In this lesson, you are going to read a real-life story about travelling in France. 


STORY TIME 

I went to France with my husband and son in the summer of 2015, and actually that was the first European country I visited. Of course, I had to consider currency exchange, places to visit and hotels to stay in. 

We travelled from Shanghai to Paris, where we spent five days. When I travel with my family, I'm the person who chooses the tourist destinations and who makes reservations. I decided to look for some Airbnb options in Paris, because hotels there are quite expensive. I found an apartment with three rooms at a very affordable price*. It was two times lower than hotel prices. Apart from the price, another reason why we prefer Airbnb is because rooms are bigger compared to hotel rooms. 

In Paris, we visited the most popular tourist attractions. I remember we got caught in the rain while we were near the Eiffel Tower, and we didn't have an umbrella, so we had to buy one. There were people selling raincoats for 10 euros each and an umbrella for 25 euros. Even though we knew they were overpriced, we bought one raincoat and one umbrella. They were of poor quality and I assume their original price was probably around $2 each. 

Travelling in Paris is convenient if you choose their subway system. Driving a car can be challenging and it's usually difficult to find a parking space. 

As for the food, we wanted to try the local cuisine, so we preferred to eat out even though we had a kitchen in the apartment and we could cook there. I remember that I made breakfast only twice. Of course, you may find prices in France a bit high, but we personally don't think about that when we travel abroad because we want to enjoy our stay in a different country and we know we'll be able to save money when we go back to China. 

After five days in Paris, we then went to Nice* by train. We spent about nine or ten days in other cities. We rented a car in Nice for one week and travelled to Marseille* and Avignon. I was really impressed with a flea market we went to in Marseille. I bought some bronze cups, dolls and stamps, because they looked very unique. 

Speaking of buying, you can use a credit card when travelling abroad. At least this is what we did. We changed around 2,000 RMB in China before going to France. That was around 250 euros. I made a big mistake when travelling to Spain. As far as I remember, I changed money there two times and the exchange rates were low, and I think I lost a lot of money. In France I relied on my credit card and I changed money while I was in China. 


* Don’t say a convenient price. Say a reasonable price or a fair price.

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VOCABULARY 

• stay at a hotel | stay in a hotel (collocations) 
• make a reservation | have a reservation | cancel a reservation (collocations) 
• an affordable price (collocation) - not too high; cheap enough for most people to afford 
• at an affordable price 
• a hotel price | a hotel room (= a bedroom in a hotel) (collocations) 
• get caught in the rain (collocation) - be outside when it starts raining 
• overpriced - something that is overpriced is more expensive than it should be 
• be of poor quality - something that has been made badly 
• a parking space | a parking place | a parking spot (collocations) - a space in a street, car park etc where a car can be left
• a high price | a low price (collocations) 
• a subway system (collocation) 
• impressed by/with someone/something - feeling admiration for someone/something because you think they are particularly good, interesting, etc. 
• a flea market (collocation) - where you can buy old or used things 
• speaking of (phrase) - used for introducing something new that you are going to say relating to a subject that someone has just mentioned 
• Nice* /niːs/ - the fifth most populous city in France 
• Marseille* /mɑːrˈseɪ/ - the second largest city in France 

Other lessons:
Confusing words in English: Famous vs. Popular 
Confusing words in English: Crowded vs. Congested 

English conversation lessons: 
English Conversation: Travel opinions 
English Conversation: Travel experience 
English Conversation: Travelling in Europe and Asia 
​English Conversation: Buying sunscreen products at a store 
English Conversation: Socialising with people and working in coffee shops 


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In this lesson, you are going to read a real-life story about travelling in Spain. 


STORY TIME

"I went to Spain with my family in the summer of 2016. We visited Barcelona, Madrid, Granada and Málaga. As this was our first time in Spain, we didn't know much about the country and the places we went to. Of course, we tried to prepare a bit in advance by reading articles online. 

Even though our spoken English is not very good*, we were able to get by. What I noticed is that local people in big cities know English and they can help you if you ask them questions. It's also quite convenient to order food in restaurants because waiters speak English as well. The problem was when we travelled to some provincial cities and places that are not that popular with tourists, because people there don't speak English. It can be quite challenging to take a taxi or eat out. Another thing is that menus in little Spanish restaurants are written only in the local language and there are no images. This made it a bit difficult for us to choose something from the menu because we couldn't understand anything and without any pictures, we didn't know what to expect. We ended up looking at other tables and what the people around us had already ordered. We managed to order food even though the waiter didn't speak English. What really helped us was using hand gestures and pointing out at dishes on other tables. Well, I know this can be really embarrassing, but it seems to be the only way to order food in these kinds of situations. It really helps if you know the local language, but that's not always possible. 

I definitely love Europe and in the future I'd like to visit Finland and Denmark. So far I've only been to France and Spain. I'd say I enjoyed Spain the most because of their cuisine and the people there are very hospitable. We saw a lot of street performers playing musical instruments. There's something about Spanish people and their culture that makes you feel good. 

My favourite destination in Spain is Málaga. It's a beautiful coastal city with a historic centre. There are lots of archaeological remains and monuments. We were actually pleasantly surprised because we were there during their holiday. It was a festive atmosphere with local people dancing in the streets. 

My advice to tourists visiting Barcelona would be to keep an eye on their personal belongings. They need to watch for some of the most common scams like offering you a flower or bumping into you in crowded public transport. I was almost robbed on my first day in Spain and it was in the daytime. I was very alert while walking around." 

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​* You can say that your English is not very good, poor or terrible instead of saying that it's 'bad'. 

• My English isn't very good. 
• My English is poor. 
• My English is terrible. 

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VOCABULARY 

• get by (phrasal verb) - to have enough knowledge so that you can do what you need to do 
• provincial cities (collocation) - in a part of the country that is not near the capital 
• popular with tourists (collocation) 
• eat out (phrasal verb) - to have a meal in a restaurant 
• select/choose something from the menu (collocation) 
• end up (phrasal verb) - to find yourself in a place or situation that you did not intend or expect to be in 
• feel good (collocation) - happy or physically comfortable (e.g. Sunshine makes people feel good.) 
• pleasantly surprised (collocation) - surprised and pleased 
• a festive atmosphere (collocation) - when people are celebrating 
• keep an eye on something (collocation) - watch them, especially to make sure they are safe 
• watch for somebody/something (phrasal verb) - to pay attention so that you will see when something happens 
• in the daytime | during the daytime (collocations) 

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Other lessons:
English Lesson: 5 Types of Lifestyle 
Commonly Used Phrases in Spoken English 
Story Time: Running out of petrol on the highway 

English conversation lessons: 
English Conversation: Travel opinions 
English Conversation: Travel experience 
English Conversation: Travelling in Europe and Asia 

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In this lesson, we're going to focus on a real-life story. 
Have you ever found it difficult to talk about an experience you had?

This example will help you improve your storytelling skills in English. You are also going to learn useful vocabulary related to cars and fuel. 


STORY TIME  

"Last month, I was driving back home from work and I thought I had enough fuel in my car for that distance. When I was driving on the highway, I realised that I needed to fill up some fuel and I needed to get to the nearest petrol station. I didn't know where I could find an exit on the highway. The fuel gauge almost went down to empty. I pulled over in the emergency lane. I ran out of fuel so I had to call the police to help me. They called a tow truck for me which pulled me to the nearest petrol station. Finally, I filled up the tank, and was able to get back home." 

Have you ever run out of petrol? What did you do? 

IMPORTANT! 
Notice that we use PAST SIMPLE and PAST CONTINUOUS to tell stories about what happened to us.
It's really important to follow this rule so that you don't end up mixing tenses or, even worse, using Present Simple. 


VOCABULARY 

• to drive to work 
• to drive back home 
• ​gas station = petrol station 
• to overtake cars - to go past a moving vehicle or a person ahead of you because you are moving faster than they are 
• tow truck BrE /ˈtəʊ trʌk/ ; NAmE /ˈtoʊ trʌk/ - It is a truck used to move disabled or improperly parked motor vehicles. 
• fuel gauge OR gas gauge BrE /ɡeɪdʒ/ - It is an instrument used to indicate the amount of fuel in a fuel tank. 
• ​fuel tank - a large container for holding gas 
• low fuel light - This will show that you need to go to a petrol station to fill your tank up. 
• indicator BrE /ˈɪndɪkeɪtə(r)/ ; NAmE /ˈɪndɪkeɪtər/ - It shows you how much fuel you have. 
• empty fuel indicator 
• to be out of fuel (phrasal verb) - You don't have any left. 
• to refill the tank 

English Collocations with FUEL  

VERB + FUEL  

• burn fuel 
• consume fuel 

SWIM + NOUN 

• fuel costs 
• fuel prices 

Examples: 

• I overestimated how much fuel I had left in my tank. (= I thought I had more or enough.) 
• I usually fill my tank to the top. 
• You shouldn't drive around with low fuel light on. 
• Most drivers don't know how far they'll make it before running out of fuel. 
• The fuel gauge isn't always accurate. 
• You can damage your car if the level of gas in your tank runs low. (run low) 
• I was trying to avoid traffic because my car was running out of fuel. 
• Some people fill up their tank with little fuel to keep them on the road. 
• Make sure you don't run out of fuel. 

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