📘 Part 3: Parks and gardens

This episode's vocabulary

Standpoint (noun) - a set of beliefs and ideas from which opinions and decisions are formed.

Filth (noun) - thick, unpleasant dirt.

Pest (noun) - an insect or small animal that is harmful or damages crops.

Hospitable (adj.) - providing good conditions for living or growing.

To flock (verb) - to move or come together in large numbers.

Sprawl (noun) - a large area of land covered with buildings, especially ones that have been added gradually over a period of time.

Cost of living (noun) - the amount of money that a person needs to live.

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

Earthy (adj.) - like or relating to earth.

Appealing (adj.) - attractive or interesting.

Handy (adj.) - useful or convenient.

Oppressive (adj.) - causing people to feel worried and uncomfortable.

To unwind (verb) - to relax and allow your mind to be free from worry after a period of work or some other activity that has made you worried.

To close in (phrasal verb) - to gradually get nearer to someone, usually in order to attack them.

Connectedness (noun) - the state of being connected and having a close relationship with other things or people.

Pollen (noun) - a powder, produced by the male part of a flower, that causes the female part of the same type of flower to produce seeds. It is carried by insects or the wind.

Evergreen (adj.) - always seeming fresh or remaining popular.

Questions and Answers

M: Do you think people should keep parks and gardens clean?

R: I mean, that makes sense just from a social standpoint. Nobody wants to live in filth all the time, do they? Aside from that it just looks better. Discourages pests, and I suppose provides a more hospitable environment. So it's definitely a good idea.

M: Are public parks or gardens popular among people who live in cities?

R: You would think so, wouldn't you? Cities aren't exactly known for having a lot of green spaces, so people would almost naturally flock there just to get a break from the sprawl.

M: Why might people like to grow flowers or vegetables?

R: Well, there's a lot to be said, for growing your own food at least. From an economic perspective, there's a cost of living crisis. So it might take the edge off of that if you're very good at it. And some people are just naturally earthy.

M: Why would people of different ages like to go to parks?

R: But we were talking about this the other day, actually. I think for younger people, the idea of having a free space to socialize and run around and burn off their energy would be quite appealing. Likewise, older people might enjoy a place to walk and relax.

M: What reasons might young people have for going to parks?

R: Well, like I said, I remember discussing this a while back, actually. It's handy for socialization and some sort of informal exercise. But it's usually less oppressive in these spaces, too. It's hard to unwind when you have all these buildings closing in on you.

M: What do older people like to do in parks?

R: I remember seeing something about this recently. A lot of it is connected to walking and relaxing like I already said. But there's something about generally getting closer to nature, the older people tend to have been separated from longer than younger people. So they get a chance to experience this nature connectedness more.

M: Why have they been separated?

R: I just suppose they've been alive longer. So they've been in the spaces that are separated from nature longer.

M: But if older people live in the village?

R: Well, that's true, but we're talking in general. And most people live in cities now.

M: What are the benefits of going to the park for young people and old people?

R: Other than the things I said previously? I think I've said all I can in that regard. It's all to do with being relaxed and having space to move.

M: Why do some people like planting flowers?

R: It's lost on me, to be honest, since I have allergies to plants and pollen, but I imagine they would say it makes the place look brighter and more natural. They also might want to support the local ecology if it's an outdoor space.

M: Hey, thank you, Rory, for your answers!

R: That's okay. Hopefully, they were or they will be evergreen.

Discussion

M: From a social standpoint, from a social perspective, from a social view, from the view of our society, like nobody wants to live in filth. So to live in filth, filth is like dirt, but filth is a very strong word, dear listener. It's like filth.

R: But it just means dirty.

M: You filthy animal.

R: Oh, isn't... That's from a movie, isn't it? Cheers, you filthy animal.

M: Filthy, it's like dirty, but you can see dirty, but if you say filthy, it's even stronger. It's like it's very strong. And if, for example, you say like, oh, like your room is filthy. It's very strong and very negative. Okay, dear listener? So we don't want to live in filth. Or we don't want to live in the dirt all the time. That's why the box should be clean. They look better when they're clean. And it discourages pests. So what are pests?

R: Pests are animals that... Well, they carry disease or they are just generally unpleasant or destroy the local ecology. So things like slugs can be pests if they eat all the plants or rats can be pests if they bring disease with them.

M: So if a park is clean, it discourages pests. And also it provides a more hospitable environment. Hospitable? Kind of inviting. So a clean place provides a hospitable environment.

R: Or at least a nice environment to be in.

M: A nice strategy is to use a tag question. A tag question is the final part of the sentence that looks like a question. For example, you would think so, wouldn't you? Or we can say it like, you would think so, wouldn't you? If it's not a question, then the intonation goes down. So Rory, how did you say it?

R: Well, I said you would think so, wouldn't you? So going down.

M: So it's not a question.

R: It's not a question. You don't ask the examiner the question.

M: Yeah, if the examiner asks you like, are parks popular? Like yes, they are. So they are popular, aren't they? It's kind of come on, it's obvious, right? So you would think so, wouldn't you? Yeah? Using a tag question for a higher score. And cities are not known for having a lot of green spaces. So there aren't many green spaces in cities. So yes, parks are popular. So people flock to parks, they go to parks, they kind of like, crowds of people flock to gardens and parks. They move, they go there, to get a break from the sprawl. So again, city sprawl. Remember from the previous episode, dear listener? What's sprawl?

R: The urban sprawl, endless houses and concrete. Very depressing.

M: Sprawl, yeah. Sprawl, we usually use it about a city. So like to cover a large area of land with buildings. So it's just buildings, glass, buildings. So to get a break from the sprawl, people flock to gardens and parks. Beautiful. Some people have green fingers, and, dear listener, here you can actually listen to our episode one about flowers and plants to take some vocabulary from there about flowers and plants. So make sure to search for our like episode on flowers and plants and gardening also. So I think there are like two episodes. Just go to Google, IELTS Speaking for Success, Gardening, and you'll find our speaking part one episode. Here Rory told us things from an economics perspective. So why do you say economics? Why not the economy?

R: Economy is the noun. Economics is the subject, but it could be from an economic perspective, as well.

M: So from the perspective of economics. Yeah? Like mathematics and economics, from this perspective, there is a cost of living crisis. So people might want to grow their own vegetables, so grow your own food, to save money, okay? And some people are just naturally earthy.

R: Yes, connected to the earth. They're connected to the earth, I couldn't think of a different... Another way to say it. So I just said naturally earthy.

M: We can say like an earthy smell. So when you smell some perfume, it smells like earth.

R: I don't think that'd be a great compliment to give somebody though. You smell like the Earth.

M: You filthy animal.

R: No. Describe the personality as earthy, connected to the Earth.

M: Okay, what are some other reasons? Why do people grow flowers or vegetables?

R: Why do people grow flowers or vegetables? They just want to do it. It could be a hobby. Some people might save money, although I think the investment is pretty high, to be honest, to get some like to grow your own vegetables.

M: Also, you can say that some people enjoy having something they can care for. Because like you grow your own flowers, you care for them. Also, it's therapeutic. It's a sort of therapy. You grow something, you see it's growing. Then you have some results.

R: I would find that quite stressful.

M: Yeah, yeah. But I don't know.

R: Would you not find it stressful? You were the murderer of plants.

M: Yeah, I'm, I'm, yeah, I'm notorious for murdering plants. So I'm just used to it. I know they'll die. So...

R: So the investment is minimal.

M: Yeah.

R: So you can say like, it saves money growing your own vegetables, right? It's good for the environment. Like you don't buy vegetables, but you grow your own. Rory, what did you mean when you said this might take the edge off that? So take the edge of something.

R: It's when you remove the most serious aspects from it. So if you're in pain or if you have a headache, then you take the edge off the pain or the headache by taking painkillers.

M: Take the edge of something is an idiom, dear listener, okay? To make something unpleasant have less of an effect on you, okay? So his apology took the edge of my anger. So he apologized, and my anger went away.

R: Well, or at least it was reduced. You could still be angry. But if the edge is taken off, it's not as strong.

M: Young people and older people go to parks. Why do they do that?

R: Why do they do that?

M: Yeah, like why do people do what they do? So young people go out to socialize, to chat with each other, and they run around. So they run around to burn off their energy. Okay? And this is quite appealing. This is attractive and appealing. When you see children running around. Older people might enjoy a place to walk, to relax. They prefer to sit on a bench. A bench is a kind of thing that you sit on in a park. On a bench, read their book, for example. Also, young people go to parks to work out.

R: Do they?

M: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. They go jogging, they go cycling. Really many people go to parks to cycle, to jog, to work out.

R: Some people do callisthenics in the park, I suppose.

M: Having picnics. Yeah, picnics are quite popular, perhaps. Or yoga. Yeah, some people go to the box to do yoga.

R: Maybe not in this type of year.

M: It's minus 20 and we're meeting at 8 am in the morning on a Sunday to do yoga, we're gonna do some breathing exercises.

R: Oh, in the cold, at least you'll see your breath. It's quite cold where I am right now. So I'm allowed to say this. It's two degrees. How disgusting.

M: Parks are handy for socialization. So just for communication with other people, handy - useful. So parks are useful for socialization. And then like, people go there to unwind. Like it's easier to unwind in parks, rather than in a city when you're surrounded by all these buildings, and all these buildings closing in on you.

R: Yes, it's very claustrophobic in the city.

M: It's very claustrophobic, dear listener, yeah? And you can say like, it's hard to unwind when you have many buildings closing in on you. So when you are surrounded by buildings, and you just go no, no, no more buildings. Stop it. Stop it. I need some open space, some greenery, some green trees and bushes. Young people go to parks to run around, to socialize, to have picnics. And older people, what do they do in parks? Some strange questions, like what do older people do in parks?

R: I don't understand this recent obsession with young and old people, to be honest. And you could see it through my answers. I'm just getting progressively more and more bored of the questions about old people.

M: Dear listener, but these are typical IELTS questions. Yeah? Present and Future. Past, Present and Future. Younger, older. Right? Today and in the past. So very common typical questions. So we can say older people or the elderly, okay? And young people or the youth. So Rory asked such a strange question. He kind of like said that older people tend to have been separated.

R: Well, that's true.

M: From parks, from nature. Why? Because they sit at home all the time?

R: Well, yeah. I mean, like they've been alive longer. So their length of time separated from nature will probably be longer than young people. Older people used to go to offices to work and things like that. And then they spend time in home, they don't go out so much. So it makes sense.

M: Why?

R: Because they're old.

M: I think there are very few older people who are separated from nature, because like they go out, they sit there and they can be surrounded by trees. Well, yeah, but if you speak about like very old people, they can't walk. And if they live in a city, then they are separated from nature.

R: Yes. And most people live in cities now. I'm pretty sure the population is like 52% of people live in cities and 48% live in not cities.

M: Okay, okay.

R: I hope you will note that I said, we're talking in general here. So if the examiner asks you why, you can be like, well, we're talking in general. So I'd guess in general. And that's another way to say I'm talking in general.

M: And if the examiner doesn't understand your answers or your ideas, the examiner will ask you, okay? So it's absolutely okay. And here, maybe you want to say like very old people, or, for example, if a person... Or give an example, if a person is over 80 years old, and a person can't walk or has difficulties walking, then this person will highly likely be stuck at home.

R: But I think that's true for most people. I was looking at some... Well, no, I wasn't, I was listening to a podcast today. And the statistics were like, the average person is going to be dead by the time that they're 80 and is obese, and has fewer than $1,000 in their bank account. And I was thinking, well, wow, that's quite depressing. And so older people are more likely to be inactive, this kind of thing. Sorry, shall we talk about something happy?

M: The benefits of going to the park. What are they? Well, again, it's all to do with being relaxed. So kind of, it's all about being relaxed. It's about unwinding, relaxing, and having space to move. So in a park, in a garden, you have more space to move. Well, especially in a park. So it's about having some greenery around you. It's about escaping the sprawl, the urban sprawl, escaping the glass and buildings. And it's about getting calmer, like to soothe your soul, to calm down.

R: To reconnect with nature and the world and the people you love.

M: We plant flowers, and we plant plants, or we can say like do the gardening if you plant tomatoes and potatoes. And here Rory said, it's a bit lost on me, to be honest. So he doesn't have any idea why people like planting flowers.

R: I don't. But kill everything I try to grow. So this this why it's lost on me.

M: Yeah. And I was joking at the beginning of the episode when I told you that Rory has green fingers. No, no. He's also a plant killer. And I'm also a plant killer.

R: They're green with the blood of plants.

M: Yeah. So I have allergies to flowers and pollen. You see? Here Rory gives us personal answers.

R: I am so disconnected.

M: He is disconnected from flowers and plants. Totally. So here he gives personal answers. So I'm lost. I have allergies to flowers and pollen. But I can imagine. You see? So then he goes to more general answers. So this is very important. You can't say that really, if you don't know like, okay, I'm lost here, to be honest. Personally, I have allergies to flowers and pollen. Pollen is the thing that flowers have. This, this thingy.

R: The yellow powder.

M: The yellow powder, yeah, it goes into your nose, and then you... You have allergies. And then you say, I imagine people love this because blah, blah, blah. Yeah? People might want to support the local ecology. People might want to care for something. People enjoy gardening. People find it therapeutic. So they calm down when they plant flowers, people want to create something beautiful.

R: Not me. I just want to live.

M: Yeah, or just people have a lot of time. And they are bored. And like this is a hobby, right?

R: Although, in my new home, the previous owners left all of their plants. So now I have a house filled with plants that I don't know how to look after.

M: People just love flowers. They just love...

R: Yeah. Whether you like it or not, now I have six plants I need to take care of, I need to go and visit them this weekend and make sure they're still alive.

M: Visit? Do you have to visit the plants? What? In your home?

R: Yeah, because I'm getting it redecorated.

M: Ah, okay, okay. You can also say that flowers can boost your mood.

R: If you're not allergic to them.

M: Yeah, if you're not allergic. Yeah. You look at them. They make you happy or they help you get over your depression and anxiety. So they can kind of like liven up your mood. And really like I love flowers. I love fresh flowers. Like roses, for example. They smell nice. But growing roses...

R: Not for most people, I think.

M: Yeah. Rory, would you like to comment on this strategy we're using about different perspectives?

R: Yeah, actually I was doing three different things. I just realized there. I used perspective and references. And I used ways of speaking in general. So, to talk about perspective, I said from a social standpoint, but that just means from the perspective of society. And then talking about it from the perspective of just a city. Cities are not exactly known for something, or something isn't exactly known for something. So just describing in general, what things are known for, and what things aren't. And then talking about things from an economic perspective, or an economic perspective, and then switching over to talking in general. Well, we already commented on I imagine, just for making a sweeping statement about something that you imagine about, and then a lot of it is connected to blah, blah, blah, talking in general, most things are connected to this. And then sometimes you have your own personal knowledge of the topic. So we can refer to it. But even if you don't remember exactly, there are phrases for this. So I said things like we were talking about this the other day, actually, or I remember discussing this a while back, so that you show that you're drawing on the past knowledge, but you're not exactly sure about it. So it's buying you time to form the idea in your head. Or I remember seeing something about this recently. So all of these things are ways of referring to outside knowledge that you have, that it's not exactly clear yet, but you're just thinking about it. So there you go, three different strategies in one episode. You're welcome. Money saved.

M: Excellent. Super. Thank you, Rory! This is so cool, dear listener! Yes, super premium, super VIP.

R: Yes, this is stuff that you get on the premium that you do not get on the podcast, on the videos and stuff.

M: Thank you very much for listening! And we'll get back to you in our next episode. Bye!

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