IELTS Speaking for Success - 🏟️ Crowded places (S10E09) + Transcript

Episode Date: March 10, 2024

How do you feel when you are in crowded places? When was the last time you were in a crowded place? What places do you think are often crowded? How often do you go to crowded places? Do you like crowded places? Tune in and have a great day! - Book a class with Rory here: https://successwithielts.com/rory Get exclusive episodes on IELTS Speaking parts 1, 2, and 3: https://linktr.ee/sfspremium Our course on Phrasal Verbs: https://successwithielts.com/podcourses Transcript: https://successwithielts.com/s10e09 Our IELTS Writing course: https://linktr.ee/wfspremium Find an IELTS Speaking Partner: https://links.successwithielts.com/ieltspartner Our social media: https://linktr.ee/successwithielts © 2024 Success with IELTS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, lovely. I'm Maria. And my name is Rory, and we are the host of the AILT Speaking for Success Podcast. The podcast that is to help you improve your speaking skills, as well as your listening skills along the way. We started this podcast to give you super gorgeous grammar and vocabulary for your high IELT school. Your bad ninth score. Oh, Rory, look at you in your podcast rule. I like the new background.

Well, I'm glad you do. things are beginning to feel a little bit crowded in here. That's fitting. Because you're going to talk about crowded places today. Yay, dear listen to crowded. Crowded. And Maria has made a pun because fitting means that it's not too tight. It's fitting that we should say something.

Talk about crowded places and use an idiom about fitting. Yeah, and also kind of like fitting, we use it about clothes, right? Like, oh, like, I'm sorry, look at you and your suit or t-shirt. It's fitting. Yeah, kind of like suits you. Are you excited to talk about crowded places? Always. Talk about, but go to, no. Let's talk about crowded places.

places. How do you feel when you are in crowded places? Well, assuming things are calm and people are pushing and shoving to get in and I've got elbow room, then it's not so bad. But if there's lots of people rammed into one space, then I can't stand it and I'd like to leave as soon as possible. I wouldn't say about claustrophobia exactly, but it's just not something that I'm a big fan of.

When was the last time you were in a crowded place? Oh, wow. I'd really have to think about that. It must have been the last time that I flew out of Paris, and everybody was kind of crammed into this boarding gate area, and there wasn't much wiggle room, to be honest with you. So that wasn't a very pleasant experience. However, that'll teach me for flying rye and air.

What places do you think are often crowded? Oh, you mean aside from boarding gates? I suppose popular markets, like the ones in Istanbul, are pretty jam-packed, to be honest. and then in large cities, lots of pubs and clubs, especially as the weekend approaches, because I suppose everybody just wants to unwind and relax at that point, don't they? How often do you go to crowded places?

Well, rarely, I'd say. And there are only about 5 million people in my country. And, I mean, outside of the major cities, we're pretty spread out over a wide area. So there aren't many opportunities to go to crowded places. I think the only exception is when I go to big events like parties or nights out, but that's hardly ever. Do you like crowded places? Well, like I said before, it really depends on the context and the atmosphere, to be honest with you.

I mean, if everyone's relaxed and chilled out, then I'm quite happy to rub along with all the people around me. However, if we're packed in there like sardines and people are starting to get antsy and behaving in a way that's like that. then I'm not going to be terribly thrilled to be there. So, like I say, it depends. Dear listener, we have our premium episodes for you where Rory and I are discussing Speaking Part 2 and 3. We use fresh IOTS speaking topics. This week on our premium,

we are in Speaking Part 2 describing a time when people near you made a lot of noise. And as Speaking Part 3, we talk about noise in general. The link is in the description. Do check it out. Hey, crowded places. So a crowded place is a place full of people. We say a crowd of people, right? And about our feelings, how do you feel in a crowded place? Well, you can feel claustrophobic, but not everybody does and claustrophobia is like a really specific fear. You can say I feel claustrophobic, right? Or like, I have claustrophobia, right? So you're afraid of like,

ah, too many people. And if I'm rammed into a crowded space, yeah? I'm rammed into a space. Yeah. So it's just like, well, if everyone is rammed in together, then it's all tightly packed and it's, they've been almost pushed in by the people who are in charge. So that makes it a bit difficult. So you can say I feel nervous when I'm rammed into a crowded space. Crowded or cramped. Okay. Cramped space or a cramped room like not having enough space. Okay. So it's not about a crowd, but like a small space with no room. Like not enough space to move. For example, like a cramped room or a cramped house. Okay. And also Rory, you said, like, like an elbow room.

Yes. Like, you know, our elbows, yeah, parts of our arms, elbows. So there is no elbow room. Yeah. It occurred to me, mostly because I've been teaching idioms recently. And so this one is just sticking in my head. I wanted to mention to have elbow room or to have no elbow room.

And that's just meaning not enough room to move. So if you imagine people are around you, you cannot even move your elbows like this. So you can say, I feel really anxious or nervous if there is no elbow room. In a crowded place, people usually push and what else do they do? Shah. Is that a collocation?

I think so, yeah, it's a fixed rate. Pushing and shoving in a cramped space. So people are pushing and shoving. They are pushing you, right, and they're shoving you. Is shoving the same as pushing? I feel like shoving is a much more deliberate and violent act. that happens. Yeah, but this is what happens when you are surrounded by people, they push you around.

Yeah, so we feel anxious and nervous. Here, you can use the past continuous. When I was boarding my last flight, or when I was dancing somewhere in a club, right? Or when I was having a drink in a bar, right? It was pretty crowded. And Rory used it like everyone was crammed, into this boarding gate or everyone was crammed into a club?

Can I say that? Yeah, if you're crammed and there's not much space to move. I'm running out of ways to describe crowded places, to be honest with you. So, for example, imagine a car, a car, and like eight children were crammed into the back of the car. Okay? The car is quite small and kind of like eight kids were crammed. Yeah, I'm into. What else can we say?

Can I say, like, I was crammed against the door, for example? I don't know if you could say I was crammed against the door, because usually it crammed into is the collocation. So you might say I was crushed into the door, or I was, what was the word against? Crushed against the door. Yeah, crushed against the door. Crushed against the wall.

So there was so many people, I was crushed against the door. Yeah, I know. Well, I mean, it not why not, but why would you be in that situation? Or for example, you can say that the room was full or the room was packed. Like, packed with people. The room was crowded, packed and I was crammed into the room. Crammed into the room? Yeah, crammed in with other people.

Like when everyone is going in and I was crammed into the club or I was crammed into the bar, right? like everybody like I was entering the bar and I was like together with the crowd yeah cramming into the boarding gate or into a bar into concert hall another phrase is a lot of wiggle room or not a lot of wiggle room wiggle wiggle wiggle I'm not going to wiggle I am going to wiggle on camera, but like wiggling would be like moving around like that, like a, like a worm. And you cannot, you cannot wiggle, or I could not wiggle in the boarding gate area because there were so many people. So, um, like to have a wiggle room, not just to have wiggle room. No article, right? I think it's just wiggle room. Get some wiggle room or if it's in a specific

place, then the wiggle room was no, not even then you wouldn't use it. So it's just wiggle room or some wiggle room. It's kind of like freedom to move around, right? So in a crowded place, there is no wiggle room. There's no elbow room. Some places could be really crowded or could be packed or could be full of people, right? Rory talked about boarding gates. At the airport, who are like crowds of people. Also markets or shops like the ones in Istanbul, the ones, meaning markets or shops. So these places usually have a lot of people or crowds of people. Also, dear listener, shopping centers, airports, tourist attractions.

Okay? Like, you can also give some examples like Tokyo, Times Square. And, Roy, do you know, like, which city is the busiest city in the world? Oh, it'll be a big one. So New York? Because that's the city that never speaks. No, no, no. The busiest city of the world is Mexico City. Really?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Mexico City. How many people lived there then? A lot. Trouds of people. Your business doesn't move in a straight line. Some days bring growth. Others bring challenges. But what if you or a partner needs to step away? When the unexpected happens, count on Canada life's flexible life and health insurance to help your business keep working even when you can't.

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Or shopping centers could get quite busy. Yeah, could get quite crowded. And Rory also told us, like, large cities seem quite full. Okay? Again, like packed, full, crowded. Unwind is a nice one. Yes. What do people do there?

They unwind. They relax. They chill out. Chill out. Unwind. Not unwind. No, because wind is a... The wind blows.

Here we use unwind, in the meaning of relax. How often? Rarely. So kind of not often, okay? Like, hardly ever, I hardly ever go to crowded places or I rarely go to crowded places. And come on, like in Scotland, how many people live there? Five million?

Only just over five million. Just one neighborhood in Moscow, okay? Not much. Well, no, that's not true. Not many people, but much going on. And you said that's like, people are spread out. Yeah, so that's like the opposite of crowded together, I suppose. if you're crowded together, then you're packed into one tight place.

But if you're spread out, then you're all over the place. Here you can start with like I said before. So you refer back to your previous answers. Like I said before, it depends on the people. It depends on the crowd. If it's a happy crowd, I enjoy crowded places. So it depends on the atmosphere. It depends on the crowd itself.

And then like if, if people, if everyone is chilled out, if they're relaxed, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy. So if the moods of the crowd is happy, happy, happy, happy, I'm quite happy to be there. And Rory used a phrasal verb, band nine, phrase of verb, to rub along with others. When you rub along with others, you kind of work or live together. Well, you work and live together well, yeah, which is funny because you think like rubbing with people would not be a very satisfying experience, but of course, if it's a nice atmosphere, then it's fine. For example, my flatmate and I rub along together well, like like rub my hands, so rub along okay together. So I'm quite happy to rub along with others and it's nice because like we talk about crowds. And in a crowd, you kind of you rub along with other people.

Literally, yeah, kind of you touch other people because there's no elbow room. There's no wiggle room. Rory used a nice idiom about sardines. They are kind of fish. A very tiny fish. You know, we have tuna, we have sardines. And usually it's a tin of sardines. You know, like this is kind of a box.

You make a tuna salad. So tuna is in a tin. And like sardines are often in a tinge. So imagine all these sardines are packed in there. So if we are packed in like sardines, yeah, not really nice. Could you give us another example with sardines? Well, if you're on a bus and there's lots of people, then you could be packed in together like sardines. Or if you've ever been to Tokyo and you've been on the public transport there,

then people are often packed in like sardines because they're just like right up against each other. not able to move. In fact, I think they have people to pack them in like that because there are just so many and it's just impossible to do it any other way. People could get antsy. Ency. Yes. So irritated and agitated. Not like sadines. Sadines are usually kind of like, hey, no problem. You're going to eat us. Okay, we're happy. So NC. NC is informal, usually in American English, very nice. nervous or worried, unpleasantly excited. Okay? It's kind of like children started to get antsy, yeah, or I sometimes get antsy about, like job interviews, so, yeah, not really nice. Also, we can say some place is jam-packed.

Roy, what is like a jam-d-or-jamb-packed or jam-ed? Well, you're jammed into a place, but you're jam-packed into a place, or a place is jam-packed, but... All of these are just different ways of describing all of these people together in one place and the difficulty with moving because everyone is so close together. Like a traffic jam. A very similar imagery. Yeah, for example, popular markets are usually jam-packed.

Okay? Or I was in a concert and I was jammed. I was jammed? Well, you could say the concert was jammed or the movement of the people was jammed because there's just so many of them that they cannot move. Right, dear listener, tell us about your feelings in a crowded place. In the comments, okay? Is your city crowded?

Like, which places are usually crowded? And how do you feel in a crowded place? Okay, let us know in the comments, okay? Don't get your brain crowded. But do crowd our comments and our Instagram messages with the answers to our reflection activity, which is to summarize. So how would you summarize in one sentence my feelings about crowded places. They're pretty negative, I think, but what phrases could you use from the day's video

to describe them? Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle. I think it's in the song somewhere. It is. But let's not, let's not dwell on that too much. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Sounds like this, yeah, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle. Okay, let's wiggle. Wiggle. Wiggle on to the next episode. Bye. Stop. Bye. You'll see that your vacation isn't really over until your flight is over. Fly Emirates, fly better. How do you feel when you are in crowded places?

Well, assuming things are calm and people aren't pushing and shoving to get in and I've got elbow room, then it's not so bad. But if there's lots of people rammed into one space, then I can't stand it and I'd like to leave as soon as possible. I would say about claustrophobia exactly, but it's just not something that I'm a big fan of. When was the last time you were in a crowded place? Oh wow, I'd really have to think about that. It must have been the last time that I flew out of Paris, and everybody was kind of crammed into this boarding gate area, and there wasn't much wiggle room, to be honest with you.

So that wasn't a very pleasant experience. However, that'll teach me for flying Ryanair. What places do you think are often crowded? Oh, you mean aside from boarding gates? I suppose popular markets, like the ones in Istanbul, Bull are pretty jam-packed, to be honest. And then in large cities, lots of pubs and clubs, especially as the weekend approaches, because I suppose everybody just wants to unwind and relax at that point, don't they? How often do you go to crowded places? Well, rarely, I'd say.

There are only about 5 million people in my country. And, I mean, outside of the major cities were pretty spread out over a wide area, so there aren't many opportunities to go to crowded places. I think the only exception is when I go to big events, like parties or nights out, but that's hardly ever. Do you like crowded places? Well, like I said before,

it really depends on the context and the atmosphere, to be honest with you. I mean, if everyone's relaxed and chilled out, then I'm quite happy to rub along with all the people around me. However, if we're packed in there like sardines and people are starting to get antsy and behaving in a way that's like that, then I'm not going to be terribly thrilled to be there. So, like I say, it depends.