Talking about hometown

Part One: Introducing your hometown
    I live in a ___________.（city / town / village）
I live in Paris. It's the capital city.  /  I live in Shanghai. It's a huge city.  /  I live in a small town. It's called Banbury.  /  I live in Manarola, which is a tiny village by the sea.

Part Two: Adding background and details
    (1) What's your hometown famous for?
    (2) Can you think of some words you could use to describe your hometown?
    (3) How long have you lived there?

    I live in Paris, the capital city. It's famous for its landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral or the Louvre. It's also well-known for its food, of course!
    I live in Shanghai. It's a huge, bustling, international city. People from all over the world live and work there.
    I live in a small town called Banbury. I've been living there for about five years, since I finished university. It's a pretty sleeply place, to be honest.

Part Three: Saying what you like about your hometown
    I love living in ____________.  /  I quite like living in _________.  /  I really like living in _________.  /  I suppose I don't mind living in __________.
    _________ 's a great place to live.
    Living in ___________ suits me.

    I love living in Paris. It's got such a rich culture and there's always something interesting going on.
    Shanghai's a great place to live. It's a real 24-hour city and you can meet people from all over the world.
    Living in Banbury suits me. It's a quiet place and it's small enough that you can get to know your neighbors and have a sense of community.

Part Four: Saying what you dislike about your hometown
    Paris is great, but the cost of living is really high. That can be quite stressful because you're always thinking about money and how to make ends meet.
    Shanghai's an exciting place, but it's really crowded and it can be exhausting to live there. Air quality can be an issue, particularly in the summer.
    Banbury's nice, but sometimes I find it a bit boring. There's not much nightlife and sometimes it feels a bit cut off from the wider world.

    It can be ... to live there.
    ... can be an issue.
    There's not much ...

Part Five: Describing how your hometown has changed overtime
    Paris has changed a lot in the last twenty years. It's much more international and much more expensive than it used to be. However, the soul of the city is still there. Paris will always be Paris!
    Shanghai is almost unrecognizable compared to twenty or thirty years ago. The city has expanded so much, both physically and economically. It's amazing when you see old photos of the city; things are so different now!
    Banbury hasn't changed much as a place in the last twenty years, but the mix of people is a bit different nowadays. The population used to be older and mostly English, whereas there are more young people living here, including many people from other parts of Europe.

    __________ has changed a lot in the last 20 years.
    __________ is almost unrecognizable compared to 20 years ago.
    It's much more ___________ than it used to be.  /  The city has _________ so much.  /  The _________ is a bit different nowadays.

Part Six: Review
        - Introducing your hometown
        - Adding background and details
        - Talking about what you like or dislike about it
        - Talking about how it's changed over time

    I live in St Petersburg. It's the second largest city in Russia, and it's a beautiful place to live. I've lived here all my life and I can't imagine living anywhere else! It has such a rich culture, I think partly because the city's history is a mix of European and Russian influences. I think that's why I like it here—it's a unique place. Traffic can be an issue in the city centre, but public transport is very good. The city hasn't changed much in the last twenty years, although there are certainly more and more tourists these days!

    I'm from Denver, the capital of Colorado. It's near the Rocky Mountains, so the surrounding area is quite beautiful. I've been living here for about three years. I really like Denver because it's a young city with lots of energy, but if you need a break it's easy to drive to the mountains and find a quiet place to relax. The only real disadvantage is that winter can be seriously cold! Danver's changed quite a lot in the last twenty years—many people are moving here to work. Unfortunately, the cost of living has also gone up quite a lot.