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Views #295 | Intermediate 5

Paris

Rapheal talks about Paris.

Script
Vocab
Quiz


Raphael	Todd

Todd: OK, Raphael, you were saying you lived in Paris.

Rapheal: Yes, I made my studies there.

Todd: Paris is just an amazing city. Can you talk about Paris?

Rapheal:Yes! Well, the biggest difference I noticed with Tokyo is the size. Like Paris is nice in that way, you can go anywhere by walking. It might take at maximum an hour and a half if you want to go to a very far place, but basically it's a city like made for walkers and you can really go anywhere just by walking, I mean it's quite pleasant cause you can see many, you know, nice buildings and places and things, just by walking.

Todd: Wow, that's nice. How many people live in Paris?

Rapheal:Including the suburbs it's 8 million now. Maybe getting increasing, but the inner city is only one million, so it's not overcrowded at all. Yeah!

Todd: So, what else would you say is different about Tokyo and Paris?

Rapheal:Well, specially, Paris you mean? The Transport is less expensive. This is important.

Todd: Yeah

Rapheal:Yeah, Yeah.

Todd: It's more expensive?

Rapheal:No, it's less, sorry, it's less expensive. Anyway, the, I was surprised because Tokyo is not that expensive finally, I mean you can, you can live in a very expensive way if you want but you can save a lot as well. It's really up to you. But in Paris is quite hard to save. I mean, the food is very expensive, and if you want to go out, just, a restaurant or anything, it's really more expensive than in Japan. A restaurant for example, like prices in Japan start from a thousand yen, maybe less, like 600 yen, and in France like the cheapest restaurant you can find is 15 Euro which is around 2000 Yen

Todd: Whoa! That is expensive.

Rapheal:Yeah, it's more expensive, wherever you go it's more expensive if you want to go out but on the contrary the cinema is really cheap, so so many people go to the cinema, I mean, the cinema is really, it's a part of Paris nightlife, like, people used to go to cinema once a week at least, almost everyone. Yeah, cause it's really cheap. A ticket is 1000 yen, maybe less.

Todd: So, what about sports, like what kind of sports do you like to do?

Rapheal:Yeah, anything. Anything, yeah! You have a lot of facilities, like gymnasium, swimming pools, clubs, yeah, you can practice a lot. Especially, I was a student so, I had this very easy student life because France has a lot of students, whatever it is, so they give you a bit of money, and you get discount on almost anything, so sport is specially favorized in Paris when you are a student, you canalmost like do whatever you want, as a sport almost free, sometimes, so, it's, you can do a lot of things. Actually, I did Aikido. I did swimming pool, squash, tennis, yeah, uh, basketball, yeah, a lot of things actually.

Todd: Active guy. And what about the traffic if you want to drive in Paris?

Rapheal:I never tested, because as I told you it's so nice to just walk, that, and I didn't own a car but it's quite tough for people living in the suburbs cause they need a car to come, the train system is not really good. It's not like, there's a lot of delay, trains and things like that, so if you live in the suburbs you need a car, and driving through Paris in the mornings or evening is really difficult, so I just didn't want to test, you know.

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

in that way

In Paris, you can go anywhere by walking; it's nice in that way.

You can use the phrase 'in that way' to show you are talking about a specific characteristic of a place or person and not speaking in general terms. Notice the following:

He's always on time, so in that way he's a good employee.
There is always something interesting happen, so in that way it is exciting.

overcrowded

The inner city's population is only one million, so it's not overcrowded at all.

If a place is 'overcrowded' there are too many people to move around comfortably. Notice the following:

It can get a little overcrowded in this bar when there is live music.
This coffee shop is always loud and overcrowded.

around

In France, the cheapest restaurant you can find is fifteen Euro, which is around two thousand Yen.

When we give a number that is not exact just to give a general idea we use the word 'around.' It is an approximate number. Notice the following:

The average salary is around $3,000 per month here.
We need you to be here around ten AM.

on the contrary

The food is expensive in France; but on the contrary, the cinema is really cheap.

'On the contrary' is used to introduce information that is the opposite of what is being discussed or is different from what people would assume. Notice the following: