English, baby!

Bus Tours

Date: Jul 11 2018

Themes: Travel

Grammar: Verbs with "-ing"

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Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

Go Super to Listen

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Sit back, relax, and enjoy your whirlwind tour of as many major attractions as you can possibly hit in one day. Bus tours are good way to see a new country or city if you want to visit a bunch of different sites in a short amount of time. They’re also great if you don’t want to worry about getting lost. Just make sure you don’t forget where the bus is parked!

On the other hand, if you spend all your time on a bus with a bunch of other tourists, you probably won’t have a very authentic, local experience. Plus, sometimes the best parts of visiting a foreign country are the experiences you didn’t plan or expect. Find out if Amy and Devan like to go on bus tours, or if they’d rather rough it.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Amy

Devan

Amy: Have you ever gone on a bus tour?

Devan: I haven’t. I thought about going on one of those Double-Decker buses when I went to New York but I didn’t end up doing it. What about you? Have you done that?

Amy: No, I haven’t, and I’m really…I’m not sure I can see the appeal, you know, of just getting on a bus and snapping some pictures at all the monuments and then getting back on the bus.

Devan: Yeah, it does kinda seem like a tourist trap thing. And it’s like…kinda like…I don’t know, I feel the same way about it that I feel about cruises.

Amy: Yeah.

Devan: You spend so much time on the cruise boat or the bus that you hardly get to spend any time at the sites that you’re supposed to be seeing, you know?

Amy: Yeah.

Devan: And I think that’s kinda weird.

Amy: And you have to follow somebody else’s schedule, too, like you have to get up at a certain time, and then it’s like, OK, you have an hour here, and then you have to be back on the boat, or back on the bus, and you just can’t have any of those spontaneous travel experiences where you just kinda wander around and then, you know, find something amazing and decide to spend as much time there as you want.

Devan: I can see how it could be good for like, maybe people like elderly people, you know, people that aren’t super mobile or can move a lot or really know what they’re doing and kinda need some guidance. But for any like young, adventurous person it seems like a strange thing to do when you could just run around on your own and do whatever you wanted instead of doing what someone else tells you to do.

Grammar Point

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Discussion

Go Super to Listen

Devan nearly took a tour bus when she visited New York. But in general, she agrees with Amy that bus tours might not be the best way to see a new place.

Devan thinks that when you take a cruise or a bus tour, you end up spending more time on the boat or bus than at the actual destination. Amy points out that when you are on a tour, you usually can’t set your own schedule. You might have to wake up early in the morning to get on the bus, which isn’t everybody’s favorite thing to do!

But Amy and Devan agree that bus tours can be convenient for people who have a hard time getting around on their own or for people who want to have a worry-free vacation.

Have you ever been on a bus tour? What is your favorite way to see a new place?

Comments

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haixi001

China

By rocket,haha.

bkmiller69

United States

In 2018

yolanda880130

Philippines

I haven’t done a bus tour yet,but tried on a tour with a bunch of tourists.you have to wake up earier and never have enough time to see a new place at all.always in a rush by the tour guy.

mikeljan

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

Thanks for everything

Marcelolic

Brazil

Humm I have never done a bus tour and I agree with the girls about it…It should be bad to visit some new place and having time determined,I hate it!

To me,the best way to know a new place mainly out of Brazil is by foot,You can stay in any place and during the time you want ;)

nano asmar

Lebanon

nice one
and have good meaning in the lesson and i can know more about english thankyou

Alice Johny

Italy

I haven't been on a bus tour.My favorite way of seeing new places is that,I decide a place to hit,spent time there as much as possible with friends or even alone,snapping pictures.I guess bus tour is boring,because you just see the place from inside,you cannot go near the place,and you might miss something to see.

dreamatworksnow

India

In my opinion, bus tour should be preferred if you don't know the place . After the tour, you can decide where again do you want to visit. SImply if we wander around, you won't visit many places . So, happy bus tour.

Tommyhappy

China

yes

i think bus is very important in our life.

in our country , sometimes there are mang thieves in th bus, scary.

but i like bus ,because the bus driver is a goodman.

vsatjkt

Indonesia

In Jakarta there some many kinds of bus transportation, such as Busway, Mini Bus, and City Bus

Ca_Brazil

Brazil

well one of my ways to get to visit some place is spending less money, which sometimes result in trips packages, so i can save money in flights and hotel, then the other things i do on my own.

rosendo

Mexico

i rather walk at inner the city bcs u can know better than go on a bus tours ,, but i think that the most important thing that u have not to do is dont be SHY pls , i tell u that bcs almost all tourist are shy people bcs they feel like strange insects and it is normal , but to tell u the truth to have a great expirience in other country is to interact with the people , ask them whatever u want.

alighajar

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

salam!(hi);I want to compare bus tour and traveling by car

bus tours:it is easy way for travel,it is economical; fast;good for far destination like another country ;good for social trip

for instance with friends and classmates or even workmates.

travel on your car: it is good for family and small group it is more interesting and more adventurous

you can select where you want to go and how much time you woud like to spend there so you have option to select what you like to do

rebel lee

China

I have never on a bus tour. I think it's a wate of time,because you can not get to know the place very well when you are on a bus.

Before I visit a place,I learn the history of the place first,then I compare the real palce with what it is said in books.By this way,I can learn more about the place.

iwori

Japan

I've been on a bus tour and actually it was a little tough for me because we had to wake up early morning to get on the bus. Good points of that way are we can see and go a lot fo place without fear of lost, and bad one is we have to think how to kill time in the bus!

ceyla

Turkey

ı love double-decker bus…they are available in istanbul:))

your adviser

Saudi Arabia

I have been in bus tour two times: The first one was in London with my family and it was rather boring. The second was with my friends in Garmany. It was the best trip ever, not just by using bus tour;eveything was wonderful and full of fun.

ohh yeah old days…Nevermind

My favorite way to see new places is by walking and hang around and discover it by me and my friends. better than everything like some tourist guider .

Romio79

Russian Federation

I just came back from the vacation where I traveled on the own car with my friends. It vas a long journey. We rode neally 6000 km. But it was fun. One of the best things of such way of travellig is that we had opportunity to avoid all tourists' traps and were able to attend only places we want to go and at the time we want to go.

chika saragih

Indonesia

i think that is true choosen if we go to some where better use Bus tours because we see so many places and cultural..see the natural live,sometime we feel boring,we can sleep for a moment,enjoy the music or talking with our partner.It is nice journey with bus tour.

caandrade

Ecuador

I think we can combine a bus tour with an spontaneous travel, a guided trip can give us a clue about interesting places to know and then we can discover other interesting things. In that way, I knew a lot of places in Buenos Aires (Argentina), touristic guides can give us very interesting information..