The Reading / Listening - Coffee Shop - Level 2

Starbucks has opened a coffee shop in Japan's ancient capital of Kyoto. It is unlike any other Starbucks as it has three tatami rooms. Tatami is a traditional straw matting used for floors in Japan. There are no chairs in the tatami rooms. People sit on cushions on the tatami. The coffee shop is in a 100-year-old house in a historic area of Kyoto. It is on the attractive Ninen-zaka shopping street between two UNESCO World Heritage-listed temples. The area is popular with tourists. Some of them wear Japanese kimono to go sightseeing in.

Starbucks wants to make sure its shop blends in with its traditional surroundings. There are no neon signs or giant logos. Instead, there is a traditional dark-blue curtain over the front door with a black logo printed on it. Starbucks reformed the house in the traditional style and created a Japanese garden for people to look at. The company wants to be a good neighbor. It will not let people line up in front of the shop as they wait to get in. It will also limit the number of customers during the busiest times. This is to make sure the atmosphere in the area is quiet.

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Coffee Shop - Level 0 Coffee Shop - Level 1   or  Coffee Shop - Level 3

Sources
  • https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170623/p2g/00m/0bu/002000c
  • http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/06/28/business/worlds-first-starbucks-coffee-shop-tatami-rooms-open-kyoto/
  • http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201706280030.html


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. Japan's ancient
  2. Tatami is a traditional straw matting
  3. People sit on cushions
  4. a historic area
  5. two UNESCO World Heritage-listed
  6. The area is popular with
  7. Some of them wear Japanese
  8. go
  1. temples
  2. tourists
  3. used for floors
  4. sightseeing
  5. capital of Kyoto
  6. kimono
  7. of Kyoto
  8. on the tatami

Paragraph 2

  1. its shop blends in with its traditional
  2. There are no neon
  3. a traditional dark-blue curtain over
  4. a black logo
  5. reformed the house in the
  6. let people line up in
  7. limit the number of customers during
  8. make sure the atmosphere in the
  1. the busiest times
  2. printed on it
  3. traditional style
  4. area is quiet
  5. signs
  6. surroundings
  7. front of the shop
  8. the front door

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Starbucks (1) ___________________ coffee shop in Japan's ancient capital of Kyoto. It (2) ___________________ other Starbucks as it has three tatami rooms. Tatami is a traditional straw matting used (3) ___________________ Japan. There are no chairs in the tatami rooms. People (4) ___________________ on the tatami. The coffee shop is in a 100-year-old house in a historic area of Kyoto. (5) ___________________ attractive Ninen-zaka shopping street between two UNESCO World Heritage-listed temples. The area is popular with tourists. Some of them wear Japanese kimono (6) ___________________ in.

Starbucks wants to (7) ___________________ shop blends in with its traditional surroundings. There (8) ___________________ signs or giant logos. Instead, there is a traditional dark-blue curtain over the front door with a black logo (9) ___________________. Starbucks reformed the house in the traditional style and created a Japanese garden for (10) ___________________. The company wants to be a good neighbor. It will not let people line up in front of the shop as they (11) ___________________. It will also limit the number of customers during the busiest times. This is to make sure the atmosphere in (12) ___________________.

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

StarbuckshasopenedacoffeeshopinJapan'sancientcapitalofKyoto.Iti
sunlikeanyotherStarbucksasithasthreetatamirooms.Tatamiisatradi
tionalstrawmattingusedforfloorsinJapan.Therearenochairsinthetata
mirooms.Peoplesitoncushionsonthetatami.Thecoffeeshopisina100-
year-oldhouseinahistoricareaofKyoto.ItisontheattractiveNinen-zak
ashoppingstreetbetweentwoUNESCOWorldHeritage-listedtemp
les.Theareaispopularwithtourists.SomeofthemwearJapanesekimon
otogosightseeingin.Starbuckswantstomakesureitsshopblendsinwit
hitstraditionalsurroundings.Therearenoneonsignsorgiantlogos.Inst
ead,thereisatraditionaldark-bluecurtainoverthefrontdoorwithabl
acklogoprintedonit.Starbucksreformedthehouseinthetraditionalstyl
eandcreatedaJapanesegardenforpeopletolookat.Thecompanywant
stobeagoodneighbor.Itwillnotletpeoplelineupinfrontoftheshopasthe
ywaittogetin.Itwillalsolimitthenumberofcustomersduringthebusiest
times.Thisistomakesuretheatmosphereintheareaisquiet.

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion — Write your own questions

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

Write about this topic for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

Help Support This Web Site

  • Please consider helping Breaking News English.com

Sean Banville's Book

Thank You