Describe a city - Superlative Southampton

You are going to

• watch a short video about the city of Southampton and do a comprehension exercise
• read about the city of Southampton on a Tourist Guide page and do a comprehension exercise
• practise superlatives
• practise language for describing a city
• describe a city / town

1) Discuss

• Where are you from?
• Where do you live?
• Do you like your town?
• What can people do there?
• What are the best things about living there?
• Does anyone famous come from there?
• Did any famous historical events happen there?

I am from Southampton in the UK.
So let's have at look at Southampton.

2) Watch
Watch the video
1) Find out

• What can you do in Southampton?
• Would you like to live / study / work there?

2) Watch again and do this quiz

3) Read
Quickly read the "Superlative Southampton" guide below
1) Find the answers to these questions.

• Where is Southampton?
• What kind of city is it?
• Have any famous people come from Southampton? 
• Why is it "superlative"? How many examples of superlatives can you find?

Superlative Southampton - A City Guide

 
Location 
Southampton is the largest city on the south coast of England. It is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest National Park. The city lies roughly in the centre of the south coast of England approximately halfway between the towns of Bournemouth and Portsmouth.

View Larger Map

The Port

Southampton is the biggest commercial and container port on the south coast of England. It has also been home to many ocean ”liners” and passenger ships. It presently has three large cruise ship terminals, with another one in the offing.

Leisure

Southampton is a vibrant, modern city and has one of the most modern shopping centres in the south of England.The mix of high street stores and traditional shops and boutiques has made the city one the UK's most popular retail destinations. It also has wealth of sporting, leisure, entertainment and cultural opportunities. The city centre has an unusual number of large parks. It is one of the greenest city centres in the UK.

Entertainment

Southampton has a variety of entertainment choices from the ice rink and paintballing to the Ocean Village Cinema and Megabowl. Southampton has an exciting nightlife which includes many restaurants and bars. Historic Oxford Street is home to Southampton's finest restaurants.

Southampton FC

Sport

As well as numerous indoor sports, keep fit and swimming facilities Southampton Sports Centre is one of the largest open air sports and athletic arenas in the south of England. In contrast to the ‘out of town’ location of the Sports Centre, Championship League Southampton Football Club has its state-of-the-art football stadium set down firmly in the heart of city’s waterside population, on the banks of the River Itchen, very near to the original Saxon settlement of Hamwic.

Art Gallery

Arts

Southampton's elegant City Art Gallery contains 3,500 works of art from six centuries. The work of up and coming artists and designers can be found in the nearby Millais Gallery. The Mayflower, the largest theatre in southern England, puts on musicals as well as ballet and operas. The Nuffield Theatre, at Southampton University, stages performances from Shakespeare to contemporary drama. The city is also home to some of the region's best concert halls and two large multi-purpose venues staging major rock, contemporary and classical music events.

“Sotonians”

The city represents the core of the Greater Southampton region, with a population of 228,600. The city's name is sometimes abbreviated in writing to "So'ton" or "Soton", and a resident of Southampton is called a “Sotonian”.

Titanic

History

Southampton is noted for being the home of the RMS Titanic. The newest museum (opened in 2012) in the city is the SeaCity Museum which tells the story of the people of the city, their lives and historic connections with Titanic and the sea.  Southampton was also where the Spitfire, the famous World War II aircraft, was designed and built.  It has been home to many of the largest and most famous cruise liners in the world for over a century and was once known as the "Gateway to the world".

Jane Austen

Famous residents

Benny Hill

Many world famous figures from history were born or made their home in Southampton. These include singer Craig David; the composer of popular hymns, Isaac Watts; comedian Benny Hill: inventor of the Spitfire, R.J. Mitchell; film Director, Ken Russell;  jazz Trumpeter, Nat Gonella and novelist Jane Austen.

Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southampton and http://www.stga.org.uk/southampton-in-brief.html

2) Look at the text again.
Some of the words are in bold. Can you match the words in bold with the definitions below?
If you are not sure try and guess from the context and choose the answer that fits best.

3) How much can you remember? Do the quiz.

4) Practise superlatives
Fill in the gaps with a superlative. If you are not sure how to make superlatives look here http://efllecturer.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/comparatives-and-superlatives.html

If you can't remember the answers look at the reading text again.

Printable worksheets here





5) Write
Write a guide for your town

• Use the headings in the Southampton guide to help you (Location, Leisure, Sport, Arts, History, Famous Residents etc)
• Use some of the language in the text for describing places (situated, vibrant, facilities etc).
• Use some superlatives (the best, the largest, the most famous etc)

8) More on Southampton
Solent University guide to Southampton
http://portal.solent.ac.uk/hellouni/southampton/southampton.aspx

Wikitravel http://wikitravel.org/en/Southampton

Visit Southampton http://www.visit-southampton.co.uk/

Titanic Walk http://www.oceanvillagesouthampton.com/visit/self-guided-walks/titanic-tour/

SeaCity Museum http://www.seacitymuseum.co.uk/

The Port of Southampton http://www.plimsoll.org/

Southampton Football Club http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/teams/southampton






More practice
Speaking Presentation - "Your City" http://efllecturer.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/your-city-past-and-present-powerpoint.html

The Changing UK - Southampton

Comparative and Superlative quiz http://anthonyhalderman.com/english/compsup.htm

Visit Britain - You're invited.

You are going to

• watch 3 tourist adverts for Great Britain
• do some listening and vocabulary activities
• look at adjectives to describe feelings and places
• write or present a descriptive advert for your country

Discuss

What do you know about Great Britain?

• What is it famous for?
• What famous British people do you know?
• What are the famous places in Great Britain?
• How do you feel when you visit new places?

Watch Advert 1

You are going to watch an advert for Great Britain. 

1) What adjectives can you hear?

Source http://www.visitbritain.com/en/GB/

2) Now look at the exercise below. Match the correct meaning to the participles on the left.
You can drag and drop the expressions into the right place.

Answer these questions
How do you feel when you go on holiday?
How do you feel when you watch a good film?
How do you feel when you fall deeply in love with someone or something?
How do you feel when you see a magic trick?
How do you feel when you do something dangerous?
How do you feel when your teacher tells you that you are a brilliant student?

Watch Advert 2

You are going to watch Jamie Oliver. Jamie is a famous TV chef.

1) Here are some adjectives. Watch the advert and match them with these topics;

cities  |  countryside |  seaside |  food

• amazing = cities
• busy
• bustling
• (really) special
• lush
• green
• amazing
• (absolutely) incredible
• great
• some of the very best (in the world)

Now do the exercise.

2) Jamie says the UK is "steeped in loads of tradition" but also we are a "magpie culture"

• What does he mean by "magpie culture"? (A magpie is a bird. It can also describe a person who collects and keeps many things)
• What examples does he give?

Answers - highlight below

• We are very multicultural. We take and embrace bits from different cultures.
• Food. Music. Fashion. The arts. 

Watch Advert 3

You are going to watch Dev Patel in London's Leicester Square. Dev Patel starred in the film Slumdog Millionaire

1) Before you watch. What do these expressions mean?  Double click on each word to find out.

cutting edge, forefront, really into, a melting pot, diverse, chilled out, buzzing, energetic, boisterous

2) Read his introduction. Why does he like Leicester Square?

Coming from the suburbs most exciting thing about central London for my friends and me was the energy of Leicester square. I always wanted to be an actor and this is the place where all the big premieres happen and I dreamt of one day having one of my films here too. My dream did come true. The British "Slum Dog Millionaire" film premier was down in Leicester Square.

3) Watch the advert. What adjectives does he use to describe Britain?

4) Now put these sentences from the video in the correct order. Watch again if you need to.
 You can drag and drop the sentences into the right place

Writing / Presentation

Write or present a short advert for your country, city or region
Look on the internet to find important information
Talk about the cities, countryside, food, culture and customs


Don't forget to use lots of adjectives

• Past participles say how something makes you feel - invigorated, involved, inspired...
• Adjectives describe something - amazing, busy, bustling, really special, lush, green, amazing, absolutely incredible, some of the very best, cutting edge, diverse, chilled out, buzzing, energetic, boisterous...

Reading and practice

More infomation and reading about Great Britain

http://www.visitbritain.com/en/GB/
Look at the Cities and Towns. Where would you like to go?
Choose 3 places. Say why you would like to go there.

More on participial adjectives http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/passive3a.html

Your City - Past and Present (a powerpoint project)

This is a student activity project which can be done with all levels and practises various grammar points including present and past tenses and the language of comparing and contrasting.

Teacher's notes

1. Find some old photos of your city or town from 50 -100 or more years ago
2. Go out and have students take photos of the same locations today
3. Students then prepare a powerpoint (see below) to compare and contrast the photos
4. Students should write a short descriptive paragraph describing each pair of photos (present and past). See below for structures to practise.
5. The powerpoint can then printed and turned into a booklet (ie a  souvenir for foreign students on a summer course) or class posters. It could also done as a presentation in class.
6. Students can also research online and write an introduction outlining some local history and points of interest.
7. Students can also write a conclusion stating whether they think there have been many changes and improvemets.

Language to practise

Elementary > Pre-intermediate 

• Adjectives
• Using present simple and continuous tenses and past simple and continuous tenses
• There is / are / was / were (n't)
• Some / any
• Countable nouns
• Articles
• Comparatives

Intermediate > Upper Intermediate

• Same as above plus
• Expressions to compare and contrast - both / also / however / on the other hand / although / moreover...
• Present perfect
• Passive
  
• Descriptive adjectives
• Stating opinions

Powerpoint Template

Here is a powerpoint template I prepared for a project on Southampton in the UK with a pre-intermediate class. The contemporary photos were mostly taken by the students on a group excursion (however google supplied one or two) and are occasionally a little dark but you get the idea...

• It's probably best to use google to find historic photos of your area but here is a site which is good for the UK http://grumpystumpy.com/
• If you can't get students to take photos then contemporary UK photos can be found here  http://www.geograph.org.uk/
• BBC's Turn Back Time is a similar idea and can be seen here

Southampton - Past and Present from David Mainwood

Discussion Ask students which photos they prefer - the past or the present. Why?
Is there anything good that we have lost from the past?
Would they like to travel back in time? When? Why?
What would they miss from the present?  





Writing (IELTS) - People nowadays work hard to buy more things. This has made our lives generally more comfortable but many traditional values and customs have been lost and it is a pity. To what extent do you agree or disagree?





Now try this post
Describe a city - Superlative Southampton Comparatives and Superlatives, Describing a place, Intermediate, Reading, Southampton, Upper Intermediate, Webquest