1.

EVERYDAY ENGLISH – HOLIDAYS

A holiday can be one day or several days where you take a break
from your usual routine. There are lots of reasons for taking a holiday:

- Rest.
- Spend time with family or friends.
- To travel.

People often use the word «holiday» to describe a travel or a trip («I
went on holiday to Vietnam last year. It was awesome!»).

You can also stay at home for a holiday and do something that you
enjoy («for example, I stayed with my family at home for the Easter
holidays, and just spent time with my family»). Another word that can be
used for a holiday is «vacation», but that’s not thar common in Australia,
it’s mostly used in the United States.

If you are working and you want to take a holiday you might have
to apply for leave (it could be paid or unpaid). Most Australian workers
get about twenty days of paid leave a year; it is called «anual leave».
Australian students get a bigger holiday in summer (between December
and February).

We also have public holidays: they are days when many businesses
in Australia close, like on Christmas day.

When we talk about a holiday, we often use the preposition «on».

- Nic’s holidays: He saved up all of his annual leave and he took the
whole month off. He spent some time with his parents and then
his partner and him went to New Zealand to go skiing. It was
great and so relaxing.
 - Charlotte has used up all her annual leave, so no holidays for her.
She is thinking about taking an unpaid leave.

- Emma’s holidays: She is on an unpaid holiday in Barbados.

Not all leave is for holidays, you can take leave from work if you are
ill («sick leave»). It is different to a holiday because you don’t really have
any fun and you usually spend most of your time in bed.

There’s also a weekend when most workers get time off. Most
people work from Monday to Friday («weekdays»). A long weekend
happens when a public holiday falls on Friday or Monday; most people go
away during the long weekend (vamos, un puente).

In English, the verbs «do» and «go» are often used to describe
weekend activities. «Do» is usually followed by a determiner (like «the»,
«some» or «my»); «go» is often used for sports and activities specially if
they end in «-ing».

- On the weekend, Charlotte went fishing with her dad (they

usually do it once a month). They caught some squid. It was very
fun, but it also meant that she didn’t do any work, like cleaning or
gardering.
- Nic went surfing up the coast with a couple of mates; conditions
were perfect.

2. HOLIDAY AND TRAVELLING VOCABULARY

Differences between «travelling», «trip», «journey» and «tour»:

- Travel: Verb or uncountable noun.

- Trip: Short, easy.

- Journey: Longer than a trip (more time, more effort).

- Tour: Visit many different places.

They are used with «go on («go on a trip/journey/tour»)».

Different types of holiday:

- Package: When you pay once and that paid includes flight,
accommodation and sometimes meals and excursions.

- Beach: When you relax some way by the sea having a good time
on the beach.

- Adventure: Active type of holiday when you travel with a

backpack or go tracking some way in the wild. Another variant is
a safari, but now people do not kill animals; they usually take
photos of them.

- Another activity can be go skiing, go canoeing, go camping, go

rock climbing or even cooking.
- Honeymoon: To celebrate the marriage in an intimate and
romantic atmosphere.

- Gap/sabbatical year: Sometimes young people who finished

school, before they enter a college or university, take a year to
travel, to work or to gain more experience about life.
 - Cultural holiday: Its idea is to learn more about the histoty or the
culture of a certain place and then they go sightseeing, on an
excursión or on a city tour. These holidays are quite active
because you visit a lot of different places.

- Short/break: People take a break of work when they need a few

days to relax.

For arrange a holiday you need to book a flight, book train tickets,
book a hotel room or any other type of accommodation for you to stay in.
Very often you must get a visa, to get your travel insurance and get some
foreign currency. To buy a tour a lot of people go to a travek agency.

«To go abroad» To go to a foreign country. To do this you

probably need to go to the airport.

During your holiday, you may need to hire a car, to hire a bike or to
hire a guide. And dont’t forget to pack your things or pack your suitcase.

When you arrive at a hotel you become a guest, so what about

accommodation or a place where you can stay in? It might be:

- 2, 3, 4, 5 stars hotels.

- Bed and breakfast.

- B&B, which is cheaper than a hotel.

- Hostel, which is cheaper than B&B.

 Some people rent flat sor houses on special websites from people
who give their homes for rent. Thypes of rooms:

- A single roo mis for one person.

- A double room is for two people (sometimes it is called «twin

room» when there are two separate beds).

- Standard

- Deluxe (better quality but more expensive)

- An en suite (a bathroom inside the room). In some countries it

also means that there are several romos like a bedroom and a
living room inside.

Food service (or «catering»): you may have just breakfast or half-
thought (breakfast + one meal, either lunch or dinner); full boat means
having all three meals included in the Price of your room; all-inclusive
system ia when the three meals are included in the price of your room +
soft and alcoholic drinks; self catering is when there is a small kitchen
where you can cook for yourself; and self service Buffy (or simply «Buffy»)
is when the food is placed in the public area (also known as an all-you-
can-eat system).

Inside a room we can have facilities, like:

- Satellyte TV.

- Minibar (usually expensive).

- Internet acces.
 - Room service providing food 24 hours a day.

- Housekeeping to clean your room.

- Air conditioning.

- A gym.

- Pillowcases or sheets for a bed («linen»).

- Towels in the bathroom.

- A king-size bed (bigger than a double bed).

- A sofa bed.

When you arrive at a hotel you check in at the front desk or at a

reception and when you leave you check out.

Some useful phrases about travelling:

- Your hotel might be by the sea.

- Your guide will show you around the city.

- You may look around some place for yourself.

- When you travel you will take some photos and you will need to
Exchange money («currency»)
- To get off the beaten track (visit not very popular places).