Where is your hometown?

In this lesson, we're going to learn how to talk about cities and places.

Hello, my name is Maddie from POC English.

And in this lesson, we're going to learn how to talk about cities and places.

I have a friend who lives near NYC, New York City in the US.

Let's ask him a question.

Jack, tell us about your hometown.

My hometown is located to the north of New York.

It's a four-hour drive from Chicago.

I live in a residential area near the historic center of the city.

My workplace is near the CBD.

I love living in this area because it's full of job opportunities and healthcare facilities.

Wow.

He used a lot of interesting phrases.

Let's have a look at a few of those in 321.

My hometown is located - interesting way to talk about the location of the city.

A four-hour drive from Chicago. A four-hour drive, nice.

Residential area, historic center, CBD. It stands for central business district, lovely.

Job opportunities, healthcare facilities.

What are some phrases that we can use to describe a city or a place or our hometown.

If you want to talk about the location of your hometown, you can say is located, for example, my hometown is located in the north of England.

What preposition did I use after located? In.

If you want to talk about the location of a place, you can say in and then come up with a direction north, south, east and west.

For example, the church is located in the west of the city.

If you want to talk about direction, you can use the preposition to.

My house is located to the north of the river.

It means you have to go towards the north side of the river.

Look at this other sentence.

My hometown is a four-hour drive from Chicago.

It means you have to drive by car for four hours to get to my hometown.

Now instead of four-hour drive, we can say two-hour drive, three-hour drive.

My hometown is located on the outskirts of a big city.

Listen. On the outskirts of a big city.

What is the preposition? On, very good.

And outskirt, is it singular or plural? Always plural. Outskirts.

On the outskirts of a town means outside the town, around the town, not near the city center but on the outside of it.

I live on the outskirts of London.

It means my house is not near the city center. I'm right outside the city.

It's about three hours by train from New York.

It's about three hours by train. Maybe not train, maybe you want to say bus, it's about two hours by bus.

So you can make many different combinations.

Now, a city can have different areas.

The central part of the city is called the city center or downtown.

Now, in big cities, there usually is a hub, a center for business, for lots of offices and banks and headquarters.

That part is called the CBD or central business district.

Many workers go to the CBD to work for multinational firms.

Many European cities have another center which is not for business but it's historic, that is the historic center of the town.

When you go to the historic center of the town, you can usually see a lot of museums, art galleries and beautiful buildings.

And cities have a lot of residential areas. What are those?

Residential areas are areas where people live, not work.

Of course, these days, we have a lot of mixed use areas. What does it mean?

It means there are lots of commercial activities, residential activities and leisure activities going on in one area, that is a mixed use area.

Let's have a look at this example together

I live in an old residential area. Our neighborhood is near the historic center of the city.

My workplace is in the CBD which is the modern area of our town.

I've recently moved to London and this is where I live.

It's a residential area.

It's got great facilities, lots of restaurants and shops around.

It's conveniently located between two underground stations.

If I go to the left, I have the District line.

And if I go to the right, I have the Jubilee line.

It is not a very quiet neighborhood. As you can see, there is heavy traffic right outside my apartment.

But it's a lovely neighborhood nevertheless. I mean, I like it.

What do you think?

All right, we learned a lot of things from Jack.

Thank you so much, Jack.

Now we're going to talk to another friend of mine whose name is Terry.

Terry, tell us about where you live.

I live in a bustling and cosmopolitan city known as Silverheaven.

It's a vibrant city with diverse communities that contribute to its lively and dynamic atmosphere.

Silverheaven's modern skyline together with its historic districts, create a picturesque blend of old and new.

Thriving businesses, green initiatives and a lively art scene are just a few of the reasons why I'm proud to call this green and thriving city my home.

Wow, that was interesting, right?

Let's have a look at a few phrases Terry used in 321.

Terry used a lot of interesting adjectives to describe his hometown; bustling, cosmopolitan, lively, dynamic, vibrant, picturesque, green, thriving.

Wow. What are some positive adjectives that we can use to talk about a city or a place or our hometown?

Some cities and places are full of energy, full of activities, people go in left and right and children playing and office workers going to work or coming back from work,

school kids going to the school, lots of activities are going on in that part of the town, in that area, in that place, that place is dynamic, lively or vibrant, three adjectives.

All of them have the same meaning or similar meanings.

So if a place is vibrant, lively or dynamic, lots of activities are going on there.

A similar adjective is bustling.

Now, bustling is more general, it means very busy.

Lots of activities are going on but not in a place; in the city.

For example, London is a bustling city.

It's huge and lots and lots of activities are going on.

It's a very busy city. There's always traffic, people are always walking around, going from one place to another.

They're always in a hurry, it's bustling, it's busy.

Some smaller towns or usually the outskirts of bigger towns are picturesque or they have picturesque villages.

What is a picturesque village?

Picturesque means visually pleasing.

You enjoy looking at it.

Wow, nice.

It usually refers to the architecture of the buildings.

You go to a small village, you see lots of beautiful buildings that is picturesque, that is visually pleasing.

Whoa, look at that.

Nowadays, when you travel to other cities, you see that in each city, there are people from all around the world living there with different cultures, ethnicities, they're all living together peacefully.

These cities are cosmopolitan.

A cosmopolitan city is a city where people from all around the world, from different cultural backgrounds, from different ethnical groups are living together.

Large cities such as London, such as Vancouver in Canada.

These cities are very cosmopolitan.

Is your hometown cosmopolitan. Let me know in the comments.

Cities can be green but it doesn't mean that the buildings are green.

No, a green city is a sustainable city.

A city that pays attention to the environment.

A city that has good public transportation network, a city that has lots of bikes, lots of green forms of transportation.

Those cities are called green cities.

And cities can also be thriving. Thriving, pay attention to the way I pronounce it. Thriving.

What does it mean?

A thriving city is a flourishing city.

It's a city that is economically and physically growing.

Lots of positive adjectives to describe a hometown.

Try to use a few of these to talk about your hometown in the comments.

Rright now, I'm in front of the White City campus of Imperial College, London.

Now as you can see, this is not near the city center.

Is it a bustling part of the town? It is.

Lots of students are going to this campus.

Lots of construction is happening around, many activities.

So yes, it's a bustling part of the town.

But is it picturesque?

Let's have a look.

It's not visually pleasing.

So it's not really picturesque now.

Is it thriving? I guess so.

This area is both physically and economically growing.

It's bustling.

It's not picturesque, but it's thriving.

Now, we're going to talk about another friend of mine who's not very happy with his hometown.

But before doing that, let me tell you one thing.

Do you want to have the summary of this lesson and all other lessons of mine in a PDF file?

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Now let's get back to our lesson and let's talk to John who's a bit sad.

John, why are you sad? Why don't you like your hometown?

I live in a sprawling city.

However, some areas of the city are so packed and filthy in these areas.

You can see a lot of rundown buildings and experience bumper-to-bumper traffic all day long.

There are some deprived areas where people don't have the basic facilities.

If you come here, you must avoid no-go areas because there are a lot of criminal activities happening there.

Overall, it's an awful place to live.

I'm leaving the city.

He used a lot of interesting negative adjectives to describe his hometown.

Let's have a look at a few of those in 321.

Interesting, right?

John said that his hometown is packed. Packed, what does it mean?

Packed means very crowded.

Lots and lots of people are living in one area of the town.

That area is packed.

You can also use the preposition with and say packed with.

For example, if you go to the historic center of the town, it's usually packed with tourists.

He said that it's filthy.

Well, filthy is an extreme adjective of dirty.

Filthy means very dirty.

And he also used a very interesting adjective, run down.

If a building or a neighborhood is run down, what does it mean?

It means it's in a very bad condition physically. It looks really bad, it's dirty, it's old, it's about to be destroyed.

Those areas are run down.

Now you can usually find run down buildings in no-go areas.

What's a no-go area?

Well, it's an area where no go, you shouldn't go there.

Why?

Because it's dangerous perhaps. So in no-go areas, you can find a lot of rundown buildings.

Maybe some of these no-go areas are filthy.

That means very, very dirty.

Now, when you look at the outskirts of some very big cities, you can find a lot of deprived areas deprived area.

What does it mean?

A deprived area is an area without the necessary things for people to have a good life.

In deprived areas, there are not many facilities.

Perhaps the public transportation system is not very good.

There are no bus stops or train stations. Maybe there are no parks or good schools or maybe decent supermarkets.

Those are deprived areas.

Generally, there is no good living condition in deprived areas.

Perhaps there are many run down buildings and some deprived areas are no-go areas.

They may even be filthy because there aren't many facilities.

And last but not least, for example, here in London, if you want to drive to the city center, it's a stupid idea because you can't. Why?

Because there is bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Bumper-to-bumper traffic, that means very heavy traffic.

It means cars are touching bumpers, they are so close to each other that they can't even move forward.

That's a bumper-to-bumper or heavy traffic.

And that's it, guys.

We learned a lot of positive and negative adjectives and useful phrases to talk about a city, a place or your hometown.

Now, here's your homework.

I want you to write a description of your hometown or where you live in the comments down below.

I will read all your comments and let you know what I think about it.

I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.

See ya.