Reading directions aloud

Giving directions
Reading aloud is shown to improve confidence and understanding. These activities have been
designed to help you practise your reading and speaking skills in an authentic way. You will focus on
the language used and different aspects of pronunciation.

Have you ever read directions aloud to someone?

Can you think of a situation when you might need to read directions aloud to someone?

Jane has received an invitation to a wedding and some directions to explain how to get from the town
hall (wedding venue) to the hotel where the wedding reception is.

Wedding invitation Directions from the town hall (wedding)

to the hotel (wedding reception).

Practise reading the directions aloud. You can also listen to them being read aloud by Jane.
Compare how you and Jane read aloud and try to notice any of your own pronunciation errors.
Come out of the car park and turn right into Green Street.
Go along Green Street for about a mile until you reach the roundabout.
Go over the roundabout (second exit) and keep going straight ahead until you arrive at the second set
of traffic lights.
Turn left into Rowley Road and keep going for about 2 miles.
You will go under a bridge and past a pub on your right called ‘The Old Manor’.
When you arrive at the crossroads, turn right into Primrose Lane.
Go past the swimming pool and the playground, and take your third right into Junction Road (be
careful as there are speed bumps along here – don’t go above 20mph).
Finally, take your second right into Bluebell Walk. The hotel is at the end of the road – it’s on the
corner, opposite the old school.

For more practice on how to read directions aloud, complete the following activities.

© British Council 2012

Reading directions aloud

Activity 1 In this activity, you will focus on the meaning and spelling of some
words and phrases in Jane’s directions.

Match each picture to the correct word/ phrase.

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Reading directions aloud

1. turn left

a.
2. opposite

b.

3. go over the roundabout

c.

4. speed bump

d.

5. traffic lights

e.

6. it’s on the corner

f.

7. go straight ahead

g.

8. take your second right

h.

9. turn right

i.

10. go under a bridge

j.

11. crossroads

k.

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Activity 2
In this activity, you will focus on words which sound natural together when giving directions. For
example, we say ‘at the end of the road’, not ‘in the end of the road’.
All the phrases are in Jane’s directions.
Complete the gaps with the correct word from the box.

the at take into on out along over turn

going go

1. “Come _________ of the car park...”

2. “Go __________ Green Street for about a mile…”

3. “Go ___________ the roundabout (second exit)…”

4. “…and keep __________ straight ahead…”

5. “…until you arrive __________ the second set of traffic lights.”

6. “You will __________ under a bridge and…”

7. “…at the crossroads, _________ right into…”

8. “…and __________ your third right into…”

9. “Finally, take your second right __________ Bluebell Walk.”

10. “The hotel is at __________ end of the road...”

11. “It’s __________ the corner, opposite the school.”

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Activity 3

In spoken English, we often add extra sounds between words to link our words together.

As a result, when you listen to a continuous stream of sound of English, It is can be very difficult to
identify the individual words.

These extra linking sounds are:

/r/ e.g. Where/r/are you?

/j/ e.g. My/j/jeyes are blue.
/w/ e.g. I'm going to/w/Africa.

In this activity, you will focus on some of the language in Jane’s directions, and identify the linking
sounds between individual words.

Look at the question on the left and tick the correct linking sound. The first one has been done for
you.

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Reading directions aloud

Directional language /r/ /w/ /j/

1. "Go along Green Street for about a mile until you


reach the roundabout."

Which sound can you hear between 'Go ... along' ?

2. "Go along Green Street for about a mile until you

reach the roundabout."

Which sound can you hear between 'for ... about' ?

3. "Go over the roundabout..."

Which sound can you hear between 'Go ... over' ?

4. "... and keep going straight ahead until you arrive

at... "

Which sound can you hear between 'you ... arrive' ?

5. "Turn left into Rowley Road and keep going for

about 2 miles."

Which sound can you hear between 'for ... about' ?

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Reading directions aloud

6. "You will go under a bridge and past a pub on your

right, called 'The Old Manor'."

Which sound can you hear between 'go ... under' ?

7. "You will go under a bridge and past a pub on your

right, called 'The Old Manor'."

Which sound can you hear between 'under ... a' ?

8. "You will go under a bridge and past a pub on your

right, called 'The Old Manor'."

Which sound can you hear between 'The ... Old' ?

9. "When you arrive at the crossroads, turn right..."

Which sound can you hear between 'you ... arrive' ?

10. "... be careful as there are speed bumps along here

- don't go above 20 mph..."

Which sound can you hear between 'there ... are' ?

11. "... be careful as there are speed bumps along here

- don't go above 30 mph..."

Which sound can you hear between 'go ... above' ?

12. "The hotel is at the end of the road..."

Which sound can you hear between 'the ... end'?

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Reading directions aloud

Activity 4
In this activity, you will put words together in the right order to make phrases from Jane’s directions.
Rearrange the words so that they make sense. Practise reading aloud as you do this.

1. car/ out/ the/ park/ come/ of

2. right/ Street/ turn/ Green/ into
3. for/ along/ go/ Street/ about/ mile/ Green/ a
4. over/ (second/ go/ roundabout/ exit)/ the
5. going/ ahead/ straight/ keep
6. into/ Rowley/ left/ Road/ turn
7. about/ for/ miles/ going/ two/ keep
8. a/ will/ under/ go/ bridge/ you
9. crossroads,/ arrive/ the/ you/ right/ when/ turn/ at
10. Walk/ third/ take/ right/ Bluebell/ your/ into

Activity 5
Now you will think about the meaning of language used in Jane’s directions. Make sentences by
connecting the beginnings and endings.

beginnings endings
1. 'Turn left' is the a. opposite of 'go over'.
2. 'Go under' is the b. means 'stop'.
3. MPH stands for c. means 'go'.
4. A red traffic light d. Miles Per Hour.
5. A green traffic light e. opposite of 'turn right'.

Activity 6
Read Jane’s directions aloud to a friend and ask them to mark the route on the blank map at the end
of this document.

You can check that they have marked the correct route by comparing their map with the completed
map at the end of this document.

Did you give good, clear directions?

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Reading directions aloud

Over to you:

How about having a go at giving your own directions?

Think of two places you are familiar with. Write down the directions from one place to another and
read them aloud, paying particular attention to linking sounds. You could get a friend to mark the route
on a map.

You could visit http://www.theaa.com/route-planner/index.jsp to get directions between places

anywhere in the UK.

Listening to yourself speaking aloud can really help improve your pronunciation. It allows you to notice
how you really speak so that you can identify your individual strengths and weaknesses. You can
record yourself giving directions here: http://Vocaroo.com - listen and re-record until you are happy
with your reading aloud!

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Reading directions aloud

Answers

Examples of phrases and sentences made using the words in the word cloud:
Keep going along Green Street for about a mile.
When you arrive at the roundabout, take the third exit.
Keep going straight ahead.
Turn right at the crossroads.
Turn left into Bluebell Walk.

Activity 1 Activity 3
1. c 1. Go /w/ along
2. For /r/ about
2. k
3. Go /w/ over
3. b 4. you /w/ arrive
4. i 5. for /r/ about
6. go /w/ under
5. a 7. under /r/ a
6. j 8. The /j/ old
9. you /w/ arrive
7. d 10. there /r/ are
8. e 11. go /w/ above
12. the /j/ end
9. f
10. g
Activity 4
11. h
1. come out of the car park
2. turn right into Green Street
Activity 2 3. go along Green Street for about a mile
4. go over the roundabout (second exit)
1. out 5. keep going straight ahead
2. along 6. turn left into Rowley Road
3. over 7. keep going for about two miles
4. going 8. you will go under a bridge
5. at 9. when you arrive at the crossroads, turn
6. go right
7. turn 10. take your third right into Bluebell Walk
8. take
9. into
10. the Activity 5
11. on
1. e
2. a
3. d
4. b
5. g
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Blank map

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Completed map

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