📙 Part 2: Describe a popular place for sports (e.g. a stadium) that you’ve been to

This Episode's Vocabulary

Au fait with (adj.) – having a good or detailed knowledge of something. → I'm not exactly au fait with all the various places people go to do sports.

Stand out (phrasal verb) – to be very noticeable or memorable. → One place that does stand out in my mind is my local gym.

Well-frequented (adj.) – visited by many people. → It still seems pretty well-frequented, at least from what I can see.

Operate (verb) – to use or control a machine. → You can always see people on both floors operating the various machines.

Regular gym-goers (noun phrase) – people who go to the gym often. → I usually just do the same things as most of the more regular gym-goers.

Lat pulldown machine (noun) – a piece of exercise equipment used to strengthen the latissimus dorsi muscle in the back. → We use various machines, like the lat pulldown machine.

Free weights (noun) – weights, such as dumbbells or barbells, that are not attached to a machine. → We also use free weights like barbells and dumbbells.

Barbell (noun) – a long metal bar to which weights are attached at each end. → I tend to use the heavier free weights at the gym, like barbells.

Dumbbell (noun) – a short bar with a weight at each end, used for exercise or muscle-building. → We also use free weights like barbells and dumbbells.

Treadmill (noun) – an exercise machine that allows you to walk or run in place. → I've never used the treadmills there since I don't like running.

Hang out with (phrasal verb) – to spend a lot of time in a place or with someone. → I'd have fewer opportunities to hang out with my pals.

Pals (noun) – friends. → I'd have fewer opportunities to hang out with my pals.

Cut up about it (phrasal verb) – to be very upset or distressed about something. → I don't think I'd be too cut up about it if the gym wasn't there.

Ungodly hour (noun phrase) – a very early or inconvenient time. → Rory goes there at an ungodly hour, 7:00 a.m. in the morning.

Knackered (adj.) – extremely tired. → When I come away from the gym, I feel knackered.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Describe a popular place for sports. For example, a stadium that you've been to. You should say where it is, when you went there, what you did there, and explain how you felt about this place.

Rory: I don't play or do a lot of sport, so I'm not exactly au fait with all the various places people go to and do things like that. But one place that does stand out in my mind is my local gym. It's just a short walk from my house, maybe fifteen minutes along the road near the center of the city.

I go there with my friend Shawn every Thursday morning, even though it's early when we go, seven o'clock in the morning, it still seems pretty well frequented, at least from what I can see. You can always see people on both floors operating the various machines. I suppose the closest sport it's related to is probably weightlifting and you can definitely see people who clearly do that as a hobby.

It's not really a hobby for me. I just like the company. But I usually just do the same things as most of the more regular gym goers. We use the various machines, like the lat pulldown machine, which is a bar suspended overhead on a cable that you have to pull down, while it's attached to various weights. We also use free weights like barbells and dumbbells, though I have a set at home, so I just tend to use the heavier ones at the gym that I don't have regular access to.

I've never used the treadmills there since I don't like running, but it's certainly an option if I get bored in the future, and lots of people who are obviously not bored by it seem to be using them quite frequently.

When it comes to my personal feelings about the place, I suppose it's nice to have the option of going there, but I'm more in it for the socializing than anything else. If it wasn't there, I suppose I'd have fewer opportunities to hang out with my pals, but I don't think I'd be too cut up about it. We see each other at other times. Maybe if I start going with more people or more often, I'll feel differently about it.

Discussion

Maria: Right, dear listener, a popular place for sports. So, an obvious choice is to talk about a gym. And Rory talked about his local gym. You can steal Rory's story and just say exactly the same as Rory, because Rory's description of a gym is quite cool. You can talk about a stadium, but...

Rory: What else? How many people go to stadiums regularly?

Maria: Oh, I don't know.

Rory: A stadium, or a specific sport, like hockey, a park for running, but is running a sport, who knows? And, where else? A boxing gym?

Maria: A yoga, a boxing gym, a yoga studio. Yeah. But again, dear listener, even if you don't go to a gym, talk about a gym. All right? Just lie and imagine stuff. And you can start off with, "I don't play a lot of sports." Or you can say, "I'm a sporty person, I'm into sports, I'm a big fan of sports." Or, "I'm not into sports, but one place that stands out in my mind is my local gym."

One place that I can talk about, I remember, is my local gym. It's a short walk away from my home. So it's very close to my house. Or you can say it's far away. But, if it's your local gym, then it's very close to your home. So dear listener, just steal Rory's words.

Rory: It's a gym close to my home, but you could say it's a gym that's far away from where I am.

Maria: Actually, you can talk about the swimming pool.

Rory: Oh, yes. If you have access to a swimming pool.

Maria: Yeah, and you can say that it's fifteen minutes along the road. So it's fifteen minutes from my place, from my house.

Rory: It could be along the road, up the road, down the road. The direction really is not important. It does describe a specific direction but the examiner is not going to know where your home is or where your gym is.

Maria: Or you can say, it's a fifteen minute walk from my house. A fifteen minute walk. I go there with my friends, I go there with my friend, I go there alone, I go there by myself, okay? Or I go there with my coach, or a trainer. What do you call it, a trainer, a coach, a person who helps you professionally in the gym?

Rory: Oh, well, it could be a personal trainer or...

Maria: Personal trainer, yeah.

Rory: A trainer in general.

Maria: Okay, I have a personal trainer, or just I go there with my friends. We go every Thursday morning or every weekend, every evening, or once a week. Yeah, Rory goes there at an ungodly hour, freaking 7:00 a.m. in the morning, because Rory is crazy, flat out of his mind.

Rory: It's not out of your mind to go early in the morning. Then you have the rest of the day.

Maria: Oh. Yeah, but if you spend fifteen minutes just walking there, well, then yeah.

Rory: Well, then you leave at, what, six forty five?

Maria: Oh, god. 6:00 a.m., you just get up at 6:00 a.m. No, Rory is crazy, dear listener.

Rory: It's just, it's just a walk. It's not that bad.

Maria: No, a walk is not bad, but waking up at freaking 6:00 a.m., that's just...

Rory: I thought you were going to say, but waking up in general...

Maria: Absolutely not.

Rory: It's nuts.

Maria: So, dear listener, in the gym, we operate different machines. So you see these horrible machines. They are aliens to me. Aliens is these creatures in the space. So, to me, absolute aliens. I have zero idea what to do with them and they look awful. So, yeah, it's just some alien creatures, they're like, "Maria, come to me." It's dreadful.

So you operate these machines. I sometimes do weight lifting. You can say that "I sometimes do weight lifting," so you lift a lot of weights. Even if you don't do it, just say you do.

Rory: And lots of people go there to do the same thing. So if there are lots of people going to a place, it is well-frequented. It's not frequented. It looks like frequented, but you say frequented. And that's got to be a C2 level word, surely.

Maria: And you can say that I go there to hang out with my friends. Just to have some chit chat, spend some time with my pals, with my friends. So I just like the company. I like people who are there. So for me, it's just fun, plus I do some workout. I do some exercise, but the main point of me going there is just I enjoy the company.

There are some regular gym-goers, so people who visit a gym regularly, often, we call them regular gym-goers. They use various machines, and then Rory named specific machines, dear listener. And the way forward for you is to just google these machines.

Rory: And just to name some things.

Maria: Yeah, kind of name two machines. This is Band nine super topic specific vocabulary. And if we Google the lat pull down machine, let's just google it and go to images.

Rory: I'm listening to Maria's horrified reaction.

Maria: Oh, this is just, what is this? Oh, it's a dreadful thing. Yeah, and it's called the lat pull down machine. Oh.

Rory: But if you don't like machines, and you like free weights, which are just weights that are not connected to machines, then you'd use barbells and dumbbells. Oh, yes.

Maria: Yeah, just Google barbells and go to Google Images, take a look and then you can remember this. Yeah, barbells. So different barbells, and dumb bells. So everything is like bells, bells, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, bells.

Rory: Except these are not bells.

Maria: Dumb, dumb bells. And I use heavier dumbbells, for example. Sometimes I use a treadmill, treadmill, and again, go to Google.

Rory: I would rather die than use a treadmill.

Maria: Treadmill. Actually, I like treadmills.

Rory: Not a fan.

Maria: Yeah, you see, you can say, "I'm not a fan of treadmills," but or "I sometimes use a treadmill." Treadmill, one word, you go running on the treadmill.

Rory: On the treadmill.

Maria: Oh, yeah, I go running on a treadmill. And to wrap it up, you talk about your feelings. So you can say that when it comes to my personal feelings about the place, it's nice to have this option. Yeah, it's nice to have it around, I'm happy to go there, I'm pleased, I'm glad, just happy feelings, yeah?

And I'm happy to socialize with my friends there. I'm happy to hang out with my pals, with my friends. I feel relaxed there. I feel inspired, you can say. I see all other regular gym goers who work out, and I feel inspired, peaceful, delighted.

Rory: Joyful.

Maria: Energetic, you can say, feel really energetic, joyful.

Rory: And then when I come away from the gym, I feel knackered.

Maria: Yeah, knackered, very tired, exhausted.

Rory: Bye.