IELTS Speaking for Success - 😪 Boredom (Part 3) + Transcript
Episode Date: July 27, 2026Get access to our episode archive: https://successwithielts.com/ Are teachers 'terminally boring'? Rory explains why young people might have a short attention span and shares idioms like 'dull as d...ishwater' to help you describe things that send you to sleep. 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/ Find an IELTS Speaking Partner: https://links.successwithielts.com/ieltspartner Our social media: https://linktr.ee/successwithielts © 2025 Podcourses Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Hello, hello, dear listener and welcome into IELD speaking part three.
We're talking about boredom being bored in general.
Let's get it going.
What can people do when they feel bored?
I suppose that depends on the means that you have at your disposal, doesn't it?
Like if you have internet access, then you can just doom scroll, provided it's situationally,
Failing that, you could just read a book and daydream.
Why aren't young people willing to listen to the experiences of older people?
Well, older people can be really boring to listen to sometimes, can't they?
I mean, with the greatest respect, they might have all the life experience in the world,
but if their manner of delivery is poor, then I can see why some youngsters would just ignore them.
Of course, the other side of this equation is that young people tend to be a bit more impulsive
and full of energy, so they may just not have the attention span to sit still and listen.
And what makes you say that?
It's just my personal experience, really, having seen young people around the world fail to listen
because they weren't engaged or just two in their heads to care about the advice they're getting.
Why do most children think education is boring?
Well, most teachers are boring, aren't they?
And why wouldn't they be?
They've got to consider the needs of at least a couple of dozen kids at the same time.
so you're bound to slip up at some point, and on top of that,
learning is a, well, it's pretty demanding in terms of cognition
and the energy needed to focus, so no wonder they don't like it at times.
Do you think that can change?
Yes, with good and more teachers, definitely.
That way they would have more ideas to draw on
and fewer kids to divide their attention between.
Do most people think news about celebrities is boring?
Well, evidently not.
going by all the magazines and news stories about them and all the gossip and drama surrounding them.
I'm not sure why, though.
It's maybe it's just a quick way to take your mind off your own problems.
Has that always been true?
Maybe not for celebrities specifically, but for people's lives in general, yeah.
I think people always want to know what's going on with others around them,
even if it's just mindless gossip to break the tedium of day-to-day life.
Why do some young people feel bored when talking with old people?
Well, for the reasons I mentioned before, I suppose.
They just don't have the attention spans for it.
And they might not have been brought up very well.
And can you explain it further?
Yeah, if your parents haven't taught you how to sit politely and listen to others
or ask them questions to take the edge off a bit,
even when they're dull as dishwater,
that's probably going to result in them not having the best of times.
Why are some teachers classes boring?
Well, if I'm being charitable to the teachers,
it could be because they are overworked or underpaid,
or the subject matter could have a very heavy cognitive load.
And if I'm being less charitable,
it might just be because they have no idea what they are doing
and how to draw students' attention.
It could be both and more, really.
Are there any solutions?
That depends on the cause of the problem.
Some people are just terminally boring.
And there's no way to break them out of that habit and mindset.
But again, being optimistic,
they could just get appropriate training and support,
and they should be fine.
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Thank you, Rory very much.
Hopefully the answers were not boring.
Right, listen, boredom.
Okay, so feel bored, people often feel bored.
And what do they do?
Give up.
Yeah, just feel bored, okay?
No.
They can sit with their feelings,
but I think most people just try and find something to do, don't they?
Yeah, they can always just doom scroll.
Doom scroll is when you open Instagram and start scrolling.
scrolling, you know, like thinking about nothing, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, whatever you're
using, we chat.
So you're just like doomscroll or read a book or just daydream.
So daydream is like when you sit and think about pleasant things.
Ooh, like about going to Africa.
Summer holidays.
Yeah.
Swimming in the sea.
That's what I'm thinking about.
Summer holidays.
People are willing to do something or they are not willing to do something.
So this means that they want to do something.
So young people are not willing to do something.
People are willing to do something.
They are happy to do something.
And again, the comparison between the young and the old.
Younger people, older people.
So old people can be really boring.
Yeah, but some young people can be boring, right?
So it depends.
It depends on many things.
But one thing could be the manner of the delivery, which is how they speak.
Yeah, it depends on how they speak.
It depends on their manner of delivery.
Delivery their speech, how they deliver the story.
Youngsters, young people, can just ignore old people.
Yeah, this is usually the case.
Young people tend to be impulsive.
They are full of energy, so they tend to be impulsive, a bit negative.
C2 impulsive.
Yay, ben nine.
Oh, really?
Nice.
I know, yeah.
So impulsive shown behavior in which you do things suddenly without planning.
So you do like this and this and this and this.
So young people tend to be impulsive.
So, younger people usually fail to listen.
They are not engaged.
And surely, some children think education is dull, education is boring, it's not interesting.
Because learning is demanding.
It requires lots of energy and focus.
So if something is demanding, it places a lot of demands on you.
Yeah, but some subjects are not interesting.
So they're just dull.
like astrology
Are they teaching that in schools?
Yeah, I had astrology.
It's just insane.
Are you sure it was astrology and not astronomy?
Astrology.
Oh, I was astronomy, sorry, yeah.
I was thinking, I was like,
that does not sound like something they would be teaching in Russian schools.
Astrology is the study of the stars to determine things like destiny and personality.
Astronomy is the study of things in space to work out how they're,
They operate.
Yeah, astronomy.
Sorry.
Do you listen, do you have...
Did you have astronomy at school?
Astronomy is a natural science that studies...
Celestial bodies.
Heavenly bodies.
Right, dear listener, we are back to boring things.
So you can say that astronomy is boring or astrology is boring.
Okay?
Or not boring.
News about famous people, about stars, about celebrities is boring.
Here, dear listener, news is boring.
because news is interesting, news is boring.
And you talk about news stories and all the gossip.
Gossip about famous people.
Well, usually gossip is not boring.
It's quite interesting.
Well, it's perceived to be interesting.
Yeah.
So gossip, conversations or reports about people's private lives behind their backs.
So usually unkind, disapproving or not true.
and gossip about famous people.
It's just a quick way to take your mind off your own problems.
So your own, your own problems.
So take your mind off your own problems.
That's why, yeah, like news about celebrities, gossip about celebrities.
Could be boring, but a quick way to take your mind off your own problems.
your own problems
to distract you from them.
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Yeah, you can say like, okay, mindless gossip about famous people, mindless, just, you know, stupid without any meaning.
Young people feel bored when they talk to older people.
So we say young people, old people, younger people, older people.
Youngsters, senior people.
And you can say that younger people tend to have shorter attention spans.
So their attention is very, you know, has a short life.
Yeah, it's how long you can pay attention for.
10 minutes.
I'm sure yours is longer than that.
Yeah, yeah, I can kind of pull myself together, you know, do my best, maybe 15.
Now, 30 minutes, perhaps.
Yeah, and young people are not taught how to sit politely and listen to others.
So maybe their parents haven't taught them.
to sit politely and listen to others.
Or maybe they are dull as dishwater.
Remember, the listener?
They are boring.
Yep.
So older people might be dull as dish water,
so younger people don't want to listen to them.
And back to education,
so classes might be boring,
classes might be dull,
teachers might be boring,
teachers might be as dull as dishwater.
Not us.
We are fascinating and fabulous and super interesting.
right, dear listener?
We try to be.
So this episode is far from being boring.
And you can also say that teachers might be overworked,
underpaid, so they work too much.
They are paid little, so that's why their classes are boring.
Or they don't know how to draw students' attention.
Draw or kind of attract.
And solutions, like some people are just terminally boring.
That means there is no saving.
them. If it's terminal, there is no hope.
Yeah, yeah. I've met some people and I ran away from them.
So some people are just terminally boring.
So it's just, they're just boring. It's just how they are.
It's not good, not bad, but yeah, it's like a fact.
Some people are active, some people are passive, so that's fine.
Some people are terminally boring.
So it's just like, there's no solution.
Yeah.
And the solution is to be open.
optimistic and just not talk to boring people if you don't like boring people.
That's all.
That's our solution.
That's the only thing you can do.
My de listener.
So please research online what people can do when they feel bored.
So like that's a nice list of activities.
Pick three most interesting, unusual ways.
Okay.
So 100 things to do when feel bored.
How to beat bored.
Oh, that's another one.
Beat boredom, you know, like beat to death.
Bam, bam, bam.
Okay, so write a short story.
Learn origami.
Oh, my God.
Okay, so I'm choosing plan your meals for the week, number one.
Then I'm choosing learn martial arts, like karate, like go and do martial arts.
Yeah, that is nice.
and try meditation.
Oh, come on.
Create a spa day at home.
None of these things seems remotely feasible.
Read inspirational quotes.
No, no.
Build a birdhouse.
No, actually, that could be quite interesting, but no, thank you.
Yeah, culinary experience, there we go.
So I'm choosing food, delisted.
So if I feel bored, I go food,
that doesn't mean that I eat.
to beat the bottom.
Make homemade pizza.
Prepare a gourmet breakfast.
There we go.
Yes.
Okay, I'm choosing this one.
Prepare a gourmet breakfast.
Goumet means like super delicious,
luxury.
Goumet, it's a French word.
Gourgoume, like very high quality.
Like, gome coffee.
Gourmet meal.
Yeah.
Ready, listen.
Thank you very much for listening.
Sending love and lots of hugs and kisses.
Well than you.
Soldier on.
Bye.
Bye.
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What can people do when they feel bored?
I suppose that depends on the means that you have at your disposal, doesn't it?
Like, if you have internet access,
then you can just doom scroll,
provided it's situationally appropriate.
Failing that, you could just read a book and daydream.
Why aren't young people willing to listen?
to the experiences of older people?
Well, older people can be really boring to listen to sometimes, can't they?
I mean, with the greatest respect, they might have all the life experience in the world,
but if their manner of delivery is poor, then I can see why some youngsters would just ignore them.
Of course, the other side of this equation is that young people tend to be a bit more
impulsive and full of energy, so they may just not have the attention span to sit still and listen.
And what makes you say that?
just my personal experience, really, having seen young people around the world fail to listen
because they weren't engaged or just two in their heads to care about the advice they're getting.
Why do most children think education is boring?
Well, most teachers are boring, aren't they?
And why wouldn't they be?
They've got to consider the needs of at least a couple of dozen kids at the same time.
So you're bound to slip up at some point.
And on top of that, learning is a, well, it's pretty demanding in terms of cognition
and the energy needed to focus.
So no wonder they don't like it at times.
Do you think that can change?
Yes, with good and more teachers, definitely.
That way they would have more ideas to draw on
and fewer kids to divide their attention between.
Do most people think news about celebrities is boring?
Well, evidently not,
going by all the magazines and news stories about them
and all the gossip and drama surrounding them.
I'm not sure why, though.
It's maybe it's just a quick way to take your mind off your own problems.
Has that always been true?
Maybe not for celebrities specifically, but for people's lives in general, yeah.
I think people always want to know what's going on with others around them,
even if it's just mindless gossip to break the tedium of day-to-day life.
Why do some young people feel bored when talking with old people?
Well, for the reasons I mentioned before, I suppose,
They just don't have the attention spans for it.
And they might not have been brought up very well.
And can you explain further?
Yeah, if your parents haven't taught you how to sit politely and listen to others
or ask them questions to take the edge off a bit,
even when they're dull as dishwater,
that's probably going to result in them not having the best of times.
Why are some teachers' classes boring?
Well, if I'm being charitable to the teachers,
it could be because they are overworked or underpaid,
or the subject matter could have a very heavy cognitive load.
And if I'm being less charitable, it might just be because they have no idea what they are doing
and how to draw students' attention.
It could be both and more, really.
Are there any solutions?
That depends on the cause of the problem.
Some people are just terminally boring, and there's no way to break them out of that habit and mindset.
But again, being optimistic, they could just get appropriate training and support,
and they should be fine.
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