How to talk about your Neighbourhood in English

In the following guide, I want to show you how to talk about your neighbourhood in English.

You might have to do this in the IELTS speaking test. It could be a topic that comes up in parts one, two or three. It could certainly come up in part one, as it is a topic where you are talking about your own life and life experience.

You could also be asked to talk about your neighbourhood in an interview or in an English conversation.

No matter where the subject may appear, talking about your neighbourhood in English should come very easy to you. You are talking about the place where you live and your surroundings, so this should come naturally to you.

But let’s go through all the steps so that you can talk about your neighbourhood fluently and with ease.

Are you ready? Let’s dive in…

What is the Neighbourhood?

Your neighbourhood is the local area where you live. It is the place that is within walking distance of your home.

Your neighbourhood includes the local stores and shops that you might use regularly, the people who live near you (your neighbours) and other places that you see or visit. You might have lived in your neighbourhood all your life or just for a short time. Wherever you live right now, the surrounding area is your neighbourhood.

Things in your Neighbourhood

Depending on where you live, there could be different things in your neighbourhood to anyone else’s neighbourhood.

A local neighbourhood in a small town in England will be very different from a neighbourhood in India or Japan, for example.

But some things are the same.

Let’s take a look at the most common things you can find in many neighbourhoods around the world.

You should know most of these words. But if you don’t know any of the words, look them up in a dictionary and find out the correct meaning.

Write the meanings of any new words in your Vocabulary Notebook.

Let’s look at some ways to use the above words in a sentence.

Convenience Store — I go to my local convenience store about four times a week. I usually buy milk or some snacks there.

Supermarket — We have two large supermarkets near to where we live. They have everything we need for our daily lives.

Post Office — There is a small post office near my house. It’s small but it can take care of any deliveries.

Park — We have a nice park in our neighbourhood. It’s a nice little sanctuary in the middle of the city.

Local Shops — Our neighbourhood has many local shops. We can buy anything we need.

Houses — My neighbourhood is in the suburbs, so there are many houses here. It is a residential area.

Apartments — As we live in the city centre, most people in our neighbourhood live in apartments.

Police Station — We have a local police station in our neighbourhood, but it is always very quiet there. They mostly deal with people registering for permits or things like that.

Bus Stop — If I need to get into town, I have to take a bus. But there is a bus stop just down the road from my house.

Subway Station — There is a subway station in my neighbourhood. I take the subway to go to work every morning.

Cafe/Coffee Shop — I like to go to this coffee shop in my neighbourhood. They serve really great coffee all day, and it’s a nice place to sit down and read.

Restaurant — There’s a restaurant in my neighbourhood. It’s not exactly five stars, but the food they serve is very reasonably priced.

Clinic — We have a clinic just down the road. The doctors there are very helpful.

Hospital — There is a great hospital in my neighbourhood. I have not been there, but my grandfather had to go there recently.

Community Centre — We are very lucky to have a community centre nearby. They have free classes to learn different subjects. I go there for my yoga class.

Church — There’s a small church in my neighbourhood. I haven’t been inside, but on a Sunday morning, I always hear the church bells ringing.

Bakery — I love to eat freshly baked bread in the morning. And we are lucky in that we have a great baker in our neighbourhood. He always bakes fantastic bread first thing in the morning.

Gym — I go to my local gym about four times a week. It’s a great gym in our local community.

Shopping Centre/Mall — We have a shopping centre in our neighbourhood. It’s not very big, but it’s perfect for all of our needs. A few restaurants, a coffee shop and some other stores. Plus, there is a big supermarket.

Fire Station — We have a fire station in our neighbourhood. I have never seen a fire in our area, but it’s nice to know that we are protected if there is.

School — There’s a big high school in our area. That’s where I go to school.

Bank — We have a small bank in our community. There are only two tellers on duty — and one ATM — but it’s enough for the local people.

Grocery Store — There is a grocery store just down the road from my house. The man that owns it sells fresh vegetables and fruit.

Library — We have a small library nearby. They have a good selection of books and they also have computers for people to use and go online.

Do you have any of these places in your neighbourhood?

If so, try to write sentences about them.

• What other things do you have in your own neighbourhood?
• Can you introduce these places?
• Do you go to these places very often?
• Why do you go there?

Adjectives to Describe your Neighbourhood

There are many ways to describe your neighbourhood.

Let’s look at some words we can use.

And this is how we can use some of these words when describing our neighbourhood.

I live in a typical working-class neighbourhood. It can be a little crowded at times, and the local community is densely populated, but it is very friendly.

My neighbourhood is very middle-class. There are many tree-lined streets and it is very clean. It is also safe at night and very quiet.

My neighbourhood is not very nice. It can be a little dangerous as there is a high crime rate, and it is also very noisy. The neighbours are always playing loud music or shouting.

I live in a suburban area on the outskirts of town. It is very quiet there and also spacious. The neighbours all know each other very well so it is very friendly.

I live in the business district of the city. It is very crowded here during the daytime, but also very convenient. Everything I need is very close by.

How about your neighbourhood?

How could you describe where you live?

Try to use some of the words above to talk about your neighbourhood. Try to write a paragraph describing the local area where you live.

Your Neighbours

And every neighbourhood has people. And these people are your neighbours.

Let’s look at ways we can use these words in a sentence.

My next-door neighbour is very kind. If I need help doing something, he will always offer to help me.

One of my neighbours is very quiet and respectable. But the other neighbour is very noisy — they are always playing loud music late at night.

I have a neighbour who is very sociable. They always invite the other neighbours over to their place for a barbecue or some other party. But there’s another neighbour who is very shy. He doesn’t talk to anyone at all.

I have a really terrible neighbour — she is very nosy. Always interfering in other people’s business.

One of my neighbours is very elderly, so I try to help her out whenever I have time.

What about your neighbours?

• Do you get on well with them? Or not at all?
• How would you describe your neighbours?
• What kind of things do you talk about with your neighbours? Do you do anything together?

You can also check my articles below. They can help you talk about your neighbours too.

Use Wh Questions to Describe ANY Person in the IELTS Speaking Test

Neighbours from Hell! — a Talking Points lesson for English reading and speaking

There is/ There are/There isn’t/There aren’t

When talking about your neighbourhood and the things and people in your local area, you will have to use the following phrases:

There is

There are

There isn’t

There aren’t

Let’s look at some ways to use these phrases.

• There is a convenience store near my house.
• There is a lot of traffic in my neighbourhood.
• There is a school in my community.
• There are so many trees on my local streets.
• There are many people living in my neighbourhood.
• There are some great little shops in my neighbourhood.
• There isn’t much crime in my area.
• There isn’t a library in my neighbourhood.
• There aren’t many people in my neighbourhood.
• There aren’t many places to relax in my neighbourhood.

Now try yourself.

Use the above phrases and make sentences about things and people in your neighbourhood.

Prepositions of Place

And prepositions of place are very useful when talking about things or people in your neighbourhood.

These are some examples of prepositions of place.

Let’s look at some sentences using these prepositions.

I live beside a big school. It’s a bit noisy in the morning when all the students are on their way to class.

We live next to a park. It’s really nice to walk around the park after dinner.

In front of our community is a big supermarket. It is very convenient, and it sells all the things we need for the house.

I live near to a subway station. I take the subway to go to work in the morning.

My neighbour opposite to our house borrowed my lawnmower. Now he won’t give it back!

There are many small shops nearby to where we live. They sell all kinds of things.

We have many trees around our neighbourhood. It’s so nice to see greenery.

There’s a little coffee shop down the road from my house. I like to go there at the weekend.

We have a small library between two of the houses on our street. They have a nice selection of books.

There’s a great convenience store round the corner. I probably go there about six times a week!

We have a gym over the road from our house. I am not a member, but I hear it is very good.

There’s a railway line behind my house. It can be very noisy at times when the trains go past.

Now you try!

Use all of the prepositions of place above in sentences of your own.

Try to describe or talk about things in your neighbourhood.

Talking about my Neighbourhood

It’s a good idea to look at how people talk about their neighbourhoods. We can copy certain elements and phrases and use them as our own.

Take a look at the following people talking about their neighbourhoods.

Use whatever useful phrases or sentences you like and adapt them to your own style and needs.

I live in a very quiet neighbourhood and my neighbours don’t really talk to each other. Sometimes it feels too quiet here. But there is a street nearby with lots of shops and small restaurants. I like to go there when I have time. There’s also a big park — it’s really nice to go there and walk around among all the trees and plants. But when I get home everything feels very quiet as the neighbours are not very sociable.

I live in a very convenient area of the city, but it is very noisy. Just in front of where we live is a street filled full of cafes and bars. At the weekend, it gets very rowdy.

But my neighbourhood is full of life — there is always something to do here.

We live in a really vibrant neighbourhood. It is bustling with people and has many great restaurants and shops nearby. I guess you could say it is a desirable area to live.

And it is very convenient. There is a subway station nearby that has three lines. So I can get to any part of the city from here very easily.

I live in a quiet little neighbourhood. It is just outside a small town and far from the main shops and supermarkets and things. We have two neighbours on either side of us but there is nothing else here. Because we are practically in the countryside.

We live in a high-rise building downtown. Inside our apartment, it is pretty quiet. But once you go downstairs and on to the street, it gets pretty busy. There is always a big crowd of people milling around on the street. Plus, there are many shops, so there are lots of people going in and out of the shops.

We live near to this huge park. It’s great as we have two dogs and we can take the dogs to the park so they can run around. The other neighbours also take their dogs to the park and it can be a wonderful sight to see all the dogs playing and running with each other.

Conclusion

Talking about your neighbourhood should be easy. It is the place where you live, so you should have plenty to say about it.

But for English learners, they often have no idea what to say exactly.

If you go through all the steps in this guide, you will find that you can build a great introduction to your own neighbourhood and talk extensively about where you live.

Keep practising and try to complete all the exercises above. You can then create a great introduction to your neighbourhood.

And please leave a message in the comments below!