hi i'm vanessa from
speakenglishwithvanessa.com
i have some good news i'm coming to
visit you
let's talk about it
i can't wait i just booked my flight
i've got everything set up
i can't wait to hear more about where
you live what should i see
what places should i avoid tell me all
about it
uh is your heart starting to beat tell
you about where i live
what what do i say how do i explain it
well don't worry
today in this lesson i'm going to help
you talk about where you live
and also you will have a chance to speak
with me and
use what you've learned in this lesson
you will learn some common vocabulary to
talk about where you live you can
accurately explain where you live and
give some advice
to people who could be visiting your
city then we'll talk about some common
conversation questions
about where you live and finally you
will see a little sample conversation
between my husband dan and i as we talk
about
visiting another city and then you
will have a chance to practice speaking
with me i will ask you a question and
you will need to use what you've learned
so pay attention well
and get ready for the end of this lesson
to help you with today's lesson i have
created a free
pdf worksheet with all of today's
vocabulary
questions tips sample conversations and
vanessa's challenge question at the end
of the pdf worksheet
so that you can use what you've learned
and remember it
so that you don't feel too nervous and
you can express yourself
clearly so don't forget to download the
free pdf worksheet there is a link in
the description of this video
it is my gift for you okay let's get
started with some common vocabulary to
talk about where you live
if you live in a city you might say
it's really busy where i live new york
city is
a busy place or you could use the word
crowded
tokyo is a crowded city there are
lots of people everywhere and there are
not many places where you can be
alone and have a quiet moment maybe you
might say that your city
is busy and crowded what's the opposite
of this
you can say stockholm sweden is a
relaxed
city it's a quiet place i don't know
i've never been to stockholm
if you're from stockholm sweden let me
know
but you might say where i live is just a
relaxed place
or we can say it's relaxing if you come
visit where i live
it's very relaxing and quiet maybe
that's because
it's in the country let's go on to these
two common words to talk about the type
of place you live
you might say yeah i live in delhi india
and it's one of the largest urban areas
in the world
there are so many people here it's busy
it's crowded it's an
urban area and this means it's the city
it's quite busy it's crowded it's an
urban area
there's not many trees not much nature
but on the other hand you might say i
live in the country
the word country means united states
france japan these places but in the u.s
we use this to mean
countryside we do say countryside
sometimes but we're more likely in the
u.s to say i live
in the country that means
in nature maybe there's some farms
around you maybe there's
forests around you and you don't live in
a busy
urban city center you live in the
country so i wonder for you do you live
in the country or do you live in an
urban city center do you live somewhere
that's
difficult to get to you might say
yeah my city is off the beaten path but
it's worth
visiting so for me my city asheville
in north carolina it is definitely off
the beaten path
it's not a huge city it doesn't have a
big airport that
comes here it's off the beaten path but
if you want to check out some other
local sites in the u.s
it could be nice to visit it's off the
beaten path
this also can be used to talk about
locations within a city
so you know if you visit paris and you
go to the eiffel tower and then you get
hungry
well the places that are close to the
eiffel tower to eat
those are what we call tourist traps
those places are only for tourists
they're extremely expensive
they're not high quality it's just to
trap
tourists but if you want to eat at a
great location
you might go somewhere off the beaten
path
this is somewhere that not many other
people go to
and it's an expression that's great to
use about like little secret local
locations
so when i visit your city i might ask
are there any places
off the beaten path that i can visit are
there any restaurants off the beaten
path that only locals know about
what is something off the beaten path
that i can do
let's say that where you live is not
extremely popular but it's becoming more
popular
maybe because of the pandemic last year
people are traveling to different types
of destinations
maybe they're deciding to travel to more
nature places places that are
in the mountains or places that are not
in big city centers
well that might mean that where you live
is
becoming an up and coming place
we use this term up and coming to talk
about somewhere that's not
extremely popular but it's becoming more
popular
so you might say yeah my city isn't
really popular right now but it's an
up-and-coming place you've got to check
it out we can use this on a smaller
scale
just like off the beaten path to talk
about a restaurant
or a neighborhood yeah that neighborhood
used to not be a good neighborhood but
now it's an up-and-coming neighborhood
you've got to walk through it
just look at the houses look at the
architecture enjoy the sights
so you might say it's an up and coming
place
excellent expression our final
expression to talk about where you live
is must see
or some must see locations
can you imagine what this means does it
mean it's not important to see it
nah you can skip that no you must
see this so for example when you visit
egypt the pyramids are a must-see
so we can use it as a noun a must-see of
course
when you go to egypt the pyramids are a
must-see
when you go to london big ben is a
must-see
when you go to new york city the empire
state building is
a must see these are kind of like the
top things that you need to see but
even if you don't live in one of those
really popular cities
if you live somewhere a little bit off
the beaten path you can still use this
expression
you might say in my city yeah this view
on the top of the mountains
yeah that is a must see you drive up
this hill
and you can have a great 360 view
that is a must see so it's something
that you cannot miss
when you visit that location so when i
visit your city tell me what are some
places that are a must
see i don't want to miss them next let's
talk about some common questions that
you can ask
other people about where they live and
also other people will ask you
about where you live so make sure you're
comfortable answering them about where
you live
the first question is where are you from
this is an extremely common question
and you can just say yep i'm from the
u.s but
it's nice to give a little more details
so you might say i'm from asheville in
north carolina
it's a pretty quiet place but it's kind
of up and coming
great you're giving some details it's
quiet but it's also up and coming
i live in asheville you're inviting a
conversation
if you just say i'm from the us or
i'm from asheville that's where i'm from
someone might ask you
what's it like there or if someone
doesn't give you more
details about where they live they just
say france
i live in london i live in la okay
well you might want some more details
you want to continue the conversation
this is a great question to ask what it
like
there what's it like there what is it
like there
they might say it's so hot in the summer
but in the fall it's awesome because we
get some great leaves
and you gotta check it out in the fall
excellent if someone has not mentioned
the weather yet you can say what's the
weather like there
they can go into some details you could
say about your city
ugh the winter is so cold we get tons of
snow
but when it melts in the spring and all
of the leaves become green and the
flowers bloom
it's awesome you've got to visit in the
spring if you have not told someone
what time to visit yet they might ask
what's the best time to visit
so when dan and i were planning a trip
to go to costa rica a couple
years ago we did a lot of research about
what is the best time to visit costa
rica their seasons are very different
than
our seasons and we were going to be
spending a lot of time
outside so we wanted to make sure it
wasn't going to be raining the whole
time wasn't going to be pouring down
rain or uh
too hot the whole time so we asked this
question
when's the best time to visit so someone
might ask you when's the best time to
visit your city
for my city i think the best time to
visit is the fall
the leaves are beautiful in the
mountains there's so many different
colors and the air is so
crisp and fresh you gotta visit in the
fall if someone asked you
what's your city known for what would
you say
this means what is your city famous for
why do people visit your city
it might just be something simple like
the air is so fresh
or it might be oh they just love this
pastry this type of dessert
that's made in my city and a lot of
people like to come and eat that pastry
cool it could be something simple or if
you live in a bigger place you can
obviously talk about
some famous destinations that your city
is known for
but if people have not heard about your
city they might ask this question
oh what's it known for what's it what's
your city known for
and then you can think about some great
places to visit that people might be
interested in
whenever i ask someone about their city
especially if i'm going to visit like
your city
i like to ask about their personal
favorite thing to do so someone might
ask you
what's your favorite thing to do in your
city or what's your favorite thing to
eat there what's your favorite thing to
see
because i think that local people's
perspectives are often different than a
tourist perspective
so finding out what the locals like to
do specifically what you
like to do can be really valuable and
can add to a rich
visiting experience so if i asked you
what's your favorite thing to do in your
city
you might tell me oh man there is this
little bar off the beaten path
down this alley and you gotta check it
out it's so cool
they brew their own beer and the
atmosphere is awesome
it is a must-see great i bet that my
trip to your city
would be a lot more amazing because of
that information
so make sure that you have some ideas
that you can tell other people about
your city
our final question is a little more
broad someone might simply ask you
what do you recommend or maybe if you're
talking to someone who lives in new york
and you are about to visit new york
great you can ask them some questions
and say what do you recommend
what do you recommend about new york
what do you recommend that i do
oh you got to see this museum it's it's
really cool they have local artists that
they have on display
and all these different things you can
see great you're asking what do you
recommend
in general it might not be that person's
absolute favorite thing personally but
to visit the city
what do you recommend great a wonderful
question to ask
what do you recommend all right now that
we've talked about some common
vocabulary to describe your city
some common questions that you can ask
or other people might ask you about
where you live
let's see a quick sample conversation
between me and my husband dan
where we talk about visiting rome
now neither of us are from rome but i
want you to use your imagination
let's imagine that dan is from rome
he's actually from the u.s but let's
imagine that he's from rome and he is
giving me
some insider tips about what i should do
on my upcoming trip to rome let's watch
the sample conversation and listen for
some of the key vocabulary that we just
talked about because
you are about to have a chance to use it
yourself speaking with me
let's watch hey dan hey vanessa
are you excited for your trip to rome
yeah i can't wait it's such a historic
place
but are there any tourist traps i should
avoid
yeah avoid all the gelato shops except
this one it's off the beaten path but
trust me
it's worth it oh thanks for the tip any
other
must-sees well the colosseum is great
but my favorite thing to do is wander
around and see all the little
chapels it's usually more relaxed and
less crowded that way
oh that's good to know thanks for the
tip no problem enjoy your trip
i will all right now it is your turn
i'm going to ask you some questions
about where you live because
i'm coming to visit i need to know what
it's like
i'm going to ask you some questions and
then i will pause
i will be listening to you wherever you
live
around the world i will be listening so
please speak out loud
use the expressions that you've learned
and i can't wait to learn more about
your city
are you ready to get started hi i'm
taking a vacation to your city and i
can't wait
tell me what's the weather like in the
summer i need to know what i should pack
that's good to know thank you well
what's your favorite thing to do
or see in your city
wow that sounds really interesting so i
gotta know are there any tourist traps
that i should avoid when i go
thanks so much for the tip i look
forward to visiting i can't wait to see
you soon
bye all right how did you do having this
conversation with me
you're welcome to review that and say it
again and again
and again to practice and grow your
confidence
so now i want to learn about where you
live in the comments
tell me what is a must-see place in your
city
let us know in the comments i can't wait
to learn more about where you live and
feel free to read other comments as well
to get to know
other places around the world and don't
forget to download
the free pdf for today's lesson so that
you can review
all of the common vocabulary questions
sample conversations
and also answer vanessa's challenge
question
at the end of the free pdf worksheet you
can download it with the link in the
description
so that you can continue practicing and
master conversation in english
well thanks so much and i'll see you
again next friday for a new lesson here
on my youtube channel
bye the next step is to download the
free
pdf worksheet for this lesson with this
free pdf
you will master today's lesson and never
forget what you have learned
you can be a confident english speaker
don't forget to subscribe to my youtube
channel
for a free english lesson every friday
bye