Holidays

Let's talk about holidays

1. What public holidays do you have in your country?
   We celebrate a lot of public festivals in my country. I am sure you know about the Tet holiday which is the most important one. In addition, we get together with our family for the Mid-Autumn Day and the National Day.
2. Do people in your country celebrate Christmas?
   Yes, though it's really hard to say, probably most people would go shopping with families or friends to take advantage of the sales in the shops, but personally speaking, I am afraid we don't celebrate Christmas like the way people do in Western countries.
3. Do you like public holidays?
   Yes, I am fond of holidays. The key/main thing/point is that on these days, I don't have to work and have plenty of time to relax and also I will have more quality time with my family.
4. Which public holidays do you like the most?
   I believe my favourite public holiday would be Tet festival because I get seven days at the very least to go travelling and also it's the best time to get around, the weather is neither too cold nor too hot, and you can find shades of blossoms all around, which is very pretty.
5. What do people in your country usually do on public holidays?
   It's kind of hard to say but people that I know around me tend to go shopping with their families or friends to take advantage of the sales in the shops, but maybe for others, they probably will stay at home to relax or to take a rest or to sleep much more than usual.
6. Do you think public holidays are important? Do you think there should be more public holidays in your country?
   I believe public holidays are rather important and there should be more of them in my country. The main factor is that people really need to unwind without any distractions after tiring at work and also public holidays can dramatically boost consumption, as goods in the shops will be sold at a discount during these days.

IELTS Vocabulary: Holiday

Chắc hẳn các bạn cũng biết các từ "flight", "tour", "view"...tuy nhiên, để diễn đạt khả năng sử dụng tiếng Anh trong việc kết hợp với các từ khác để tạo những cụm từ mang nghĩa nhấn mạnh và biểu thị cảm xúc như thế nào?
Những cụm từ dưới đây giúp bạn ăn điểm trong phần speaking cũng như writing.

Part 1: Style questions
Examiner: What kind of holiday do you like?
Answer: I try to avoid tourist trap...I like to get away from it all and I prefer going somewhere off the beaten track. Last year I had the holiday of a lifetime around a two week wildlife safari in Kenya.

Examiner: What do you like to do when you're on holiday?
Answer: I enjoy visiting the local places of interest, I like to go sightseeing and always sign up a guided tours as it's a chance to be shown around and take photos...one of my hobbies.

Examiner: Do you have many tourists in your country?
Answer: Yes, we have lots of holiday resorts along the coast that are popular with tourists. Most people come on package holidays and stay in one of the many hotels and self- catering.

Part 2: style task
Describe a beautiful place you one visited. You should say: 
- when you  went to this place
- where it was
- who you went with
and say why you liked it so much

A few years ago I went on a long weekend to Lake District in the UK, it's a very popular  holiday destination in the north of England. I went on my own and had a wonderful time, I stayed in a youth hostel and make some really nice people. But the most memorable thing about the holiday were the breathtaking views and lovely picturesque village, it can get very busy of hordes of tourists so I decided to go out of season in the fall. The weather was fantastic and the shops were full of local crafts, a really great holiday. It's certainly not a kind of the short break for someone looking for a busy nightlife but if you want to relax in the middle of a stunning landscape, I would certainly recommend a  holiday to Lake District.

Part 3: Style questions
Examiner: What do you think has led to the growth in the tourism industry?
Answer: It's much easier and affordable to travel now, nowadays you can get cheap chart - flights or all- in packages to somewhere near or to a far - off destination.

Examiner: How do people tend to choose the destination?
Answer: The Internet was a great source of information and high street travel agents are very popular...that where I like to go to get a holiday brochures for the places i'm interested in.

Examiner: People sometime say flying is the most glamorous form of travel. Do you agree?
Answer: I'm not so sure really... flying can be quite boring ...queuing up at the check in desk ...going through passport control...sitting for ages in the departure lounges ...then the flight itself can be quite uncomfortable ...no... i'm not sure agree.

Definitions

1. tourist trap: a place that attracts lots of tourists and where food, drink, entertainment  is more expensive than normal, nơi bóc lột khách du lịch.
2. to get away from it all: to take a holiday to escape a busy or stressful lifestyle: cách xa, trốn đi đâu đó để thoát khỏi cuộc sống bận rộn hay mệt mỏi, xả trét
3. off the beaten track: not well known: nơi hẻo lánh, không nổi tiếng lắm
4. holiday of the lifetime: a special holiday that you are unlikely to repeat: kỳ nghỉ đặc biệt trong đời
5. wildlife safari: a holiday, often in Africa, to observe wild animals: thiên nhiên hoang dã
6. places of interest: sites of interest to tourists: những điểm tham quan
7. to go sightseeing: to look around tourist sites: tham quan, ngắm cảnh
8. guided tours: an organised groups shown around a place of interest by an expert, chuyến du dịch có hướng dẫn viên
9. holiday resort: a place where lots of people go for holiday. nơi mà nhiều khách đến đỏ để nghỉ dưỡng, hay còn gọi là khu nghỉ dưỡng
10. all - in package / package holiday: a holiday where you purchase the travel and accommodation together: gói kỳ nghỉ du lịch ( giá cả cố định, bao gồm cả ăn ở, vận chuyển...)
11. self- catering: a holiday where you supply your own food, ăn uống tự do
12. holiday destination: where you go for holiday, điểm đến du lịch
13. youth hostel: a cheap form of accommodation: nhà trọ dành cho du khách trẻ, thanh niên
14. breathtaking views: an extremely beautiful view: cảnh đẹp ngoạn mục
15. picturesque villages: a very pretty village: ngôi làng đẹp như tranh
16. hordes of tourist: crowded of tourist: đông khách du lịch
17. to go out of season: outside of the main holiday period, trái mùa
18. local craft: objects produced locally, sản phẩm thủ công do dân địa phương làm
19. short break: a short holiday, kỳ nghỉ ngắn
20. stunning landscape: extremely beautiful countryside, phong cảnh miền quê tuyệt vời
21. charter - flights: a cheaper form of flying than a scheduled flight, chuyến bay dành riêng cho du khách
22. far- off destination: somewhere a long way away điểm đến xa xôi
23. travel agent: a shop that specialises in booking holiday.
24. holiday brochure: a glossy publication with details of holiday packages cuốn sách nhỏ về những kỳ nghỉ
25. check- in desk:  the place at the airport where you register your flight and deposit your luggage quầy làm thủ tục
26. departure lounge: where you wait for your flight to be called,  phòng chờ lên máy bay  

Phrasal Verb on Holiday

So far we've looked at a group of multi-word verbs that come from break. But with so many out there, what's the best way to learn them? Well, one way is to learn words in groups by topic. So, now we're going to do an exercise to practise multi-word verbs related to the theme of travel.

to break up	to end a relationship, chia tay	She's just broken up with her boyfriend
to break down	(of a car or vehicle) to stop working, ngừng hoạt động, bị hưu, bể bánh...	Our car broken down and we had push it off the road.
to break out	(here) escape from prison, thoát ra khỏi	They broke out of prison and fled the country.
to break in	to use force to enter a place, chen vào	As she was talking, he suddendly break in, saying 'that's lie'
to break off	to separate something from something else, vỡ ra, bẻ vụn	He broke off a piece of chocolate
to break off	end the relationship, kết thúc, cắt đứt	They've broken off their engagement.
to break off	to suddenly stop speaking, ngừng	She broke off in the middle of a sentence
to check in	to arrive at a hotel and register your details, also to give your information at an airport before you fly, làm thủ tục	Passenger are requested to check in two hours before the flight.
to check out	to pay the bill and leave a hotel, rời khỏi	We check out at 5pm to catch a 7pm flight.
to pick someone up	to collect someone from a place, đón	I pick my son up from school
to see someone off	to go to a place that someone is leaving from to say goodbye, đưa tiễn	My parent saw me off at the airport
to take off	(of a plane) to leave the ground, cất cánh	The flight will take off at 3pm
to touch down	(of a plane) after flying, to touch the ground again, chạm xuống, đáp xuống mặt đất	One of the plane 's tyres burst on touch down.
to set off	to begin a journey, bắt đầu khởi hành	what time do we set off tomorrow?
to head off	to start a journey or leave a place, khởi hành	what time you are heading off?
to get in	(of a plane or train) to arrive, đến nơi	what time did you get in last night?
to go away	to leave your home in order to spend time somewhere, rời khỏi, đi du lịch, kế hoạch đi du lịch	We usually go away for the summer.
to get away	to go somewhere to rest,  đi đâu đó nghỉ ngơi	I just need to get away for a few days
to wind down	(hoặc unwind) relax, nghỉ ngơi	A glass of wine in the evening help me to wind down after work
to kick back	to stop doing things and relax, tạm dừng công việc để nghỉ ngơi	what good is life if a guy can't kick back and watch a movie?
to chill out	to relax completely nghỉ ngơi, xả trét	I just chilling out in the front of TV
to hang/wait around	to stay in a place and do nothing while you wait for someone to arrive or something to happen , chờ đợi	We spend the whole day waiting around for something excited to happen but nothing did.
to show someone around	to go with someone to all parts, hướng dẫn du lịch	Let's me know when you 're coming to Cambridge and I'll show you around.
to polish/ brush up	to rub or brush an object to make it shine, đánh bóng, chải chuốt	I try to polish up my language skill before I travel
to soak up	to enjoy the effect or experience of something, ngâm mình, đấm mình	I love to lie on the beach and soak up the sun.
to while away	to spend time in a relax way, trong thời gian nghỉ nghơi, relax	I just knit a lot when I was a pregnant just to while away the time.
to eat out	to eat in restaurant, ăn nhà hàng	When I lived in Spain, I used to eat out all the time.
indulge in	to allow yourself or another person to have something enjoyable, xả láng, nuông chiều, thỏa mãn	I love champagne but I don't often indulge myself.
round off	to complete an event or holiday, kết thúc chuyến hành trình	I rounded the meal off with chocolate and rum cake.
to stay on	to continue to be in a place, job or school, ở lại	I decided to stay on at university to do further to research.

Phần này sẽ giúp các bạn dễ hiểu hơn về cách sử dụng các phrasal Verbs

August is a month for holidays in many countries, so I thought it would be nice to look at some phrasal verbs and other multi-word verbs connected with going on holiday. (By the way, holiday is a British English word – Americans take vacations.)

One very simple phrasal verb connected with holidays is go away. If we ask someone ‘Are you going away this summer?’, we are asking about their holiday plans; it is not a general enquiry about them going somewhere. We use get away in a similar way:

I hope to get away for a few days soon.

Lots of people lead busy lives, and a holiday is a chance to wind down(relax). Other, rather informal phrasal verbs for relaxing are kick back and chill out. If we have a job, we take some time off.

When we begin our holiday, we set off on the journey to get there. We can also use head off:

They headed off for a week in the sun.

If you travel by plane, you have to check in online or at the airport. You often have to hang around or wait around at the airport, which can be boring, but once the plane takes off (leaves the ground), you are on your way. When the plane lands, we can say it touches down. We use get in/into to talk about a train, bus or ship arriving somewhere:

What time does the train get in?

The ferry gets into Dover at 17:30.

When you arrive at your holiday destination, you will probably check into your hotel. Then you might go and check out the neighbourhood, and maybe even hire a guide to show you around. One great thing about travel is meeting new people, so if you are going abroad, you might try to polish up or brush up (on) your language skills before you go.

Some people enjoy staying active and like to pack a lot into their holidays (do lots of things), while others prefer to laze around, just soaking up(experiencing) the atmosphere or taking in (looking at) the view. You might choose to while away (spend lazily) your days wandering round a lovely old town, or soaking up the sun on the beach.

Holidays are a time when we are kind to ourselves – for example we probably eat out (have meals in restaurants) more than we do at home, and we might indulge in rich foods that we normally avoid. We might treat ourselves to a particularly enjoyable experience in order to round off the holiday (finish it in a good way), though if we enjoy ourselves too much, we may be tempted to stay on (not go home when we intended to)!

Talking about holidays and vacation

Holiday is the leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure. Note that UK holiday is US vacation.
Following are commonly used expressions containing the word "holiday".


http://ourveryfirstenglishblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/talking-about-holidays_27.html
http://www.talking-about.net/english-Holiday+and+Vacation-16.php