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Postcards

Learn English with this postcards English lesson

Date: Jul 29 2013

Themes: Holidays, Travel

Grammar: Count and Noncount Nouns

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Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

Go Super to Listen

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Go Super to Listen

With texting, blogs and email, it seems like nobody uses snail mail anymore. Who needs it when you can take a photo with your phone and instantly send it to friends and family? On the other hand, there’s something wonderful about getting a postcard. It’s a glimpse into someone’s adventure, a brief hello, and the joy of knowing someone is thinking about you.

Since anyone can send a digital postcard, it’s no wonder that people don’t send regular postcards very much. Do you remember the last time you sent a card to your grandmother, though? She probably called to say she got it and how touched she was that you were thinking about her. Come on… get your pen and start writing. Do it for Grandma!

Marni shares her love of postcards with Mason in this English lesson about getting surprises in your mailbox.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Marni

Mason

Marni: Mason, guess what I got in the mail the other day?

Mason: You got mail?

Marni: I got mail. I got a postcard from a friend who’s traveling around Asia.

Mason: That’s awesome.

Marni: It is awesome. I love getting postcards. Do you feel like it’s kind of a lost art, though?

Mason: It’s totally a lost art, but I know exactly what you mean. I actually have a friend who travels a lot, and he always sends all of his friends postcards. Or at least, I can only imagine because he’s a pretty new friend of mine. If I’m getting a postcard, there have to be a lot of other people that are getting postcards.

Marni: I think it’s great. Some people think they’re kind of old-fashioned, you know, with postage and everything, but I just think there’s something so wonderful about getting that little card in the mail that generally has a picture of where the person is or that has something to do with their experience. And it has kind of a quick, “How are you doing? This is what I’m up to…”

Mason: Postcards were basically the original Twitter. It was taking the long form, multi-paged letter and just saying, “Nope! I’ve just got this card space.” Do what you can.

Marni: I think you’re right about that. I think I’m going to start sending some more postcards.

Mason: I’m going to say that I will, but let’s be honest. Probably not!

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

Go Super to Listen

Marni just received a postcard from a friend. She’s excited because she loves everything about postcards—the picture, the letter, and getting a glimpse of her friends’ travels. Marni thinks that more people should send postcards even if they seem old-fashioned and they require time to write and mail.

Mason appreciates postcards, too. His friend sends Mason postcards and you can tell that it means a lot to him. Mason agrees with Marni that postcards aren’t as popular and common as they used to be, but he isn’t ready to start sending them himself.

Even though we love getting postcards in the mail, most of us aren’t writing and sending postcards. Why not? Maybe the more we write, the more we’ll get!

Do you take the time to write postcards? Do you send messages home in a different way? Have you ever gotten a postcard from a really exotic or unusual place?

Comments

shawkatazizi90

Afghanistan

i have some post card from our country its very nice

Franky25

Germany

I have a lot of postcards from all over the world from my family and friends. They are more personally than an email or somthing digital. I love postcards…

haneyh

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

I have 1 postcard frome one of my friends .she got it to me about 6 years ago when we must went to highschool so i coulden’t saw her. Now after 6 years i have her postcard and it’s very lovely for me…

so i got all of my closefriends some postcards when i graduated frome highschool and when i go to one of my friends house i see my postcard at the front of her mirror..thats very acceptable for me…

Fiary

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

When i think back to the past time ,yeah ….i feel postcards are more touching than e.mails or text messages ,though when you are in a hurry and worried to get a news sooner ,e.mails and text msgs sound more handy. perhaps we need both of these ways in their own place , we shouldn’t forget our nice time with that little smile on our lips side when we review our box of old stuffs and memorials.

yuminaga

China

I always get a posrcard from one of coworkers when she is on a trip

am.h768

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

They’re full of memories for me.they take me to my chilehood time when every thing were nice and simple.I perefer people send them insteed of email!!! Yeah, I’m kind of triditional person but it’s so exiting when you hold something n your hand, something that your belove ones sent to you with their lovely handwriting, insteed you look at your monitor and read them without touching them.it feels so good

dreadslayer

Turkey

These days ,i think nobody spends time on writing cards to their relatives ,beloved or friends.because our generation is involved completely with technology.So nobody needs to waste their time for writing card and waiting for respond.But sending cards still has meaning toucy to people.

Couple days ago . i came across various kind of poscards which related to Istanbul.I bought 3 pieces and will give it to my gf for gift. i think it’ll be very mean for her :)

Marice.A

Indonesia

Zambuka

United States

i love getting postcards. it somehow shows that for that person you’re different and special from all the other

samand55

Azerbaijan

postcards, i have a large collection of them, and still i send postcards to my close friends, recently we have a wedding and i gave a postcard as a little gift to those couple, it can make memories for long years, sometimes when i open a book suddenly a postcard remained there drops on the ground and i remember one of my dearest person in my life, who is not here now..

shahriarheydari

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

when you send some thing by snail mail to a friend, in fact you send a nostalgia message … you send a lot to say … you indicate you are different …

knuschu

Germany

Yes we take the time to send postcards from vacation. It’s more personal. My son (18) had a vacation recently, and I adviced him to write a postcard to his grandma …. coz grandmas do have internet account really seldom :)

And, postcards have another big advantage, you don’t forget to write by hand! :)

moonlits

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

Sending message via snail mail must be cool, indeed I’ve never done that..

But maybe some day I’ll try it

drallon

China

We almost never use postcard any more. Instead, we use e-mail,multimedia message and network to express our blessing greeting to our friends what can do anything that postcards could do and could be faster than postcards.

But there is one things that postcards can do much better. We now have so many email and multimedia message to read everyday that we bacame apathetic to these thing and it will be hard to be touched. However, postcards can arouse our touching easily. It can express our and feeling and friendship much better.

danielenglish

Chile

Yes, I take the time to write postcards to my friends.

whipiry

South Korea

Postcard is not long story but simple , subtle and meaningful one , i guess, cause it’s constant mesage from somewhere you can be , thinking of someone who you want to send something to. sometimes, it could be more touching to us. In a mention in this dialog, it’s a previous and first twitter in a slow version like a snail mail.

not many pictures , but we can take a glimse at the scenery someone has seen.

that’s what i got feeling about a postcard