👇 Take this lesson with you! 👇
Table of Contents
Introduction
How well can you talk about cities in IELTS Speaking? If you want to expand your vocabulary and get some good ideas to answer common questions, read on!
In this IELTS Speaking lesson on the topic of Cities, you will learn how to talk about your city and the problems of living in cities.
Describing cities in IELTS Speaking
When describing cities in IELTS Speaking, you may want to talk about the following,
- Location / Size
- History
- Industry
- Interesting places
- Weather
Here are some useful phrases to talk about some these different aspects.
Industry
If asked about the products that are produced in your city, or what kind of work people do there, you can talk about different kinds of industries, as below…
Primary industries (dealing with raw materials)
- Agriculture
- Mining
- Farming
- Fishing
- Oil and Gas
The manufacturing industry
The service industry
- Tourism
- Hospitality
- Recreation
- Food and beverage
The finance industry
The IT industry
The entertainment industry
My hometown relies mainly on tourism / the service industry
It’s famous for tourism/ the service industry
Its main source of revenue comes from tourism/ the service industry
The economy depends mainly on tourism/ the service industry
Collocations to describe cities
Here are some collocations to describe the city where I live, Santander, in Spain.
- Bustling center
- Urban living
- Reliable public transport
- Long opening hours (shops and restaurants)
- Upmarket shops
- Pricey /overpriced restaurants(expensive)
- Lively bars
- Fashionable clubs
- High-rise flats
Adjectives to describe cities
For good points of cities you could use the following adjectives:
- picturesque
- historic
- spacious
- elegant
- magnificent
- lively
The comfortable suburbs (the suburb is just outside the city center)
For the negative points of cities you could use the following adjectives:
- deserted( no one on the street at night) city
- packed (very crowded)
- filthy (very dirty)/
- run-down ( in a very bad condition)
- sprawling city
- a shanty town (=houses made of discarded materials, e.g.tin cardboard, plastic)
Bustling (=with lots of movement) can be positive or negative
Cities and their problems
Urban wasteland (in bad condition)
No-go areas (with the high crime)
Run-down buildings (falling apart)
Deprived areas (without necessary things, e.g. enough money, good living conditions)
- Bumper-to-bumper traffic all day long
- The volume of traffic (amount)
- Exhaust fumes
- The incessant roar of trucks and buses (very loud noise)
Describe the city where you live
Here is a description of the city where I peresently live: Santander, in Spain.
It has rather dreary weather = dull weather
Mild climate = not hot or cold
Overcast (adj).= cloudy
As for the weather, it’s often overcast in my city.
The city looks over the bay
Holiday-makers = people on holiday
People like to nibble snacks in the bars = to eat in small bites (usually snacks)
Local people love going for a stroll in the afternoon = go for a short walk
Big attraction = popular attraction
There is a lot of heavy rain
It often throws it down = it often rains heavily
More Live Lessons For You
If you liked this lesson, leave a comment below!
There are more lessons you can follow in the links below too.
CHILDHOOD in IELTS Speaking. Learn different activities children do, toys, changes in children nowadays.
ENVIRONMENT in IELTS Speaking. Learn different ways to protect our environment and discuss it with idioms and vocabulary in this lesson.
HOLIDAYS in IELTS Speaking. Discover the 10 things the British do on holiday and learn the useful vocabulary and idioms to talk about it.
