Delayed

Lead-in

  • Do you prefer to plan your trips beforehand or to let them happen spontaneously?
  • What has been the purpose of the last 4 of your trips?
  • Have you ever experienced a delayed flight? How long was the delay?
  • What is something bad that happened while you were traveling? How did you feel about it?

Presentation

Pre

  • What is your favorite thing about traveling?
  • What about your least favorite?

Top Down

  • What is the text about? Read it and find out.
  • Common travel problems
  • Common travel advantages
  • Common travel destinations
  • Common travel problems
  • Common travel advantages
  • Common travel destinations

“The benefits of travelling are well-touted; you try new things, broaden your horizons, discover how to interact with different people and learn how to be alone. If you’re lucky maybe you’ll even fall in love or learn a new skill along the way. But what happens when disaster strikes? Because it will at some point, trust me on that one; some travel problems are pretty much de rigeur. Whether it’s getting sick, getting lost or just getting fed-up with foreign climes, when you find yourself facing a travel problem or three, while hundreds of miles from home, it can push you to your limit and maybe even cause you to cut your trip short.

So that doesn’t happen to you, I’ve broken down how to bounce back from 3 of the most common travel problems.

1. Gross Accommodation
Problem: So the hotel of your dreams doesn’t quite match the images online. You arrive and find; stain-covered carpets, a grime-covered bathroom and four cockroaches crawling way too close to your wobbly bed. Ew.

Solution: Travelling for hours only to find sub-par accommodation is one of the most fixable travel problems, but at the time it feels like your entire trip is completely ruined. However, simply knowing your rights as a consumer before you set off can facilitate the right outcome. If you booked through a tour operator, they’re liable to to fix your issue and you should contact them right away. Similarly, if it’s an Airbnb that’s let you down, they offer assistance in finding a new place and/or a refund. And if it’s an (unreasonable) hotel or hostel? Well you could always gently try asserting your power as a customer: if they try to swerve your complaint warn them that a bad social media review can go a long way in this day and age…

2. Language Barriers
Problem: Not being understood in foreign climes is proving to be more of a hassle than you’d anticipated. In fact, it’s making you feel more than a little alienated and frustrated.

Solution: It’s never too late to brush up on your language skills; making even a very basic effort will endear you to locals and make your trip far more enjoyable in the process. Download language app Duolingo to practice anywhere, enroll at a local language school for a few hours a day and take each opportunity to immerse yourself in your new culture, no matter how small. Failing that, investing in an old-school guide book or pocket dictionary to whip out in emergencies is always useful.

3. Delayed / Missed Flights
Problem: Nobody likes being stranded in an airport because of a delayed flight or missed connection and it can be one of the most expensive (not to mention soul-destroying) travel problems to put right.

Solution: Be sure to keep in contact with your airline both before, and on, the day of flying. Check the status of the flight online and also through the airline app (if available) so you’re always aware of any changes to your itinerary. It’s also possible to minimize the risk of cancellations by being savvy about what type of ticket you buy; non-stop flights won’t have you waiting around on connections and flights with earlier departures often avoid the effect of other delayed flights. And if you do find yourself stranded, this handy directory of all the free wi-fi spots in airports around the world will save you from boredom. Happy travels!

Modified from source

Bottom Up

  • True or False
  1. It’s imposible to travel and not have a major problem.
  2. Not being understood in foreign climes is not a big deal. There’s always someone around to help.
  3. Language apps won’t help you much.
  4. You should keep in contact with your airline only on the day of flying.
  5. Non-stop flights are known to be more dangerous than the ones with connections.
  1. It’s imposible to travel and not have a major problem. False
  2. Not being understood in foreign climes is not a big deal. There’s always someone around to help. False
  3. Language apps won’t help you much. False
  4. You should keep in contact with your airline only on the day of flying. False
  5. Non-stop flights are known to be more dangerous than the ones with connections. False

Post

  • Which of the problems mentioned in the text is the worst one? Why?
  • What other problems can you think of?

Target Language

Present Perfect and Past Simple

Present Perfect

Have + subject + past perfect

  • I have missed my train.
  • Have you ever missed your train?
  • Yes, I have.

Past Simple

  • What did you do?
  • I lost my passport.
  • What happened then?
  • I went home.

Answering a Have you ever…? Question

  • Yes, once/twice.
  • Yes, loads of times.
  • Yes, just the other day.
  • Yes, some (months) ago.
  • Yes. When I was on holidays in…

Answering a Have you ever…? Question

  • X No (never,) and I wouldn’t like to.
  • X No (never,) but I’d like/love to.
  • X No (never,) but I hope to one day.

What do we need to travel?

Controlled Practice

  • Match each word with its meaning. There is one example.
  1. Passport
  2. Bottle
  3. Currency
  4. Boarding pass
  5. Luggage
  6. In-flight
  • (   ) A container, typically made of glass or plastic and with a narrow neck, used for storing drinks or other liquids.
  • (   ) Empty bags and suitcases.
  • (   ) A document that gives a passenger permission to board the plane.
  • (   ) An authoritative document issued by a national Government to citizens for proving identity while traveling abroad.
  • (   ) A system of money in general use in a particular country.
  • (6) Occurring or provided during an aircraft flight.
  1. Passport
  2. Bottle
  3. Currency
  4. Boarding pass
  5. Luggage
  6. In-flight
  • (2) A container, typically made of glass or plastic and with a narrow neck, used for storing drinks or other liquids.
  • (5) Empty bags and suitcases.
  • (4) A document that gives a passenger permission to board the plane.
  • (1) An authoritative document issued by a national Government to citizens for proving identity while traveling abroad.
  • (3) A system of money in general use in a particular country.
  • (6) Occurring or provided during an aircraft flight.

Freer Practice

  • Complete the sentences with your own ideas. 
    • Once my flight…
    • I think traveling…
    • Have you ever…?
    • I lost my luggage and…
    • The first time I traveled was…
    • I’ve never…

Production

  • Ask and answer 5 “Have you ever…?” questions about traveling.

Example: Have you ever lost your passport?

Homework

Write the name of the following occupations according to the pictures.

Choose the best option for each sentence.

Example: Surgeons work in a hospital / office. > Surgeons work in a hospital.

  1. Bus drivers / Buses drivers have to be good drivers.
  2. Tomorrow I have a dentist / dentist’s appointment.
  3. Maria Luisa wants to be an author / autor.
  4. I would never be a jornalist / journalist.
  5. I love taking pictures! I want to be a photografer / photographer.
  1. Bus drivers have to be good drivers.
  2. Tomorrow I have a dentist’s appointment.
  3. Maria Luisa wants to be an author.
  4. I would never be a journalist.
  5. I love taking pictures! I want to be a photographer.

Turn the sentences into negative form.

Example: He wants to be a diver. > He doesn’t want to be a diver.

  1. I think working as a surgeon is complicated.
  2. She really wants to be a diver when she grows up.
  3. I hate going to the dentist. I always try to avoid it.
  4. I love the idea of working as a journalist.
  5. I think lawyers have to study really hard.
  1. I don’t think working as a surgeon is complicated.
  2. She really doesn’t want to be a diver when she grows up.
  3. I don’t hate going to the dentist. I never try to avoid it.
  4. I don’t love the idea of working as a journalist.
  5. I don’t think lawyers have to study really hard.

Put the words in the correct order

Example: mom / My / dentists / hates > My mom hates dentists.

  1. wrong / it / If / fact / a / hurts / journalist / gets / serious / a
  2. Your / advise / can / you / lawyer
  3. The / bus / passengers / and / from / fled / bus / the / two / driver
  4. incision / knee / The / surgeon / an / the / back / in / the / of / makes
  5. She / part-qualified / accountant / a / also / is
  1. If a serious journalist gets a fact wrong it hurts.
  2. Your lawyer can advise you.
  3. The bus driver and two passengers fled from the bus.
  4. The surgeon makes an incision in the back of the knee.
  5. She is also a part-qualified accountant.

Find and correct the mistakes.

Example: Doctors are inteligent. > Doctors are intelligent.

  1. Acountants are good in math.
  2. Eletrician is a dangerous occupation.
  3. I think about becoming an autor because I like to write.
  4. My father use to be a postman.
  5. My dream is to be photographer.
  1. Accountants are good in math.
  2. Electrician is a dangerous occupation.
  3. I think about becoming an author because I like to write.
  4. My father used to be a postman.
  5. My dream is to be a photographer.

Writing

Write a short text about the occupations from the Target Language.

Example: Doctors have to take care of people and…