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Hey everyone and welcome back to
another episode of 

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Understandable English. 
I hope you are well and that you

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have had a great day. 
Or if you're starting your day, 

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I hope that you have a great day
ahead of you. 

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Today we are going to be talking
about living in big cities and 

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in small towns or villages and 
really just the comparison. 

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So what are the positives and 
negatives of each so comparing 

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them together. 
I have lived in both big cities 

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and small towns. 
I I have also lived in a medium 

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sized city, so not a huge city. 
So I feel like I have lived in 

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both small, medium and large. 
And of course we usually prefer 

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what we are used to. 
So if you were born in a big 

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city you will be used to that. 
So used to the busyness, the 

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noise, like lots going on, lots 
to do. 

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And if you're born in a small 
town or maybe in the 

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countryside, you're used to more
nature, more quiet, relaxed, 

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peaceful way of life, and both 
have positives and negatives and

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neither is better. 
There is no better option. 

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It depends on each person 
though. 

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Almost each of these points that
we will talk about today could 

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be positives or negatives for 
each person. 

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It depends. 
It could be a good thing for you

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or a bad thing for you. 
The first point is the buzz of 

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big cities. 
So the busyness of big cities, 

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big cities are really alive. 
They're like a living thing and 

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transport around those big 
cities are like the veins where 

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let's say the blood moves 
through the big city and there's

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always something going on. 
The great thing about the buzz 

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or the busyness of big cities 
usually means there are a lot 

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more opportunities. 
So opportunities for jobs, for 

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cultural events and for leisure 
activities. 

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So doing relaxation, going to 
museums, going to restaurants, 

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new bars, lots of new things all
the time. 

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And of course the reason for 
this is because there are more 

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people, so more people buying 
food, more people spending money

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and going places. 
However, for some people this 

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can actually be a negative. 
So this fast pace, noise and 

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often a higher cost of living 
than other parts of the country 

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and constantly doing new things,
spending money, going to new 

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places, It is really a lot of 
consuming and it can be for some

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people, quite tiring. 
They want to just have a slower,

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more relaxed pace of life and 
just appreciate the little 

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things and what they have. 
Now, that doesn't mean that 

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people in cities or big cities 
don't appreciate what they have.

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It just means that the level of 
consumption, so new things and 

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things that they buy and and do,
is usually a lot higher than if 

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you live in the countryside for 
example. 

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So the second point I will look 
at is with villages or rural 

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areas and that is just that nice
aspect, so a positive aspect of 

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peacefulness, village charm and 
rural positives. 

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So it is the opposite of a big 
city and that is you know that 

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there's a lot more peace and 
quiet and often a lot more 

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nature and nature related 
activities, close knit 

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communities. 
So what that means is that 

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people tend to know each other, 
so they know their neighbours, 

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they know who lives down the 
roads, they know a local shop 

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person and they're more 
connected. 

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And that is something which can 
be a negative in a big city, is 

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that people are often less 
connected, and big cities can 

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actually feel like very lonely 
places. 

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And it's almost quite ironic, 
especially from someone who 

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comes from such a small village 
like me, that I often feel less 

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lonely in a smaller, quieter 
place than I do in a big place 

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full of lots of people. 
And that's because people are 

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less connected in cities. 
I think they engage less with 

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one another and they don't know 
each other. 

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It's a lot of strangers in one 
place, and that's fine too. 

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And of course, some people are 
more outgoing or talkative than 

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others, and they don't struggle 
with that connection or 

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loneliness as much as others. 
And this brings me to the next 

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point, and that is social life 
in the city versus the village. 

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So social dynamics, So how we 
socialize can be quite different

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in cities. 
And in cities there are so many 

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different places. 
You can go to a different place 

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every time you meet your friends
and just continue to do that new

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places all the time. 
In villages or small towns and 

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cities you tend to go to similar
places. 

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You maybe revisit the same 
locations, do the same 

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activities more than you would 
in a big city, and for some 

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people that is a nice feeling 
doing a similar thing having 

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familiarity which means when you
expect something, but for others

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it is boring and they want new 
things. 

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And of course, in a big city 
too, you can go to the same 

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place if you want to. 
You're not forced to do new 

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things all the time, so that is 
definitely probably an 

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advantage. 
In a big city, however, it can 

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be just a matter of preference, 
because in the big city, every 

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time you go to a place there is 
usually different people you 

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don't really see, people that 
you know very often. 

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Whereas in a smaller location, 
town or village, you will meet 

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people from your area, maybe 
from your school, from your job,

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from the places around you. 
And in that way, the social life

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is more connected locally and 
that can be nice for people who 

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are well connected in their 
community. 

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OK. 
So the final point, which I will

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talk about is definitely an 
advantage for big cities and 

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that is the availability of 
services. 

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So big cities have more people 
and of course as a result they 

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have more businesses, more 
services, more transport 

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options, and from that way it 
can be more comfortable. 

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However, in villages for 
example, that have less, I think

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people just live differently. 
They're used to driving places, 

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for example of asking someone 
for help, having local contacts.

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This is much more of a normal 
thing, so if you move from a 

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city to a countryside or area or
a village, you'll probably miss 

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the convenience, so the easiness
of everything in a big city. 

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But if you were born in a 
village, it's nothing crazy for 

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you. 
You know how to handle it and 

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you know how to live there 
comfortably, which is is great 

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and you might find it 
overwhelming. 

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So too much for you in a big 
city. 

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I hope this was an interesting 
episode for you and I would like

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to know do you live in a big 
city or a small town or village 

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for example? 
And what do you like the most? 

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What is your favorite place to 
live? 

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Would you rather live in the 
city or in the countryside? 

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And also just to remind you to 
check out this podcast on 

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YouTube at Understandable 
English Podcast. 

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And there we put the episodes of
this podcast with English 

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subtitles so that you can pause 
the video. 

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You can write down words that 
you don't know and understand 

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even better. 
So to help you learn vocabulary.

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Thank you for listening. 
I hope you have an amazing rest 

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of the day and I will see you in
the next episode. 

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Goodbye.