A song about the best words in any language: summer holiday.
Learn from Songs · Unit 1: Present time · A1–A2
Summer Holiday
A happy song about holiday plans: the present continuous for the future (we’re going on a summer holiday), no more + -ing, and the vocabulary of holidays and travel, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria, who are planning a trip of their own.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
Finally! When are we going?
DEMETRIA
We’re going to Pharos on Saturday. Didn’t you know?
MARCOS
We are? Brilliant!
Before you listen: the song
London, 1963
Cliff Richard is an English singer who was very famous in the 1960s, and is still singing today. His band was called The Shadows. Two members of the band, Bruce Welch and Brian Bennett, wrote this song.
It comes from the film Summer Holiday (1963). In the film, some young men borrow an old red London double-decker bus, and drive it across Europe, all the way to Greece, singing all the way.
In the song, they are going on a summer holiday. No more working for a week or two: they are going where the sun shines and the sea is blue, to see the places they have only seen in the films. It went to number one in Britain in 1963.
We’re all going on a summer holiday!
Listen: the holiday
DEMETRIA
Listen once. Where are they going? What are they not doing for a week or two?
SOPHIA
Then listen again for we’re going. Answer Section A.
🚌 Listen to the song: “Summer Holiday” (Bruce Welch and Brian Bennett, 1963), sung by Cliff Richard and The Shadows.Listen to the official recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Summer Holiday”, Cliff Richard.Read the lyrics →
The present continuous for future plans
MARCOS
We’re going on holiday. We’re leaving on Saturday. We’re taking a bus!
SOPHIA
We use the present continuous for plans and arrangements in the future, especially with a time: We’re going to Pharos on Saturday. I’m meeting Philo tomorrow. It’s the same form as for “now”, but with a future time.
No more…
PHILO
No more working! No more worries!
SOPHIA
No more + -ing or no more + noun = something stops: No more homework! No more waiting!
Holiday words
DEMETRIA
Holiday, trip, journey, beach, suitcase, ticket.
SOPHIA
British English says holiday, American English says vacation. We go on holiday, go to the beach, pack a suitcase, buy a ticket. And a trip is short; a journey is the travelling.
Sophia’s comparison: the Greek holidays
SOPHIA
The Greeks had no weekends! But they had festivals: days for the gods, with games, plays and feasts. In Athens, there were more than a hundred festival days every year.
MARCOS
A hundred holidays! I want to live in Athens.
PHILO
We have the Sabbath every week. That is a holiday too: no more working!
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| We’re going… on Saturday | present continuous for future plans | We’re going to the beach on Saturday. |
| I’m meeting… / We’re leaving… | arrangements | I’m meeting Philo tomorrow. |
| no more + -ing / noun | something stops | No more working! |
| go on holiday, pack a suitcase | holiday phrases | We’re going on holiday. |
| holiday / vacation, trip / journey | British / American; short / long | A trip to the sea. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. Where are they going?
2. How long is the holiday?
3. What is the weather like there?
4. Where have they seen these places before?
5. How does the song sound?
6. What form shows their plans?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. We going on holiday next week. (be)
8. I’m Philo tomorrow at ten. (meet)
9. No more ! It’s the holidays! (work)
10. In American English, a holiday is a .
11. Don’t forget to pack your !
12. We go holiday every summer.
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “We going on holiday tomorrow.”
14. “I’m meeting my friends on Saturday.”
15. “We go to holiday in August.”
16. “No more homework!”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Plan a trip. In pairs, plan a holiday: Where are you going? When are you leaving? Who are you going with? What are you taking?
Discuss. 1. What is your perfect summer holiday? 2. Do you prefer the beach or the mountains? 3. Would you travel across Europe in an old bus?
Write (50–80 words). Our summer holiday. Write about your plans for next summer: where you’re going, when you’re leaving, who you’re going with, and what you’re doing there.