An invitation to a party

Listen to some phone messages with directions to practise and improve your listening skills.

Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.

Preparation

Transcript

Automated message: You have two new messages. Message number one, received today at 3.45 p.m.

Hi, it's me. How's it going? I guess you're at work and you don't have your phone on, right? First of all, thank you, THANK YOU for the birthday card and message. I received it this morning. That's so nice of you. I'm organising a little party for my birthday. It's nothing very big – only a few of my best and closest friends. That means you too! We're going to have it at my cousin's house. She lives in the countryside in a nice big house with a swimming pool. I'd love to see you there. It's going to be this Friday. I'll send you the instructions on how to get there later, OK?

Anyway, have fun at work. Don't work too hard, OK? Talk soon.

Automated message: You have two new messages. Message number two, received today at 5.15 p.m.

Aw, you're still not answering your phone! OK, here are the instructions to get to my cousin's house for the party. Are you going to take your car? If you take the car, drive straight on Forest Road until you get to the motorway. Drive past Brownsville and take exit 13A. That's 13A. You drive down the road there and turn left. It's the first big house on the right. OK? If you're taking a bus, you can get the number 80 to Brownsville. Call me when you get there and somebody can pick you up in a car. I can't wait. This is going to be so great!

Task 1

Exercise

Task 2

Exercise

Discussion

Is it easy to get lost in your town? Have you ever given directions to a visitor?

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Language level

A2 Pre-intermediate

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Yes, I live in a big city, there are many neighborhoods, and many streets, and of course, many buildings, houses, and places

Hi. Well, I think it is easy to get lost in my town if you're a tourist, but you can ask for directions to get there easily. The streets can be confusing if you're not well acquainted with them because they're too long. At the end if you¿re lost you can still call me and I will give you specific directions.

I don't think that someone can get lost in my town. There's a lot of visible indicators with their name and its corresponding number of each street, so they find it very useful to get to their destination. I also have given directions to few people, they understand it quite quickly since the signs are in every corner.

It is very easy to get lost in my town since the houses and their respective backyards are large and well maintained, which tend to distract visitors very often. Yes, I have given directions whenever visitors get lost. I always try to be as explicit as possible so that visitors reach easily their destination.

I can say that the directions to my house are a bit complicated since it has too many streets around. Whenever I give directions, I feel that the other person can be confused by the number of streets. once a friend got lost trying to get to my house.

Yes, it is somewhat easy to get lost the first time you’re visiting my town; the residential area is somewhat complex because finding a distinctive reference point proves to be difficult. I have given directions to visitors in several occasions and I often panic when they tell me they’re lost, though with technology these days it’s easy to communicate and solve the issue.

It is not difficult to get to my house because you only need to take the highway from the city. After that, you must take a turn to the left, which will take you into my community. Lastly, turn right and you will have arrived at my humble abode, which can be easily recognized.

It is very easy to get lost in my hometown, when you haven't been here before, and it is because there are not many signs regarding the name of the streets. I have given the address to visitors, but whenever I say it they get entangled and prefer that I send the location virtually.

Getting lost in my town is very rare since I live in a very wide and known area with many directional signs, I’ve even drawn directions to some friend to get here and it is very easy to understand since there is many reference points.

Hello No, it’s very hard to get lost in my town. There are many roads that can lead you to my town, so it’s not hard to arrive. I’ve given directions before and everyone arrives in seconds