O R A L P R A C T I C E Lessons 1 - 25 - Shenker

OP 24 - AURAL COMPREHENSION - Roger and Madeleine on holiday in Italy
- Here's a little story for you, about our friends Roger and Madeleine…
Based on a conversation on PCB 23.
Roger and Madeleine are a fairly wacky duo, but not at all like Henry and Mabel. They're fortyish, and
somewhat on the posh side… They also appear in OP 16 and 19.
Suggestion: personalise the story with some local (Italian) references.
As a different kind of follow-up (*), you can have pairs of students act out the little scene:
CLASS: pairs of students compete for the Best Performance Award; IP: teacher takes one part.
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It was June, and Roger and Madeleine were on holiday, travelling in Italy. They were visiting Milan, and
Venice, and Florence and [Livorno], and they were having a wonderful time. Roger was very happy because
he was able to understand Italian pretty well - the result of the Italian course he took last winter. His Italian
was especially useful when they went to restaurants, and it was time to order from the menu. Many of the
menus were in English, of course, but the translations weren't usually very good, so it was a good opportunity
for Roger to practise his Italian.
> Where were Roger and Madeleine travelling? / Was it a business trip? / Were they enjoying their holiday? /
Which of them speaks Italian? / When and where did he study it? (Last winter, in England - information in
AC of OP 16) / Was Italian more useful in museums or in restaurants? / Why? / What about the bilingual
menus you can find in many restaurants?
One evening, in [Livorno], they decided to have dinner in a little pizzeria in the centre of town, near the [local
landmark; port, etc.]. "It's so picturesque! said Madeleine. I adore dining al fresco - is that the correct expression,
Roger?" Madeleine didn't know very much Italian, except for expressions like "buon giorno" and "al fresco".
While Roger was studying Italian last winter, she was taking yoga lessons.
> Where did they decide to eat, one evening? / Do you think they had a table inside the pizzeria, or outside?
/ Does Madeleine know much Italian? / What was she doing last winter, while Roger was taking Italian
lessons?
Now, Madeleine can't see very well - she has to wear glasses. But in spite of her yoga training she's a bit
vain - she thinks she looks like a schoolteacher with her glasses on, so she prefers to wear contact lenses. But
that evening she had a little headache, and she decided not to wear her contacts. "Roger can translate the
menu for me," she said.
And so they had a nice pizza - "Margherita" for Roger, and "Capricciosa" for Madeleine - and then they went
for a romantic walk in [wherever].
> Who needs glasses… Roger or Madeleine? / Does Madeleine prefer to wear glasses or contact lenses? /
Why? / Why wasn't she wearing her contact lenses that evening? / What did they have to eat? / What did
they do afterwards?
(*) Tapescript. "Role-cards" for the students are available on the additional page following the Serial
exercise.
Possible segue:
210