New Vocabulary: Words for Places

Social media places

Introduction - Learn new vocabulary: names of places

As I mentioned in the introductory article, this series will focus on the vocabulary that is around you, the words you use (or need to know to use) in your everyday life, your immediate experience.

I believe it is much more important to know these everyday words than waste time learning words that you will rarely use.

Having said that, I do not know, and I cannot predict, what vocabulary is around YOU.

All I can try is guess the vocabulary that we might share.

This article will start with developing a vocabulary associated with general places or locations that are around you or me.

When you would use such words might be in response to a question.

So, if someone asks you “Where are you going?” or “Where have you been?” you need to be able to explain it in one or two words – as part of a growing vocabulary of place.

Think about the places around you.

Before I go any further though, it is a good idea to think about how you might organize your vocabulary.

For ‘places’ I would consider words that belong with inside and outside places. Or, in other words, the names of internal and external places.

And think of your collection as a work in progress. As you think of places, add them either as belonging to inside or outside locations.

If you do not, and you merely list them in no order, you will be confused.

So, let us think of inside words.

Inside words

'Inside' words for places

Rooms inside your house: kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, hall, lounge, sitting room, toilet, etc.

If you have a fence around your house, perhaps path, letter box, garden, front yard/garden, back yard/garden, gazebo, vegetable garden, shed, workshop, garage, orchard, swimming pool, tree house, trampoline, etc.

External words

External places

Words might include: footpath, street, road, driveway, crossroads, roundabout, corner, shops, restaurant, supermarket, park, playground, school, university, college, traffic, bridge, highway, bus stop, bus station, train station, ferry, taxi rank, etc.

There are hundreds of other words that are the names of places, or things associated with places.

Get a Notebook

A notebook and pen

Start collecting them in a notebook, writing them with all the others you have collected. Use them and you will begin to remember them. It is a technique I used when I was learning Mandarin in China. I would take my notebook every time I went out and take it out when I wanted to say the word. Gradually, I discovered that I had memorised every word and had to start a new set of pages to continue my language acquisition.

Conclusion

I hope you have started to get a new vocabulary here and hope that you put these ideas into practice to improve your spoken and written English.

Finally, if you enjoyed this article, please share it on your socials with your friends. It's easy: just copy the URL and post.

(c) Apex English Tutoring Dec 2020 - Updated Nov 2023

Michael

About the Author

Michael Finemore, MA (Research) CQU, TEFL/TESOL Certificate, an experienced English Teacher, is the Owner-Operator of Apex English Tutoring.