📙 Part 2: Describe a park or garden in your city

This episode's vocabulary

Botanic garden (noun) - a garden, usually open to the public, where a wide range of plants are grown for scientific and educational purposes.

Built environment (noun) - the parts of the places in which we live that have been built by people, for example, buildings and streets, rather than the parts that exist in nature.

Scenery (noun) - the general appearance of the natural environment, especially when it is beautiful.

Clime (noun) - a place where the weather is different in a particular way.

Greenhouse (noun) - a building with a roof and sides made of glass, used for growing plants that need warmth and protection.

Surroundings (plural noun) - the place where someone or something is and the things that are in it.

Urban sprawl (noun) - the spread of a city into the area surrounding it, often without planning.

The outskirts (plural noun) - the areas that form the edge of a town or city.

To sack (verb) - to remove someone from a job, usually because they have done something wrong or badly, or sometimes as a way of saving the cost of employing them.

Questions and Answers

M: Off you go.

R: Well, like most large towns, there are botanic gardens in my hometown, which I think is best described as something like a zoo for trees. It sounds silly but that’s as close a description as I can get.

I haven’t actually been there in years, to be honest. I think the last time was part of a university course on how to use the built environment to teach…and if that sounds like a complete waste of time, it’s because it was. However, at least the scenery was nice; there are huge trees and bushes from all parts of the world, even from hotter climes in the greenhouses there. I always wondered why we even went there but come to think of it, the place is owned by the university so from their point of view it makes sense to use it as much as possible. Value of money and all that.

I’m sure there is plenty to do but most of the time people just walk around and enjoy their surroundings, which makes sense since lots of places in Dundee are just urban sprawl without much in the way of green space. Now I think about it, I am sure there is a café there (my friend used to run the place), and companies sometimes host different events.

In terms of how I feel about it, I have mixed emotions to be honest; it’s great we have this place for people and it could be quite calming, but once that is done, it’s just a big garden with different trees. It’s a good thing I don’t work for their marketing team or I’d be sacked.

If I didn’t have this place in my town, I think I’d have talked about another garden near where I live, but the Botanic Gardens was just the one that came to mind the most easily.

M: And what about your friends? Do they enjoy this place?

R: The ones that have been there didn't have any complaints.