let's talk about your hometown is it a good place to live
my town is nice i like it there
this answer is correct but it's so simple do you want to try again
Almaty is such a vibrant diverse city that makes it a fantastic place to live
hi there it's Asiya
i'm sure you can see that vibrant and diverse is a much higher level vocabulary than nice
and a fantastic place to live is better than i like it there
your hometown is such a common topic in ielts speaking
that it is a good idea to have some phrases ready
and that's exactly what we're going to learn today
i also have a pdf for you to download
ready let's get started
the very first thing you may be asked about your hometown
is its size and location the question may be do you live in a city or a village a handy phrase
to indicate the size is with the population of i live in almaty the largest city in kazakhstan
with a population of about 2 million people if your city isn't large perhaps it's medium sized
i live in a medium-sized town of about 60 thousand people situated on the south coast of england you
can say that your city is situated on the coast on the river on the border make sure the proposition
is on if the town is in the center of something say it's in the heart of my hometown is a small
but vibrant city in the heart of spain you can also describe what's surrounded by saying that
it's surrounded by mountains fields forest or more generally by breathtaking scenery it's a
pretty little town surrounded by some breathtaking scenery you may also be asked about the character
of your hometown for example what kind of place is it so let me give you some interesting
adjectives to use you can say that the place is vibrant which means it's lively and exciting or
that it's bustling which means it has a lot of people and activity vibrant is always positive
bustling can be positive or negative depending on whether you like busy crowded places or not
a great idiomatic expression is a hustle and bustle please note that we don't pronounce the
tease it's just hustle and bustle and it's usually used to describe a big city i love london with
all these opportunities but sometimes i need a break from the hustle and bustle of the big city
if the place has people from all over the world and cultures and ideas amidst you
can say it's cosmopolitan or diverse or both london is a truly diverse cosmopolitan city
another great word to use is thriving it means it's continuing to be successful strong healthy
you can use it to talk about people companies or in our case cities i live in a thriving little
village in the middle of the house if you're lucky to live in a place like that then you can say that
it's affluent it means it's wealthy we typically say an affluent place or an effluent neighborhood
the standard of living has increased and it's become quite an affluent place in recent years
if it's not wealthy you can still use the word just say it's not exactly affluent but it's still
a great place to live okay if your city is a bit quieter and more relaxed you can say it has a laid
back atmosphere and if people are practical and friendly they are down to earth even though the
city is growing fast it's preserved its laid-back atmosphere and people are still very down to earth
if the place is really quiet you can say it's idyllic which means it's beautiful and peaceful
it's an idyllic little town surrounded by some breathtaking scenery and if it's a bit dark and
unattractive he can say that it's rather grim rather is often used with negative adjectives
to make them a bit softer and more polite after all you don't want to say terrible things about
your hometown do you it's a lovely place to live but it can be rather grim in the winter
another way to politely say something negative is it's not especially modern that's a more positive
way to say it's old right now we're concentrating on the vocabulary but i also have common questions
and simple answers for the topics commonly used at the beginning of the ielts speaking test
including your hometown and you can download them in pdf format while the link below and i
also remind you at the end of this video let's continue you may be asked about transport in your
hometown whenever i'm thinking about transport the first phrases that pop into my mind are traffic
congestion that's when there is too much traffic that moves very slowly but it's still moving when
it stops completely it's a traffic jam i'm sure you know how it feels to be stuck in a traffic jam
traffic jams usually happen at rush hour or in the rush hour the time when the roads are full
of traffic because people are traveling to or from work if the question is what do you dislike about
your hometown you know what to say i'm not too keen on the dreadful traffic congestion
which means that it takes forever to get anywhere usually i avoid traveling a trash hour as much as
i can it takes forever is an informal expression which means it takes a long time and a bit
more vocabulary public transport includes buses trams and trains for the public when you travel
regularly between your home and work or school you commute you may be commuting by car train or bus
public transport is significantly underfunded at the moment as a result most people commute by call
when talking about a hometown you're likely going to get a question about the facilities in your
city so first how can you talk about different areas in your town let's have a look at the map
the city center is in the center that's where the shopping district or street is located
you can refer to parks as green spaces people who live further from the center live in suburbs
those areas are usually residential which means there are not many businesses or shops there
manufacturing companies tend to be located in the industrial zone while banks and offices are
in the business center now let's talk about some more specific vocabulary to describe your
town center here is a very british answer what is the center like in your hometown
my hometown is not especially modern and there are no state-of-the-art structures or high-rises the
town center is a typical british high street with a few chain stores and fast food outlets there is
also a good selection of independent traders and street food stores which make it pleasant to visit
something is state of the art if it uses the most modern or advanced techniques for example you can
talk about a state-of-the-art library hospital or concert hall if your town doesn't have too many
of those you can still use the word just like i did high rises are tall blocks of buildings
usually above 10 floors a high street is the main shopping street in the uk i think in north
america it's called the main street on the high street you have some chain stores or well-known
stores with branches in most towns and cities for example zara and primark independent traders
are the opposite of chain stores these are smaller companies you can refer to mcdonald's and pizza
places as fast food outlets street food stalls can also be called food market these are temperate
tables in the street selling a variety of food now let's talk about the economy what kind of jobs do
people in your town or village too here is some more high-end vocabulary for different sectors
if your town is visited by tourists it's a tourist destination which means you have a lot
of hot house and restaurants which are called hospitality and shops which are called retail
my city is a popular tourist destination so many people work in hospitality and retail
if there are a lot of banks then perhaps your city can be called a financial hub
and people work in financial services it's a regional financial hub and there are a lot of
financial services employees if you live in a village you will probably work in agriculture
most people in the region work in agriculture growing a variety of fruits and vegetables
those who build new homes and offices work in construction the city is growing so fast
that construction is a major employer all the companies we're talking about work for profit
they want to make money they're called the private sector those who work in government
organizations or companies owned by the state work in the public sector i live in the capital
which means that many people work in the public sector you may be asked about your hometown
in part 3 where questions are longer and more serious let's have a look at a couple of them
some people want to spend their lives in their hometown why do you think this is i think it's
mainly because being there gives them a sense of belonging and helps define them as the person
they want to be somebody might say that they are from valencia before they say they are spanish
they have a bond with that location a sense of belonging is the feeling that this is your home
to help define them means to show who they are as a person to have a bond with
is to have a connection with the next question is why do many people leave their hometown
mostly because of work in the uk many young people see it as an opportunity to fly the nest and
get new experiences and this often means going away to university in some regions there aren't
many career opportunities at all and people have to go further afield to find decent jobs
to fly the nest is an idiom which means to leave home in higher speaking you can
definitely use idioms career opportunities are chances to find good jobs
to go further afield means to go outside their immediate area okay i guess that's enough for
one day hope this higher level vocabulary can help you give more complex but natural sounding answers
and achieve a higher score don't forget to download the pdf guide with typical
questions and sample answers for topics used at the beginning of the ielts speaking exam right
now thank you so much for watching me today and good luck with your preparation and your exam bye