At Least

Lead-in

  • What is your favorite thing about staying in hotels?
  • What about your least favorite? Why?
  • How many types of accommodations can you list?
  • Describe and give your opinion about each of the following accommodations.

Presentation

Pre

  • What are your plans for your next trip?
    • Where will you go? Why?
    • Where will you stay?
    •  Who will you go with?
    • How many days do you plan on staying?

Top Down

  • What would be a good title for the text? Read it and find out.
  1. What is Couchsurfing?
  2. What are the pros and cons of Couchsurfing?
  1. The reason why no one should couchsurf.
  2. The dangers of traveling alone.
  1. The best restaurants in Brazil
  2. The best culinary destinations in southern of Brazil
  1. The best culinary destinations in Brazil
  2. The best food Brazil has to offer

I spent about a week in Norway recently. On my first night, I stayed in a small cabin in the town of Neiden. I don’t actually know if you could call it a town. It probably only had eleven people living there.

We arrived in the late afternoon, stashed some beers in the fridge, ate some crab with the neighbor, and then headed over to the sauna for the night. After sweating out twelve gallons of sins and demons, I stumbled back to the cabin and passed out on one of the couches.

In the summer months, the cabin was rented out to tourists who come to catch fish and king crab from the nearby fiords. About a thousand bucks a night. But in the winter it was mostly empty. That’s how I ended up there. The owner needed a chef for his nearby hotel, so he hired a Finnish guy for the job, and put him up in the empty cabin for the winter.

That Finnish guy just happened to be my Couchsurfing host.

People often ask me how I always manage to have such “authentic” experiences while I’m traveling. I think what they mean by this is, how do I manage to get connected to locals so quickly and easily? While there are many ways, Couchsurfing is up there with the best of them. When you get involved in Couchsurfing, experiences like the one I’ve described above are not rare. You’ll find yourself staying in all sorts of interesting places, with interesting people, and having experiences you would never hope to find in a hostel or hotel. But to get the most out of the community, you need to understand how it works.

What is Couchsurfing?
Couchsurfing is a travel community. The concept goes like this:

When travelers go overseas they need places to stay. And there are many locals who have spare beds, floors and couches. Couchsurfing matches these two together.

“Hosts” will list their available spaces on the site. Travelers will then search through them and request to “surf” with hosts they think they’ll get along with. Alternatively, travelers can publish their travel plans, and hosts can offer to accommodate them.

No money ever changes hands. The exchange is done in the spirit of travelers helping other travelers. Some of you might find it odd that anyone would do this. Why would you offer a bed for free? Why go to so much trouble to accommodate someone and get nothing in return? Why not list it on Airbnb and make some money instead?

It’s pretty simple. Travelers know travelers. And we know how important it is to help each other out. Plus you get to meet some pretty cool people along the way.

Modified from source

Bottom Up

  • True or False?

Example: The is about traveling. True

  1. The text starts with a story about a tiny town.
  2. During summer, the mentioned cabin was rented out to tourists who come to catch fish and king crab from the nearby lagoons.
  3. Some friends think that the author of the text has “authentic” experiences while traveling.
  4. One of the many ways the author mentioned to have an authentic experience is Couchsurfing.
  5. Couchsurfing is a travel community: Many locals have spare beds, floors, and couches and they offer them to travelers in exchange for money.
  1. The text starts with a story about a tiny town. True
  2. During summer, the mentioned cabin was rented out to tourists who come to catch fish and king crab from the nearby lagoons. False
  3. Some friends think that the author of the text has “authentic” experiences while traveling. False
  4. One of the many ways the author mentioned to have an authentic experience is Couchsurfing. False
  5. Couchsurfing is a travel community: Many locals have spare beds, floors, and couches and they offer them to travelers in exchange for money. False

Post

  • How do you like the idea of Couchsurfing? Why?

Target Language

Intensifiers & Gradable Adjectives

Some adjectives can be classified as gradable. This means that they can have different levels of its quality. To express those different levels we use an intensifier:

  • That last math test was quite difficult, but not as hard as the other ones.
  • That math test was extremely difficult. I bet no one will get good grades at it.
  • The math test was actually very easy.

In informal contexts it is also possible to use a bit and really to modify gradable adjectives:

  • The math test was really easy.
  • The math test was a bit hard, but I still think I’ll pass it.

Notice that a bit is usually used before negative adjectives:

  • She was a bit angry when she found out what happened.
  • Would you mind closing the window? It’s a bit cold in here.

Extreme adjectives are ungradable, so they can’t be preceded by an intensifier:

  • That math test was impossible!
  • Close that window, please. It’s freezing in here!

 

Expressing Quantities

When we are not sure about certain numbers, it is possible to use the following expressions to make approximations:

  • I don’t know how old he is, but he’s definitely over 30.
  • Over the past decades, more than 100 languages have become extinct.
  • That math test was really difficult, right? Just over half of the class have been approved.
  • Fewer than 10 students found the right answers for the math test.
  • I don’t exactly remember the price, but it was just under $100,00.
  • Around a fifth of the world’s population have some knowledge of the English language.
  • It takes about two hours to get there by car.
  • It takes around two hours to get there by car.
  • It takes approximately two hours tog et there by car.
  • We need at least 50% of the votes to approve the new law.
  • The new power plant is expected to provide energy for up to 2000 households.

Controlled Practice

  • Complete the sentences with the correct Modal of Deduction.
  1. I suppose I better be getting back to my hotel room, I think my wife _______ be wondering where I am.
  2. You _______ provide identification showing your name and address during the check-in.
  3. Initially, I guessed and told her they _______ choose a bad bed & breakfast to stay in.
  4. They _______ continue, no way! They’re just too fatigued and exhausted. Let’s just find a campsite and rest.
  5. I’m sure he _______ spend the greater part of his time in the management of the cabins because he’s never available when I call him.
  1. I suppose I better be getting back to my hotel room, I think my wife might be wondering where I am.
  2. You must provide identification showing your name and address during the check-in.
  3. Initially, I guessed and told her they might choose a bad bed & breakfast to stay in.
  4. They can’t continue, no way! They’re just too fatigued and exhausted. Let’s just find a campsite and rest.
  5. I’m sure he must spend the greater part of his time in the management of the cabins because he’s never available when I call him.

Freer Practice

  • Complete the sentences according to your own ideas.
    • The hotel with the best staff is… because…
    • When traveling you must… and also…
    • I think that rooms with no-frills are…
    • One place that has a great vibe is… because…
    • When traveling you must pay attention to… and…
    • My friend is traveling and didn’t answer my messages. He might be…

Production

  • Use the Target Language to talk about the last 3 accommodations you stayed in.

Example: The best hotel I’ve stayed in located in…

Homework

Connect the words from the first column with the words from the second

Example: Mean it > Mean it as

  1. Open to
  2. Put someone
  3. Take something
  4. Think someone
  5. Walk away
  • from the debate
  • to the heart
  • criticism
  • down
  • has a point
  1. Open to
  2. Put someone
  3. Take something
  4. Think someone
  5. Walk away
  1. criticism
  2.  down
  3. to heart
  4. has a point
  5. the debate

Match the collocations with their respective definitions.

  1. To be open to criticism
  2. To be under attack
  3. To mean it 
  4. To mean it as
  5. To put someone down
  6. To take something to heart
  7. To think someone has a point
  8. To walk away from (a debate)
  • To agree with a person’s specific argument
  • To avoid a situation because it’s difficult to deal with or does not give you any advantages
  • To feel upset about something someone said about you
  • To say something seriously
  • To criticize people in public to make them feel stupid or inferior
  • To be strongly criticized
  • To say or write something with a specific intention
  • To be prepared to listen to people’s negative opinions
  1. To be open to criticism
  2. To be under attack
  3. To mean it 
  4. To mean it as
  5. To put someone down
  6. To take something to heart
  7. To think someone has a point
  8. To walk away from (a debate)
  1. To be prepared to listen to people’s negative opinions
  2. To be strongly criticized
  3. To say something seriously
  4. To say or write something with a specific intention
  5. To criticize people in public to make them feel stupid or inferior
  6. To feel upset about something someone said about you
  7. To agree with a person’s specific argument
  8. To avoid a situation because it’s difficult to deal with or does not give you any advantages

Using the expressions from the previous exercise, complete the sentences.

Example: When I said I loved him I meant it as platonic love.

  1. She told me she was crazy to express her point, that’s why I couldn’t understand when she ______________.
  2. I’ll never understand why people insist on __________________. It is so embarrassing passing through this kind of situation.
  3. Marie needs therapy! Every little thing someone says to her she ___________________.
  4. Did you warn the employees about the feedback session today? They need to be ______________.
  5. Chris told Kevin yesterday he changed his mind. Maybe he _____________________.
  1. She told me she was crazy to express her point, that’s why I couldn’t understand when she walked away from the debate.
  2. I’ll never understand why people insist on put others down. It is so embarrassing passing through this kind of situation.
  3. Marie needs therapy! Every little thing someone says to her she takes it to heart.
  4. Did you warn the employees about the feedback session today? They need to be open for criticism.
  5. Chris told Kevin yesterday he changed his mind. Maybe he thinks someone has a point.

Put the words in the correct order to make sentences.

Example: very / Dave / to / criticism / doesn’t be / open / seem / to > Dave doesn’t seem to be very open to criticism.

  1. on / we / usually / each / don’t / other / Mondays / see
  2. might / In / you / try / future / to / the / more / little / a / polite / be
  3. shouldn’t / you / offended / be / mean / it / compliment / a / they / as
  4. feel / am / when / I / stand / honest / people / they / because / being / under / can’t / are / just / I / attack.
  5. down / their / It’s / put / not / to / because / people / nice / looks / of
  1. We don’t usually see each other on Mondays.
  2. In the future you might try to be a little more polite.
  3. You shouldn’t be offended. They mean it as a compliment.
  4. I can’t stand when people feel they are under attack just because I am being honest.
  5. It’s not nice to put people down because of their looks.

Which sentences are wrong?

  1. Why you always take what he says for heart?

  2. I mean what I say last night.

  3. Euclides mean that he said as a serious statement, not a joke.

  4. If things get loud, just walks away from the debate.

  5. It’s hard to admit this, but I think you have valid point.

  1. Why do you always take what he says to heart?

  2. I meant what I said last night.

  3. Euclides meant what he said as a serious statement, not a joke.

  4. If things get loud, just walk away from the debate.

  5. It’s hard to admit this, but I think you have a valid point.

Writing

Write a letter to a friend who needs the tips on taking criticism gracefully. Remember to use as much of the Target Language as possible.