Talk about places on the list on the next page that you have never visited but have found out information about in other ways such as talking to people about them.
| I’ve never been to… but I’ve never visited… but I don’t know much about… but I’ve never read about… but I’ve never studied about… but | I heard that… someone told me that… someone from… told me that… … visited… and said that… I read that… I saw a TV programme in which someone said… … said … about… |
| I heard that too. Someone told me the same thing. I heard something similar about… I hadn’t heard that, but it makes sense/ it’s easy to believe. Really? I hadn’t heard that. Really? I thought that… Really?/That’s not what I heard. I heard that… I’m surprised. Someone told me that… |
Ask about any places you don’t know, making true sentences each time. Then try to find patterns in what kinds of places take “the” and what kinds of places don’t.
First of all without looking below, try to remember if these kinds of words need “the” or not.
- countries made up of different states, islands, etc, especially those with names ending in -s
- countries with “Republic” and “Kingdom” in the name
- other countries
- continents
- areas similar to continents such as subcontinents
- peninsulas
- individual mountains
- mountain ranges
- lakes
- rivers
- seas/ oceans
- unique geographical features/ places of which there is only one in the world
- city names
- city nicknames
Check with the list below.
Do the same speaking activities as before, but this time using a copy without “the” on it.
Places to talk about – with articles version
- Africa (Lake Victoria, the Victoria Falls, Kilimanjaro, etc)
- The Alps (Mont Blanc, Lake Geneva in Switzerland, etc)
- Antarctica/ The South Pole
- Asia/ The Orient – The West
- Australia (Perth, Ayers Rock, etc)
- The Balkans (Croatia, etc)
- The capital of…/ Big cities in…
- Central Asia (Kazakhstan, etc)
- (Mainland) China (Beijing, etc)
- Countries near the equator/ Tropical countries
- The countryside
- The Czech Republic (Prague, etc)
- Developing countries/ The developing world
- East Asia (Mongolia, etc)
- Egypt (the Pyramids, the Nile, etc)
- Germany (Munich, Cologne, etc)
- Greece (Athens, etc)
- The Himalayas (e.g. Everest)
- The Indian Subcontinent/ South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka)
- The Korean Peninsula (South Korea or North Korea)
- Ireland (Northern Ireland or The Republic of Ireland)
- Italy (Florence, Rome, Turin, Milan, Naples, Venice, etc)
- The Low Countries (Belgium or the Netherlands)
- The Maldives
- The Mediterranean (Cyprus, Malta, etc)
- The Middle East (e.g. the UAE, the Dead Sea, or Jordan)
- Mount Fuji
- Neighbouring countries/ The nearest countries (to this one)
- North America (the Rockies, Lake Superior in the USA, Lake Titicaca in Mexico, etc)
- The Pacific Ocean
- Paris
- The Philippines (Cebu Island, etc)
- The Pyrenees
- The Red Sea
- Russia (Moscow, etc)
- Scandinavia
- The Sea of Japan
- The Seychelles
- South America (The Amazon in Brazil, Argentina, etc)
- Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, etc)
- The UK (England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland)
- The United States (LA, New York/ The Big Apple, New Orleans/ The Big Easy, etc)
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Places to talk about – no articles version
- Africa (Lake Victoria, Victoria Falls, Kilimanjaro, etc)
- Alps (Mont Blanc, Lake Geneva in Switzerland, etc)
- Antarctica/ South Pole
- Asia/ Orient – West
- Australia (Perth, Ayers Rock, etc)
- Balkans (Croatia, etc)
- Capital of…/ Big cities in…
- Central Asia (Kazakhstan, etc)
- (Mainland) China (Beijing, etc)
- Countries near equator/ Tropical countries
- Countryside
- Czech Republic (Prague, etc)
- Developing countries/ Developing world
- East Asia (Mongolia, etc)
- Egypt (Pyramids, Nile, etc)
- Germany (Munich, Cologne, etc)
- Greece (Athens, etc)
- Himalayas (e.g. Everest)
- Indian Subcontinent/ South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka)
- Korean Peninsula (South Korea or North Korea)
- Ireland (Northern Ireland or Republic of Ireland)
- Italy (Florence, Rome, Turin, Milan, Naples, Venice, etc)
- Low Countries (Belgium or Netherlands)
- Maldives
- Mediterranean (Cyprus, Malta, etc)
- Middle East (e.g. UAE, Dead Sea or Jordan)
- Mount Fuji
- Neighbouring countries/ Nearest countries (to this one)
- North America (Rockies, Lake Superior in USA, Lake Titicaca in Mexico, etc)
- Pacific Ocean
- Paris
- Philippines (Cebu Island, etc)
- Pyrenees
- Red Sea
- Russia (Moscow, etc)
- Scandinavia
- Sea of Japan
- Seychelles
- South America (Amazon in Brazil, Argentina, etc)
- Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, etc)
- United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland)
- United States (LA, New York/ Big Apple, New Orleans/ Big Easy, etc)
Put “the” in at least 10 places above, first with no help and then with the list of categories.
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