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This week, Rory is going to describe a situation when he had to pay more than expected.
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IELTS Writing for Success.
Hello, lovely.
I'm Maria.
And my name is Rory and we are the hosts of the IELTS Speaking for Success podcast.
The podcast that aims to help you improve your speaking skills, as well as your listening skills, along the way.
We've started this podcast to give you gorgeous grammar and fantastic English vocabulary for high score.
Which Rory score?
A band 9 score.
Yeah, now band 9 score is officially Rory score.
Oh, I just got Rory score for my IELTS exam.
Rory score?
Yeah, band 9 score.
Rory, why are you speaking so fast?
I'm not speaking so fast.
Good.
How rude.
And how are your studies in Scotland?
They're going great.
It's like a big revision of everything I already know.
It's easy, like a walk in the park.
A walk in the park.
Shall we talk about parks and public gardens?
After that coincidence, I think so.
Let's talk about public gardens and parks.
Would you like to play in a public garden or a park?
Well, I think I'm a bit past that now, don't you think?
I used to like doing it when I was younger and we would go there all the time, but now I'm almost never in the park, unless it's taking the dog for a walk or going for a stroll.
Do you like going to parks?
I'm not opposed to them.
Weather permitting, although these days I usually don't have time for it.
What do you like to do when you visit a park?
Well, if I have one, then letting the dog off the lead and watching other animals or children playing is quite pleasant.
If it's near the sea, it's also possible to enjoy the sound of the waves crashing and the smell of salt in the air.
When was the last time you went to a park?
Probably last weekend.
I took the dog for a walk in the park just outside our house.
It stretches along the seafront.
The weather wasn't the best, sadly, though the walk was quite refreshing, so that's good.
Will you go to parks more often in the future?
I imagine so, though I don't have any set plans to go to any.
If I had to pick one, it might be the national park north of where I live.
It's quite secluded out there, but I quite like the quiet in that sense, so that should do quite well.
Oh, we have a safari park as well, which is quite cool, although that's further away.
Are there any parks where you live?
Well, like I said, there's one like right outside my house next to the public gardens.
Although, by contrast, it's just one big open green space, whereas the public gardens are a bit more well well decorated.
Should parks be free for people?
Well, I think they all are where I'm from, unless it's something specialist, like that safari park I mentioned, for example.
Though, like I say, that one is about an hour away and I can't imagine the animals would be very happy in the weather, to be honest, so I don't know if it's worth paying to go right now.
Rory, thank you so much for your lovely answers.
That's okay.
So, public gardens and parks.
First of all Rory, how do you see the difference between a park, public gardens and a personal garden?
Yeah.
I like how you paused there as though personal garden is something that's a bit unusual.
So, a public garden is for everybody and everyone can go there.
And it's open and covers a wider area.
It's quite a big space.
It's also maintained by people and they have a variety of plants as well, for example.
Do you say a public garden or public gardens or both?
I don't think it makes a difference.
For example, there's a place near where I'm from called the Rock Gardens, but actually it's one big continuous garden.
So I don't think it makes a difference here.
Okay, cool.
And a park, is it the same as public gardens?
I think a park is a more open space.
For example, in public gardens, there are more decorative flowers or decorations in general.
It's much more manicured and well-maintained, whereas a park, for me, is a big open green space.
Hmm, yeah.
Okay.
So a park is like a wild and public gardens.
They are manicured.
Manicured, yes.
Well maintained.
Like our fingernails.
Also you can say botanical gardens or botanic garden.
You know some place where you see all different tropical plants?
Yeah.
Oh, I went to the Botanic Gardens.
We have them in Dundee.
I don't know if there's... Yeah, of course, they're not as large as the ones in Moscow, for example.
But yeah, there's a variety of plants there as well.
So I didn't talk about them, but you could if you have them in your hometown.
Botanic Gardens is another thing to speak about.
Anyway, you asked about the difference between the other ones.
So personal gardens are enclosed, public gardens are open and, well, decorative, decorated.
And parks are open and usually wild.
Maybe they have their lawn trimmed or mowed from time to time, but that's about it.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, if you have a cottage in the country, you might have a vegetable garden, but that's again your personal space, right in comparison to public spaces, open spaces like public gardens, parks in the city.
We can also call them urban parks.
Urban parks, like parks in a city.
Oh, an urban park.
Yeah, I know.
Cool, huh?
There are a couple of urban parks where I live.
Like urban park, I think it's just a fancy name for a park in a city.
Yes.
You can Google it if you wish.
Rory, you mentioned different names of parks.
So, dear listener, it's a good idea for you to know some names of the parks close to you.
Rory said a safari park, because in Scotland there are some safari parks.
There are safari parks in many countries.
Also, you mentioned some other park, the name of the park.
Which one did you mention?
I just said it was a Safari Park.
I didn't say the specific one.
It's called Blair Drummond Safari Park, but I don't think many people will have been there or plan to go there.
Yeah, but, dear listener, it's good to name certain names of the packs which you like in your city.
Yes.
We use packs without any article.
So, like, Zaryadyi pack, Gorky pack, no article.
When the examiner asks you if you like to go to parks, you can say like well, I used to like it, but not anymore.
Or I used to go, but I don't know.
Yeah.
Or just like, oh, I used to when I was younger.
And then you can say what you did in the past.
Rory, you said, I think I'm a bit past that now.
Yes.
So there's an expression to be past it, which just means you're too old to do something.
But you can also say you're past that, like past that, that being going or playing in a park here.
I can't imagine like...
There are many 32-year-old people going to parks and playing like, woohoo, let's enjoy the park.
Actually, they do.
Come on.
So you think like parks are for old people or like ancient people for like 80-year-olds or what?
No, I don't think.
I think parks are for everybody, but I don't think everybody should be playing in a park.
You have to, like, have some kind of decorum when you're older, don't you?
Yeah, because the question was, like, would you like to play in a public garden or park?
Like, play volleyball, basketball, frisbee or...
Yeah, so it should be something specific, like, um... Let's go play!
Let's go play hide-and-seek in the park.
However, if it was something like, what sports can you play in the park?
Then I could say, like, frisbee, or...
Yeah.
More frisbee.
Beach volleyball.
Well, you've played beach volleyball on the beach.
The clue is in the title.
So, dear listener, if you don't enjoy playing in a park, you can go for a stroll.
So, go for a walk, go for a stroll.
What's the difference between a walk and a stroll?
Well, a walk is just a walk, really, but a stroll is more casual.
Because there are different kinds of walking, but a stroll is a specific kind of walking.
It's casual carefree, there's no set plan.
You usually go for a stroll with other people.
It's more about being with people than the walk, whereas the walk, if you go on a walk, it's like from one point to the other, it's very formal.
Also, a walk can be like a noun for like a fixed path or a fixed route.
Oh yeah, baths or walks in a park.
A nature walk.
You take the dog for a walk, okay?
And also you can say that you let the dog off the lead.
So the lead is this thing that the dog is attached to.
Yes.
Why do you laugh at that?
It's a bit strange.
The dog is attached to the lead.
The dog is not attached to the lead.
The lead is attached to the collar.
So if you want to let your dog run wild in the park, biting other people, so you let the dog off the lead, you take the dog for a walk.
Now, Rory, you have a dog, right?
I had a dog.
We were looking after him for a while, but he didn't stay with us forever.
He's gone.
Yes.
He'll come back, though.
He's coming back next year.
When the examiner asks you about your future plans, you can say well, I don't have any set plans to go to any parks.
So set plans are just things that you have, well, set in stone.
They're fixed plans that you have to look forward to in the future.
And then you can use the second conditional.
If I had to pick one, it might be the national park.
If I had to do this, it might be that.
So you can also use some adjectives to describe parks.
For example, a park is quite secluded.
Yes.
So secluded just means it's away from, well, other people.
I like this park because there aren't any people.
Yes!
It's just for me.
It's my personal park.
Well, actually, for some people, they might have their own personal park.
The Queen has the grounds around Balmoral, which I should say, Balmoral is an estate...
Which is different from a park and a state is like privately owned land, with a lot of different buildings and facilities on it.
So she has that, and no one is allowed there.
Nice.
Anyway, moving on.
So we talked about grammar, but were there any other grammar points that were mentioned?
Because I'm pretty sure I used, if more than once, didn't I?
If it's near the sea, it's also possible to enjoy the sound of the waves crashing.
So that is first conditional.
Yes, it is well done.
Thank you for
