IELTS Speaking for Success - 🏞️ Good views (Part 1) + Transcript

Episode Date: September 29, 2024

Get our IELTS Speaking parts 1, 2, and 3 episode archive: http://patreon.com/ieltssfs What can you see from the windows where you live? Is there good scenery in your hometown? Do you like to take photos of good scenery? Do you like to stay in hotels with scenic views? Tune in and have a great day! - Book a class with Rory here: https://successwithielts.com/rory Our course on Phrasal Verbs: https://successwithielts.com/podcourses Transcript: https://successwithielts.com/s11e04 Find an IELTS Speaking Partner: https://links.successwithielts.com/ieltspartner Our social media: https://linktr.ee/successwithielts © 2024 Podcourses Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, Sunshine. I'm Maria. And my name is Rory, and we are the hosts of the AILT Speaking for Success podcast, the podcast that aims to help you improve your speaking skills, as well as your listening skills along the way. We've started this podcast to give you gorgeous grammar and fabulous vocabulary for your high AILD school. Your bad ninth score. Oh, Rory, you're in Kyrgyzstan now, right? Yes, I am. Bishkek.

Have you been to the mountains? No, not yet. We can see it from the city, but we haven't been there. You get a good view from the city, though. What a coincidence. Dear listener, we're going to be talking about good views. Yes, it's a new, I-L speaking, part one topic, good views. What can you see from the windows where you live?

Well, currently not a great deal since I'm living on the ground floor of an apartment block that faces into the courtyard, so there are a few trees and some rather dismal-looking play equipment, which are usually cast in shadows by the other blocks. Usually it's less depressing, since my actual home is on the second floor of an apartment block near the sea, so it overlooks part of the town and you can see the fields in the distance. That's much more picturesque. Is there good scenery in your hometown? I would say so, since we have the hills behind the city and it faces the sea and opposing riverbanks, so there's a great variety of things to see from the fields on the other banks to the

more rugged terrain of the hills, and then we've got the calmer coastal areas, and since we get all kinds of weather there, you can see it all on bright sunny days or shrouded and mist when it's foggier, which changes the atmosphere as well. Do you like to take photos of good scenery? I wouldn't say it's a hobby for me, but when I experience a great view, then I turn my camera on it and get a few shots. My desk got background is actually a panoramic shot of a mountain range I took. Well, it's a mountain range out of forest. I took this picture in northern Cyprus.

You'd never know it was taken by an amateur, though. It looks pretty good and very professional. Do you like to stay in hotels with scenic views? Well, I suppose, while there is something to be said for waking up and flinging open the curtains to see something spectacular, like a cityscape, it's not something I'm. make a point of asking for. Uh, when it comes down to it, for me, a hotel is just a place to stay and sleep while you visit somewhere.

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Hey, so good views, dear listener. So the key words here for us is, first of all, Scenary. Okay? Scenery, the general appearance of the natural environment, especially when it's beautiful, scenery. We say beautiful scenery, like in the mountains we have beautiful or breathtaking or spectacular scenery. Like scenery, mountains, lakes, beautiful nature, okay? We admire the scenery. Rory, what's the adjective? Oh, is it scenic? Yeah, C1 super advanced. Listener, scenic.

scenic views or a scenic drive from home to work or for example this area has scenic beauty. So that's why here the examiner can ask you questions about good views, scenery, beautiful scenery and scenic views. What can you see from the windows, from your windows? Nothing. Or not a great deal. Yeah, not a great deal, so not much. You can say I'm living on the first floor, on the ground floor, so I don't have anything. Or I can see a few trees.

What is it, dismal, dismal looking? Yeah, if something is dismal looking, then it doesn't look great. It's not very bright and cheerful. You're going to sad without hope. Dismal, ooh, dismal weather, bad weather. you can say I see other apartment blocks or other buildings the view could be depressing or it's not that depressing or I have a spectacular view

Rory what proposition should be used like I have a view of over on at oh wow well you have a view of a thing but then you have a view over something or overlooking something because you can see the top of it so the preposition that you choose will determine the direction and how much you can see. For example, can I say I have a view over the forest? I think overlooking the forest would be better.

I have a view overlooking the forest. What if I see other buildings from my windows? What do I say? Ah, okay, then I have a view of other buildings from my windows. What about a shop? I see some shops from my windows. Well, what, I can see some shops. I have a view of some shops from my windows.

Yeah, I have a view of some shops. Okay. And the verb is overlook. So, what do you say? My windows overlook the sea? Yeah, I think so. Like, my windows overlook some shops. Would it be okay?

I don't see any problems with that, no. And you can use the adjective, picturesque. Look really beautiful, picturesque view. But if you don't see much, you can say just, okay, my windows. overlook the playground, for example, or I have a view of children's playground. Or just lie, dear listener, lie. Imagine you live by the sea and say, oh, my windows overlook the sea and a beautiful forest by the sea. Then the question is about scenery. So is there good scenery and scenery is singular. So scenery is beautiful or the scenery is beautiful. There is

beautiful scenery in my hometown. And Rory lives in the middle of Scotland, right? So he has mountains and the hills and the sea, riverbanks. So he does have beautiful scenery. You can also say spectacular scenery, breathtaking scenery. If you live in a small city, you can just lie. Oh yes, I have... Can you say I have a beautiful scenery?

I wouldn't say that, no. So what should I say? Well, since the word scenery is in the question, I said, I would say so, meaning I would say there is beautiful scenery or there is good scenery. So we've just replaced this with the word so. No article and also trying not to repeat the question in the answer. And then you can add a couple of words about the weather. Because the weather does affect the scenery we have. So we get all kinds of weather.

When it's sunny, the scenery is especially. spectacular. We can take photos of good scenery. So pretty much take photos of good nature, beautiful nature. And Rory says, I wouldn't say it's my hobby. Well, okay. But when I experience a great view, when I see a great view, I take a picture of it. Turn my camera on it. If you turn your camera on something, you are pointing it at something. And get a few shots. Shots, meaning pictures, meaning photos. And here we paraphrase photos. The examiner asks about taking photos and you say, yes, I enjoy taking a few shots of some good scene. You can also say that my desktop background in your laptop, yeah, my desktop background is a panoramic shot I took

of something. So, oh, I, last week I took a panoramic photo of, and now I have it as my desktop background. Or just it's my favorite photo. Short, my favorite shot. You can enjoy staying in hotels with what views? Scenic views. Yeah, scenic S-C.

Dear listener, a very nice word to use. Scenic views. For some people, it's. a thing. For Rory? No. Oh, Rory doesn't care. You did say that there is something about waking up and ringing. Yeah, there is something to be said for. So if there's something to be said for something, it means it's got a positive part to it, but it's usually used to highlight the fact that it's not the most important thing. For example, there is something to be said about waking up, in a hotel with a scenic view.

Or you said like waking up and flinging open the curtains. When you fling open the curtains, you open the curtains and you see beautiful mountains. Yeah, just from your windows. So you can say it's nice to wake up and fling open the curtains to see breathtaking mountains or to see something spectacular. like a cityscape, scape of the city or mountains or the sea. But I don't make a point of asking for it. So it's not my thing.

I don't care, right? It's not the most important thing. I do care, okay? I love hotels with scenic views and I always book a room with a view over the sea, a frontal view, you know, not like some small view, but like the sea should be upfront. So for me, it's important. It's a thing. It's one of the essential things in my life

to have a scenic view from my hotel room. And you can say, when it comes down to it, for me, a hotel is just a hotel. When it comes down to it, for me, it's important. So to highlight the most important thing, to go to the main part of the matter, the heart of the matter. And you can say that the real value is getting out and about in the scenery.

So just go out and enjoy the scenery outside. So getting out and about. And Rory, in Scotland, you don't really see the sea from your room, right? You can see a little bit. Yeah, well, I'm close to the riverbank, which goes out into the sea not too far from where I live. So it's quite easy for me to do that. Nice.

So our Rory, like almost, sees the sea. Yeah, de listen, listen, feel free to imagine things to lie about, like, talk about a view you would like to have, for example. If now you have not such a picturesque view, you can say, oh yeah, I live in the country and I see a gorgeous forest, you know. But hopefully we've given you a good view of some excellent IELTS vocabulary for talking about views. Thank you very much for listening. And we'll get to the good. back to you in our next episode. Okay. A very interesting episode as well. Bye. Bye. When you're flying Emirates business class, dining on a world class menu at 40,000 feet,

you'll see that your vacation isn't really over until your flight is over. Fly Emirates, fly better. What can you see from the windows where you live? Well, currently not a great deal since I'm living on the ground floor of an apartment block that faces into the courtyard, so there are a few trees and some rather dismal-looking play equipment, which are usually cast in shadows by the other blocks. Usually it's less depressing, since my actual home is on the second floor of an apartment block near the sea, so it overlooks part of the town and you can see the fields in the distance. That's much more picturesque. Is there good scenery in your hometown?

I would say so, since we have the hills behind a city and it, It faces the sea and opposing riverbanks. So there's a great variety of things. See from the fields on the other bags to the more rugged terrain of the hills. And then we've got the calmer coastal areas. And since we get all kinds of weather there, you can see it all on bright sunny days or shrouded and mist when it's foggier, which changes the atmosphere as well. Do you like to take photos of good scenery? I wouldn't say it's a hobby for me, but when I experience a great view, then I turn my camera on it.

and get a few shots. My desktop background is actually a panoramic shot of a mountain range I took. Well, it's a mountain range out of forest. I took this picture in northern Cyprus. You'd never know it was taken by an amateur, though. It looks pretty good and very professional. Do you like to stay in hotels with scenic views? Well, I suppose, while there is something to be said for waking up and flinging open the curtains

to see something spectacular, like a cityscape, it's not something I. make a point of asking for. When it comes down to it, for me, a hotel is just a place to stay and sleep while you visit somewhere. The real value is getting out and about in the scenery, not just looking at it.