Talking About Your Hometown - Spoken English Lesson

英语口语 — 家乡

Hi, I'm Gina. Welcome to Oxford Online English!

嗨！我是Gina。 欢迎来到Oxford Online English！

您住在哪里？ 您住在小镇、大城市，或者遥远的农村？

Where do you live? Do you live in a small town, a big city, or a remote village?

What’s it like?

那里是怎样的呢？

在本节课里，您可以学习如何 用英文来描述您的家乡。

In this lesson, you can learn how to describe your hometown in English.

我们先从一些基础的英文单词 开始来描述您的家乡。

Let’s start with some basic English vocabulary You can use to talk about your hometown.

第一部分：介绍您的家乡。

Part one: introducing your hometown.

我们先从一个简单的句子开始。

Let’s start with a simple sentence.

"I live in a ________."

What could you say? You could say something like:

"I live in a ________."

"I live in a city"; "I live in a town"; "I live in a village."

您可以说什么？您可以这么说：

"I live in a city"; "I live in a town"; "I live in a village."

这是个好开端，但是太基础了。 我们来增加多一点的细节。

That’s a good start, but it’s very basic. Let’s add a bit more detail.

那里叫什么？有多大？

What’s it called? How big is it?

"I live in Paris. It’s the capital city"; "I live in Shanghai. It’s a huge city";

"I live in Paris. It’s the capital city"; "I live in Shanghai. It’s a huge city";

"I live in a small town. It’s called Banbury"; "I live in Manarola, which is a tiny village

"I live in a small town. It’s called Banbury"; "I live in Manarola, which is a tiny village by the sea."

by the sea."

Better! You should always try to add more details when you speak.

很好！您要在说话时， 尝试增加更多的细节。

那您呢？您住在哪里？ 您可以造一两句像那样的句子吗？

What about you? Where do you live? Can you make one or two sentences like this?

Pause the video and practice!

暂停视频来练习！

我们再继续。我们要做出有更多 细节以及更有趣的回答。

Okay, let’s move on. We need to make ouranswers more detailed and interesting.

Part two: adding background and details.

第二部分：添加背景与细节。

Think about these questions:

想一想这些问题：

What’s your hometown famous for? Can you think of some words you could use to describe your hometown?

您的家乡什么东西很有名？您可以 想一些可以用来描述

家乡的词汇。您在哪里住了多久？

How long have you lived there?

Add these ideas to your answer to make it longer and more detailed. For example:

添加这些想法到您的回答里，回答 会更长并有更多细节。

"I live in Paris, the capital city. It’s famous for its landmarks such as the Eiffel

"I live in Paris, the capital city. It’s famous for its landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower,

Notre Dame Cathedral or the Louvre. It’s also well-known for its food, of course!"

Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral or the Louvre. It’s also well-known for its food, of course!"

"I live in Shanghai. It’s a huge, bustling, international city. People from all over the

"I live in Shanghai. It’s a huge, bustling, international city.

People from all over the world live and work there."

world live and work there."

"I live in a small town called Banbury. I’ve been living there for about five years, since

"I live in a small town called Banbury. I’ve been living there for about five years,

since I finished university.

I finished university. It’s a pretty sleepy place, to be honest."

It’s a pretty sleepy place, to be honest."

我们来看看这些举例里在您 讲话时能用上的

Let’s look at some useful vocabulary from these examples: Which you can use when you speak.

有用的单词。

We said:

我们说：

Paris is famous for its landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower.

"Paris is famous for its landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower."

Landmarks are famous places or buildings, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Sydney

地标是著名的地方或建筑，像是巴黎的 埃菲尔铁塔、悉尼歌剧院

Opera House or Christ the Redeemer in Rio.

或里约热内卢的耶稣基督像。

Does your hometown have any famous landmarks? What are they called in English?

您的家乡有任何著名的地标吗？ 他们的英文怎么说？

Next, we said:

接下来，我们说：

"Shanghai is a bustling city."

"Shanghai is a bustling city."

您知道这是什么意思吗？

那意思是有大量的活动。有很多人、 车流量很多、大量

Do you know what this means?

It means there’s a lot of activity.

There are lots of people, lots of traffic, lots of life and energy.

的生命和能量。

您的城市是繁华的还是寂静的？如果 一个城镇是寂静的，那里就没有

Is your city bustling or sleepy? If a town is sleepy there’s not much activity and things are quiet.

太多的活动，并且都很平静。

那您的家乡呢？再看看 我们的问题：

What about your hometown. Look at our questions again:

您的家乡什么东西很有名？您可以 想一些能用来描述您的

What’s your hometown famous for? Can you think of some words you could use to describe your hometown?

家乡的单词吗？ 您住在那里多久了？

How long have you lived there?

您可以说说您的家乡什么吗？ 暂停视屏并尝试造两三个句子。

What could you say about your hometown? Pause the video and try to make 2-3 sentences.

好了吗？我们来看看我们的下一个重点。

第三部分：说一下您喜欢 家乡的什么。

Okay? Let’s look at our next point.

Part three: Saying what you like about your hometown.

您的家乡有什么好的？ 您最喜欢它什么？

What’s good about your hometown? What do you like most about it?

Different people like different things in a city or town.

在一个城市里或城镇里，不同的人 会喜欢不同的事情。我们

Let’s look at some example sentences which express positive feelings:

来看一些形容正面观感的句子.

"I love living in Paris. It’s got such a rich culture and there’s always something interesting going on."

"I love living in Paris. It’s got such a rich culture

"Shanghai’s a great place to live. It’s a real 24-hour city and you can meet people from all over the world."

"Living in Banbury suits me. It’s a quiet place

and it’s small enough that you can get to know your neighbours and have a sense of community."

What’s important for you?

Do you want to live somewhere with a rich culture and a sense of history,

or do you prefer more modern, international cities?

and there’s always something interesting going on."

Would you rather live somewhere larger and more energetic,

or somewhere smaller and more peaceful?

Think about these ideas. You’ll need them in a minute!

"Shanghai’s a great place to live. It’s a real 24-hour city and you can meet people

Let’s look at some useful language from our examples:

"I love living in _______"; "_______’s a great place to live"; "Living in _______ suits me."

Of course, you can change these to say what you want to:

"I quite like living in _______"; "I really like living in ________";

"I suppose I don’t mind living in ________."

We also saw some useful phrases in our examples:

"It’s got such a rich culture"; "There’s always something interesting going on";

"It’s a real 24-hour city"; "You can meet people from all over the world";

from all over the world."

"It’s small enough that you can get to know your neighbours"

"Living in Banbury suits me. It’s a quiet place and it’s small enough that you can

and have a sense of community

What does that last phrase mean?

If you have a sense of community,

it means people know their neighbours and feel like they belong to a wider community.

get to know your neighbours and have a sense of community."

Smaller towns and villages often have a better sense of community,

什么对您来说是重要的？您想生活在 拥有丰富文化和历史感的

perhaps because people have more time to talk to each other and do things together.

地方，还是您更喜欢现代化的国际 城市？您愿意住在更大、

更充满活力的地方，还是居住 在更小、更宁静的地方？

您要在一分钟内考虑一下这些想法。

What about your hometown? Could you use any of these phrases to describe where you live?

我们来看一下我们的例子里 一些有用的说法：

"I love living in _______"; "_______’s a great place to live"; "Living in _______ suits

me."

当然，您可以改变这些 来说您想说的：

"I quite like living in _______"; "I really like living in ________";

"I suppose I don’t mind living in ________."

我们在例句里也看到了一些有用的短语：

"It’s got such a rich culture"; "There’s always something interesting going on"; "It’s

a real 24-hour city"; "You can meet people from all over the world"; "It’s small enough

that you can get to know your neighbours"; "You have a sense of community."

Next, what if you don’t like something about your hometown?

最后一个短语是什么意思？

如果您有社区意识，那意味着人们认识 他们的邻居并感到像是他们

属于一个比较大的社区。比较小的 城镇和农村通常有更好的

社区意识，可能是因为 人们有更多的时间

一起闲聊和做事情。

您的家乡呢？您可以用这些短语里的任何 一个来描述您生活的地方吗？

接下来，如果您不喜欢您 家乡的某些东西呢?

第四部分：说一些您不喜欢的。

Part four: saying what you dislike.

我们来看一些表达负面观感的事例：

Let’s look at some examples which express negative feelings:

"Paris is great, but the cost of living is really high. That can be quite stressful because

"Paris is great, but the cost of living is really high. That can be quite stressful

because you’re always thinking about money and how to make ends meet."

you’re always thinking about money and how to make ends meet."

"Shanghai’s an exciting place, but it’s really crowded and it can be exhausting to

"Shanghai’s an exciting place, but it’s really crowded

and it can be exhausting to live there.

live there. Air quality can be an issue, particularly in the summer."

Air quality can be an issue, particularly in the summer."

"Banbury’s nice, but sometimes I find it a bit boring. There’s not much nightlife

"Banbury’s nice, but sometimes I find it a bit boring.

and sometimes it feels a bit cut off from the wider world."

There’s not much nightlife

and sometimes it feels a bit cut off from the wider world."

在谈论您不喜欢您的家乡的 事情时，您可以用形容词

When talking about things you don’t like about your hometown.

You can use adjectives like, 'stressful', 'crowded', 'boring'.

像是：“stressful”、“crowded”、“boring”。

您可以用短语来做出更有趣的回答。 我们在我们的举例里看到了

You can make your answer more interesting by using phrases.

We saw some useful ones in our examples:

一些有用的：

"The cost of living is really high"; "You’re always thinking about how to make ends meet."

"The cost of living is really high"; "

You’re always thinking about how to make ends meet."

意思是：您总是在想要怎样支付 您的日常生活费用。

Meaning: you’re always thinking about how to pay for your basic living costs.

"It can be exhausting to live there"; "Air quality can be an issue"; "There’s not much

"It can be exhausting to live there";

"Air quality can be an issue"; "

There’s not much nightlife"; "

nightlife"; "It feels a bit cut off from the wider world." 意思是：您觉得

It feels a bit cut off from the wider world."

Meaning: you feel like you’re far away from people, culture and activity.

您像是与人群、文化和活动相距甚远。

您可以用这些短语里的任何 一些来描述您生活的地方吗？

Could you use any of these phrases to describe your hometown?

记住您也可以改变短语来搭配 您的看法。例如：

Remember that you can also change the phrases to fit your ideas. For example:

"Traffic can be an issue"; "There’s not much for young people to do"; "It can be very

"Traffic can be an issue";

"There’s not much for young people to do";

"It can be very stressful to live here."

stressful to live here."

好了，那您呢？尝试造三四个句子。说一下您 喜欢或不喜欢家乡的什么。

Okay, what about you? Try to make 3-4 sentences. Say what you like and dislike about your hometown.

Use the key words and phrases from parts 3 and 4.

使用第三部分和第四部分里的 关键单词和短语。

Go on, pause the video and practice!

继续，暂停视屏并做练习！

Okay? We have one more thing to do:

好了吗？我们要多做一件事：

Part five: describing how it’s changed over time.

第五部分：描述它是怎样随着 时间的迁移变化的。

您的家乡十年前、二十年前或五十年前 是怎样的？它怎么改变的？

What was your hometown like ten, twenty or fifty years ago?

How has it changed?

How has it changed over time?

它是怎么随着 时间迁移变化的。

Some places change very fast; other places never seem to change at all!

一些地方变得很快；其他的地方 看起来从未有任何改变！

Talking about changes can add interesting and useful information to your description.

谈论改变可以给您的描述添加 有趣和有用的信息。

Let’s look:

"Paris has changed a lot in the last twenty years.

我们看一下：

It’s much more international and much more expensive than it used to be.

"Paris has changed a lot in the last twenty years. It’s much more international and

much more expensive than it used to be. However, the soul of the city is still there. Paris

However, the soul of the city is still there.

Paris will always be Paris!"

will always be Paris!"

"Shanghai is almost unrecognisable compared to twenty or thirty years ago. The city has

"Shanghai is almost unrecognisable compared to twenty or thirty years ago.

The city has expanded so much, both physically and economically.

expanded so much, both physically and economically. It’s amazing when you see old photos of

It’s amazing when you see old photos of the city;

the city; things are so different now!"

things are so different now!"

"Banbury hasn’t changed much as a place in the last twenty years, but the mix of people

"Banbury hasn’t changed much as a place in the last twenty years,

but the mix of people is a bit different nowadays.

is a bit different nowadays. The population used to be older and mostly English, whereas

The population used to be older and mostly English,

whereas now there are more young people living here, including many people from other parts of Europe."

now there are more young people living here, including many people from other parts of

Europe."

Again, these examples contain a lot of useful language you can use to talk about your hometown.

同样，这些举例包含大量的您能用来 谈论家乡的有用说法。

For example:

例如：

"________ has changed a lot in the last twenty years"; "________ is almost unrecognisable

"________ has changed a lot in the last twenty years";

compared to twenty years ago"; ________ hasn’t changed much as a place in the last twenty

"________ is almost unrecognisable compared to twenty years ago"

years."

在您的家乡，哪一些句子描述的是真实的？ 您可以添加细节解释为什么吗？

; ________ hasn’t changed much as a place in the last twenty years."

Which of these sentences is true for your hometown? Can you add details to explain why?

For example:

"It’s much more ________ than it used to be"; "The city has ________ so much"; "

例如：

"It’s much more ________ than it used to be"; "The city has ________ so much"; "The

The________ is a bit different nowadays."

________ is a bit different nowadays."

Now, you’ve seen a lot of useful language you can use to talk about your hometown.

现在，您看到了大量的您可以用来谈论 家乡的有用说法。我们来

把所有东西都放在一起，来练习 做出一个更长的回答。

Let’s put everything together and practice making a longer answer.

Part six: review.

第六部分：复习。

您记得我们谈论过的所有重点吗？ 我们谈到了：

Do you remember all the points we talked about? We covered:

Introducing your hometown, adding background and details, talking about what you like or dislike about it,

介绍您的家乡、添加背景和细节、 谈论您喜欢什么或不喜欢

什么、谈论它是怎样随着 时间迁移改变的。

talking about how it’s changed over time.

追随这些重点您可以做出长的、有细节 的回答来描述您的家乡。

Follow these points and you can make a long, detailed answer to describe your hometown.

For example:

例如：

"I live in St Petersburg.

"I live in St Petersburg. It’s the second largest city in Russia, and it’s a beautiful

It’s the second largest city in Russia,

and it’s a beautiful place to live.

I’ve lived here all my life and I can’t imagine living anywhere else!

place to live. I’ve lived here all my life and I can’t imagine living anywhere else!

It has such a rich culture, I think partly because the city’s history is a mix of European

It has such a rich culture,

I think partly because the city’s history is a mix of European and Russian influences.

and Russian influences. I think that’s why I like it here—it’s a unique place. Traffic

I think that’s why I like it here—it’s a unique place.

Traffic can be an issue in the city centre, but public transport is very good.

can be an issue in the city centre, but public transport is very good. The city hasn’t

The city hasn’t changed much in the last twenty years,

changed much in the last twenty years, although there are certainly more and more tourists

although there are certainly more and more tourists these days!"

these days!"

您能做出一个像这样的回答吗？首先 我们来多做一个例子。我会

Could you make an answer like this?

Let’s do one more example first.

I’ll tell you about my hometown:

告诉您我的家乡：

"I’m from Denver, the capital of Colorado. It’s near the Rocky Mountains, so the surrounding

"I’m from Denver, the capital of Colorado.

It’s near the Rocky Mountains, so the surrounding area is quite beautiful.

area is quite beautiful. I’ve been living here for about three years. I really like

I’ve been living here for about three years.

I really like Denver because it’s a young city with lots of energy,

Denver because it’s a young city with lots of energy, but if you need a break it’s

but if you need a break it’s easy to drive to the mountains and find a quiet place to relax.

easy to drive to the mountains and find a quiet place to relax. The only real disadvantage

The only real disadvantage is that winter can be seriously cold!

is that winter can be seriously cold! Denver’s changed quite a lot in the last twenty years—many

Denver’s changed quite a lot in the last twenty years

Many people are moving here to work.

people are moving here to work. Unfortunately, the cost of living has also gone up quite

Unfortunately, the cost of living has also gone up quite a lot."

a lot."

好的，现在该轮到您了！谈论您的 家乡，做一个像这样的

Okay, now it’s definitely your turn! Talk about your hometown. Make a longer answer

like these ones.

更长的回答。

If you want, you can post your answer in the video comments. We’ll give you feedback

如果您愿意，您可以在视频的评论栏 发表您的回答。我们会用英文

on your English.

给您反馈意见。

That’s the end of the lesson. I hope you learned something useful!

本节课到此结束。我希望您学到 一些有用的东西！

If you want to see more of our free English lessons, check out our website: Oxford Online

如果您想看更多的我们的免费 英文课程，访问我们的网站：

English dot com.

Oxford Online English dot com.

Thanks for watching, and see you next time!

感谢观看，下次见！