the best place to visit

Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje - SENA. Reservados todos los derechos 2013.

A1 Level 2The best place to visit

Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje - SENA. Reservados todos los derechos 2013. 2 /12

Nice to see you again, dear

apprentices ! This morning I consulted with a travel agent from the

World Tour Travel Agency and he said it was a good idea to spend my next vacation

in Colombia. I think its perfect beacuse I can visit

my good friend Linda, she is Colombian, she is from San

Andrs.

Warm-up

I am so excited about visiting Colombia! But fi rst, I need to decide which cities in Colombia I want to go to. In this learning material we are going to learn how to compare places in terms of weather, geographic characteristics and advantages and disadvantages.

Help me choose the best place to visit.

Places to visit in ColombiaBOGOT, cosmopolitan and cultural city

CALI, salsa city, parties and nice people

SAN ANDRES ISLAND, the Seven Colors Sea

CARTAGENA, history and culture, beaches and fun

MEDELLN, shopping and colorful fl owers


Bogot

Bogot is the capital city of Colombia. Bogot was declared by UNESCO as the World Book Capital City in 2007 (UNESCO, s.f.) and Ibero American Capital of culture by UCCI (UNESCO, s.f.). Bogot is one of the most important cities in the continent.

What is the weather like?Temperature ranges from 12 C (54 F) to 18 C (64 F). Bogot is a cold city.

Where is it located?It is located in the center of the country; Bogot is the biggest city in Colombia.

Where to goLa Candelaria: This zone has a lot of colonial buildings. There you can fi nd several museums, cultural sceneries, restaurants, hostels and hotels. La Candelaria is one of the best preserved centers in Latin America.

Monserrate Hill: This place has the most beautiful views of the city. On the top of the hill you will fi nd a church and several gift shops.

What to do there?3 things to do in Bogot

You can visit the Salt Cathedral in Zipaquira. You can go there by train.

You can go shopping to the most important malls.

You can visit some museums and amusement parks.


MedellinMedelln is the eternal spring city. This place is considered a business hub because of its industry and technological development. It is particularly famous worldwide for being a very innovative city.

What is the weather like? Its temperature ranges from 18 C (64 F) to 30 C (86 F). Medelln is a warm city.

Where is it located?Located in the Aburr Valley, on the central Andes Mountain Chain, Medelln is the second biggest city of the country.

Where to goBotero Plaza: the most popular attraction in the city; in this place you can walk by beautiful plump sculptures. This city is home for one of the most famous artist in Colombia: Fernando Botero. Dont forget to take a picture of you standing by the largest metal sculpture!

Pueblito Paisa: It is the representation of a typical Antioquias town. You can fi nd one of the most important sculpture collections of the 80s and the last century.

What to do there?3 things to do in Medelln

You can enjoy the fl ower fair at the citys annual parade (August).

You can go shopping to Santa Fe Mall. It is the citys largest shopping mall and is located on Avenida El Poblado.

You can visit El Peol; it is a beautiful lake and recreational area.


CartagenaCartagena was declared as World Heritage in 1983 by UNESCO (UNESCO, s.f.) Cartagena is a tropical paradise. It is visited by thousands of tourists who fi nd it as the perfect place to relax.

What is the weather like? Its temperature ranges from 30 C (86 F) to 35 C (95 F). Cartagena has a pleasantly hot weather.

Where is it located?It is located on the northern Caribbean coast of Colombia.

Where to goCastle of San Felipe de Barajas: Is one of the most amazing Spanish forts. It was built on top of San Lzaro Hill.

Simon Bolivar Park: It is a small park. There are diff erent types of restaurants where you can enjoy good food. You can also fi nd the oldest church in Cartagena and Santo Domingo Monastery.

What to do there?3 things to do in Cartagena!

You can swim at Playa Blanca which is considered one of the best beaches in Cartagena.

You can walk along the streets. You can have a look at the most impressive buildings of the old city.

You can visit the historic Center on horse and carriage.

Colombia has a lot of beautiful and interesting places. It has friendly people and natural diversity. It has all sorts of weather and geographic conditions so I have a lot of options to choose from to enjoy an unforgettable vacation time.

Lets keep moving. I have an important decision to make.


Lets get insideGreetings, dear apprentices!

Our travel agency World Tour is pleased to welcome you into a new travel experience. We off er the best tourist packages to suit all our customers budgets and preferences. This time, I will help Daryl choose some places to visit in Colombia.

Lets compare some Colombian cities to see what the best option for our friend Daryl is. To do so, we will fi rst check one of our customers reviews on his experience living in Colombia.

Lets get ready!

Moving around amazing citiesJohn Spencer is an English teacher who lived in Bogot for 20 years, in Medellin a couple of years and fi nally, moved to Cartagena 2 years ago. We asked him to compare life in Bogot, Medellin and Cartagena. Heres what he told us:

In Colombia I had the chance to live in three amazing places: Bogot, Medelln and Cartagena. Bogot is a lovely city. It has lots of great buildings and places. Its bigger than Medellin. Its the biggest city in the country.

Bogot

Medellin

Bigger Big


Medelln is the second biggest city. It usually has a hot or warm weather throughout the year, but I must say Cartagena is probably the hottest city I have ever been to.

In terms of weather, I can say Bogot is colder and windier than Medelln. Bogot is one of the most important cities in the continent, but is too chaotic for me. As I was more interested in living in a more peaceful place I decided to move to Cartagena.

Traditional architecture in Cartagena is more romantic and magical, and its parks and churches are wonderful. Cartagena isnt as noisy as Bogot and Medelln, and its less crowded. I feel happier living here.

Medelln

HHHoootttttt HHootttteerrrrrr thhe hootteestt

Cali Cartagena

Medelln

CCooldd CCoolddeerr

Bogot

Bogota

crowded less crowded

Medellin


Lets analyze

It seems Mr. Spencer is having a great time living in Colombia. Theres no doubt this country is a a great destination for tourists and nature lovers.

When describing his experience in Colombia, Mr. Spencer compared diff erent aspects of the three cities where he has lived : Bogot, Medelln and Cartagena. Lets see what we need to know to be able to make comparisons in English.

Making comparisons in EnglishWhen you compare things, people or places in English, you usually talk about their similarities and diff erences. To do this you need to use comparative and superlative forms.

Lets see how these comparative and superlative forms work.

If you want to compare cities size you can say

Barranquilla BogotMedellin

Barranquilla is a big city.

Medellin is bigger than Barranquilla.

Bogot is the biggest city in Colombia.


If you want to compare cities weather you can say

If you want to compare cities population you can say

When you want to compare one thing to another you usually use comparative adjectives. Lets check how these adjectives are formed.

Villavicencio Ccuta Barranquilla

Ccuta is hotter than Villavicencio.

Barranquilla is the hottest city in Colombia.

Villavicencio is a hot city.

Cartagena is a crowded city.

Medelln is more crowded than Villavicencio.

Bogot is the most crowded

city in Colombia.

Cartagena Medelln Bogot

Adjective Add Sample sentenceCold cold +er Bogot is colder

than Medelln.Happy Happier Mr. Spencer feels

happier in Cartagena than in Bogot.

Populated More + populated Bogot is more populated than

Medelln.

Comparative adjectives


Forming Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

Adjective form: Comparative Form Superlative Formcold colder (the) coldest

Ex: Medelln is colder than Cartagena. Bogot is the coldest.

Only one syllable, with one vowel and one consonant at

the end

Comparative Form Superlative Form

big bigger biggest

Ex: Medelln is bigger than Cartagena. Bogot is the biggest.

Two syllables, ending in Y. Comparative Form Superlative Formwindy windier windiest

Ex: Spring is windier than summer. Autumn is the windiest

Two syllables or more, not ending in Y

Comparative Form Superlative Form

Interesting more interesting the most interesting

Ex: Daniel is more interesting than Julian. Daryl is the most interesting.


When you want to compare one thing to a group of things use superlative adjectives. Lets check how these adjectives are formed

Some adjectives may have an irregular comparative form; this means that they are formed in a diff erent way. Lets check the table.

Well, dear apprentices, now you know how to make comparisons in English. You can use comparative and superlative adjectives to talk about diff erences and similarities.

Dont forget to keep practicing! The more you practice, the better you get at it. See you!

Adjective Add Sample sentenceCold cold +est Bogot is the coldest

city in Colombia.Hot Hottest Barranquilla is

the hottest city in Colombia.

Populated The most + populated

Bogot is the most populated city in

Colombia.

Adjective Comparative form Superlative formGood better The bestBad worse The worst

Far farther The Farthest

Superlative adjectives

Irregular comparatives


CreditsPedagogical DirectionPaul CifuentesCarlos Javier Amaya

Direction of ArtCsar Pez

ICT LeadershipYeison Ospina

Quality managementJuan Carlos Rojas

Script CompositionIngrid Flrez

Content SupportAlex Fabin Paredes GuerreroPatricia Emilce Rodrguez QuenoranIngrid Flre

Multimedia Development

Graphic designers

Diana DuqueJose Mario Alzate

Programming engineers

Felipe Becerra

VoicesJeff rey ChristopherCiany NelsonGuillermo Mendivil

the best place to visit

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