When you want to recommend a café or restaurant to a friend, you need a few simple phrases. These phrases help you give a clear recommendation, describe the place, and give directions. Below is a table of the most useful expressions for this real-life situation.

How to use these phrases. When a friend asks What do you recommend?, you can answer with I'd recommend the... followed by a specific item, like a drink or a piece of food. This is a polite and common way to give advice in British English. When you describe a place, use It's got... to talk about features: It's got free Wi-Fi or It's got a great view. You can also use adjectives directly: The coffee is excellent or The staff are friendly.

For directions, around the corner means very close. Go straight on means continue walking in the same direction. Turn left or turn right tells the listener which way to go.

Example in a real situation. Imagine you are in a new city. Your friend knows the area well. You can use these phrases to find a good place to eat. The conversation below uses six of the phrases from the table. Notice how natural they sound together, almost like a real chat between friends.

A visitor asks a local for a café recommendation. Listen to the natural phrases they use.

Read the recommendation aloud. Use a friendly, helpful tone. Stress the words 'recommend' and 'chocolate cake'.

Read the directions aloud. Speak clearly so the listener can follow the way.

In this section, you will listen to a conversation between two friends at an outdoor market. One of them knows a great café nearby. Listen carefully for the name of the café, the food and drink they recommend, and the directions to get there.

Before you listen. Predict: what do friends usually ask each other when they are hungry at a market? They might ask Where can we eat? or Is there a good café near here? Keep these questions in mind as you listen.

As you listen. The first time you listen, just try to understand the main idea. Where are the speakers, and what are they talking about? The second time you listen, focus on the details. What is the name of the café? What does the speaker recommend? How do you get there?

Useful vocabulary.

• starving — very hungry (informal British English)
• just around the corner — very close
• flat white — a coffee with steamed milk, popular in the UK
• go straight on — continue walking in the same direction

Listening strategy. When you listen to a conversation in English, focus on the key nouns and verbs. In this dialogue, listen for: the name of a café, the names of food and drink, and direction words (left, right, straight). These content words carry the most meaning. Function words (like the, is, a) are less important for understanding the main idea.

After you listen. You will answer three questions: a GIST question about the main idea, a SPECIFIC INFORMATION question about a fact in the conversation, and a DETAIL question that asks you to complete a sentence. You can listen to the conversation as many times as you need.

Aya and Omar are at a market in London. Aya is hungry and Omar knows a good café nearby. Listen carefully for the café name, the recommended food, and the directions.

What is the conversation mainly about?

In British English, the vowel sound /ɒ/ appears in many common words. It is the sound you hear in coffee, hot, stop, modern, soft, and chocolate. This sound is different from American English (where it sounds more like /ɑ/), so learners often need extra practice with the British version.

How to make the sound. To make /ɒ/, open your mouth to a relaxed, rounded shape — think of a medium-sized "o". Your tongue sits low and towards the back of your mouth. Your lips are slightly rounded but not tight. The sound is short and steady. Hold it for about half a second. Do not let your lips move into a smile or a wide open shape.

Compare this with /əʊ/ (as in open, no, hello). To make /əʊ/, start with your lips rounded and pushed forward, like you are saying "oh". Then open your mouth slightly as the sound continues. Your lips move during the sound. /əʊ/ is much longer and more tense than /ɒ/.

Why this matters. When you recommend a café, you will use many /ɒ/ words: coffee shop, modern, chocolate cake, soft music. Saying these words with the wrong vowel makes them harder for British listeners to understand. They expect a short, rounded /ɒ/.

Practice tip. Say the words hot, got, not, stop one after the other. Your mouth should stay in the same open, rounded shape. Now say open, sofa, no. Feel how your lips start forward and then open. This contrast is the key difference between /ɒ/ and /əʊ/.

To make the British /ɒ/ sound: relax your mouth into a small rounded shape, keep your tongue low and back, and hold the sound for a short time. Your lips should not move. Compare with /əʊ/, where your lips start forward and open as you say the longer sound. Words to practise: coffee, modern, chocolate, hot, stop, soft.

Say the word. Keep your mouth in a short, rounded shape. The first syllable is strong: COF-fee.

Say the word. Stress the first syllable and keep the /ɒ/ short: MOD-ern.

Say the phrase. Both words have the /ɒ/ sound. Keep your lips relaxed and rounded: CHOC-o-late cake.

In this section, you will read a short café review. A café review is a common type of writing in English. People write reviews to help others decide where to go. You will often see reviews online, in magazines, or on social media.

Reading strategy: Skimming.

Skimming means reading a text quickly to get the main idea. When you skim, you do not read every word. You look at the title, the first sentence of each paragraph, and the last sentence. You also look for key words.

When you read a café review, ask yourself:

• What is the name of the café?
• Where is it?
• What is special about it?
• Does the writer recommend it?

You can find the answers to these questions by skimming. You do not need to read every word on the first read.

Key vocabulary. Before you read, look at these important words. They will help you understand the review.

• atmosphere (n.) — the feeling or mood of a place
• recommend (v.) — to say that something is good and that someone should try it
• delicious (adj.) — very tasty
• hidden gem (n.) — a special place that not many people know about
• reasonable (adj.) — not too expensive

How to read a review. A good review usually has: the name of the place, a short description, what is good (and sometimes what is not good), and a final opinion. When you read the review below, try to find these parts. First skim to get the main idea. Then read more carefully for the details.

These five words will appear in the café review. Read each one and its meaning before you start reading.

Rosie's Café: A Hidden Gem

Tucked away on a quiet street in Edinburgh, Rosie's Café is the perfect place to relax. The moment you walk in, the smell of fresh coffee welcomes you. Their homemade cakes are delicious — try the lemon drizzle!

The staff are always friendly and make you feel at home. There are comfortable seats, soft music, and free Wi-Fi. It's a great place to work or read a book.

I love the warm atmosphere. It's not expensive, and the coffee is excellent. I recommend Rosie's to everyone — visitors and locals alike.

What is the review mainly about?

In this section, you will practise recommending a café in a real conversation. You will first listen to a model conversation between two friends, then you will record your own sentences, and finally you will have a live conversation with a speaking partner (the AI in the app).

Useful phrases for recommending. When you recommend a place, you usually do four things: tell your friend about the place, describe what is special about it, suggest a specific item to try, and tell them how to get there.

How to sound natural. When you speak, use contractions. Say I'd recommend instead of I would recommend. Say it's instead of it is. This makes you sound more natural and friendly. Also, use stress to show what is important. In I'd recommend the chocolate cake, stress the words recommend and chocolate cake. These are the key information words.

Tips for speaking practice.

1. Speak slowly and clearly. It is better to speak slowly with correct pronunciation than to speak fast with mistakes.
2. Use the phrases you learned. Do not try to invent new phrases in the middle of a conversation. Use the phrases from the table until they feel natural.
3. Listen to your partner. When your friend speaks, listen for the key information. Then respond with a relevant phrase.
4. Don't worry about mistakes. Focus on communication, not perfection.

By following these tips, you will become a more confident speaker in a short time.

Listen to a short model conversation. Emma asks Tom for a café recommendation. Notice the natural phrases they use.

Read the sentence aloud. Use a friendly, helpful tone. Stress 'lovely' and 'Brew Brothers'.

Read the recommendation aloud. Stress the words 'recommend' and 'chocolate cake' to show what is important.

In the final section, you will write your own short café review. Café reviews are useful because you can read them before you visit a place, and you can write them to share your own experiences with others. Many people read reviews on their phones before they choose a restaurant or café.

Model text. Read this example of a short café review. It is about a café called The Cosy Bean.

The Cosy Bean is my favourite café in town. The coffee is excellent and always hot, and the staff are really friendly. I love the warm lighting and the soft music. The chocolate brownies are the best I have ever tried! I recommend this café to anyone who loves good food and a quiet place to relax.

The review is short — only about 50 words — but it tells the reader a lot. The writer tells us: the name of the café, what the coffee is like, what the staff are like, what the atmosphere is like, a specific food item, and a final recommendation.

Writing strategy: Using adjectives to describe.

Using adjectives is a great way to make your writing come alive. Adjectives are words that describe nouns. They help your reader see, feel, and understand what you mean.

In the model, the writer uses these adjectives:

• favourite (to describe the café)
• excellent and hot (to describe the coffee)
• friendly (to describe the staff)
• warm (to describe the lighting)
• soft (to describe the music)
• best (to describe the brownies)
• quiet (to describe the place)

Notice how each adjective adds a new piece of information. Without adjectives, the review would be: The coffee is good. The staff are nice. I like the music. This is correct but not very interesting.

How to use adjectives well. Use specific adjectives (excellent is more interesting than good; cosy is more interesting than nice). Use three or four strong adjectives in a short review. More than that can be confusing. Remember to include the name of the café, a description, and a final recommendation.

Using adjectives to describe. Strong adjectives make your review come alive. In the model text, the writer uses 'excellent' instead of 'good', 'favourite' instead of 'nice', and 'quiet' instead of 'okay'. When you write your own review, choose three or four strong adjectives. Each adjective should describe one thing: the coffee, the food, the staff, or the atmosphere.

Which of these adjectives is the strongest way to describe a café's atmosphere?

Now write your own short café review (40-60 words) using at least four strong adjectives. Include the café name, a description, and a recommendation. When you finish, read your review aloud using the sentence above as a model.