Talking point: What made summer summer for you?

The summer is over now and most people look back on it with nostalgia or so they say. But what made summer summer for you this year?

This list may help you somehow: Barbecues, picnics, swimming, a suntan, flying, exotic holidays, change of pace of life, catching up with reading, chic fashion, getting away from it all, sports, getting fit, the beach, mountains, no work, meeting up with friends, camp, family life, adventure sports, meeting new people, life outdoors, lots of sleep.

Before you get together to discuss the topic with your friends, you may like to visit this The New York Times page to view the way New Yorkers enjoy summer. Some of the summer rituals come together with audio, so that will give you the opportunity to listen as well as reading.

How to survive without AC in summer?

Self-study activity:
Before you watch this How to video clip, try to think of possible answers to the question in the post entry: How can you survive without air-conditioning in summer?

Now it's listening time. You know that the How-to videos are great for English students because they give lots of visual information to support the aural message, but this can be an obstacle if we wish to put our listening activities to the test.

So, for the listening activity suggested here, listen to the video clip without watching the video and note down as many tips as you can understand. They give nine pieces of advice in total. See how many you manage to understand and how many of your own ideas are mentioned.

The second time you go over the activity, you can also watch the video.

Finally, remember that a transcript is always available with all the How-to videos.

How To Survive Without Air Conditioning on Howcast