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Table of Contents
Introduction
In this lesson we are going to look at some great vocabulary, collocations and idioms you will need to talk about the Countryside in IELTS Speaking.
We will discuss features of the countryside, activities you can do there, as well as the pros and cons of living in the countryside
IELTS Speaking vocabulary: Countryside
The following mean related to the countryside
rural (adj.)
A rural area / view / lifestyle
rustic (adj.)
A rustic table / cabin /
This house has rustic charm
pastoral (adj.)
A pastoral scene / painting
The opposite of rural is urban.
urban (adj.) = related to the city
An urban landscape / area
Urban development / planning
IELTS Speaking vocabulary and collocations: Countryside
In order to speak more fluently, it is always a good idea to learn collocations of words, not just the individual word.
Here are some common ones for vocabulary on this topic of Countryside.
Rural landscape
Mountain range (a group of mountains)
Hiking in the hills
Steep valley
Dense forest (lots of trees close together)
Freshwater lake
Fast-flowing stream
Fields full of ______ (corn, flowers, wheat, etc…)
Cows and sheep graze in the fields
Farm produce (n.) (fresh food the farm sells – vegetables, meat, eggs…)
Farm crops
A field of cattle (cows, yak…)
Livestock (animals on a farm; e.g. cows, sheep, chickens…)
IELTS Speaking: Where people live
This is a common questions and here are the different areas where people may live.
I live ….
…in THE city centre
…downtown
…in the heart of the city
…slap bang in the city centre
…in the middle of the city
…in the suburbs (of the city)
…in / on the outskirts (of the city)
…in THE countryside
…in a village
…in a hamlet = small village
What to do in the countryside
Here are three useful ways to start talking about activities.
You can ____ visit….
The countryside is great for ____ visiting…
I like nothing better than _______ visiting…
Note: ‘You can’ is pronounced -/yekun/ because ‘can’ is unstressed.
Here are some activities you can do in the countryside
- Buy local produce from the farms
- Go hiking
- Go fishing
- Gaze at the stars
- Do some star-gazing
- Look at the constellations (shapes/patterns of stars)
- Have a picnic
- Learn to identify some trees, mushrooms, butterflies, constellations…
Pros and cons of living in the countryside
Pros / advantages
- Fresh air
- Lots of greenery
- A slow/laidback pace of life
- Quiet and peaceful
- Less air and noise pollution
- Low cost of living
Cons / disadvantages
- Weak communication network
- No Internet
- Fewer job opportunities
- Lack of essential facilities
- No hospitals
- Stuck out in the sticks (far away from other people)
- It can get lonely
IELTS listening task
1. Read the following text and guess what the missing words might be.
Get creative!
Put your answers in the comments below:
What I love about the countryside is the silence, the sounds, the [1]___________, and the views.
What can you not love about the countryside? It’s [2]__________.
I think it’s going to [3]__________ soon here.
The clouds are coming in.
The mist, look, the mist is rolling in over the hills, [4] __________ through the valleys.
Sure, tourism has come and I’m a great example of that, but it’s kept, it’s kind of pastoral beauty. It’s kept its closeness to nature.
In fact, just over the road, you can hear the [5]_____________. If you can hear him.
He’s starting to [6]________________ the milk from the cows and putting it through a churn. Can you hear that?
2. Now listen to the video and fill in the gaps in the text above.
Listening task tape script and answers
Click arrow to open/close answers
What I love about the countryside is the silence, the sounds, the [1] wind, the colours, the views.
What can you not love about the countryside? It’s [2] gorgeous = beautiful
I think it’s going to [3] rain soon here. The clouds are coming in.
The mist, look, the mist is rolling in over the hills, [4] billowing (=rolling like smoke) through the valleys, and this is the Pasiego valley, down south of Santander, but in the north of Spain. And it’s one of the, kind of the ‘olde worlde’ (=traditional) places that still remains in Spain.
Sure, tourism has come and I’m a great example of that, but it’s kept, it’s kind of pastoral (=rustic) beauty. It’s kept its closeness to nature.
In fact, just over the road, you can hear the [5] farmer. If you can hear him. He’s starting to [6] gather the milk from the cows and putting it through a churn. Can you hear that?
No! That’s a dog. Dogs, loads of them in the countryside.
Of course, one of the big things they do in this area is they make cheese, um, lots of different kinds of [7] cheeses.
I don’t know if you’re a cheese fan. I am. I love cheese, whether it’s blue cheese, Camembert – French, Manchego – Spanish, or Parmesan from Italy, all sorts of cheeses goes with all sorts of stuff, but here they, you know, churn out some of the best cheese in…
Cheese or cheeses? Cheese. It’s uncountable, unless you’re talking about types, it’s a bit like fish, right?
Fish, but fishes only if it’s different species of fish or types of fish, funny language, right? English,
Look at that you can see there are Eagles up there.
Idioms to talk about the countryside
To head outdoors (=to go in the direction of…) = to go outdoors
To soak up the views = absorb/ to enjoy the view
To take in the views = absorb/ to enjoy the view
The early bird catches the worm = if you get up early, you make the most of the day
To get up at the crack of dawn = to get up very early
It’s as old as the hills = it’s very old
To get away from the crowd = to escape the noise / hustle and bustle = find peace and quiet
More Free IELTS Speaking Lessons
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