Postcards

1. English for life
Listening
Entry 3
writing
Unit 6
Postcards

2. • Photos showing people on holiday – (5 mins)
• Discussion questions on holidays / postcards (10 mins)
• Presentation – brief details on postcards (5 mins)
• Reading activity (1) Reading a postcard and labelling the parts (10 mins)
• Reading activity (2) Checking new vocabulary / highlighting features (5
mins)
• Language focus – Shortened forms in postcards – Rewriting sentences
(15 mins).
• Language focus – expressions for postcards (5 mins)
• Funny postcards quiz (10 mins) 65
• Language focus – Different tenses in postcards (5 mins)
• Language focus – Writing sentences in different tenses (10 mins)
• Presentation – Useful tips when writing postcards (5 mins)
• Presentation – Planning before writing (5 mins)
• Writing practice – using notes to write a postcard message (15 mins)
• Speaking practice describing a famous place (10 mins)
• Vocabulary from the class quiz (5 mins)

4. • Where was your last holiday to? Why did you choose
this place to visit?
• Where do people from your country tend to go on
holiday? Why?
• Which places have you visited in the UK that you
would recommend someone to visit? Why?
• Have you ever sent or received a holiday postcard?
Describe the experience.
• Is the act of sending holiday postcards popular in
your country? Why do you think this is the case?

5. Before you start
 Postcards are a way of sending a short, informal message to
friends or family.
 They usually have a photograph of your location on one side,
with space on the back for an address and some brief news.
 Postcards should not be used for writing about private or
important information or urgent matters.
 The space on them is limited, so we often shorten sentences
and miss out words, sending someone a 'snapshot' of our
time away, as well as something personal and fun for them to
keep.

7. 1
2
3
4
5 6

9. Writing clearly
(1) Look at the examples 1-5 from Marco and Christa's postcard.
Write out the shortened sentences in full.
Example: Arrived safely. We have arrived in San Francisco safely:
1. Hotel is gorgeous, people are lovely.
.........................................................................................................................................................
2. Weather is chilly, but who cares?
.........................................................................................................................................................
3. Have already walked the Golden Gate Bridge...and visited Alcatraz - scary!
.........................................................................................................................................................
4. Going to have a cable car ride tomorrow morning, if time.
.........................................................................................................................................................
The hotel is gorgeous and the people are lovely.
The weather is chilly, but who cares?
We have already walked the Golden Gate Bridge and visited
Alcatraz - which was scary OR which we found scary!
We are going to have a cable car ride tomorrow morning, if there is
time OR if we have time.

10. (2) Now turn the full-length sentences 1-4 into short, postcard-style sentences.
1. The weather here in England has been terrible.
...............................................................................................................................
2. We have been having a brilliant holiday.
...............................................................................................................................
3. In the last couple of days we have visited Cairo and the
Pyramids.
...............................................................................................................................
4. I wish you could have seen the giant squid at the aquarium. It was
terrifying!
...............................................................................................................................
Weather here's been terrible! OR Weather terrible.
Been having a brilliant holiday.
So far have visited Cairo and Pyramids.
Wish you could've seen giant squid at the aquarium - terrifying!

11. (3) Read sentences 1-7. Decide if they are greetings (G) or closing messages (C).
1. Wish you were here! ...... 5. Greetings from sunny
Florida.........
2. See you soon....... 6. Hope everything is going
well with you. ........
3. Weather is amazing!
.......
7. We're having the BEST
time! .......
4. We finally made it to
Spain! ........
C
C
G
G
G
C
G

12. A) 1840 B) 1870 C) 1910

13. 1 2

15. 3 4

16. 5
Where does the tourist need to go after
spending all his money?

17. 6

18. 7
7. A) pie and chips B) Burgers C) pizza
8. A) Spanish B) French C) Foreign
9. A) cup of tea B) beer C) wine
8
9

19. 10

20. Looking more closely
• Read the postcard again carefully.
• Put a tick next to the things Marco and Christa have already done.
• Put a cross next to the things they are planning to do soon.
1. Drive to Monterey........ 5. Arrive safely........
2. Eat lobster. ....... 6. Walk the Golden Gate
Bridge.......
3. Pick up the hire car.
........
7. Visit Alcatraz. ........
4. Go on a cable car
ride.........
8. See Cannery Row.........

21. Using tenses in postcards
A common way to structure a postcard is to start
by saying how your holiday is going.
 (We are) having an amazing time! (present
continuous)
 (The) hotel is gorgeous! (present simple)

22. Using tenses in postcards
The next step is to say what you have been doing since you
arrived on holiday.
 (We) visited the Taj Mahal and ate delicious curry. (past
simple)
 We've already visited Niagara Falls. (present perfect)
 The kids have been learning to surf. (present perfect
continuous)

23. Using tenses in postcards
The last step is to finish by mentioning your plans for the
next couple of days.
 (We're) going to see the Terracotta Warriors
tomorrow. (future with 'going to')
 We'll be flying home in three days. (future continuous
with 'will')

24. Language focus
Use the prompts 1-4 to write postcard-style sentences.
Example (yesterday) + (lovely restaurant) + (fun) Ate in a Lovely
restaurant yesterday - had so much fun!
1. (every day from the start) + (learn to SCUBA dive) + (challenging)
...............................................................................................................................
2. (first 3 days) + (have terrible jet lag) + (better now)
...............................................................................................................................
3. (two days ago) + (visit Eiffel Tower) + (beautiful)
...............................................................................................................................
4. (tomorrow) + (visit art gallery) + (exciting)
...............................................................................................................................
We've been learning to SCUBA dive - it's challenging!
Had terrible jetlag for first 3 days - feeling better now.
Visited the Eiffel Tower - beautiful!
Going to visit the art gallery tomorrow - exciting!

25. Useful tips
 Make sure you write your message on the left of the postcard and the address
on the right.
 Don't forget to leave room for the stamp on the top right corner!
 Don't write anything in a postcard that needs a reply. An email will get a
faster response!
 It would be unusual to put bad news in a postcard - save this for an email or
phone call.
 Because space is so limited, it is acceptable to use shortened words and
sentences.
 If your postcard doesn't have a picture or a name to show where you are, then
you should say where you are in your message.
 In a postcard, it is acceptable to write with more exclamation marks,
adjectives and superlatives than you would normally use.

26. Get writing
(1) Imagine you are on holiday in Australia.
Take some notes on the following questions to prepare for writing a postcard.
 How was your flight?  What food have you eaten?
 Is your hotel nice?  Which activities have you
tried?
 What's the weather like?  What do you plan to do next?
 Can you describe the people you've met?

27. (2) Read the words in the box. Circle the ones you
want to use in your postcard.
Sydney Opera House scary amazing
beach nightlife luxurious restaurant
Great Barrier Reef Ayers Rock barbeque
hot relaxing

29. 3. Sample answer:
Hi Kate and Marcus! Having a fabulous time in Oz! Flight
long, but great seats. Staying in beautiful hotel with view of
Sydney Opera House. Weather perfect for sightseeing -
bright, warm, not too hot. The Aussies are so friendly -
brilliant accent too. Had surfing lessons yesterday then
beach barbeque-amazing. Trying a new seafood restaurant
tonight before checking out nightlife. Will need a relaxing
day by the pool tomorrow!
Wish you were here, guys!
Eleni and Zander xx

30. • Look at the following
postcards.
• Describe the place to
your partner, but don’t
say the name of the
place.
• Can they tell where the
place is without seeing
the picture?

31. Useful language for photos
• Give a general introduction e.g. 'this picture shows …' or 'in this picture i can see...' or
'this is a picture of …’
• Talk about places e.g. 'they’re driving in the country/in a city/in the mountains' or
'she’s sitting inside/outside a cafe' or 'i can see a street market/old building/square/
street/restaurant/beach …’
• Paraphrase (use these phrases to describe words you don’t know) e.g. 'it’s something
you fry food in' (frying pan) or 'it’s a kind of container for flowers' (a vase) or 'it’s a
cupboard for keeping clothes in' (a wardrobe).
• Make guesses e.g. 'it might be summer because some people are wearing sunglasses' or
'it’s probably in the country, because …' or 'this picture could be in northern Europe
because of the buildings...
• Describe position e.g. 'in the middle of the picture there is a group of people, probably
tourists because …' or 'in the background there is a church …' or 'there’s a bookshelf
next to/near/behind/in front of the door’.
https://eoienglishclass.weebly.com/describing-photos-basic-2.html