Speak English With Vanessa

Free PDF Worksheet

Walk With Me
Dear English Learner,

Get ready to speak confidently! I recommend reading the worksheet out loud and using the
blank space on the last page to answer my challenge question. Click here to watch the original
video. Thanks so much for learning English with me!

Your teacher,
Vanessa

Go for a Walk with Me

1. Retaining wall: a wall around a hill used to keep a building up

The city is so hilly that there are retaining walls around all the houses.

2. Grocery stores: a place to buy food and other items

The grocery store is close to my neighborhood, so I usually walk there.

3. A busy area: an area with a lot activity

This neighborhood is in a busy area, so there is always something fun to do.

4. Park on the street / Street parking: to park vehicles in the street because there
is no private parking available
Most people here don’t have their own garages, so they have to park on the
street in front of their house.
There’s no street parking in my neighborhood, everyone has a driveway and a
garage.

www.SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com 1
 5. Garage: a building to store vehicles
Some people park their cars in their garage, but a lot of people use their garages
for extra storage and park their cars somewhere else.

6. Driveway: a paved area leading from the street to the house or garage
If someone doesn’t have a garage, they may park their car in the driveway.

7. Mural: a painting made directly on a wall

I really love the murals in this neighborhood–they’re so colorful!

8. It’s known for…when something is famous or known by a lot of people for

something
This neighborhood is in the arts district, so it’s known for its murals and colorful
art displays.

9. Cut across the street: to cross the street without using a crosswalk
We can cut across the street, there’s not any traffic here.

10. Talking about music…a way of changing between subjects related to a certain
topic
When we lived here our neighbors were musicians. Talking about music, are you
going to that concert this weekend?

11. Doing construction: to be involved in making repairs or renovations on a

building
It seems like they’re always doing construction in this neighborhood.

12. An expensive endeavor: when you want to do something but it’s going to cost
you a lot of time and/or energy
I love old homes, but buying and renovating them can be an expensive
endeavor.

www.SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com 2
 13. Let’s cross the street.
I think the road ends here, let’s cross the street.

14. Go down the street: a way of describing a location or giving someone directions
If you go down the street and turn left, you will see the neighborhood park.

15. Over 100 years old: existing for more than 100 years
This house is over 100 years old, but it is still in pretty good shape.

16. Eclectic: style or ideas coming from a variety of different sources

This house is really eclectic; the owners are artists and they have styled the
house in a really unique way.

17. Windchimes: small pieces of wood, metal, or other items that hang together to
make noise when the wind blows
They make windchimes from recycled materials like glass bottles and metal
cans.

18. Excitement and flair: something that is unique and interesting

This neighborhood has so much excitement and flair–I love walking around and
looking at all the cool houses and shops.

19. People who have lived here forever VS People who have just moved here
A way of talking about the differences between people who have lived in a place
for a long time and people who are new to a place
People who have lived here forever want to preserve the historic downtown but
people who have just moved here want to renovate it and put in a bunch of new
shops and restaurants.

20. Natives of the city: people who have lived in a city their whole lives
Natives of the city will usually have a different opinion of the best restaurants
than the people who visit on vacation.

www.SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com 3
 21. Scraggly grass: grass that is shaggy, uneven, or not taken care of
In this neighborhood, when you have scraggly grass, they will send you a letter
telling you to take care of it or you have to pay a fine!

22. Trash bins: large containers, typically on wheels, for collecting trash
We separate our trash and put it in trash bins outside our house.

23. Trash collector: typically, a person who is paid by the city to collect trash and
recycling and dispose of it
My sons love to wave at the trash collector when he comes by our house on his
big truck.

24. We wheel the bin to the road.

Every Friday, we wheel the trash bin to the road for the trash collector to empty it.

25. Jaywalking: to walk in the street illegally, without looking for traffic
If you don’t want to get in trouble for jaywalking, cross the street at the crosswalk
when there’s no traffic coming.

26. Five Points: in this context, the name of a neighborhood based on the type of
intersection
Have you been to that new restaurant over in Five Points?

27. Signal: a way of giving information with a gesture, action, or sound

When you’re riding a bicycle, you use your arm to signal when you make a turn.

28. Right-Left-Right: a method for looking both ways before crossing the street
Before you cross the street, look right-left-right to check for traffic.

29. Hawk / Falcon / Bird of prey: large birds that kill or eat other birds or animals
I walked out the front door and saw a hawk eating a pigeon in my yard!

www.SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com 4
 30. Headed towards: to go in the direction of something
We are headed towards downtown to meet my friend at a restaurant.

31. Iron fence: a metal barrier built around a building or property

The old house has an iron fence surrounding the property.

32. A creek: a small body of running water

There is a creek that runs through the woods behind the house.

33. Montford, a historic neighborhood: a section of a city containing older

buildings that are considered valuable for architectural or historical reasons
Montford is a historic neighborhood with really cool looking houses and a park
where they have arts festivals when the weather is nice.

34. To preserve a historical place: to protect the structure and appearance of a

building or area for cultural or historical reasons
The city decided to preserve the old post office as a historical place because it’s
the smallest post office in the country!

35. A crosswalk: an area where people can safely cross a street

Don’t get in trouble for jaywalking, cross the street at the crosswalk.

36. I used to go for a run here.

When we lived in this part of town, I used to go for a run in this area.

37. I wouldn’t go here after dark.

Now this is a dangerous neighborhood with a lot of crime and I wouldn’t go here
after dark.

38. Sketchy: something that is suspicious or has a bad reputation

There are some sketchy people that hang around this part of the city, so don’t
come here by yourself, especially at night.

www.SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com 5
 Vanessa’s Challenge Question
Use the space below to write a few sentences answering this question.

Using some of the phrases and vocabulary you learned in this lesson, write about
your city using at least 4 of the phrases.

Sample: In my city, there are several historic neighborhoods, each with their own style
and personality. My favorite area is Uptown. It is in the arts district and is known for its
murals and eclectic style. In the spring and summer, it is a busy area because there is
always a concert, arts festival, or some other community event going on.

Want to continue becoming a confident English speaker?

>>Click here to start speaking today<<

www.SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com 6