The Senses

Think of a taste. Any taste. What taste comes into your mind?

Think of a sound. Any sound. What sound is it?

Think of a sight. Any sight. What is it?

Think of a smell. Any smell. What is it?

Think of a texture or surface you are touching. What is it?

Now discuss with others.

 

 

I’m going to read out a list of things. For each thing decide which sense it most strongly connects to for you. Write the thing after each sense:

Sight:

Sound:

Touch:

Taste:

Smell:

Discuss your responses together. Are you similar or different? Explain your responses and try to understand the differences.

1. flowers

Sight

Sound

Smell

Taste

Touch

Think of a taste. Any taste. What taste comes into your mind?

Think of a sound. Any sound. What sound is it?

Think of a sight. Any sight. What is it?

Think of a smell. Any smell. What is it?

Think of a texture or surface you are touching. What is it?

Now discuss with others.

 

1.      1. Associations

I’m going to read out a list of things. For each thing decide which sense it most strongly connects to for you. Write the thing after each sense:

Sight:

Sound:

Touch:

Taste:

Smell:

 

Discuss your responses together.

1. Did you choose the same sense as your partner? Why/why not?

2. Why did you choose that sense?

3. Did it make you remember something specific? What was it?

1. Earthquake

1. Have you ever been in an earthquake? Was it scary? What exactly happened?

2. Does your city or country often have earthquakes? Do you have to practice for emergencies like this a lot?

2. Coins

1. What do coins taste like?

3. Garden

2. Do you have a garden back at home?
3. Does it have walls, a fountain, a pond, birds, tall trees, grapes, flowers, a barbeque, statues, bricks, a vine, bushes, grass, insects, a compost bin, or outdoor chairs?

4. Cheese

4. Is cheese popular in your country?
5. What do you eat cheese with?

5. Snakes

6. Have you ever seen a real snake in the wild (not at the zoo)?
7. Have you ever touched a living snake? What did it feel like?

6. Fire

8. Do you know how to light a campfire?
9. What can you cook in or on a fire?
10. Have you ever been in a fire?

7. Rain

11. How often does it rain in your country?
12. Do you love or hate rain?
13. Have you ever walked home in the rain with no raincoat or umbrella?

8. Keys

14. How often do you lose your keys?
15. How many hours of your life have you wasted looking for keys?

9. Cigarette

16. Do you smoke?
17. Do or did your parents smoke?

10. Xmas Tree

18. Does your family ever have a real Xmas tree for Xmas?
19. Do you give gifts at Xmas ?
20. What did you get last Xmas?

11. Storm

21. Do you enjoy storms?

12. Sand

22. What does sand taste like?
23. Can sand be annoying?
24. What can sand be used for?

13. Bread

25. What is your favourite kind of bread?
26. Could you live without bread?

14. Shower

27. How long are your showers?
28. Is there a nice shower where you're currently living?

15. Dogs

29. What animal is most similar to a dog?
30. What’s a good name for a dog?
31. What kind of dog is your personality like?

16. Coffee

32. How do you like to have your coffee?

Is coffee bad or good for you?

What is the most beautiful flower?

1. Which ones would be good to give your girlfriend?

2. Which ones would be good to give you mother?

3. Do they look more beautiful in a vase or in a garden?

4. Which ones are orchids, which ones are irises, and which ones are peonies?

Do you have a good sense of smell?

What are some of your favourite smells?

Think of three natural smells and three artificial smells.

Go out for a walk and find 10 different smells. Take a photo of each smell source and write about them.

 

            Smell source                     Pleasant or unpleasant?                    adjectives / description                              

 

1.

 

2,

 

3.

 

4.

 

5.

 

6.

 

7.

 

8.

 

9.

 

10.

 

 

 

 

 

Pleasant Smells

• fresh — clean air, like after rain or near trees
• sweet — like flowers, fruit, or candy
• flowery — like roses, lavender, or other flowers
• fruity — like apples, oranges, or berries
• delicious — food that smells very good
• clean — like soap or freshly washed clothes

Unpleasant Smells

• bad — general word for smells you don't like
• terrible — very bad smell
• strong — a powerful smell (can be good or bad)
• smoky — like cigarettes, fire, or exhaust from cars
• dirty — like garbage or unwashed things
• rotten — like old food that has gone bad

Neutral or Descriptive

• earthy — like soil, mud, or wet ground
• woody — like trees or a forest
• salty — like the sea or ocean air
• warm — like bread from an oven or coffee

Useful Phrases

• "It smells like..." — It smells like coffee.
• "It smells good/bad/strange."
• "There's a smell of..." — There's a smell of flowers here.
• "I can smell..." — I can smell something burning.
• "It has a strong/nice/terrible smell."

 

Discussion

 

1. What was the most pleasant smell you found?

2. What was the most unpleasant smell you found?

3. What was the most unusual smell you found?

4. Did you disagree about whether any of the smells were pleasant or unpleasant?

5. What was the strongest smell (pleasant or unpleasant)?

 

How many words are there for "sweet" in your first  language?

Can you think of any synonyms for "sweet" in English?

What is "umami"?

Dictionary

Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more

umami

noun

1. a category of taste in food (besides sweet, sour, salt, and bitter), corresponding to the flavour of glutamates, especially monosodium glutamate.

basic taste/smell vocab

sweet 

sour

fragrant

acidic

fumy

smoky

salty

spicy

musty

earthy

metalic

woody

grassy

off

rancid

soapy

In English we also might describe sweet smells and tastes with these words:

try putting appropriate nouns with these

E.g. Tangy + orange juice

Fruity
Caramel
Nutty
Gingery
Floral
Chocolate-y
syrupy
Buttery
Butterscotch
citrus-y
Banana-ry
Aniseed
Liquorish
Malty
Vanilla
Berry
Rich
Biscuity
Minty
Tangy
Tropical
Zingy
Sugary
Cinnamon-y
Honeyish
Milky

We use these adjectives to describe colours...

cool
warm
hot
bright
pale
florescent
dark
deep
light
fiery
mellow
pure
vivid

How do our adjectives for smell differ from our adjectives for colours in English?


We tend to describe tastes and smells by comparing them to similar tastes and smells, whereas with colour we can focus on their degree of intensity. 

But we also compare colours with other things

ocean

forest

lemon

royal

emerald

sapphire

sky

pitch

dirt

fire-engine

battleship

eggshell

snowy