Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. leave
    • ex. Every year I get ten days of paid leave.
  2. expire
    • ex. The coupon expired, so I couldn’t use it.
  3. tend to
    • ex. I tend to sleep late on the weekend.
  4. domestic
    • ex. From Tokyo to Kumamoto is a 90-minute domestic flight.
  5. a staycation
    • ex. I decided to do a staycation because I just wanted to relax.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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According to a new report, many American workers do not use all of their paid vacation days. In the U.S., about 25% of employees had at least nine days of paid leave remaining at the end of 2018.

The report explains that many employees want to use their paid vacation days but cannot. In the U.S., vacation days often expire at the end of the year. Many employees want to use all of their paid leave, but they do not plan how to use it. For this reason, in November and December they often have more vacation days than they can use.

Americans who do use their vacation leave tend to travel. Domestic travel is the number one way to spend vacation leave, with many vacationers preferring to have a staycation instead of traveling far. Beach destinations within the U.S. are also quite popular.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Paid Leave

  • Do most people in your country use all of their paid leave? Do you think they should? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • How many days of paid leave do you get? Do you think you should get more? Discuss.
  • Should companies pay employees for paid leave that they don’t use? Why or why not? Discuss.

Vacation in Your Country

  • What times of the year do most people take vacation in your country? Should they take vacation only during holiday times (ex. Golden Week, Obon)? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Do most people in your country travel domestically or internationally for vacation? Why? Discuss.
  • How have vacation trends changed in your country in recent years (ex. cost, group tours)?