📘 Part 3: Outdoor activities

This episode's vocabulary

Nature connectedness (noun) - the extent to which individuals include nature as part of their identity.

To take the edge off something (idiom) - to make something unpleasant have less of an effect on someone.

Perpetually (adverb) - always or very often.

Warehouse (noun) - a large prison, hospital, etc. in which people are kept but given little help with their problems.

To warehouse (noun) - to store something in a warehouse.

Express (adj.) - clearly and intentionally stated.

Ease (noun) - the quality of needing little effort or not being difficult.

To enhance (verb) - to improve the quality, amount, or strength of something.

To put someone off (something) (phrasal verb) - to take someone's attention away from what they want to be doing or should be doing.

Profound (adj.) - felt or experienced very strongly or in an extreme way.

Facility (noun) - a place, especially including buildings, where a particular activity happens.

Prerequisite (noun) - something that must exist or happen before something else can exist or happen.

Questions and Answers

M: Do people relax when they see nature?

R: They absolutely do. I've spoken before about nature connectedness and how this helps people to manage their stress levels. But it could also just be the experience of being away from work, whether physically or mentally that people get when they look at things in the natural world. It definitely takes the edge off, that's for sure.

M: Is the environment important for people to relax?

R: I mean, if we didn't have the environment, then we would be dead. But seriously, yes. You need to design or have spaces where people are not perpetually stressed, rather than just warehousing workers who are constantly stressing out in the harsh lighting and horrendous air conditioning. Otherwise, life just doesn't seem worth living.

M: Do you think children today enjoy outdoor activities as much as children in the past?

R: Well, I'm not even sure how you would begin to measure that, really. You can't exactly interview kids from previous eras about their preferences, can you? Moreover, previously, some options that we have today didn't exist before. So how could you even begin to compare these experiences? However, since children haven't changed much in human history, the level of enjoyment is probably the same.

M: How can outdoor activities be made more accessible to people living in cities?

R: Well, I mean, lots of spaces and buildings have been adapted for this express purpose. There are schools which have green space on the roofs and parks have increasingly been having equipment added to them so that people can get the most out of them. If it's a case of getting to the places then there could be more public transport links to these places just to increase the ease of access.

M: Do you think technology has an impact on people's participation in outdoor activities?

R: I mean, it could if you'd rather spend time doing something with the use of technology rather than being outside. But most tech is portable these days. And most people aren't so hopelessly addicted to their gadgets that they can't put them down for a little bit and join in things. So I don't think it's done much harm. It might even enhance participation for disabled people if they use various devices to take part in things.

M: Why do you think some people prefer indoor activities?

R: I mean, have you been outside? It's cold, and sometimes it rains. That's enough to put anyone off things sometimes, especially if they're a bit under the weather. And sometimes they've done a lot of things and they're tired or bored of being outside. Not everything has to be a profound engagement with the world, does it?

M: How do seasonal changes affect outdoor activities?

R: Well, I suppose it'll be difficult to go skateboarding after a snowstorm, won't it? So winter conditions might reduce access to various facilities. On the other hand, it might be a prerequisite for them too, since you can't do outdoor ice skating without cold conditions, can you?

M: Should schools have more outdoor activities as part of their curriculum?

R: I think that will depend on the school, to be honest. I mean, some schools are already outdoor schools. And it doesn't get much more outdoor than that. If we're talking about your standard inner city school with minimal outdoor space, though, then yeah, kids would definitely benefit from having more time away from the desk, provided there's time for specific skills and reflection on what they've learned.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answers. This is the end of the speaking test! Bye!

R: Bye!