Parlare delle proprie vacanze in inglese

L’estate è arrivata e tutti parlano di vacanze. Ma come affrontare questo argomento con una persona che non è italiana? Come parlare in inglese delle proprie vacanze (e come fare le domande giuste all’interlocutore) senza farsi prendere dal panico?

Here I am with some good expressions:

Se si è partiti in aereo:

• Flight: volo
• Departures: partenze
• Boarding pass/card: carta d’imbarco
• To take off: decollare
• To land: atterrare
• Arrivals: arrivi
• Baggage reclaim: ritiro bagagli
• Passport control: controllo passaporto

Descrivere qualche particolare situazione in aeroporto:

• My flight was delayed/cancelled
• Which airline did you fly with?
• How long was the flight? Was it good? Did you enjoy it?
• Did they serve food on the plane? Was the food good? Was it expensive?
• Did you fly in economy class? Did you get an upgrade to business class?

Parlare dell’accommodation (alloggio):

• Where did you stay? In a hotel or did you rent a flat?
• Was the hotel well located? Was it near the city centre? How far was it from the city centre?
• Did you have a nice/quiet/ clean/comfortable/large/nice view room?
• How was the hotel staff? Kind/professional/helpful/ caring?
• Was the breakfast included? Was it a buffet breakfast?
• Did you have any problems with the check in/check out?
• What sort of facilities did the accommodation have?

Parlare dei trasporti:

• Did you rent a car/scooter?
• How was the public transport service?
• Was the petrol expensive there?
• Was it easy to drive there? How were the roads? And the drivers?
• Were the taxis expensive?
• How much did you pay for a taxi?
• Did you get a travel card? Was it cheap? Was it easy to use?
• Were the road signs clear? Easy to follow?
• Did you ever get lost?

Parlare dei posti da visitare:

• What would you recommend worth visiting?
• Were the entry tickets expensive/cheap?
• Did you book your tickets online in order to avoid the queue?
• Were the main sites crowded?
• It is a place easy to get around?

Parlare del cibo:

• Could you recommend any good places to go to for dinner/lunch?
• How was the food? Was it good/tasty/nothing special/exquisite/ expensive/cheap/delicious?
• Did you try their local specialities ?
• What about the drinks? Did they have good wine? Beer? Cocktails?

Parlare dello shopping:

• Did you do any shopping while you were on holiday?
• What did you buy?
• Was there something typical of the place worth buying?

Di seguito, l’esempio di un racconto di una vacanza:

I have just returned from a 2 week holiday with my husband Paul in Spain. We stayed most of the time in Barcelona. Then we spent the last 3 days in a small town called Girona.

We travelled to Spain by air, although we had thought to drive there from the UK before deciding against it. We flew from Gatwick to Barcelona with an early flight, once we got to Barcelona we jumped on the bus, which took us straight away in the heart of the city: Placa Catalunya.

We had such a relaxing time on our holiday. We met up with some friends of ours, who moved to Barcelona only a few years ago. We had some lovely dinners with them. They took us to restaurants full of locals and not many tourists at all. We loved the tapas and the sangria! We walked a lot, every day we went on a sightseeing tour and we managed to visit most of the attractions we had planned to before leaving the UK. We loved the Sagrada Familia and the Picasso Museum. Our accommodation was superb, well located and the room was absolutely fantastic. It had a small balcony overlooking the Sagrada.

Ricordatevi che:

quando parlate di qualcosa nel passato, i modi verbali da usare nella maggior parte dei casi sono:

• PAST SIMPLE: per parlare di azioni iniziate e finite nel passato
• PRESENT PERFECT: per parlare di azioni iniziate nel passato e non ancora terminate o accadute nel passato in un momento imprecisato
• PAST PERFECT: per parlare di un’azione precedente ad un’altra nel passato

Se invece vi trovate a parlare di una vacanza nel futuro dovrete usare:

• GOING TO: per indicare intenzioni
• PRESENT CONTINUOUS: per indicare azioni programmate e sicure
• WILL: futuro generico da usare negli altri casi

Chiedere informazioni su una vacanza futura:

• What are your holiday plans?
• Where are you going? How long are you going to stay there?
• What are you up to for the holidays? (What are you up to = what are your plans)
• Are you staying at home or going away for the holidays?
• Who are you going with?
• How long are you staying over?

Bene, sono sicura che ora saprete intavolare facilmente una conversazione sulle vacanze, passate o future che siano, con i vostri English speakers!

Happy holidays folks!