Describing your vacation: Conversation topics in English

First of all, BIG news! Your Speak English with Christina Newsletter is changing from French to English! Today’s message is a little longer than normal, because I’ve got so much to share with you!

And the survey results are…

Thanks to all of you who completed the survey. More than 75 percent of you asked for the newsletter to be in English. Most of you (68%) asked for the Newsletter to continue to be long. That’s great! It shows that you really want to do more English. I’m so happy to have the privilege of helping you boost your English even more!

Your (really, really good) ideas

Several members of the community gave me some great suggestions too: sharing links to English-language media, giving tips for being more productive and progressing faster, creating downloadable vocabulary sheets, offering American business culture tips, and even the fantastic idea of a bilingual newsletter. You guys are awesome!

 

What you want to see in future videos

Thanks a lot for your suggestions too! You’ve made my job easier 🙂 In the future, you’ll see SBFG videos on describing your CV, presenting your company, job interviews by Skype, email and telephone communication tips, leading a meeting, insights (aperçus) into American culture, and more.

In terms of language, there will be more videos on phrasal verbs (get up, get over, get around, etc.), vocabulary by theme, and pronunciation.

But what really touched me…

In nearly all of the comments, you told me how much you enjoy the videos and how much they help you improve your English. And I’m glad that you find the videos fun, a little funny, and interesting.

That’s my objective: to help you learn serious subjects, but without being too serious. Business English doesn’t have to be boring to be serious. I’m glad you understand this (and that you tell me, because sometimes when you try something different, you don’t know if people like it or not. It’s like learning a language—you don’t always know if you’re right or not. That’s why your comments and feedback are so important to me, so really, THANK YOU for taking the time to tell me!)

Now, for the Speak English with Christina lesson of the week:

Describing your vacation

It’s always a popular conversation topic in English.

When summer starts arriving, conversations with colleagues inevitably include discussion about your vacation plans: When are you on vacation? Where are you going? What are you going to do? How long are you going to stay?

It’s a great subject, but you don’t always have the vocabulary you need to talk about the “séjour en demi-pension” that you booked or how you’re going to “faire du cheval,” “faire du parapente”, or maybe “faire un circuit” of several American National Parks.

It’s frustrating when you don’t have the words you need, especially when you want to talk about a subject that you’re really enthusiastic about, like your vacation!

Sure, you can use gestures and try to explain it differently (which are both good techniques that I’m sure you already use), but it’s so much easier to just have the right words. You can have a fluid conversation and you can express yourself more easily.

This past weekend, I was at a barbecue with some friends and there were a lot of people I didn’t know. Of course, they wanted to know about Mississippi (where I’m from) and the things you can do there.

When I didn’t know the French words for “airboat” and “glass-bottom boat”, I had to use other techniques to continue my story. It was possible, but I really just wanted to have the exact words. (Which I still don’t know, in fact! If you know what they are in French, please tell me 🙂

Today’s video is going to help you avoid that situation when you talk about your vacation plans in English.

From how you found the vacation to what you’re going to do and what type of vacation it is, this video will give you enough vocabulary to feel more comfortable talking about your upcoming vacation (vos vacances à venir).

Of course, I couldn’t include EVERY vacation activity in the video. I picked the ones that clients ask about the most often in my face-to-face sessions. But if you need more vacation vocabulary, just ask in the comments section. There will always be a member of The Speak English Community who can help you, I’m sure.

In case you haven’t planned your vacation yet, here’s a lovely little list of the Top 20 places to visit in the USA before you die, according to Fodor’s.

For some reason that I don’t understand, there are no Mississippi destinations on the list!

So, if you want a vicarious vacation to my home state, check out this photo article. Both articles are in real English, and are short—take a 5 minute break, dream a little, and work on your English 🙂

And what about you? What are your summer vacation plans?

Let’s continue the conversation in the comments! Tell us about your plans, and I’ll tell you about mine!

Have a great week in English!
Christina