Talking About Your Vacation in English - Spoken English Lesson Sprechen Sie über Ihren Urlaub auf Englisch - Gesprochene Englisch Lektion Hablar de sus vacaciones en inglés - Lección de inglés hablado Parler de ses vacances en anglais - Leçon d'anglais parlé Parlare delle proprie vacanze in inglese - Lezione di inglese parlato 休暇について英語で話す-英会話レッスン 휴가에 대해 영어로 말하기 - 구어체 영어 레슨 Kalbėjimas apie atostogas anglų kalba - šnekamosios anglų kalbos pamoka Praten over je vakantie in het Engels - Gesproken Lessen Engels Rozmowa o wakacjach po angielsku - lekcja mówionego angielskiego Falar sobre as suas férias em inglês - Aula de Inglês falado Рассказ об отпуске на английском языке - Урок разговорного английского языка Tatiliniz Hakkında İngilizce Konuşmak - İngilizce Konuşma Dersi 用英语谈论你的假期 - 英语口语课程 用英語談論你的假期 - 英語口語課程

Hi, I'm Gina.

Welcome to Oxford Online English.

In this lesson, you can learn how to talk about your vacation in English. In dieser Lektion können Sie lernen, wie Sie auf Englisch über Ihren Urlaub sprechen.

Where did you go for your last holiday? Wo war Ihr letzter Urlaub?

What did you do there? Was hast du dort gemacht?

Did you have a good time?

In this lesson, you'll learn how to answer these questions and more in clear, natural

English.

Did you notice how Jack says 'holiday', but I said 'vacation'? Hast du bemerkt, wie Jack „Urlaub“ sagt, ich aber „Urlaub“ sagte?

This is a difference between British and American English.

Both words have the same meaning.

Let's start with some simple language you can use to start your answer.

Begin your answer by saying where you went, who with and how long for. Beginnen Sie Ihre Antwort damit, zu sagen, wohin Sie gegangen sind, mit wem und wie lange.

For example:

I went to the countryside with my family for a couple of weeks. Ich bin mit meiner Familie für ein paar Wochen aufs Land gefahren.

I went to Thailand with a group of friends for ten days. Ich war mit einer Gruppe von Freunden für zehn Tage in Thailand.

My girlfriend and I went to Rome for a long weekend. Meine Freundin und ich waren für ein langes Wochenende in Rom.

A long weekend means you go for three or four days, usually Friday-Monday or Saturday-Monday,

maybe because there's a public holiday on the Monday. Vielleicht weil am Montag ein Feiertag ist.

What about you?

Where did you go for your last vacation?

Who did you go with, and how long for? Mit wem bist du gegangen und wie lange?

Pause the video and make your own sentence.

If you want extra practice, write your sentence down. Wenn du zusätzliche Übung möchtest, schreibe deinen Satz auf.

If you really want extra practice, write down three different sentences!

Okay?

Next, let's see how you can talk about what you did on your holiday.

What do you like doing on holiday?

Do you prefer a more active holiday, maybe with lots of adventure sports and activities,

or would you rather do something more cultural? oder doch lieber etwas kulturelles?

Or, maybe you just like relaxing on the beach.

Whatever you prefer, it's good if you can say something about how you spent your time

on holiday.

Let's look at some examples and some good vocabulary for you to use:

I went to the countryside with my family for a couple of weeks.

Mostly, we went hiking in the hills and mountains nearby. Meistens gingen wir in den Hügeln und Bergen in der Nähe wandern.

We also just hung out in the village, playing cards and eating. Wir hingen auch einfach im Dorf herum, spielten Karten und aßen.

Do you like hiking?

Hiking means going for longer walks, often in the hills or the mountains.

If you hang out, you spend time without having any particular goal. Wenn Sie abhängen, verbringen Sie Zeit, ohne ein bestimmtes Ziel zu haben.

If you say we just hung out in the village, you mean that you spent time there in a relaxed

way.

Let's look at our second example:

I went to Thailand with a group of friends for ten days.

We did some sightseeing in Bangkok: the Grand Palace, Wat Pho and so on. Wir haben einige Sehenswürdigkeiten in Bangkok gemacht: den Grand Palace, Wat Pho und so weiter.

Then we hit the beaches in Krabi for some sun, swimming and cocktails! Dann gehen wir an die Strände von Krabi, um uns zu sonnen, zu schwimmen und Cocktails zu trinken!

Sightseeing means visiting the famous places in a city.

You can go sightseeing or do sightseeing. Sie können Sightseeing machen oder Sightseeing machen.

For example, if you go sightseeing in Paris, you'd probably visit the Eiffel Tower, the

Louvre, Notre Dame and so on.

Saying we hit the beaches is a very informal way of saying we went to the beaches.

You could also say we hit the bars or we hit the clubs.

Using hit suggests you're going somewhere to party and have a good time, so you probably

wouldn't use it with other places.

Let's do one more example together:

My boyfriend and I went to Rome for a long weekend. Mein Freund und ich waren für ein langes Wochenende in Rom.

We went on a walking tour of the centre and the Vatican. Wir machten einen Rundgang durch das Zentrum und den Vatikan.

Mostly, we went to restaurants and cafes and sampled as much of the local cuisine as we Meistens gingen wir in Restaurants und Cafés und probierten so viel von der lokalen Küche wie wir

could fit in our stomachs! könnte in unsere Mägen passen!

If you go on a tour, for example a walking tour, you pay for a guide. Wenn Sie an einer Tour teilnehmen, zum Beispiel an einer Wanderung, zahlen Sie für einen Führer.

Often, tours are in big groups.

Do you prefer to go on a tour with a guide, or do you like to explore by yourself?

Sample means to try many different things. Campione significa provare molte cose diverse.

We sampled as much of the local cuisine as we could means that we tried many different Wir haben so viel wie möglich von der lokalen Küche probiert, was bedeutet, dass wir viele verschiedene probiert haben Abbiamo provato il più possibile la cucina locale, il che significa che ne abbiamo provati molti diversi

dishes. Geschirr.

Alright, over to you! Okay, rüber zu dir! Va bene, passo a te!

What did you do on your last holiday?

Did you go hiking in the mountains, go sightseeing, or sample lots of delicious food? Warst du in den Bergen wandern, Sightseeing machen oder viele leckere Speisen probieren?

Try to make two or three sentences.

Use the language from this section if you can.

Pause the video now and make your answer.

Next, let's see how you can describe the place you visited in more detail.

Can you think of three adjectives to describe where you went for your last vacation?

Here, try to avoid general adjectives like nice or good.

Try to find specific adjectives.

Your answer will be more interesting!

Let's look at an example:

I went to the countryside with my family for a couple of weeks.

We stayed in a very nice village surrounded by nice mountain scenery. Wir übernachteten in einem sehr schönen Dorf, umgeben von einer schönen Berglandschaft.

Do you see what we mean? Capisci cosa intendiamo?

Saying nice doesn't say much. Nett sagen sagt nicht viel. Dire bello non dice molto.

This isn't a very good example. Das ist kein sehr gutes Beispiel.

How could you make it better?

Here's one way to improve it: Hier ist eine Möglichkeit, es zu verbessern: Ecco un modo per migliorarlo:

I went to the countryside with my family for a couple of weeks. Ich bin mit meiner Familie für ein paar Wochen aufs Land gefahren.

We stayed in a very picturesque, sleepy village surrounded by some dramatic mountain scenery. Wir übernachteten in einem sehr malerischen, verschlafenen Dorf, umgeben von einer dramatischen Berglandschaft. Abbiamo alloggiato in un villaggio molto pittoresco e sonnolento, circondato da uno spettacolare scenario di montagna.

What do you think dramatic scenery means? Cosa pensi significhi scenario drammatico?

It means the mountains were very impressive and beautiful.

Picturesque is another way to say ‘beautiful'.

If something is picturesque, it's beautiful like a painting.

So you can use picturesque to talk about scenery and places.

Sleepy means that the village was very quiet and peaceful.

You can see that using more specific adjectives like picturesque, sleepy or dramatic makes

your answer more interesting and expressive.

Of course, you'll need different language to talk about different places.

Let's look at another example:

I went to Thailand with a group of friends for ten days.

Bangkok is a very cosmopolitan place but it could be a little overwhelming because there

was so much going on! stava succedendo così tanto!

Then we went to Krabi, which has some stunning beaches.

Do you know the meaning of the key words in this answer?

Cosmopolitan describes a city which has many different people and cultures mixed together.

Overwhelming describes something which is very intense.

For example, a city can be overwhelming if there are lots of people, noises, sights and

smells all around you.

There's so much to take in that you don't know where to look! C'è così tanto da vedere che non sai dove guardare!

Stunning means ‘very beautiful'.

Let's do one more example together:

My girlfriend and I went to Rome for a long weekend.

It's a fascinating place but it's quite touristy, too. Es ist ein faszinierender Ort, aber auch ziemlich touristisch. È un posto affascinante ma anche piuttosto turistico.

The best thing was the food, which was out of this world. Das Beste war das Essen, das nicht von dieser Welt war. La cosa migliore era il cibo, che era fuori dal mondo.

Here, we used the adjectives fascinating, touristy and out of this world.

Could you explain what these mean?

Fascinating means ‘very interesting'.

Touristy describes a place where tourism has grown too much. Touristisch beschreibt einen Ort, an dem der Tourismus zu stark gewachsen ist.

Often, if you describe a place as touristy, you mean that it's lost some of its original

atmosphere.

Finally, if you describe something as out of this world, you mean it's really good

and you enjoyed it very much.

Now, it's your turn.

Can you describe the place you visited on your last vacation?

You can use the adjectives and language from this section, or you can find your own words

and phrases.

Try to use at least three interesting adjectives in your answer.

Pause the video and do it now, either speaking or writing. Metti in pausa il video e fallo ora, parlando o scrivendo.

How was that? Wie war das? Com'è stato?

Remember that you can always review a section if you found something difficult. Denken Sie daran, dass Sie einen Abschnitt jederzeit überprüfen können, wenn Sie etwas schwierig fanden.

Next, how can you talk about what you liked or disliked on your vacation?

What's the best vacation you've ever had? Qual è la migliore vacanza che tu abbia mai avuto?

What about the worst vacation you've ever been on? E la peggior vacanza che tu abbia mai fatto?

What made these holidays so good or so bad? Cosa ha reso queste vacanze così belle o così brutte?

Let's see how you can talk about the positives and negatives of your holiday.

Here's our first example:

I went to the countryside with my family for a couple of weeks.

It was relaxing but by the end I was getting quite bored. È stato rilassante ma alla fine mi stavo annoiando parecchio.

This is good, but it's always better to add a reason if you can:

I went to the countryside with my family for a couple of weeks.

It was relaxing but by the end I was getting quite bored, because each day was pretty similar. Es war entspannend, aber am Ende wurde mir ziemlich langweilig, weil jeder Tag ziemlich ähnlich war.

What does that mean, each day was pretty similar? Was bedeutet das, jeder Tag war ziemlich ähnlich?

Do you know?

It means that you did the same kind of things each day, so there wasn't much variety from

one day to the next.

Let's look at our next example:

I went to Thailand with a group of friends for ten days. Ich war mit einer Gruppe von Freunden für zehn Tage in Thailand.

I loved Krabi, because it was like nowhere I'd ever been before. Ich liebte Krabi, weil es so war wie nirgendwo zuvor. Amavo Krabi, perché era come in nessun posto dove fossi mai stato prima.

I wasn't so keen on Bangkok. Ich war nicht so begeistert von Bangkok. Non ero così entusiasta di Bangkok.

It's a cool place but it's a bit big and noisy for my tastes. Es ist ein cooler Ort, aber für meinen Geschmack etwas groß und laut.

Saying it was like nowhere I'd ever been before means that the place you went to was Dire che era come in nessun posto in cui fossi mai stato prima significa che il posto in cui sei andato era

really unique. wirklich einzigartig.

You can use I wasn't so keen on… to talk about something you didn't like very much Du kannst Ich war nicht so begeistert von… verwenden, um über etwas zu sprechen, das dir nicht besonders gefallen hat

in the past.

For example:

I wasn't so keen on the food in the hotel. Auf das Essen im Hotel war ich nicht so scharf.

I wasn't so keen on the museums—I didn't think they were very interesting. Ich war nicht so begeistert von den Museen – ich fand sie nicht sehr interessant. Non mi piacevano molto i musei, non li trovavo molto interessanti.

Adding for my tastes after you give your opinion shows that this is just your perspective. Das Hinzufügen für meinen Geschmack, nachdem Sie Ihre Meinung abgegeben haben, zeigt, dass dies nur Ihre Perspektive ist. L'aggiunta per i miei gusti dopo che hai espresso la tua opinione mostra che questa è solo la tua prospettiva.

You would use it after you give a negative opinion, to soften your idea slightly. Sie würden es verwenden, nachdem Sie eine negative Meinung abgegeben haben, um Ihre Idee etwas abzuschwächen. Lo useresti dopo aver espresso un parere negativo, per ammorbidire leggermente la tua idea.

For example:

It's a nice area, but it's too developed and touristy for my tastes. Es ist eine schöne Gegend, aber für meinen Geschmack zu erschlossen und touristisch.

Adding for my tastes makes this sound slightly softer and less direct. Das Hinzufügen für meinen Geschmack macht diesen Klang etwas weicher und weniger direkt.

Okay, let's do one more example together:

My girlfriend and I went to Rome for a long weekend.

I think I liked the general atmosphere most of all. Penso che mi sia piaciuta soprattutto l'atmosfera generale.

Walking around the little streets in the centre felt like being in an old film.

I wish it had been less crowded, though. Vorrei che fosse stato meno affollato, però.

Here, you can use the phrase I liked … most of all to talk about your favourite thing

from your vacation. aus deinem Urlaub.

Use I wish plus the past perfect (had done) to talk about something in the past which Verwenden Sie I wish plus das Past Perfect (had done), um über etwas in der Vergangenheit zu sprechen, das

you would change if you could. du würdest dich ändern, wenn du könntest.

For example:

I wish we'd had more time to explore the city. Ich wünschte, wir hätten mehr Zeit gehabt, um die Stadt zu erkunden.

I wish we hadn't stayed in that awful hotel. Ich wünschte, wir wären nicht in diesem schrecklichen Hotel geblieben. Vorrei che non fossimo stati in quell'orribile hotel.

Okay, your turn again!

What did you like and dislike about your last holiday? Was hat Ihnen an Ihrem letzten Urlaub gefallen und was nicht?

Make at least two or three sentences, and say them out loud.

Remember to give reasons to support your ideas. Denken Sie daran, Gründe anzugeben, um Ihre Ideen zu unterstützen.

Now, you should be ready to put everything together into a longer answer. Jetzt sollten Sie bereit sein, alles zu einer längeren Antwort zusammenzufassen.

To make a longer answer, you need to: Um eine längere Antwort zu geben, müssen Sie:

Say where you went, who with, and for how long. Sagen Sie, wohin Sie gegangen sind, mit wem und wie lange.

Say what you did.

Describe the place.

Talk about what you liked and disliked.

Let's do an example using language from the lesson:

I went to Thailand with a group of friends for ten days.

We did some sightseeing in Bangkok: the Grand Palace, Wat Pho and so on. Wir haben einige Sehenswürdigkeiten in Bangkok gemacht: den Grand Palace, Wat Pho und so weiter.

Then we hit the beaches in Krabi for some sun, swimming and cocktails! Dann gehen wir an die Strände von Krabi, um uns zu sonnen, zu schwimmen und Cocktails zu trinken!

Bangkok is a very cosmopolitan place but it could be a little overwhelming because there

was so much going on!

Krabi has some stunning beaches, and I loved it there, because it was like nowhere I'd

ever been before.

On the other hand, I wasn't so keen on Bangkok. Andererseits war ich nicht so begeistert von Bangkok.

It's a cool place but it's a bit big and noisy for my tastes. Es ist ein cooler Ort, aber für meinen Geschmack etwas groß und laut.

Do you see how using simple phrases and ideas, you can build a full, clear, detailed answer?

We've added some linking words, but otherwise this is only using language you've seen

in this lesson.

Let's do one more example. Machen wir noch ein Beispiel.

This time, we'll use original ideas: Dieses Mal verwenden wir originelle Ideen:

I went to Siberia by myself for three weeks. Ich bin alleine für drei Wochen nach Sibirien gefahren.

I travelled around, did some hiking and camping, and explored the countryside. Ich bin herumgereist, habe gewandert, gezeltet und die Landschaft erkundet.

I was near Lake Baikal, which is a huge lake with mountains and villages dotted around Ich war in der Nähe des Baikalsees, eines riesigen Sees mit Bergen und umringten Dörfern

the sides. die Seiten.

It was beautiful in a wild way, and the emptiness gave me a real feeling of isolation and solitude. Es war auf eine wilde Art schön, und die Leere gab mir ein echtes Gefühl von Isolation und Einsamkeit.

I liked the people I met—everyone was so open and welcoming. Ich mochte die Leute, die ich traf – alle waren so offen und einladend.

On the other hand, even though it was summer, the nights were so cold! Andererseits waren die Nächte so kalt, obwohl es Sommer war!

I wish I'd taken a warmer sleeping bag. Ich wünschte, ich hätte einen wärmeren Schlafsack genommen. Vorrei aver preso un sacco a pelo più caldo.

This time, I'm using different ideas and some different language, but I'm still following Dieses Mal verwende ich andere Ideen und eine andere Sprache, aber ich folge immer noch

the same structure.

Now, can you make a longer answer like these?

Try it!

If it's difficult, review the video or use a dictionary to get the vocabulary you need. Wenn es schwierig ist, sehen Sie sich das Video an oder verwenden Sie ein Wörterbuch, um die benötigten Vokabeln zu erhalten.

Practise your answer several times, until you can do it fluently and comfortably. Üben Sie Ihre Antwort mehrmals, bis Sie sie flüssig und bequem ausführen können.

You could also talk about other vacations you had, not just the last one. Du könntest auch über andere Urlaube sprechen, die du hattest, nicht nur den letzten.

If you want feedback on your answer, put it in the comments.

We'll give you feedback and show you how you can improve.

And remember, you can find many more free English lessons on our website Oxford Online

English.com.

Thanks for watching!

See you next time!