Transcription
Hi there. Today we're learning English as we take a tram to visit a cafe, a vintage store, and a park in Melbourne, Australia.
If you are new to learning English and want to see more about life in Australia, maybe you're planning to travel here, are studying here, or are moving here for work, this video series will help you understand everyday English while exploring real places around Melbourne and Australia. In this series, I've used the 3000 most common English words to help you learn quickly through comprehensible input. You can speak along with me and use this video for shadowing practice, or you can relax and listen along. Okay, let's go for a walk.
I just got on a tram. In Melbourne, a tram is a type of public transport. A tram is like a bus that runs on tracks through the city. I'll stay on the tram until I reach the cafe. This is the reader, where you can tap your transport card to pay for your ride. It's called a myki card. You can use it to pay for your ride on a tram, train or bus. Inside the tram, there’s space to stand and also plenty of seats if you want to sit down. I'm almost at my stop now, so I'll press this red button. When I press the button, the tram driver knows to stop the tram, so I can get off. Now I'll push this button on the door to open it and step off the tram.
The cafe I want to go to is on this street. On the street there is a bike locked to a pole. This shop here is closed today. The front is covered in green vines. It looks really beautiful. Next door is the cafe I'm going to. It's open today, so let's go inside. At the front, there's a big display cabinet full of treats. There are small slices of cake, muffins, pastries, sandwiches and other snacks that you can take away for lunch. You can take away your food if you want to eat it somewhere else, or if there are no free tables inside.
Now I'm going to order. Listen carefully and see how much you can understand.
Me: “Can I grab the matcha pound cake and also a small soy flat white please.”
Barista: “Small soy...Your name?”
Me: “Lauren”
Barista: “Thank you Lauren”
Me: “Thank you”
I ordered a slice of cake and a coffee. It was tasty and not too sweet. When I ordered, I said, “I'll grab a piece of cake.” Sometimes you can say “grab” as a casual way of saying “take” or “have”.
I finished my coffee and now I'm walking to a large vintage store. The store is on the second floor of the building at the top of these stairs. The walls in the entrance are covered in mirrors. Okay, up we go. We'll walk up two flights of stairs and now we're inside. You can see the shop assistant near the counter. This store is huge! It's full of vintage clothes, shoes, accessories, clocks, lamps and homewares. It feels a little bit like a market. It's divided into small stalls. Some of the shelves are very crowded, so you can dig around to find something special. Here's a rack of jeans. There are lots of different shades of blue denim. This section with the red walls looks a little bit less crowded. They have some really pretty little yellow glass bowls. This colour is called amber. This area has lots of records and CDs. Look, they even have an old computer from the 1980s. The keyboard makes a nice clicking sound when you type. It's a very satisfying sound. Here is a big stand full of shoes. There are so many different kinds of shoe on this stand. Some gold pairs, some white pairs, and a couple of red pairs. I really like these ones with the big blue bows. Very cute.
This next area is full of ceramics. Ceramics are pottery made from clay. It's so colourful here. I'll walk carefully because I don't want to knock anything over. Ceramics can be very delicate. Check out this big blue ceramic horse. I love this light blue vase. The bottom is round and the top flares out like a cone. It has a large handle on the side. The tag says “English Pottery, $145”. That's a bit expensive, so I won't buy it today. Over here are some soft, silky scarves. And this knitted vest has bunches of grapes on it. The purple grapes are knitted into the vest. These glass cabinets over here have accessories inside. There's a black belt on the right, a chunky white bracelet in the front, and a clear beaded bracelet in the middle. On the next shelf, there's a square ring inside a pink box and two beaded necklaces. I didn't buy anything today, but it's a fun place to look around.
Time to go back downstairs. Down one of the side streets, I found a house with a large painting of an insect on it. It's a big green praying mantis. The small window above it makes it look like it's wearing a top hat. There are lots of green plants along this street. Here's a red stop sign and someone is riding an electric scooter down the road. I'll wait for this car to pass, and then I'll cross to the opposite side of the road. This house is also covered in vines with thick bushes in front. I'll keep walking past it along this narrow footpath next to the stone wall. Now I've reached the main road. There are many cars and quite a few lanes of traffic, so I'll press the button at the crossing and wait for the green signal. Three white cars just drove past. Here comes a fourth. Behind the cars is a tram arriving at the stop. A few people are getting off. Now the light is green so we can all cross.
At last I've reached the park. This park is called Fitzroy Gardens. The weather today is sunny and warm with clear blue skies. Can you see the skyscrapers in the distance? That's the city center. Skyscrapers are very tall buildings. The tallest building in Melbourne has 108 floors. That's pretty high. The grass and trees are so green and vibrant. There's someone jogging over there. They're going for a run around the park. They're getting in some exercise. If we walk through this narrow section and cross over this footpath, we'll find something interesting at the end. What do you think it is? It might not be what you expect. It's a children's playground. It's a playground in the shape of a dragon that kids can play on. How cool is that?
This park has a lot of funny little areas to explore. For example, this one is full of miniature houses. A tiny village with tiny buildings. And over here there's a conservatory. A conservatory is a building for growing plants and flowers indoors. There's a fountain outside and you can hear the water splashing as we walk closer to it. Let's go inside. Today the conservatory is full of beautiful flowers. There are purple, pink, and white flowers with bright green leaves. Some are hanging from the roof. This conservatory often changes what it has inside so I feel very lucky to have visited it today. There is a large white picture frame in the middle of this patch of bright purple and pink flowers. There are two white statues behind the frame and ferns hanging from the ceiling. The flowers hanging from the roof make it feel like you're walking through a tunnel. A tunnel made of flowers. The path around the conservatory is made from white pebbles. Over here is a small bridge above a pond. To exit we'll walk back through the doors.
What a lovely walk through Fitzroy Gardens. Thanks for walking with me today. Thanks for joining me today for another walk around Melbourne. Where would you like to go next? Or which everyday English topics would you like to learn about? Please let me know in the comments below. If you enjoyed this video, please give it a like and subscribe for more simple Australian English practice. See you next time!