A Holiday in the Lake District
British Council – Learn English Elementary Podcast Series 1 Episode 2, 00:42-01:56
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/general-english/audio-series/podcasts/series-1/episode-02
1) Listen to the conversation and fill in the blanks.
Ravi: Now, last week I 1................... you that Tess loved
riding her mountain bike and you’ve been away riding your bike this week, haven’t you?
Tess: I have, yes.
Ravi: Where 2............. you go?
Tess: We went to the Lake District, in the North West.
Ravi: Oh. Beautiful. For our listeners who don’t 3…………….., the Lake District is in the
north west of England and it’s a 4……………… beautiful part of the country. I went there
last year, you know. It’s a 5…………………….. place to ride a bike though – lots of hills.
Tess: I like riding up hills!
Ravi: I prefer riding 6…………. them. Did you stay in hotels?
Tess: No, we were camping. We 7................ two small tents with us and at the end of every
day we just put the tents up on a camp site. It was great. Really relaxing.
Ravi: What was the 8…………….…. like? Camping’s great when the weather’s OK but
when it’s 9…………………., it’s horrible.
Tess: Yeah, we were really 10……………………. It was really 11………………... Well, it
12....................... one day but that was OK.
Ravi: Sounds great – I need a 13…………………….! But, well, I think I prefer to spend my
holidays on the 14……………….. It sounds like a lot of hard work Tess.
Tess: I love it! I’m going again 15……………. year. I can’t wait! But it’s time to move on to
the rest of the show –I know we’ve got lots of interesting people to hear from...
2) Vocabulary
Find the French for:
ride a bike ............................................
Find the English for:
collines..............................................................
lake.......................................................
monter les tentes................................................
country.................................................
le temps est correct............................................
last year................................................
ensoleillé............................................................
lucky ...................................................
à la plage ...........................................................
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Practice
Ravi doesn’t only ask questions. He also makes comments about what Tess says. This is
normal in a conversation. We respond to what people say – maybe with our opinion, or some
extra information about ourselves.
3) Look at this dialogue between Dave and Stella. Put the phrases in the box in the
correct place.
I went there a few years ago
Was the weather good?
Did you go with Pete?
Good weekend?
Yes, I know Bath
Where did you go?
It sounds great !
Where did you stay?
He’d love it.
Dave: Good morning Stella. 1…………………………………
Stella: Great thanks. I went away.
Dave: Lucky you! 2……………….……………….. Anywhere
nice?
Stella: I went to Bath. You know, near Bristol, in the South West.
Dave: 3……………………………………It’s a fantastic place. 4………………..……………
Stella: No, Pete was working so I went with my sister.
Dave: You went with Amy? That’s nice. Why did you choose Bath?
Stella: Amy wanted to go – she’s really into old buildings.
Dave: Yes, 5…………………………………………………….. I remember the Roman Baths
– and of course, all of the old city is beautiful. There’s a lot of stuff to see. 6 ………….
……………………………
Stella: In a hotel – not a very expensive one, but it was nice.
The people were really friendly. And it was near the city centre
so we could walk everywhere. It was great. Really relaxing.
Dave: Well, walking’s OK if it isn’t raining. 7…………………
………………………………………
Stella: It was OK. Not fantastic, but OK. It was a bit cold but it was sunny.
Dave: Perfect for walking! 8……………………………………………..……
Stella: Yes, it was. I’d like to go back again – maybe for a week or two.
Dave: You should take Pete next time. 9…………………………….………….
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If we know something about the person we’re talking to, and the place they visited, we can
either ask a general question: What did you do? Or we can show that we’re interested by
asking a more specific question: ‘Did you go to that wonderful museum?’.
4) Match the specific questions in the box to the general questions below.
1. Who did you go with?

 Did you try the local fish?
2. How did you travel?

 Did you go to that fantastic beach?
3. Where did you stay?

 Did you stay at the Rialto?
4. What did you eat?

 Did it rain a lot?
5. What was the weather like? 
6. What did you do?

 Did you go with your brother?
 Did you take your car?
5) Imagine you are talking to a friend. Practise the following:
You: Hi [name] …………………….! Nice holiday?
Friend: Yes, I went away
You: Where did you go? Anywhere interesting?
Friend: Yes, I went to [place] ………………………………………………………………
You: I know [place] ……………………………………………. It’s [describe the place]
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
[Ask another question] …………………………………………………………………….
Friend: …………………………………………………………………………………….._
You: [Make a comment] …………………………………………………………………………...
[Ask another question] ……………………………………………………………………...
You: [Make a comment] …………………………………………………………………….
[Ask another question] …………………………………………………………………….?
Friend: ………………………………………………………….…. And what about you?
Did you manage to get away?
You: Yes, I went to [place] ………………………………………………………………….
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6) To talk about past holidays, you’ll need to use the past simple. How does it work?
Base form ending in…
-e
consonant + y
vowel + consonant
any other cases
Irregular verbs
How to make the simple past
Add -d
Examples
like liked
date  dated
Change -y into -i and add -ed
cry  cried
try  tried
Double the consonant and add -ed commit  committed
hug  hugged
Add -ed
call  called
look  looked
Check the list.
go  went
take  took
To ask questions, use ‘did’ + subject + base form.
Examples: Did you visit Mahhattan?
Where did you go on holiday?
When did you meet Brian?
How did they travel?
For negative statements, use ‘didn’t’ or ‘did not’ + base form.
Examples: We didn’t visit Manhattan.
I didn’t go to New York.
I didn’t meet Brian.
They did not travel.
Practice:
Answer the questions (write full sentences).
Did you listen to music this morning? …………………………………………………………
Did you watch a movie last night? …………………………………………………………….
What time did you start class today? …………………………………………………………..
Did it rain yesterday? ………………………………………………………………………….
Did you have orange juice for breakfast? ……………………………………………………...
Where did you go on holiday? ………………………………………………………………...
When did you do your homework? ……………………………………………………………
Did you visit your family last weekend? ………………………………………………………
Where did you live when you were 5 years old? ……………………………………………...
7) Final task
On a separate sheet, write a text to relate your best or your worst holiday memory.
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the 60 most common irregular verbs
Rank Infinitive
2
45
19
43
37
32
44
49
6
35
55
44
38
36
58
30
50
17
60
51
4
15
3
39
1
25
46
26
to be
to become
to begin
to break
to bring
to buy
to catch
to choose
to come
to cut
to drink
to drive
to eat
to fall
to feed
to feel
to fight
to find
to fly
to forget
to get
to give
to go
to grow
to have
to hear
to hit
to hold
Past simple
Past
participle
was / were
became
began
broke
brought
bought
caught
chose
came
cut
drank
drove
ate
fell
fed
felt
fought
found
flew
forgot
got
gave
went
grew
had
heard
hit
held
been
become
begun
broken
brought
bought
caught
chosen
come
cut
drunk
driven
eaten
fallen
fed
felt
fought
found
flown
forgotten
got
given
gone
grown
had
heard
hit
held
Translation
être
devenir
commencer
casser
amener
acheter
attraper
choisir
venir
couper
boire
conduire
manger
tomber
donner à manger, nourrir
sentir, éprouver
battre, combattre
trouver
voler (dans les airs)
oublier
obtenir
donner
aller
cultiver, grandir
avoir
entendre
frapper, atteindre
tenir
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21
9
24
54
41
7
29
34
31
12
23
18
14
5
40
33
22
20
27
56
53
42
28
10
57
13
11
52
59
47
48
16
to keep
to know
to leave
to let
to lose
to make
to mean
to meet
to pay
to put
to read
to run
to say
to see
to sell
to send
to set
to show
to sit
to sleep
to speak
to spend
to stand
to take
to teach
to tell
to think
to throw
to understand
to wear
to win
to write
kept
knew
left
let
lost
made
meant
met
paid
put
read
ran
said
saw
sold
sent
set
showed
sat
slept
spoke
spent
stood
took
taught
told
thought
threw
understood
wore
won
wrote
kept
known
left
let
lost
made
meant
met
paid
put
read
run
said
seen
sold
sent
set
shown
sat
slept
spoken
spent
stood
taken
taught
told
thought
thrown
understood
worn
won
written
garder, rester
connaître, savoir
quitter, laisser, partir
laisser, louer
perdre
fabriquer, faire
vouloir dire
rencontrer
payer
mettre
lire
courir
dire
voir
vendre
envoyer
poser, fixer
montrer
s'assoir, être assis
dormir
parler
dépenser, passer (du temps)
être debout
prendre
enseigner
dire, raconter
penser, réfléchir
lancer
comprendre
porter (des vêtements)
gagner
écrire
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