The Taj Mahal: A Palace for Love

All levels48 minLandmarksLesson 1 of 6 · Free

Aims

A king built a white marble building for his wife, and it took more than twenty years. A simple, warm story for A2 students.

The lesson, stage by stage

  1. News10 min

    In the news: The story

    Read a 125-word news story: A king built this for the person he loved

    The Taj Mahal is in Agra, in India. It is white and very big. Many people say it is the most beautiful building in the world. Every year, millions of visitors come to see it. The story is sad. The emperor Shah Jahan loved his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. She died in 1631. He was very unhappy, so he decided to build a tomb for her. He wanted the most beautiful building in the world. Work started in 1632. Thousands of workers cut white marble and carried it with elephants. They put small coloured stones into the marble to make flowers. The work took more than twenty years. Today the Taj Mahal is a famous place, and Shah Jahan is there too, next to his wife.

  2. Vocabulary8 min

    Vocabulary: Words to know

    7 items

  3. Discussion10 min

    Discussion: Look at the picture

    3 discussion questions

    • What can you see in the picture? What colours are there?
    • Is this place quiet or busy? Warm or cold? How do you know?
    • Do you want to go there? Say yes or no, and one reason.
  4. Discussion10 min

    Discussion: Your life

    3 discussion questions

    • What is the most beautiful building in your town or city?
    • Do people in your family keep photos of people who died? Where do they keep them?
    • What do you do for the people you love? A small thing is fine: cook, call, help.
  5. Discussion10 min

    Discussion: Big questions, simple words

    3 discussion questions

    • The work took more than twenty years. Is that too long? Yes or no, and why?
    • Is it better to build something big, or to give money to people?
    • Millions of people visit every year. Is that good for the building?

Target vocabulary

In a Tuton account these words become your student's vocabulary deck, so they come back in practice between lessons.

beautiful
Very nice to look at
tomb
A place where a dead person is put
building
A place with walls and a roof, like a house or a school
worker
A person who does a job
marble
A hard, smooth stone, often white
famous
Known by very many people
look after
To take care of someone or something

This plan comes from the Sacred Places course in the Tuton library. Browse all free lesson plans.