What's up everyone?

Ciao các bạn và chào mừng các bạn quay trở lại với podcast Slow and Clear của What's Up English Today's podcast is going to be a little bit different than my other podcasts So today's podcast the format is going to be different As you can see in the title we have a topic.

So today we're going to talk about how to talk about your hometown and basically how to talk about cities.

So while I talk about these things, I'm going to be using language that you can understand, but also I will be using higher level words like intermediate level and above.

I'm going to use words that are very natural in this situation.

So they're words that if you talk about this topic, I think it's very likely you will use these words.

So learning this can be useful for doing things like telling someone about your hometown, talking about a place you visited, and just talking about the city in general.

And when I say these words, you'll see in the subtitles that they are highlighted.

Since there are English and Vietnamese subtitles, the highlight will match in both.

So if there is one word like infrastructure in English, then that word will be highlighted because that's a higher level word and the Vietnamese word will also be highlighted.

So if you're listening to this podcast on Spotify, then of course you won't be able to see that but you can always go to the YouTube video and check out the words that you don't understand.

I think one of the best ways to listen to this podcast is if it's on YouTube just turn it on and listen to it.

You don't really have to watch it but when a word comes up that you don't understand you can just check the subtitles and there it is also in the description below you can find a full transcript for this podcast a transcript means everything i said you can find that in the description below along with the vocabulary words that we learned and phrases Now, one thing I want you guys to remember is that this is not an IELTS lesson.

It's not like an IELTS speaking lesson.

This is just me talking about cities in a natural way that you can use in your daily life.

So the way I'm going to talk about these cities is first I'm going to talk about big cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City.

And then in the second part, I'm going to talk about smaller cities or villages, towns in the countryside.

So whether you are from a big city or a small city, this podcast will be very useful for you.

So first, I'm going to talk about Hanoi.

This is the city that I live in right now.

And this is by far the biggest city I've ever lived in in my life.

I believe the population of Hanoi is around 7 to 8 million.

And it's a pretty big city.

I believe they are expanding the limits of the city to other areas.

which is often what happens with cities as it kind of swallows up these other areas that are being developed so the layout of Hanoi is of course we've got the center there's many districts around the center area like Haibatung district uh Huanqiam and um so in the middle there's a lake called Huan Kim Lake and if we go up north we have West Lake and I believe those are the two main lakes.

There's also a river that goes through Hanoi called the Red River.

I know in Vietnamese the translation is Pink River but in English we call it the Red River.

So if you go to Hanoi and you go to the tourist area called the Old Quarter you will notice that the roads there are different than outside of the Old Quarter.

The architecture is also different because when the French were there they had a big influence on the architecture.

I did a bit of research before doing this podcast so if some things are a little bit inaccurate you can let me know in the comments.

Again this isn't a history podcast but just an English podcast So some things I may be wrong.

And so in the old quarter, there's a lot of narrow roads and alleys.

And I find those really interesting because in those alleys and those narrow roads, there are a lot of kind of hidden places like shops, places to get a haircut, places to eat.

And the feeling in the old quarter, I think, is really unique.

It has a vintage kind of old-fashioned style to it because they want to preserve the history in that area.

And I think that's great.

Also, many of the streets in the old quarter are named after what they sell.

For example, I think there's a street called like Silver Street, Hangback, and many other things.

So if you're talking about these streets, you can say a lot of the streets are named after what they sell.

And yeah, the roads are narrow.

There's quite a lot of people selling things on the street.

There are a lot of tourists in that area.

And if you leave the old quarter, you'll notice the roads become wider and it gets a bit more open.

It's a bit less congested and full of traffic.

So if we move on and talk a little bit about the infrastructure in Hanoi.

infrastructure is like the kind of like the skeleton of the city it's like what keeps everything together it helps the city function for example the sewers those are a part of the infrastructure and the electricity so in Hanoi they have a lot of buses like city buses they have the Skytrain.

I think it's called the Skytrain.

And this is new.

It was under construction for a long time, but they finally finished it.

And I think a lot of people are happy with it.

Me, I've never ridden the Skytrain yet, but I heard it's pretty convenient to get from one side of the city to the other well actually maybe it doesn't go all the way across the city I should know this, but I'm not totally sure.

And this type of public transport can be very useful because during rush hour, the traffic can be crazy.

And sometimes it gets completely gridlocked.

Like there is a complete traffic jam and you can't move for like 20 minutes.

So taking the SkyTrain could be pretty convenient.

Now, some pros and cons to living in Hanoi.

Some of the pros I would say are the culture is really historic and interesting.

The food is delicious.

If you're someone who prefers more salty over sweet, then you might like the food in Hanoi more.

more.

If you like sweet food, you might like the food in Ho Chi Minh City.

Another thing is the cost of living is relatively cheap.

It's more expensive than other places in Vietnam, but compared to Canada or compared to many other countries outside Vietnam, the cost of living is very good, very reasonable.

Some cons would definitely be the traffic.

The traffic sometimes is very stressful, very crowded, and I think that's the same in Ho Chi Ming City and many other big cities.

Traffic is a common problem with many big cities around the world.

Pollution.

There are days where there is quite a bit of pollution that if you can be inside, it's probably better to stay inside.

And another thing is noise.

So Hanoi is a dense city.

that means lots of people live close to each other and noise can be a problem sometimes you hear loud motorbikes at like three in the morning you can hear your neighbors if they have babies you know but these are all problems that every big city has and most people will say if you don't want to deal with noise then just don't live in a big city they have a point but of course going back to the pros i think hanoi has amazing energy like when i go outside on the street and there's there's people walking around there's cars um just the energy you can feel it and that is one thing I really love about Hanoi.

And that's one thing that when I go back to Canada in my hometown in Ottawa, we do not have that, at least where I live.

I mean, even you go, if you are downtown in Ottawa, it's not even close.

So yeah, there's nice peace and quiet in Canada but there's some awesome energy in Hanoi in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

So now I'm going to talk about the countryside and I've never lived in the countryside but I've been out there a few times and so I will just talk about what I've noticed in the countryside.

So in the countryside, of course, there's a lot more peace and quiet.

Going to these places is a good way to get away from the hustle and bustle of a big city.

And the people can be very friendly, can be very welcoming, and they seem very happy.

That's what I noticed when I'm in the countryside.

Many people have their own kind of small business where they live.

Maybe they, of course, are farmers or maybe they fix bikes or sell food.

And yeah, many of them seem just very happy.

Another thing is if you live in the countryside, you probably don't need an alarm clock because there are those roosters and farm animals, we can call it livestock, that will, you know, probably wake you up at 5, 6 a.m.

But that's one thing when I live in the countryside or when I'm staying at a homestay is it's kind of nice.

Like, I don't like waking up early, but when I wake up with nature kind of in a natural way, I feel like, okay, it's not so bad because everyone is waking up.

The whole area, the whole community is waking up together, going to the market to sell things, you know, just getting their lives started, you know, just getting back to daily life.

And I'm going to try to think of anything else related to the countryside.

so one thing is in the countryside of course the infrastructure is not as developed so I notice people are often lighting fires burning dead vegetation maybe garbage and that is unfortunate it because it does pollute the air, but the people do what they have to do.

If there's no other way to do it, then that's just how it is.

Hopefully in the future, that type of thing gets fixed.

But yeah.

So the way we can describe the countryside is we could say it's very peaceful.

it's tranquil it's relaxing it's a way to get away from the chaos of the city it's a way to unwind you know you can go there for a weekend if that's your hometown and you live somewhere else like a big city, then you can go back to your hometown for the weekend, unwind, you know, play with the dog or the cat, spend time with your parents, have home cooked food.

So yeah, I'm actually going to have a sip of my coffee.

So good.

I forgot my coffee was right there.

So yeah, guys, I hope this episode was useful for you.

I hope there were a lot of different words that you can use when describing your hometown or any other city.

I'm going to continue with this format.

Well, let me know if you guys like this format.

Put it in the comments because it took me so long to release a new podcast because to be honest, I recorded two, but I wasn't really happy with them.

I felt like they were a bit about nothing and I want to have a bit of a structure.

I don't want every week I'm wondering like, what am I going to talk about?

I'm just going to blab on.

I think it would be more useful if I talk about topics.

That way we have more variety.

And if you want to learn something specific, you could just watch that podcast.

So guys, I hope you're having a great day or I hope you had a great day.

Wishing you all the best for your studies in English.

If you want to keep learning communicational English, then watch this video where I interview people on the street asking them some fun English questions.

So I'll see you there.

Goodbye.