English Listening Practice #2: Tourist Attractions (Travel English Phrases)

Hello. This is Jack from ToFluency.com and this is a To Fluency update where I talk more

about my life and give you tips about learning English. Now, what I want to talk about today

is the number one tourist attraction where I live. So, I live in Asheville, North Carolina

and the number one tourist attraction is the Biltmore Estate.

The Biltmore Estate is the largest privately owned house in the United States and it was

built between 1889 and 1895 by George Vanderbilt. George Vanderbilt was a prominent businessman

from New York. Now, it’s interesting because the house was based on chateaus from France.

So, it has a very different look (from) the typical house here in the U.S. and obviously it’s

a lot bigger than most houses here.

It is quite expensive to go to the Biltmore Estate. It’s about $70, I think. But, I

got a year pass for around $90-100 so I can go anytime I want. Now, I got this because

it’s really close to my house and when visitors come, they want to go to the Biltmore Estate.

So, I can go for free every time. But also, my son loves going there because there is

a petting zoo, a playground... there are different shops and restaurants and also there is a

park or a green area where you can watch live music.

As a visitor, you can go around the house and see the different rooms. There are so

many different bedrooms and bathrooms. There’s a huge dining room, different living areas,

different wings as well and in the basement, there is still the old bowling alley. There’s

also an old swimming pool and a gymnasium and these haven’t changed since the house

was built. So, it’s really interesting to see that.

As I said before, it’s the number one tourist attraction here in Asheville, North Carolina

and there are over 1 million people who visit the house. So, what I want to know is this,

“What is the number one tourist attraction where you live? And also, let me know, do

you visit there? Do you go there quite often?” So, leave your answers below this video. Thanks

for watching and I’ll see you next time.