SPEAKING NO. 6: Describing Pictures - Houses

PREPARATION

Describing a picture requires a lot of vocabulary, but also, the use of expressions of location, opinion and many adjectives.

LOCATION

General expressions:

There is/are ...

At the top...

At the bottom ...

On the right ...

On the left ...

In the background ...

In the foreground ...

Prepositions:

Next to ...

Behind ...

In front of ...

Between ...

In ...

On ...

Under ...

Above ...

Adverbs:

Up ...

Down ...

Near ...

Far (from) ...

OPINION

Many times, we give our opinion on what we can see in a picture. We can even ask for our listener's opinion.

I think (that) ...

My impression is that ...

I like/don't like ...

Or we can even call the attention of the listener towards a specific element in the picture:

Can you see ...?

What can you see...?

Don't you think that ...?

Do you like ...?

Let's have a look at ...

If you look ...

DESCRIBING A PICTURE: Houses

In our activity today, we will describe pictures of houses. Let's review some basic vocabulary first.

1. Types of Houses

We can find 3 general groups:

a) Detached dwellings / Single-unit housing (a house that stands on its own)

b) Semi-detached dwellings (a house next to another house)

c) Attached dwelling / Multi-unit housing (several houses in the same structure)

a) Detached dwellings:

- Bungalow (a house without a basement)

- Castle

- Cottage (the roof is made of some kind of thatch)

- Farmhouse (a house on a farm)

- Log cabin (made with logs)

- Manor house (antique house made of rock)

- Mansion (a huge house in the middle of a big land)

- Ranch (usually made of timber, wood)

- Victorian house (typical of the 19th c, usually associated to terror films)

- Villa (usually next to the sea)

b) Semi-detached dwellings:

- Semi-detached house

- Two/three decker house

c) Attached dwellings:

- Apartment

- Condo(minium)

- Loft

- Penthouse (a luxurious big apartment at the top of a tower building)

- Terraced house

- Townhouse (a terraced house in the middle of the city)

- Attic (a small apartment at the top of a building; the top part of a house)

2. Parts of a house

- Porch

- Garage

- Basement

- Patio

- Backyard

- Driveway

- Front yard

- Garden

- Balcony

- Dining-room

- Living-room

- Kitchen

- Pantry

- Bathroom

- Bedroom

- Shed

PRACTICE

Describe the following pictures:

http://www.cyprus-online.com/buy-sell/semi-detached-houses-limassol-cyprus.jpg

http://danny.oz.au/travel/iceland/p/3387-turf-houses.jpg

http://www.wishlist.nu/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/houses.jpg

http://www.city-data.com/forum/attachments/other-topics/43146d1244596707-how-low-can-you-go-12_8houses.jpg

http://1001photos.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/crooked-house-windsor.jpg

http://www.woonq.com/uploaded_images/narrowest_houses.jpg

http://jetsongreen.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c67ce53ef01127970076f28a4-500wi

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj204/fun_games_file/29ad1d2c.jpg

http://www.abductit.com/files/articles/unusual_houses/seattle-tree-house-architectural-designers.jpg

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/Photography/Images/POD/k/kastellorizon-island-houses-273403-sw.jpg

http://z.about.com/d/architecture/1/0/R/P/house3544.jpg

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj204/fun_games_file/274ebe1a.jpg

http://www.solarnavigator.net/geography/geography_images/houses_of_parliament_and_lords_london_england.jpg