🧭 Lesson 7.1: Travel & Directions — Getting Around

Finding Your Way

Everyone gets lost sometimes. In your own town, you can ask a friend. In a new place, in English, you need a few simple phrases — and the confidence to use them. The good news is that direction language is short and repeats a lot. Once you learn "Go straight ahead and turn left," you can understand a hundred conversations.

This lesson is the first in our Listening & Speaking strand. That means the heart of the lesson is a real conversation you can hear. Tap the 🔊 buttons, listen carefully, and say each line back. Speaking out loud — even quietly to yourself — is how the words become yours. 🗣️

Asking for Directions

Always start politely. In English we open with "Excuse me" before we ask a stranger anything. Then choose a question:

Notice the little words. "How do I get to…?" is the most useful of all — it works for any place. "Is there a … near here?" asks if a place exists close by. "Which way is…?" asks for the direction. Learn all three and you can ask about anything.

Giving Directions

Now the other side. When you give directions, you use the imperative — the base verb with no subject: Go, Turn, Take, Cross. Here is the toolkit:

• go straight ahead /streɪt əˈhɛd/
• turn left
• turn right
• take the first left
• take the second right
• go past the bank
• cross the street
• at the corner
• at the traffic light
• at the stop sign

To say where a place is, use these position words:

graph LR
    A["Excuse me, how do I get to the station?"] --> B["Go straight ahead."]
    B --> C["Turn left at the light."]
    C --> D["It's on your right, across from the park."]
                

Transport & Travel Words

To travel around, you need the words for the places and the actions. Here are the essentials:

And some very common travel verbs (phrasal verbs). Notice we say get on / get off a train or bus, but get in / get out of a car or taxi:

• get on the train
• get off at the next stop
• catch the bus
• miss the train
• change at the next station
• take the number 12 bus

Buying a Ticket

Buying a ticket is a short, predictable conversation. If you learn the pattern, you can do it anywhere. Here are the phrases you need:

The clerk usually answers with the price, the platform, and the time. Listen for numbers and for the words platform and change. We'll hear a full example in the next section.

💬 Quick tip: To ask for the ticket, you can just say the type and the place: "A round-trip to Chicago, please." You don't need a long sentence. Short and polite is perfect.

Listen & Repeat: At the Station

Here is the heart of today's lesson — a real conversation. Priya is a traveler. She's new in town and needs to get to the museum by train. First she asks a local for directions to the station, then she talks to the ticket clerk. Read it, listen to it, and say each line back.

Now check that you understood. Try to answer before you open each one:

🔊 Hear It & Repeat — Model Sentences

Listen to each model sentence, then say it back. Use the 🎧 Audio control (bottom-right) to pick a UK or US voice and make the speed slower. These sentences use the language of asking for and giving directions and buying a ticket.

Practice & Project

Tips & Common Mistakes

✅ Do's

• Always open with "Excuse me" before you ask a stranger, and thank them after.
• Listen for the key words — left, right, straight, first, opposite — not every word.
• Give directions with the base verb: Go, Turn, Take, Cross (no subject needed).
• If you don't understand, say "Sorry, could you repeat that, please?" — ask as many times as you need.
• Repeat back what you heard ("Turn left at the light — okay!") to check you got it right.

❌ Common Mistakes

📓 Learning Journal

📝 Lesson Summary

🎉 What You've Accomplished

You can now find your way — and help someone else find theirs — in English. You listened to a real travel conversation, repeated it aloud, and practiced the exact phrases you'll use at a station or on a street. That's what our new Listening & Speaking strand is all about: hearing real English and making it your own. Next time you travel, you're ready. 🧭

❓ Common Questions at This Stage

🔭 Looking Ahead

You've learned to move around a town. Now let's stop for food and shopping! In Lesson 7.2, we'll cover eating out and shopping — booking a table, ordering a full meal, asking for sizes and colors, and dealing with problems like "It's too expensive" or "It doesn't fit." More real-world English you'll use every week.

✅ Before the Next Lesson

• Say five direction sentences out loud using turn, go straight ahead, take the first…, it's across from…
• Listen to the "At the Station" dialogue again and repeat every line.
• Practice buying a ticket: "A round-trip ticket to …, please. What time is the next train?"
• Write your Learning Journal entry for this lesson.