IELTS Speaking for Success - 🚲 Bicycles (Part 1) + Transcript

Episode Date: November 4, 2024

Get our IELTS Speaking parts 1, 2, and 3 episode archive: http://patreon.com/ieltssfs Did you have a bike when you were young? Do you have a bike now? Do you often ride a bike now? Are bikes popular in your country? Tune in and have a great day! - Book a class with Rory here: https://successwithielts.com/rory Our course on Phrasal Verbs: https://successwithielts.com/podcourses Transcript: https://successwithielts.com/s11e09 Find an IELTS Speaking Partner: https://links.successwithielts.com/ieltspartner Our social media: https://linktr.ee/successwithielts © 2024 Podcourses Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you're flying Emirates business class, sampling our range of vintage wines from the largest selection in the skies, you'll see that your vacation isn't really over until your flight is over. Fly Emirates, fly better. Hello, lovely. I'm Maria. And my name is Rory. And we're the hosts of the AILT Speaking for Success podcast, the podcast that aims to help you improve your speaking skills as well as your listening skills along the way. We've started this podcast to give you gorgeous grammar and fabulous vocabulary for your high-isle school. Your birthday score. Rory, are you okay? Uh, yeah, I'm fine. I just had to come here by bike to record. By bike? Like by bicycle?

Yeah. Shall we talk about bicycles? Let's talk about bicycles. Yes, dear listen, bicycles. Bicycles. Mm-hmm. Did you have a bike when you were young? I did indeed. I remember it vividly, actually.

It had blue and black patterns on it and the word big shot was stenciled on the frame. Do you have a bike now? Nah, I get around on foot these days. I'm rarely in that much of a rush and if I am I can just hail a cab, so having a bike is sort of pointless for me. Do you often ride a bike now? I honestly can't remember the last time I wrote one, to be honest. It must have been when I lived further north and the transport options were more limited. Are bicycles popular in your country? I could say to be honest.

You certainly see more of them these days, but that's in the cities and I'm not well versed in how things are in the countryside these days. When was the last time you used a bicycle? Well, like I said, it was probably when I lived in the countryside. So we're talking about three years ago. Oh wow, that was a long time ago. Is it difficult to learn to ride a bicycle? I think at first it is, yeah, because, well, I mean, for example, children need stabilizers, and I was no exception in this pattern.

So I think it's difficult at first, but then you get the hang of it and you can balance yourself. I don't know what the rate of progress is, but at least in my case, I don't think I was practicing for more than a few months. Snap up Ancestry DNA's lowest price ever in our incredible cyber sale. With 50% off Ancestry DNA kits, it's the perfect time to help a loved one unwrap the past. And with their latest update, they'll discover their family origins like never before. With even more precise regions and new and exclusive features. Their best gift, our lowest price.

50% off Ancestry DNA, only until December 2nd. Visit Ancestry.CA for more details. Terms apply. As you know, we now release all of our premium content for free, and it's available for one month. After one month, it goes into our super secret archive. To sign up for the archive, click the link in the description below. See you soon. Yay, Rory, thank you very much for your answers, bicycles. Good to to.

The listener, are you fond of cycling? You know, this sport, cycling, when you ride your bicycle, like, it's called cycling. Cycling or biking, for example, or bicycling. Oh my God, that sounds so weird. Cycling, yeah, so a bicycle or a bike, or you can say that I enjoy cycling. But a bike can also be like a motorbike. It could, yes, but it would be fairly obvious from the context, which one that is. And here we're talking about like bicycles.

I remember it vividly. So if you remember something vividly, you like, you remember it very well. And you remember it clearly in a detailed way. For example, I vividly remember my first day at school. I was cheating a little bit there because I've been teaching one of my students about ways to describe memories and that one popped into my head. Sweet. You can describe your bicycle when you were. child. If you didn't have a bicycle, you can imagine your bicycle, Delisina. You can say that

we had blue and black patterns. Patterns? Like little thingish. Very descriptive. I'm kind of like... Designs. Pictures. Designs, yeah. Designs. Regular forms and shapes. There we go. That's a pattern. There's some kind of regularity about it. Like colors, lines. For example, it had a beautiful pattern or it had floral pattern. If you had flowers on your bicycle, my bicycle had a floral pattern. Did your bike have a floral pattern? No. It was just like sky blue.

Very simple bicycle. Yeah, like a cheap bicycle. That's fine, no. When I didn't have a bicycle for a very long time, I used other people's bicycle. and only I think at school, maybe like secondary school I got. I was given a bike. I feel like it's a very European thing, though, to have a bike when you're a child. I imagine people in a lot of parts of the world don't have this.

So it's a weird contrast. I think it's so very popular now. Everybody has a smartphone, pretty much everybody has a bicycle. Especially a child, like small bicycles. I think they are very popular. especially if you live in the country, for example. Well, like I say, probably closer to Europe, that will be true. I'm not sure how true it is for places like South America, for example.

We have different parts of a bicycle, and we have a frame. So any bicycle has a frame, this kind of this skeleton of your bicycle dealers. And maybe some word could be written on the frame. written or Rory, what which verb did you use? Stenciled. Ooh, it's a very weird verb. Stencil. To stencil, to draw or paint something using a stencil.

What is a stencil? It's like a, I suppose, it's like a device that's got the forms of shapes or letters cut out of it so that they can be reproduced many times. Wow. I mean, you wouldn't paint things on a bike by hand. You could, but you wouldn't be able to map. mass produced. Yeah.

So you can say that, I don't know, like, Maria was stenciled on the frame. Or, like, live your life or happy life was stenciled in gold. How expensive is your bike? Pretty much if you had a word written on your bicycle, you can say, like, wow. So, like, big shot was stenciled on the frame. Or just words were stenciled on the frame.

You don't need to remember if you cannot remember. do not have a vivid memory and you have a fuzzy memory, which is a word for unclear, then you can just say there were word stencils on the site. And there you go. You've used the band-nine word. I get around on foot these days. So I don't travel by bicycle. I don't use a bicycle. Or I don't go to work by bike. I get around on foot. On foot. By car, by bicycle, by train, but on foot. I get around. I get around. Like, I go to places on food. Or I can just hail a cab. So in the UK, they have cabs. We have taxis, they have cabs. We could also have taxis as well. Yeah, but a cab is like a special taxi. It's a cab. Is it? What's the difference between like a regular taxi and a cab? Well, I suppose,

are you talking about black cabs? Hmm, but a cab is usually black. Well, not necessarily, I mean, at least in my home turn, they can be any color that you like, but there are black cabs, which I suppose is trademarked and is kind of taken as a sign of British culture. Yeah, but if you see a cab, it's a cab. It's not a taxi. Really? Oh, okay, I was using them interchangeably because people talk about a taxi cab. Mm-hmm. No, okay. Yeah, so I just can hail a taxi. I can take a taxi. I can go by a taxi. And you can say that bicycles are pointless in my city because it's cold, there are mountains in the city. I am lazy. Yeah, I am lazy. I don't want to exercise.

It's pointless for me because I don't want to exercise. But I also said it's sort of pointless, which means it's kind of or quite pointless. So sort of is quite good for all sorts of reasons because it's good for your pronunciation because you don't say sort of. you say sort of. It's sort of pointless. There's no point. I live far from my work, so it's sort of pointless,

especially in the winter. You can say I ride a bike or I rode a bike in the past when I was younger, I rode a bike every day, for example. Or it could also be

perfect tense as well, perfect aspect. I must have ridden a bike at some point in the last two years. I must have, but I can't remember. Yeah, we're talking about the past, and probably I did this. So you are pretty sure you did that, but still don't remember 100%. So you say, I must have written one last year. Or it must have been when I lived in the country.

So I don't remember the last time I rode a bike. Probably it was when I lived in the country. It must have been when I lived in the country. And you can say like transport options were limited. So I didn't have a lot of transport options. I didn't have money for a taxi. There were no buses. So I used my bicycle.

I'm not well-versed in high. how things are in the country. To be well-versed. Well-versed. Know a lot about something. For example, I'm well-versed in modern history. I know a lot about modern history. Rory is well-versed in English grammar.

He can tell you everything about conditionals. No, I cannot. I am not well-versed in this. I probably could have I sat down and thought about it But I'm not able to do it just off the cuff So Rory, if an examiner asks your question And you are not sure how to answer it So you say

I'm not well versed in how things are At the moment Well there's a couple of things that we could do And I did both of them here I think I said I honestly can't remember Or I said I couldn't say to be honest Which is anchored in place by honest But it's used in different ways

ways to express the same point. I have no idea. For example, what clothes are fashionable these days? I couldn't say to be honest, because I'm not well-versed in fashion. But if I were to guess, I would say it's like really baggy clothes seem to be in fashion. Yeah, baggy, like loose, like oversized. When we learn to ride a bicycle, we usually use stabilizers. Like children, I think, use them to be more stable.

So the bicycle has, what, one, two, three, four wheels? Yes. So they're called like extra wheels are called stabilizers. And then you learn how to balance yourself on a bicycle, so you get the hang of it. Get the hang of it. But that's just meaning to be able to do something effectively. Yeah.

See two phrase dear listener. Is it? Yeah, it is bad night. Oh my God, that's great. So it's informal, get the hang of something, to learn how to do something, especially if it's not obvious or simple. So, for example, I've never used this program before, but I'll get the hang of it. I'll learn how to do it. Or, for example, I've never sailed a boat before, you know, this like boating, but I got the hang of it.

So it was difficult for me to learn how to do it. to ride a bicycle but I got the hang of it. Or you can say like well it's some difficult usually most people get the hang of it pretty quickly. And you know like have you ever met people who are very bad at riding a bicycle? They like kind of they really they're afraid or they can't do it. I don't know. I mean how would you know unless they told you? Yeah they usually say like oh no I kind of, I can't manage a bicycle. I'm not good at cycling. Well, I can't ride a bicycle.

And then they try and they're so funny, they're kind of, eh, eh, eh. I have never seen anyone like that before. Oh my gosh. Well, I mean, I've never really thought about it, to be honest with you. I think it's something like you learn when you are a child, like swimming. Yeah, I think, I think that's normal. Although I know that some people don't know how to swim or how to ride a bike. Yeah, true. Interesting.

But again, not everyone is like middle class and has a family that has the time to teach them these kinds of things. So that's important to be conscious of as well. So do you listen to, I think that bicycles are in fashion, so lots of people enjoy cycling. And one of the most expensive bicycles costs $16,000. Why is it so expensive? That's crazy. Yeah, because it's cutting edge. okay, super design How is it cutting edge?

How can a bike be cutting edge? What does it need? It can. Ah, it's like lightweight carbon construction. Oh, what? Aerodynamic design. Aerodynamics, okay?

Why is the aerodynamic? What does that mean? Why? What? Because like, aerodynamic tube profiles and a flatback design significantly minimise drag.

I have not. idea what this means. Under what circumstances would you possibly need a bike like that unless you were an Olympic athlete? Oh, and like 12 speed wireless electronic group set. You change gears, you change this speeds, your listener, and apparently you can do it electronically. Oh my God, this is a game changer. That is a, who needs that outside of someone in an Olympic stadium? Oh, sorry, sorry, it's the cheapest. one. Oh, no, no, no, it's the cheapest one.

I started from the end. Wait, wait. Oh my God, dear listener. Okay, okay, are you ready? One million dollars. Gold Extreme Mountain Bike and it's gold. Solid gold mountain bike. The world's single most expensive bike.

One million dollars. I'm not joking. He's got labelbicycles.com, dear listener. Take a look. This fat bike is plated entirely in 24k gold with luxury luxurious details. Like alligator skin, crocodile skin, saddle. Saddle is this thing that, the seat, yeah? And jewels.

Oh my God. It's so crazy. Do you listen, can you imagine you ride gold with jewels. Okay. Now you know it came Yep I'm still in shock

From Yeah me too Just the late stage Capitalism going on here I know I know Yeah but some bicycles Are really expensive

And people who enjoy cycling They kind of invest in Bicycle parts What do you call Bicycle parts Yeah little like thingies Yeah bike parts Bike parts

Bac accessories You know like Bike bottles Bike clothes It's pretty much like yoga To do yoga, you need a special pillow, a special meds, clothes, you know, all this stuff. The same with cycling.

Yeah. Rory doesn't have anything. Roy, do you have a bicycle now? No. I, I, I, what did I do with my bike? I don't even remember. Sweet. Thank you very much for listening.

Now, think, just Google Gold Bike. Okay? One million dollars. Just Google Gold Bike and then. Describe that to your examiner. I'm sure they won't have any questions about that at all. Oh, yeah. You can say, like, oh, actually, I have a golden.

No, it's not golden. It's like made from gold. Solid gold bike. Solid gold bike. Well, I'd like to have one. And then the examiner goes like, what? Does it exist? You go like, yeah.

You see? Yeah. That's right. Just shock the examiner on your way to band now. Yeah, it's good. Yeah, actually, it's good. because the examiner will remember you and remember this crazy piece of information, and this could kind of affect your score in a positive way, idealist.

Or just describe a regular bike. I'm sure they'll be fine. Bye. Bye. At Capital One, we're more than just a credit card company. We're people just like you who believe in the power of yes. Yes to new opportunities. Yes to second chances. Yes to a fresh start. That's why we've helped over 4 million Canadians get access to a credit card.

Because at Capital One, we say yes, so you don't have to hear another no. What will you do with your yes? Get the yes you've been waiting for at Capital One.ca.ca. Terms and conditions apply. Did you have a bike when you were young? I did indeed. I remember it vividly, actually. It had blue and black patterns on it, and the word Big Shot was stenciled on the first. Do you have a bike now?

Nah, I get around on foot these days. I'm rarely in that much of a rush, and if I am I can just hail a cab, so having a bike is sort of pointless for me. Do you often ride a bike now? I honestly can't remember the last time I wrote one, to be honest. It must have been when I lived further north and the transport options were more limited. Are bicycles popular in your country? I could say, to be honest. You certainly see more of them these days, but that's in the cities and I'm not well versed in how things are in the countryside these days.

When was the last time you used a bicycle? Well, like I said, it was probably when I lived in the countryside, so we're talking about three years ago. Oh, wow, that was a long time ago. Is it difficult to learn to ride a bicycle? I think at first it is, yeah, because, well, I mean, for example, children need stabilizers, and I was no exception in this pattern. So I think it's difficult at first, but then you get the hang of it and you can balance yourself. I don't know what the rate of progress is, but at least in my case, I don't think I was practicing for more than a few months.