In our Real English video series we deal with the topic of giving street directions, a practical grammar and vocabulary point which is difficult to grasp, both from the perspective of the person giving directions and from that of the listener, both in our own mother tongue and, let alone, in English.
It is a fairly short video where the person asking for street directions keeps repeating the same question:
Excuse me, can/could you tell me the way to XXXXX, please?
The answers are fairly straightforward and to the point, and the people giving street directions use the imperative most of the times:
Just go up there and turn left.
Straight up to the traffic lights and then turn left at the traffic lights.
Go down to XXXX and turn left, that’s XXXXX.
It’s just along here and your first on the left.
Up to the lights, and it’s the road on the left.
The cathedral is straight down here.
Straight up the road.
That way!
The video gives us the opportunity to revise how to thank someone:
Lovely.
Thanks / Thanks a lot / Thank you / Thank you very much.
And how to apoligise if we don't know something:
Sorry? Where?
Sorry, I can’t speak English.
I’m sorry, I don’t know, sorry.
I’m afraid I don’t know the way, I’m a stranger here myself.
Drop by the Real English site to watch the same video with subtitles and to do some interactive activities based on the video above.
This blog features a fairly similar video, Around the town, in the Vodcast Series, although this one is a bit more complicated for learners in the Basic level.
