Hello, Sunshine.
I'm Maria.
My name is Rory.
We're 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 started this podcast because we want you to use high-level vocabulary and grammar in your everyday English and in your IELTS speaking.
Rory, do you have our... Yes, I do.
It's right with me.
Rory, let's talk about our super speaking course where you have three Rory's.
Absolutely.
What do you want to know?
It's a three Rory's course.
It is.
That is a crucial, that is an integral part of the course.
Why three Roris, and what do they do there?
Why not three Roris?
No, there are three of us, because one of us is the person who narrates and explains exactly what is happening, in addition to giving hints and tips about how to do well in the speaking exam.
The other two Rory's are, I suppose, test dummies.
One is a very high level speaker and one is a lower level speaker.
Yes, it's the whole course.
And you can go to our website, successwithiles.com and check it out.
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Go check it out and enjoy three Rory's.
Rory, we talked about bicycles, so if you had a bike, where would you ride it?
I think I would probably write it in the park if I could.
There's one close by.
Oh, in a park.
We're going to be talking about parks today.
Wow.
Yes, in Speaking Part 1, they can ask you questions about parks and green areas.
Robbie, do you like parks?
Yeah, it's nice to be out in open spaces, isn't it?
I think it's quite calming.
Are there many public parks in your country?
Well, actually, I think the whole country is kind of a park, really.
In Scotland we've got something called Freedom to Roam, so it's actually possible to go anywhere you like in the countryside.
Scotland, freedom!
Yay!
Freedom to Roam.
Freedom to roam!
Although in a more traditional sense, there are lots of actual parks where people go to.
We've got two outside of our house, actually.
Are public parks important in your country?
Yes, I think so, especially now.
Having access to green spaces is good for your mental health as well as your physical health, especially when people are spending so much time indoors.
Even before this crisis happened, I think it's probably quite an important thing.
Oh, so now all parks are crowded in Ireland.
In Scotland, come on.
We just screamed Scotland freedom and you forget.
Oh, yes, Rumi, you're from Scotland, right?
You're not from Ireland.
Okay.
I don't think they're crowded though.
I think they're big enough for everybody, aren't they?
What do people in your country like to do in parks or gardens?
What everybody else likes to do, I think most people go for a walk.
But a lot of people like to go running or other kinds of cardio, for example.
And then, of course, people walk with a dog.
And, well... they can go wandering or just sit and admire the view.
So there's lots of different things to do.
But I think those are the main ones, to be honest.
What are the benefits of having gardens in the city?
Well, I suppose foremost, it's a place to escape the rigours of city living, even if just for a little while.
And if you like running, it's cheaper than going to the gym.
I think I read somewhere as well that plants and greenery in general help people calm down.
So it's actually well you could have a plant in your house, but if you can go out to a local park then or garden the city, then that would also be quite helpful.
Why do people living in cities like public gardens?
I think for all of the reasons I just mentioned, actually, I imagine.
Plus, it's kind of a rare thing for people in cities to be out in green spaces very often.
I mean, compared to people who live in the countryside, for example.
So it's like a special experience.
Do you think it's important for cities to have public parks?
Oh, absolutely.
If we just had endless rows of apartment blocks and modern buildings, even if they were quite beautiful to look at, it would be pretty depressing for people, because all they could see is just buildings buildings, buildings and buildings.
There would be nothing natural for them to engage with.
So yeah, it's important to have these things.
Do you think there should be more parks in cities?
I think it depends on the city, to be honest.
Like, for example, in my hometown, there's enough space, it seems.
And we've got lots of parks.
And the same goes for Moscow and London.
So I...
I don't know.
I think for now we have enough, although it might be a good idea to have more in the future if they get bigger.
Rory, thank you so much for your green answers.
It's okay.
So when we talk about parks, we can also talk about gardens, green spaces, right?
So green spaces are the same as parks, right?
It's a kind of a broader category, but parks are a kind of green space.
But then you also have gardens, which are a green space as well.
Yeah, but a garden is different from a park.
Yes, a garden is usually smaller than a park or is more well-decorated.
We can also talk about botanical gardens.
Yeah, for example, in Moscow we have botanical gardens.
Do you have any botanical gardens in Scotland?
I have a botanical garden in my hometown.
We have everything.
Although, to be honest with you, I'm just thinking out loud here.
I'm not really sure what a botanical garden actually means.
Is that just a place where there's lots of different kinds of plants?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Exotic plants, flowers, different kinds of trees, bushes.
Right, okay, so it's good to know that I'm not totally uneducated then.
You are very educated and professional.
You've mentioned being in the open space.
Yes.
So open spaces are just, well, places that aren't crowded and you can move around freely.
Move around freely or roam.
Freedom to roam.
So when you roam, what do you do?
Do you just walk about?
Yes.
If we talk about roaming in general, then you just walk about without any specific direction.
But if we talk about freedom to roam, then that's the freedom to go anywhere you like.
And you, well, you have the right to do that.
So there are different things.
There are many sheep in Scotland and sheep roam around green hills, right?
Yes, they do.
Yes.
So you've said that you have access to green spaces.
So it's good to have access to green spaces, to parks.
And about the activities that people usually do in parks walk the dog, or take the dog out for a walk or just walk the dog.
Yeah, absolutely.
I think walk the dog is more informal than take the dog out for a walk, but they mean the same thing, don't they?
Can I walk the cat?
Walk the fish?
Apparently some people put fish on leads and walk... Sorry, not fish.
People put cats on leads and walk them.
But I've never seen this.
I think it's mostly walking your dog and that's the most common thing.
Yeah, walk the dog, walk the cat.
When we go to parks, we escape from something of the city.
Yeah, the rigors of city living.
So if something is rigorous, then it's very stressful, very fast-paced, very well, i suppose, just very heavy on you, and so you ideally want to um.
Well, you want to escape them because you can relax um before you go back to it, and one of the ways you can do this is by going to the park.
Yeah, to get away from it all.
That's another one.
To unwind.
Okay, you guys?
So to relax, to unwind, because we do feel trapped in this apartment blocks everywhere.
Yeah, and apartment block is just a building with flats.
Yes.
Skyscrapers.
So, yeah.
You can say, I go to parks to unwind.
I think a lot of skyscrapers actually are just for businesses, aren't they?
Apartment blocks are much smaller than skyscrapers.
So, people walk the dog or they're just wandering about.
So, wandering is the same as roaming, roam, wander.
Yes, but roaming is something that's more common in writing and formal...
I suppose, formal speaking.
But wandering is the more commonly used one.
And you've used that word in speaking to just wander around.
Yeah, wander around, take a walk, go jogging.
So these are the common activities.
You've mentioned a good word, greenery.
Like parks provide cities with lots of greenery.
No, greenery is just, well, plants, fishes, trees, anything green can be considered greenery.
Just all the green stuff.
And we can say that parks are a habitat for exotic plant species, yeah?
Well, if it's a botanic garden.
Bugs minimise air pollution.
I think so.
I think the trees do something to filter the air.
If you want to say there are many parks in my hometown, you can say loads of parks.
There are loads of parks in Scotland.
So Scotland is just a big park.
Basically, yeah.
I hope I'm not painting it as a utopia.
Obviously, we've got our problems, but it's pretty cool how we can go anywhere we like.
And actually it's an interesting word garden, because we spell it with E, so D-E-N, but we say it like garden garden, garden.
How do you say this?
Garden.
Garden.
Garden.
But can I say garden?
Garden.
If you say it as an individual word yes, but you'll be using it as a sentence usually, so it's like a kind of garden.
Hmm.
Rory, would you like to have a garden?
Would you like to be a gardener?
No.
If I'm going to have a garden, then whoever I'm married to will be taking care of it.
But I will not be doing that.
I will be admiring it because I like looking at gardens, but I'm absolutely rubbish at taking care of them.
Hmm.
When was the last time you went to a park?
Tell the world.
That's a good question.
I can't remember.
Oh, yes, no, I do remember.
I went to a park.
I went to visit my friend Anna in a town outside of Moscow.
And she lives next to a giant park there.
And they had like a river running through it and trees.
And like it's a huge place.
So like some parts are very high up and some parts are very low down.
And they have fields with cows in them.
It's cool.
Like it's a really cool place.
Did you walk the dog?
Did you roam about?
Did you go jogging?
You took a walk?
We didn't go jogging.
They had a gym there, though, like an outdoor gym.
That was cool.
But we didn't go jogging.
But we did wander around.
We had kind of a plan so it wasn't aimless wandering.
But we did wander.
Oh, good.
Yeah, we talked about bicycles.
You don't have a bike.
Now we're talking about parks.
But actually, you go to parks.
You have this experience.
Good.
Thank you very much for listening.
That's all from us.
Remember, life...
It doesn't have to be difficult, but it can be like a walk in the park.
It's a walk in the park.
Yeah, walk in the park.
Oh, we should have mentioned that.
Remember, taking IELTS could be a walk in the park if you check out our speaking course successwithieltscom.
Yay!
Nice.
Bye!
Bye!
Robbie, do you like parks?
Yeah, it's nice to be out in open spaces, isn't it?
I think it's quite calming.
Are there many public parks in your country?
Well, actually, I think the whole country is kind of a park, really.
In Scotland we've got something called Freedom to Roam, so it's actually possible to go anywhere you like in the countryside.
Scotland, freedom!
Yay!
Freedom to Roam.
Freedom to roam!
Yay!
Although in a more traditional sense, there are lots of actual parks where people go to.
We've got two outside of our house, actually.
Are public parks important in your country?
Um...
Yes, I think so, especially now.
Having access to green spaces is well.
It's good for your mental health as well as your physical health, especially when people are spending so much time indoors.
Even before this crisis happened, I think it's probably quite an important thing.
Oh, so now all parks are crowded in Ireland.
In Scotland, come on.
We just screamed Scotland freedom and you forget.
Oh, yes, Rumi, you're from Scotland, right?
You're not from Ireland.
Okay.
I don't think they're crowded, though.
I think they're big enough for everybody, aren't they?
What do people in your country like to do in parks or gardens? what everybody else likes to do.
I think most people go for a walk.
But a lot of people like to go running or other kinds of cardio, for example.
And then, of course, people walk with a dog.
And, well... they can go wandering or just sit and admire the view.
So there's lots of different things to do.
But I think those are the main ones, to be honest.
What are the benefits of having gardens in the city?
Yeah well, I suppose foremost, it's a place to escape the rigours of city living, even if just for a little while.
And if you like running, it's cheaper than going to the gym.
I think I read somewhere as well that plants and greenery in general help people calm down.
So it's actually well you could have a plant in your house, but if you can go out to a local park then or a garden in the city, then that would also be quite helpful.
Why do people living in cities like public gardens?
I think for all of the reasons I just mentioned, actually, I imagine.
Plus, it's kind of a rare thing for people in cities to be out in green spaces very often.
I mean, compared to people who live in the countryside, for example.
So it's like a special experience.
Do you think it's important for cities to have public parks?
Oh, absolutely.
If we just had endless rows of apartment blocks and modern buildings, even if they were quite beautiful to look at, it would be pretty depressing for people, because all they could see is just buildings buildings, buildings and buildings.
There would be nothing natural for them to engage with.
So yeah, it's important to have these things.
Do you think there should be more parks in cities?
I think it depends on the city, to be honest.
Like, for example, in my hometown, there's enough space, it seems, and we've got lots of parks.
The same goes for Moscow and London.
So I...
I don't know.
I think for now we have enough, although it might be a good idea to have more in the future if they get bigger.
