Making cities feel quieter
6 Minute English
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 21 May 2026
⏱️ 7 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What do you prefer – the sounds of birdsong and wind rustling in the trees, or the hum of traffic and chatter of people passing by? Some people like the quiet of the countryside and others love the noise of the city, but did you know that constant exposure to loud noise has been found to increase anxiety? That's why some people have been trying to find ways to make our cities feel quieter. Neil and Georgie discuss this and teach you some new vocabulary.
Find a transcript and worksheet at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english_2026/ep-260521
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.7 | Got another six minutes? We have lots more to help you with your English. Try real easy |
| 0:11.8 | English to learn from natural English conversations or learn some English from the biggest |
| 0:17.5 | new stories from around the world. Search BBC Learning English in your podcast app to find our other programmes |
| 0:24.0 | or find much more at BBC LearningEnglish.com. |
| 0:28.7 | Six Minute English from BBC LearningEnglish.com. |
| 0:35.5 | Hello, this is Six Minute English from BBC Learning English. |
| 0:39.4 | I'm Neil. |
| 0:40.0 | And I'm Georgie. |
| 0:41.4 | Neil, I'm going to play you two sound recordings |
| 0:43.8 | and I want you to tell me how you feel when you hear them. |
| 0:47.1 | Okay. |
| 0:47.9 | First this. |
| 0:53.8 | And now this. |
| 0:59.6 | Oh, well, that first clip made me feel really relaxed. |
| 1:03.9 | But the second one, oh, it's horrible. |
| 1:06.2 | I felt quite stressed out, actually. |
| 1:08.3 | Oh, no. |
| 1:09.1 | Well, this little experiment shows how much we are affected |
| 1:12.1 | by the noise around us. And that's a problem if you're one of the four billion people |
| 1:16.4 | around the world who live in cities. Yes, whether it's the rattle of train tracks, honking car horns |
| 1:22.6 | or the roar of airplanes overhead, modern cities are full of noise, and this can have serious effects. |
... |
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