Talking About Cities in English

Town, City, or Village?

Are you from a town, city, or village? How do you define them? I read somewhere that if the place has 100,000 people or more then it is a city, and anything below 10,000 is classed as a village, leaving everything in-between a town.

Do you prefer the hustle and bustle of a big city? Or the slower pace of life of a town or village? I’m from a town, a seaside town where the pace of life is quite slow. Its main industry is tourism and it attracts many tourists from within the country and abroad, as well as students from every corner of the world each summer who come and study English in the English Riviera, as it is called.

If you asked me to choose 3 words to describe or associate my town I’d say sea, air, and climate. How would you describe your hometown in 3 words?

City Vocabulary in Context

I’ve been lucky enough to visit, live, and work in quite a few cities, all with their charms and their drawbacks. Below are some of the most common words used to describe cities, towns, and villages in English.

Lviv

I like the cobbled streets even though they aren’t really comfortable to walk on without a decent pair of shoes. They also get noisy at peak times with all the cars driving (and speeding) on them. Lviv is also a city with lots going on—almost every day there is some event happening in the city. Its narrow streets make it different from other typical cities, but it must be a nightmare for drivers.

Warsaw

This city has wide streets, very wide, and just crossing the street can be time-consuming. It’s a sprawling city with lots of empty space between things which can make you feel like you are not getting anywhere if you dare to walk somewhere without using its public transport.

St. Petersburg

I like the vibe in St. Petersburg. There is a totally different vibe in the city compared to the capital Moscow. It also, like Moscow, has an excellent underground system which makes it very easy to get around. The locals are also a clever bunch who love to read, but that’s not unusual for a cultural capital.

Milan

Being in Milan is like attending a fashion show, but the catwalk is the streets. A super stylish city with lots of upmarket and affluent areas. Even their McDonald’s oozes style. What is also great about Milan is that it is very well-connected. You can be in Turin, Genoa, Como, Bergamo, Parma all within 90 minutes.

Berlin

A diverse city where if you don’t feel like you fit in in your own city, Berlin will welcome you. It is a melting pot of the weird and the wonderful. With its superb transportation system including an underground and overground you have easy access to the whole city. The Berlin streets are lined with cafes, pubs, bars, and many hip places to visit, as well as being known for its lively nightlife.

Moscow

A bustling city where people don’t stand still for more than a split-second. The worst traffic jams I have ever seen. I have heard horror stories from people who live on the outskirts driving to work and the hours it has taken them. For a city so big, it’s no surprise some areas are rough, and it can be a bit dodgy at night.

Kielce

You might not have heard about this Polish city. I visited once for a weekend. I was quite taken aback by how rundown the main street was. There were many shops that had closed down or were simply boarded up. Maybe I picked the wrong weekend to visit, but Saturday afternoon in a city just shy of 200,000 people, it was like a ghost town. They did have a few very modern shopping centres though.

Practice Tasks

Task 1: Talk about a city you have visited. What was it like? What did you like and dislike about it? Why did you go there?

Task 2: Talk about your city. What different areas are there? What would you change about the city? What do you think the city will be like in the future?

Task 3: Write about a city you have visited using no more than 70 words and at least four of the words or expressions from this page.