March 2026

📕 Part 1: Walking

Rory admits he's become a bit of a couch potato! Listen as he and Maria share Band 9 vocabulary for daily routines and explore grammar for discussing past habits and hypothetical situations.

📕 Part 1: Walking

0:00 / 0:00

📕 Part 1: Walking

IELTS Speaking for Success

0:00 / 0:00

Health and WellbeingMaking GeneralizationsParaphrasingNarrative TensesComplex SentencesPhrasal VerbsBinomials

This episode's vocabulary

A trek (noun) – a long, hard walk, lasting several days or weeks, especially in the mountains. → My walk turned into a bit of a trek; I was walking for five hours.

To clock up (phrasal verb) – to reach or record a particular number or amount. → The most steps I get in these days are clocked up when I walk to the shops.

To wander around/about (phrasal verb) – to walk slowly around an area without a clear purpose or direction. → My friend and I wandered around a museum in my hometown recently.

To stroll (verb) – to walk in a slow, relaxed way, especially for pleasure. → We had to stroll through the city center to get there.

Stands out (phrasal verb) – to be very noticeable or much better than other similar things or people. → Nothing else stands out apart from that, unfortunately.

To get out and about (idiom) – to be active and do things, especially to go to different places. → People like to walk in parks to get out and about and enjoy the fresh air.

Couch potato (idiom) – a person who spends a lot of time sitting or lying down, watching television. → I don't walk as much as I used to; now I'm a couch potato.

To make time for something (phrase) – to find time to do something, even if you are busy. → I'd like to walk more, but I should make the time for it.

Greenery (noun) – green plants or leaves, especially in a particular place. → According to research, walking in greenery lowers stress levels.

Nature connectedness (noun) – the feeling of being connected to the natural world. → You can see the effects of nature connectedness in brain scans and blood tests.

To lower stress levels (phrase) – to reduce the amount of stress someone feels. → It's proven that walking in nature lowers stress levels and blood pressure.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Do you walk a lot?

Rory: Not as much as I used to now that I think about it. I think the most steps I get in these days are clocked up when I walk to the shops. I'd like to walk about a bit more though, and I should probably make the time for it.

Maria: Where did you go for a walk lately?

Rory: My friend and I wandered around a museum in my hometown recently, and we had to stroll through the city center to get there. Nothing else stands out apart from that, unfortunately.

Maria: Did you often go outside to have a walk when you were a child?

Rory: Oh, yeah, we would wander about the local neighborhood all the time. There wasn't much else to do apart from that, sadly. Thankfully, there were lots of places to go, like along the beaches or through some of the parks.

Maria: Where would you like to take a long walk if you had the chance?

Rory: I don't know. I quite like walks on the beach, so that would be good to do again in the summer, when it's warmer. Other than that, I'm not really sure.

Maria: Why do people like to walk in parks?

Rory: Well, if they're anything like me, I suppose they like to get out and about and enjoy the fresh air. It's also good exercise, isn't it? And it's a good chance to enjoy the sun when it's out, like what I said about the summer earlier.

Discussion

Maria: So dear listener, walking. Walking is like when you go out for a walk. Go for a walk. You use your feet. These days, we use all kinds of devices and machines like cars, electric scooters, but do you use your legs, dear listener? Do you? No, you don't. Well, maybe you walk from the fridge to your coffee machine. That's also walking. That counts. And then you walk to your bed. Yeah. That also counts. So, you can say I don't walk as much as I used to. 10 years ago, I walked a lot, but not now.

Rory: Now I'm a couch potato.

Maria: I'm a couch potato. Yeah, that means that you stay on your couch at home. No walking. Or I drive not as much as I used to. I drive these days, or I take the metro, or I go out and about by bicycle, for example. I walk to the shops, I walk to work, I walk to, I don't know, where do you walk, dear listener? I walk my dog. If you have a dog, you take your dog out for a walk. I walk with my dog. And I count the steps, my daily steps. So usually, the steps are clocked up by your phone, by your watch, by some device, by a ring you're wearing. Yeah. So maybe you have an Apple watch. You can say my watch counts the steps. I'd like to walk a bit more, but I should make the time for it.

Rory: We make time to do things.

Maria: Yeah, like plan time for walking. Because some people do plan in their walking, they kind of have to walk, I don't know, 30,000 steps a day. No, no, that's a lot. Maybe 10,000 steps a day. And that's a good exercise, actually. One of the best exercises ever, just walking. Not running, walking.

Rory: Oh.

Maria: Yeah. Because there's certain energy that our body produces while walking. And that's simple walking. And for the elderly, they also tell them like, okay, if you can't do anything, just walk. Just use your feet. My friend and I wandered around. So when you wander around, you just walk without a specific aim. That's a good synonym, wander around. Or you can say, last week, I wandered around a park. I just walked slowly in a relaxed way. You don't have a clear purpose or direction. So I was wandering around a park. I was wandering the streets. My friends and I were having a walk in the park. But yeah, I went for a walk or I wandered around a museum, for example, I wandered around a park. And we had a stroll through the city center. Another synonym for taking a walk is have a stroll. And to stroll is C1, is advanced.

Rory: Oh, is it?

Maria: Yeah, it is, C1 band eight. Walk in a slow, relaxed way for pleasure. So I strolled along the beach. Or I strolled in the park. I had a stroll in the park. So I walked in a relaxed way for pleasure, dear listener. So two synonyms, okay? I wandered around in a museum, in a park, I had a stroll through the city center. I had a stroll through the park, or I strolled through the city center. When I was a child, I used to wander around the local neighborhood. So we all did that, yes, as children, we just walked around in our neighborhood. Neighborhoods, like the area close to where you live. So you can say, yeah, I used to wander about my neighborhood. Wander about or wander around. Or Rory uses would, but it's not the future, it's about the past, dear listener, C2, band nine grammar. And now Rory explains grammar to us. Just tell us why did you use would?

Rory: It's just about what we always did in the past.

Maria: Yeah. It's a nice variation on used to.

Maria: Exactly. So you can say we wandered about the local neighborhood when I was a child, or we would wander about the local neighborhood, just meaning past habit. Thankfully, there were lots of places to go. Rory lived in Scotland and he had the sea, the beaches, he had the mountains, castles with ghosts, hills, and ruins of ancient Scottish people. Ancient Scottish people? Did you have any ancient Scottish people?

Rory: Probably, yes. Thousands of years ago, people lived in Scotland, so yes.

Maria: So thankfully. If you didn't have any places to go, you say, unfortunately, or sadly, I didn't have many places to go, so I had to wander around my neighborhood. Not the beaches and mountains and castles with ghosts. If I had the chance, so the phrase is, if I had the chance, I'd take a walk in the mountains. If I could, I'd go to the beach. If I could, I'd like to walk or to have a stroll on the beach in summer. Well, the final question is just so strange, why do people like to walk in parks?

Rory: Why, yeah, why do people walk?

Maria: Why do people walk?

Rory: Why do people breathe?

Maria: Yeah, dear listener, some questions are a bit stupid. They are just, but come on, the examiner wants you to produce English. So produce English, all right? You can crack a joke, you can be sarcastic.

Rory: Produce laughter. That's a dumb question.

Maria: And if you laugh like this, the examiner will also laugh. You will create positive energy, and the examiner will like you. And because subconsciously, we like people who make us laugh. Because it's all positive, we feel relaxed when we laugh. Just like this. Rory, could you give us your stupid laughter?

Rory: No. But the point is, yes, sometimes you get asked a crazy question, and so you have to think about the answer you should give. So I said, if they're anything like me, and then I talked about how or why I would walk in a park, but in a very general way.

Maria: We get out and about.

Maria: I love this phrase, to get out and about.

Rory: Oh, it's a binomial.

Maria: Yeah, get out and about.

Rory: We don't say about and out, we say out and about.

Maria: So be active, do things. You should be out and about. If you feel ill, then you'll get better and you'll be out and about. So people enjoy walking in parks because they like to get out and about. They enjoy the fresh air. They love nature. They have the chance to enjoy the sun.

Rory: Very nice.

Maria: Yeah, but can we get very smart and bombard the examiner with some scientific knowledge about walking in the parks.

Rory: God knows. You could talk about nature connectedness, I suppose. That's the long one. But we've mentioned that previously, nature connectedness is this feeling of connection with the world, well, with the natural world that's caused or happens after about 20 minutes. And we know that it happens because in brain scans and blood tests, you can see people's stress hormones lower, and the brain activity is calmer.

Maria: And also, dear listener, you can say that according to the research, walking in nature lowers stress levels and blood pressure. Parks could be paraphrased as greenery. So walking in greenery? No.

Rory: Yes.

Maria: In greenery, really?

Rory: In greenery.

Maria: Okay. In green trees and gardens and parks.

Maria: Yeah, it's relaxing, dear listener. All right? Yeah, it improves your mental health and well being. It lowers your blood pressure, reduces stress, and improves your mood. It also improves your focus. There we go. Some science. And it is a lovely physical exercise. Right. Rory, have you ever walked for a long time? What's the longest time you've ever walked?

Rory: Oh God, I think we walked for something like six hours once when we were traveling abroad, but that's been a very long time.

Maria: Six hours non-stop, yeah, just walking.

Rory: Yeah, I think so. But this was about 10 years ago. I do not remember the fine details.

Maria: You do more walking than I do. You should have answered these questions.

Maria: When I traveled in Peru, I think I walked, well, we walked in the mountains to Machu Picchu. I think from early morning till it got dark. So all day, all daylight, during the daylight. But we stopped for dinner, we stopped for water, but it's just non-stop, you walk. Usually up and down, up and down. And then in the middle of it, I started crying because I couldn't do it anymore, why am I here?

Rory: It's good you had such a measured reaction to that.

Maria: No, because it was physically difficult, you go up the mountain for a good two hours. Yeah, but now I understand how beautiful it was. At that moment, no. Right, listener, on such a lovely note. Hopefully, you enjoy walking, okay? And you remember two synonyms. Do you? Wander around or about and to stroll. We'll get back to you in our next episode, all right?

Maria: Bye.

Rory: Bye.

Browse all episodes

IELTS Speaking for Success

📕 Part 1: Walking

📘 Part 3: Films

📙 Part 2: Describe a movie you watched recently that you felt disappointed about

📕 Part 1: Buildings

📘 Part 3: Achievement and encouragement

📙 Part 2: Describe a time when you felt proud of a family member

📕 Part 1: Keys

📘 Part 3: Transport & Travel

📙 Part 2: Describe a bicycle, motorcycle, or car trip that you would like to go on

📕 Part 1: Walking

This episode's vocabulary

Questions and Answers

Discussion