ve been working in the other school.
C: That’s so weird.
L: No way. That’s amazing. It’s a small world.
C: It is. So, how long have you been here?
L: Well, I’ve been here about a week now.
C: Ok, not too long. Are you staying long?
L: I’ve got about a week left. So, yeah, just a couple of weeks.
C: Ok, just a holiday.
L: So what about yourself?
C: We’re travelling through the whole area. Done Thailand, a bit of Cambodia. Just travelling up through Vietnam and then to Loas.
L: Wow, you’re doing the whole thing. Enjoying it?
C: Definitely. It’s amazing. We’re loving Hoi-An. Ho Chi Min was cool too but a bit busy. So, where have you been so far?
L: Well, I flew in to Ho Chi Min and spent a couple of days there and just saw the sights. And then I flew up to Hanoi, because I’ve got a mate up there. And I spent New Year’s Eve there and I took a bus out to Halong Bay and I did that, stayed on a boat overnight.
C: Really? What was that like?
L: It’s pretty funny, really. The boat actually had mice on it.
C: Oh no.
L: And the engine was really loud at night, but it was funny. You know, there was good people on a boat. We had a really good laugh.
C: Cool. So, are you travelling down the coast now?
L: Yeah. That’s right. I fly out of Ho Chi Min City again in about a week. So I’m just going down the coast now by bus and train, visiting the main spots. Have you been to Hue?
C: No, not yet. We are travelling from south to north.
L: Oh right, ok. Hue is really nice. Go and see the imperial city. It’s really interesting.
C: What? Temples?
L: Yeah.
C: A bit templed out, to be honest.
L: A bit templed out. Lots of temples in Cambodia?
C: Yeah.
L: It is more temples, but they are pretty good. They’re worth visiting.
C: Ok.
L: So, after Hue, I took the train down here, beautiful views on the way. Really nice. I definitely recommend the train journey. Don’t eat the food though.
C: No?
L: No, it’s pretty rank.
C: Oh, ok. So are you just going to stick around in Hoi-An for a bit.
L: Yeah, yeah. The plan is just stick around here for a while and then head down to Nha Trang and chill out on a beach for a while and then I’m going back to Ho Chi Min City. I’m going to pass through Dalat as well.
C: Yeah, cool. Oh you’ll like Nha Trang. You should do a boat tour, you’ll have a really good time, yeah. So, do you know any good places to stay around here?
L: Yeah, there is loads of places, just walk down this street and there’s a few hotels. There is an ATM on the corner as well.
C: Oh good. Nice one. Ok. Well, have a great time.
L: Yeah. Thanks a lot. Maybe see you around in Hoian?
H: Yeah. yeah.
L: Ok. Bye, bye.
C: See you.
[16:32]
Here’s a funny video by a pair of musician/comedians from New Zealand. This song is dedicated to English Robot 3000 and English Robot 4000. Which one should I choose to be my number 1 robot? Email me: luketeacher@hotmail.com
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvrva8NoMLM&hl=en_US&fs=1&]