Four Seasons
What’s your favourite and why?
Listen to the six people say which is their favourite season, and then answer the
following True or False questions.
1. If the answer is False, can you explain why?
a) Matt’s favourite season in England and Japan is summer
b) Both James B And James C like the autumn
c) Three people mention the colour of the autumn leaves
d) Three people mention sports
e) Nobody talks about the winter
f)
Johnny says that summer in Japan and Thailand are similar
2. Listen to some of the people again and fill in the gaps in the following
Matt
Yeah … my favourite season in England is probably summer … I live by the beach and it’s
_______ and ________ during the summertime … erm …and I like to go ___________
too … so summer’s the best time of year to do that … the sea’s not too cold … In Japan
however … summer’s a bit hot for me … a bit too __________ … erm … so I think …
probably autumn is a nicer … a nicer season in Japan … temperatures are a bit cooler
Sarah
Erm …I like summer because I like _____________ in the outside swimming pools and
unlike in England … Japan is _____ _____ which is much better.
James B
Er … well my favourite season in England is summer because it’s ________ and ______
most of the year and erm
James C
… it’s a time where you know like … things ______ __________ … you know … and
after a long winter … when I see the flowers ___________ … it just makes me feel good.
Now , read the transcripts below and check your answers. 
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© The British Council, Osaka 2016
The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational and cultural relations. Registered in England as a charity.
Four Seasons
What’s your favourite and why?
Trabscripts
Matt
Yeah … my favourite season in England is probably summer … I live by the beach and it’s
nice and cool during the summertime … erm …and I like to go windsurfing too … so
summer’s the best time of year to do that … the sea’s not too cold … In Japan however …
summer’s a bit hot for me … a bit too humid … erm … so I think … probably autumn is a
nicer … a nicer season in Japan … temperatures are a bit cooler
Sarah
Erm …I like summer because I like swimming in the outside swimming pools and unlike in
England … Japan is quite hot which is much better.
James B
Er … well my favourite season in England is summer because it’s cold and wet most of
the year and erm … that time is a little less cold and wet … erm … whereas … erm … in
Japan I think it’s autumn because the colour of the leaves
James C
Well you know … I think my favourite season is spring … you know … it’s a time where
you know like … things come alive … you know … and after a long winter … when I see
the flowers blooming … it just makes me feel good.
Mark
I think for me it’s probably autumn … at least in Japan because I just really like the
autumn colours and the way the leaves change and I also like the fact that it becomes
much cooler than the summer has been.
Johnny
I think my favourite season is probably summer erm … but I think in different countries
summers are different you know … in Japan it’s very hot and in Thailand where I used to
live it’s very very hot … but I also like Britain where it’s just kind of sunny and a bit milder
and maybe that’s more similar to spring here I guess … but yeah … I basically like the
summers hot …like … you can do lots of outdoor sports and things like that … so it keeps
me going
More questions on the next page!
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© The British Council, Osaka 2016
The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational and cultural relations. Registered in England as a charity.
Four Seasons
What’s your favourite and why?
Questions to think about
1. Which person was most difficult to understand? Why do you think so?
2. Which person was easiest to understand? Why do you think so?
3. Which vocabulary was new to you?
4. Which grammar structures did you notice people using?
Read the transcripts again and find all the examples of …
- comparative structures
(for example, cooler than …)
- quantifiers
(expressions which tell us how much/many of something - for example, a lot of)
After you have done that, why don’t you leave a comment on the blog to tell us all
about your favourite season? You could use some of the grammar structures or
vocabulary from above. You would also be practising your writing of course.
We look forward to reading your comments.
Hope you found this activity useful! 
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© The British Council, Osaka 2016
The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational and cultural relations. Registered in England as a charity.