Hey everyone and welcome back to another episode of
Understandable English. I hope you are well and that you
have had a great day. Or if you're starting your day,
I hope that you have a great day ahead of you.
Today we are going to be talking about living in big cities and
in small towns or villages and really just the comparison.
So what are the positives and negatives of each so comparing
them together. I have lived in both big cities
and small towns. I I have also lived in a medium
sized city, so not a huge city. So I feel like I have lived in
both small, medium and large. And of course we usually prefer
what we are used to. So if you were born in a big
city you will be used to that. So used to the busyness, the
noise, like lots going on, lots to do.
And if you're born in a small town or maybe in the
countryside, you're used to more nature, more quiet, relaxed,
peaceful way of life, and both have positives and negatives and
neither is better. There is no better option.
It depends on each person though.
Almost each of these points that we will talk about today could
be positives or negatives for each person.
It depends. It could be a good thing for you
or a bad thing for you. The first point is the buzz of
big cities. So the busyness of big cities,
big cities are really alive. They're like a living thing and
transport around those big cities are like the veins where
let's say the blood moves through the big city and there's
always something going on. The great thing about the buzz
or the busyness of big cities usually means there are a lot
more opportunities. So opportunities for jobs, for
cultural events and for leisure activities.
So doing relaxation, going to museums, going to restaurants,
new bars, lots of new things all the time.
And of course the reason for this is because there are more
people, so more people buying food, more people spending money
and going places. However, for some people this
can actually be a negative. So this fast pace, noise and
often a higher cost of living than other parts of the country
and constantly doing new things, spending money, going to new
places, It is really a lot of consuming and it can be for some
people, quite tiring. They want to just have a slower,
more relaxed pace of life and just appreciate the little
things and what they have. Now, that doesn't mean that
people in cities or big cities don't appreciate what they have.
It just means that the level of consumption, so new things and
things that they buy and and do, is usually a lot higher than if
you live in the countryside for example.
So the second point I will look at is with villages or rural
areas and that is just that nice aspect, so a positive aspect of
peacefulness, village charm and rural positives.
So it is the opposite of a big city and that is you know that
there's a lot more peace and quiet and often a lot more
nature and nature related activities, close knit
communities. So what that means is that
people tend to know each other, so they know their neighbours,
they know who lives down the roads, they know a local shop
person and they're more connected.
And that is something which can be a negative in a big city, is
that people are often less connected, and big cities can
actually feel like very lonely places.
And it's almost quite ironic, especially from someone who
comes from such a small village like me, that I often feel less
lonely in a smaller, quieter place than I do in a big place
full of lots of people. And that's because people are
less connected in cities. I think they engage less with
one another and they don't know each other.
It's a lot of strangers in one place, and that's fine too.
And of course, some people are more outgoing or talkative than
others, and they don't struggle with that connection or
loneliness as much as others. And this brings me to the next
point, and that is social life in the city versus the village.
So social dynamics, So how we socialize can be quite different
in cities. And in cities there are so many
different places. You can go to a different place
every time you meet your friends and just continue to do that new
places all the time. In villages or small towns and
cities you tend to go to similar places.
You maybe revisit the same locations, do the same
activities more than you would in a big city, and for some
people that is a nice feeling doing a similar thing having
familiarity which means when you expect something, but for others
it is boring and they want new things.
And of course, in a big city too, you can go to the same
place if you want to. You're not forced to do new
things all the time, so that is definitely probably an
advantage. In a big city, however, it can
be just a matter of preference, because in the big city, every
time you go to a place there is usually different people you
don't really see, people that you know very often.
Whereas in a smaller location, town or village, you will meet
people from your area, maybe from your school, from your job,
from the places around you. And in that way, the social life
is more connected locally and that can be nice for people who
are well connected in their community.
OK. So the final point, which I will
talk about is definitely an advantage for big cities and
that is the availability of services.
So big cities have more people and of course as a result they
have more businesses, more services, more transport
options, and from that way it can be more comfortable.
However, in villages for example, that have less, I think
people just live differently. They're used to driving places,
for example of asking someone for help, having local contacts.
This is much more of a normal thing, so if you move from a
city to a countryside or area or a village, you'll probably miss
the convenience, so the easiness of everything in a big city.
But if you were born in a village, it's nothing crazy for
you. You know how to handle it and
you know how to live there comfortably, which is is great
and you might find it overwhelming.
So too much for you in a big city.
I hope this was an interesting episode for you and I would like
to know do you live in a big city or a small town or village
for example? And what do you like the most?
What is your favorite place to live?
Would you rather live in the city or in the countryside?
And also just to remind you to check out this podcast on
YouTube at Understandable English Podcast.
And there we put the episodes of this podcast with English
subtitles so that you can pause the video.
You can write down words that you don't know and understand
even better. So to help you learn vocabulary.
Thank you for listening. I hope you have an amazing rest
of the day and I will see you in the next episode.
Goodbye.