📙 Part 2 Describe a place with a lot of trees that you would like to visit

This Episode's Vocabulary

Heavily forested (adj) – having a large area of land covered with trees. → My entire country is fairly heavily forested.

Stands out in my mind (idiom) – to be very memorable or noticeable. → One place that stands out in my mind is Camperdown Park.

Woodland (n) – land covered with trees. → There's still plenty of woodland and open green space.

Be forgiven for thinking (phrase) – used to say it is understandable why someone might have a particular, though incorrect, idea. → You could be forgiven for thinking it's the biggest park.

Day trip (n) – a journey to a place and back again on the same day. → We used to go there for day trips with our families.

Haven't been back in person (phrase) – have not physically returned to a place for a while. → I haven't been back in person for a while.

Peaceful atmosphere (n) – a calm and quiet feeling in a place. → The park has a very peaceful atmosphere.

From what I can recall (phrase) – based on what I can remember. → From what I can recall, it's a place where you can easily spend the whole day.

Escape from the noise of the city (phrase) – to get away from the loud and busy urban environment. → It’s the perfect place to escape from the noise of the city.

Surrounded by (phrase) – to have something all around you. → I quite love being surrounded by trees.

Recharge (v) – to regain energy after being tired. → It would be a good way to recharge and clear my mind.

Clear my mind (idiom) – to stop worrying or thinking about problems. → It would be a good way to recharge and clear my mind.

Nostalgia trip (n) – an experience that makes you remember and feel happy about things in the past. → It would be a bit of a nostalgia trip.

Picturesque (adj) – visually attractive in a charming or quaint way, like a picture. → The park has picturesque nature and beautiful surroundings.

Trails (n) – paths through a natural environment, like a forest or countryside. → There are lots of trails where you can walk, run, or cycle.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Describe a place with a lot of trees that you would like to visit. For example, a forest, an oasis or a park. You should say where it is, how you knew this place, what it is like, and explain why you'd like to visit it. Rory, give us your story.

Rory: Well, there are loads of places like this where I'm from since it's fairly heavily forested. In fact, my entire country is like that. But one that stands out in my mind in particular is a place called Camperdown Park, which is located just outside my hometown, which is Dundee in Scotland.

I think it's the largest public park in the city, but even if it's not, there's still plenty of woodland and open green space, so you could be forgiven for thinking it's the biggest one. I first heard about it when I was younger, and I used to go there with my friends for day trips with our families or on school trips as well, I suppose. Especially times like in the autumn when the trees change color. I've also seen some nice photos of it online, though I haven't been back in person for a while, now that I think about it.

When it comes to what it's like, the place is obviously full of tall old trees, but they're mainly oak trees and pine, I think. And it's got a very peaceful atmosphere. I think there was a small zoo. I think there's still a small zoo, which I think had bears in it at some point. And there's a golf course and there are lots of trails where you can walk or run or cycle for ages.

From what I can recall, it's a place where you can easily spend the whole day just relaxing and enjoying nature, to be honest. I'd really like to go back there because it sounds like the perfect place to escape from the noise of the city, which I live in the heart of. And I quite love being surrounded by trees, especially when you can hear the birds and the wind in the leaves. So it would be a good way to recharge and clear my mind. Also, I suppose it would be a bit of a nostalgia trip after everything I've said about having been there.

Discussion

Maria: Yay. Thank you Rory for your story. So dear listener, you should have this green place. So perhaps a forest or a park, the easiest option.

Rory: I think those are the easiest, yeah.

Maria: Yeah, totally a park. So learn about the park closer to your home perhaps, or your favorite park in town. A heavily forested place is a place with lots of trees and greenery, like green leaves, green stuff. And you can say that "one place that stands out in my mind is a park which is called [park name]." Or "I have a lot of heavily forested places, like a lot of forests where I live, but one that I really remember, one that I really enjoy, one that stands out in my mind is [park name]." It is located in, so it is situated or it is in the center. It is by the river. And Rory lives in Scotland, in the town called Dundee. So it's in Dundee. It's the largest public park in the city. Or it's the smallest public park in the city. And there are open green spaces.

Rory: And there's lots of woodland. Places with trees.

Maria: Yeah, what's that?

Rory: Woodland. It's exactly what you think, it's land with wood. Trees.

Maria: Wow. So you can say that there are a lot of trees, or there is plenty of woodland, yeah?

Rory: Yes.

Maria: And what do you know, dear listener? Woodland at C2, Band 9.

Rory: Yay. Excellent.

Maria: So, for example, the park has like three kilometers or three hundred acres of woodland.

Rory: Acres. I don't even know what that is.

Maria: Oh, acre is C2.

Rory: Oh my God. Okay, why? What is it then?

Maria: An acre is a unit for measuring area. It equals 4,047 square meters.

Rory: Wow, that's like a really precise measurement. Maybe there's another more normal unit of measurement we could have?

Maria: So it's about 4,000 square meters.

Rory: You could talk about square kilometers. It's hundreds of square kilometers. Maybe hectares. Maybe that's close to acres, I don't know. Imperial measurements are just totally illogical.

Maria: Right, dear listener. So woodland, forests, so land with many trees. An area with many trees is called woodland. So for example, "lots of plants and rare flowers grow in these woodlands." So you talk about your park, even if nothing grows there, just say it. Rory, give us another sentence with woodland. Very nice word.

Rory: Oh, I don't know. There's lots of woodland near my home.

Maria: "I first heard about it when I was a child." "I heard about it from my friends." "I used to go to this park at school," right? Or "I used to go there with my parents," so somewhere, something in the past. Or "I usually go there for a walk." I like when the trees change color. Usually in the autumn, the trees change color and it's beautiful.

Rory: The leaves change color and they fall down.

Maria: Yeah, leaves from trees fall down, they change color. "I haven't been back in person for a while." So if you haven't visited this place for some time, you can say, "Well, I haven't been there for some time." When we change the subject to "what it is like," the bullet point from the task, it means describe the park, describe the place.

Rory: The atmosphere.

Maria: When it comes to what it's like, when it comes to the atmosphere, the place is full of trees.

Rory: Yes, exactly. Surprisingly, for a place that you need to describe that has lots of trees.

Maria: And here you can name the trees, like what trees? Oak trees. Please Google, O-A-K, oak trees, pine trees. And here you should name two, three names for trees. Oak trees, pine trees, ash trees, birch trees. Just, okay, dear listener, choose two or three names that you can remember. Red maple trees, for example. But just go to Google Images and remember two names. And the park has a very peaceful atmosphere. So peace, quiet. You can talk about facilities. So facilities, like what infrastructure the park has.

Rory: It might have a zoo, if you're very lucky, but it could also have a play park for children.

Maria: There are plenty of trails. Trails, like paths, small walks, right? But they're called paths, trails, where you just walk, where you go hiking, a trail, a path through a countryside, or a forest. There are a lot of walking trails, or skiing trails, if in winter you go skiing. And there are a lot of trails where you can walk, run or cycle. You can spend a whole day relaxing and enjoying nature. You see the structure? "You can spend a whole day doing what? Relaxing and enjoying beautiful nature." Or picturesque nature.

Rory: Ooh. Or the surroundings.

Maria: It's the perfect place to escape from the noise of the city. Escape from something. Escape from the city, or escape from the noise of the city. And you can say "I go there because I love being surrounded by trees." So I love to be surrounded by trees. I like it when trees surround me. So when trees are around me. And a very nice structure, passive voice, "I love being surrounded by trees and greenery." Greenery, all this green stuff.

Rory: Is it passive voice with ING?

Maria: Yeah.

Rory: Oh, very nice.

Maria: It's a great way to recharge. Recharge, to relax, to unwind. It's a great way to unwind or recharge. Don't say batteries, just say it's a great way to recharge. It's a great way to clear my mind. What adjectives, Rory, would you use about this park? So this park is what?

Rory: Gigantic. It's huge. It's a public park, which is a collocation. At least I think it's a public park, as opposed to a private park. What else?

Maria: Picturesque nature.

Rory: It might be picturesque, yeah.

Maria: And dear listener, if you Google your park, you can find out how many acres of land it has. Acre, C2. So pretty much what's the territory of the park. Like this park has 40 acres of land. Or it is 10 acres in size. Or you can lie, you can just say, okay, it's 10 acres in size. I don't know.

Rory: I don't know how big an acre is.

Maria: Whether it's big or not, it just sounds cool. An acre is Band 9. Thank you very much for listening. We'll get back to you in our next episode where we talk about natural places and forests. Okay? Bye.

Rory: Well, I'm going to go to the park now.