You are going to watch a series of video podcasts featuring interviews with people Luke Thompson, a DELTA qualified English teacher in West London, UK, met in the centre of London. He went into London and politely asked members of the public if they would like to do a short interview for people around the world who are learning English and who are interested in listening to native speakers, and finding out about life in London.
Watch the video, try to understand their comments and do the following tasks.
Task 1. The first video includes interviews with people in different parts of central London, so watch Part I and match people to the places where they’re interviewed.
A on The Mall
1.Three girls
2.An elderly man in a grey shirt
3.An elderly married couple
4.An elderly woman and an elderly man wearing sunglasses
5.Two blonde girls
B outside Buckingham Palace
C in St. James’s Park
Task 2. Watch Part I again and match people to the places where they’re from.
A.Three girls
B.An elderly man in a grey shirt
C.An elderly married couple
D.An elderly woman wearing sunglasses
E.An elderly man wearing sunglasses
F.A blonde girl with earphones
G.A blonde girl with a necklace
1.from Blackpool
2.from just near Reading
3.from Pinner, in Middlesex
4.from Schleswig Holstein
5.New York City in USA
6.from Hull
7.from somewhere near London
Task 3. All these people answered three main questions: What’s London like?What is the best thing about London? and What is the worst thing about London? So watch Part I again and put the best / worst things about London into correct boxes and mind who says that.
· difficult to meet people
· Traffic, commuting, going around
· busy
· Price
· the British Airway
· the tube
· the weather
· a good place to live
· quite exciting
· There’s always something to do
· good communication
· stressful
· the old stuff
· really good
· the architecture
· the people and the experience at the Holiday Inn was super
· Everything else
· it tends to be a little dirty
· these lovely parks
· hot and busy
· New York which cannot compare to London
· the most beautiful city in the world
· grimy
· a life city
· Recharge your batteries
· a very nice place to be
What’s London like?
What is the best thing about London?
What is the worst thing about London?
An elderly man in a grey shirt
Three girls:
a blonde girl
a redhead girl
a brunette girl
An elderly married couple
An elderly woman wearing sunglasses
An elderly man wearing sunglasses
A blonde girl with earphones
A blonde girl with a necklace
Part 2
Task 1. Before watching Part 2 of the video interviews mind the proper names and some vocabulary you’ll hear in the interview. Then watch the video and put down who used these names and words / word-combinations.
Redhill (half an hour away from London)
Camberwell, School of the Arts
muggers – criminals who might steal things from you in public (e.g. attack you and steal your bag)
dodgy people – people who are strange and can’t be trusted
looking at your weirdly – looking at you in a strange way
shove about – push people when in a large crowd (e.g. pushing people when getting on or off a crowded train)
you’ve just got to deal with it – you have to just learn to live with it. You can’t let it make you unhappy.
if you’re into – if you’re interested in
just get stuck in there – get involved without hesitation or fear
and go for it – just do it!
vibrant – full of energy and activity in an exciting way
fast paced – with a quick lifestyle (e.g. people rushing about everywhere, walking very quickly, in a hurry)
get quite a bit (too) much – be stressful and annoying
congested – full of traffic, lots of traffic jams
the right enclave – a small area within the city in which you live and feel comfortable