IELTS Speaking for Success - 🎨 Colours (S10E08) + Transcript

Episode Date: March 3, 2024

What is your favourite colour? Are there any colours that have a special meaning in your culture? What colour of clothes do you wear? Are there any colours you dislike? What are the most popular colours in your country? Tune in and have a great day! - Book a class with Rory here: https://successwithielts.com/rory Get exclusive episodes on IELTS Speaking parts 1, 2, and 3: https://linktr.ee/sfspremium Our course on Phrasal Verbs: https://successwithielts.com/podcourses Transcript: https://successwithielts.com/s10e08 Our IELTS Writing course: https://linktr.ee/wfspremium Find an IELTS Speaking Partner: https://links.successwithielts.com/ieltspartner Our social media: https://linktr.ee/successwithielts © 2024 Success with IELTS 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, Sunshine. I'm Maria. And my name is Rory, and we are the host of the AILT Speaking for Success podcast. Podcasts 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 super vocabulary for your high, eye old score. Your bad nine score. I'm Lori. You always wear the same colors. Boring. Oh, really? And what are they? Well, so is black and black and dark. It's very depressing, roaring, boring. It's dull.

Fine. For this episode, I will add some color to my outfits, which is very fitting because we're going to talk about colors today. Yay, let's talk about colors, dear listener. And if you're listening to the audio version, go to YouTube and check out Rory's super outfits and different colors. I know, dear listener, Rory and different colors, I know. Let's talk about colors. Let's... What's your favorite color? I really like dark blue, kind of like the color I'm wearing now, actually.

And in fact, I like it so much. I had my bedroom painted dark blue. Specifically, it's called Oxford Blue, and it's, well, at least I think it's quite calming, which is important for a bedroom. Are there any colours that have a special meaning in your culture? Well, many people wear their football team colours, for example, so they're like the same colour as the uniform the players wear,

and this can sometimes have religious connotations. And our national colours, I think, are pale blue and white, or yellow and red. So these colours also have some significance for people in my country, when they represent themselves and their nation abroad. What colour of clothes do you wear? Well, I usually wear the same colours all the time, so a dark shirt and jeans and white socks.

I think I'd just like to keep it regular. However, obviously today I'm dressed quite differently because I've got this checked shirt on, even though it's still keeping the dark colour motif on the go. and I've added a little bit of color with my bracelets as well. Are there any colors you dislike? I'm not a huge fan of acid or, what do you call it? Fluorescent colours, yes.

I mean, outside of the highlighter pens that you usually see them on, I just think they're a bit garish and over the top, and usually they just clash with the colors around them. I personally prefer something a bit understated, kind of like the black that I'm wearing now, or the black and red tie that I have. What are the most popular colours in your country? Well, I think that will vary by region and season for some of the reasons that I already mentioned.

I mean, for example, in the summer, there are like the summer fashion trends, and I don't think they're different from many Western countries, to be honest with you, and there's also the winter fashion. And then on top of that, if you are living further north, you'll probably want to wear darker colors because they keep the heat in more effectively. allegedly, this is just something that one of my teachers used to say. We have our super premium episodes for you, where Rory and I are discussing speaking part two and three. We use fresh IOTS speaking topics.

This week on our premium, in Speaking Part 2, Rory is describing a time when he used a map. And in speaking part three, we talk about navigation and maps in general. to check them out, the links are in the description. Dear listener always remember that colors speak louder than words, which means that colors do affect us, affect our mood, our, I don't know, everything. So colors speak louder than words. I think this is kind of proverb, like an idiom thing. Well, they're certainly affecting my mood,

because I've changed my costume several times in this episode. But if you're listening to us, then you will not see the full effect. So you'll have to find us on YouTube and have a look for yourself. Dark blue. Okay, you can also call it Oxford Blue. It's this nice blue color, which is very calming. It calms you down. Okay, so I really love Oxford Blue or like Dark Blue.

I had my bedroom painted dark blue. Or you can say I had my bathroom painted white. Okay? I had my flat painted red. Oh, a red room. God, if you had a red apartment or a red bedroom, then you would probably go wild. Yeah, can you imagine? However, I should point out that Oxford blue is not the only kind of dark blue.

There are other kinds as well. As I discovered, when I was getting my house painted and I was presented with about 3 million options when I asked a very simple question which was, could I just have dark blue please? And I eventually decided on Oxford Blue because I just like that name and the tone seemed nice.

You can also say I enjoy Indigo. Indigo is the name of a color which is kind of deep, rich blue. So just Google, Indigo, take a look at the photos. Which shade though? There are like 300 of them. Oh yeah, but like for the Iold's purposes, you can say, oh yeah, I like Oxford Blue, Indigo, and also you can say like bluish, you know.

It's like pinkish orange color. It's not white, but it's kind of like whitish, pinkish. Okay? And also, the listener, did you know that blue is the most common color around the world? So kind of like most people enjoy blue, like according to Google. So for once I'm fitting in with other people. by liking dark blue. I'm gonna go and put on my dark blue shirt again then to fit in.

So blue is the most common favorite color, okay? And purple is like the second one. Okay, so most people enjoy purple or blue. Let us know in the comments, what are your favorite colors? But don't be boring, tell you. Don't go like, oh, yellow or orange. So kind of like indigo, okay? Pinkish orange, like salmon, all right?

Turk boys. So don't go like, white, blue, green. So pick like one name for like a nice color turquoise and use it in your speaking test if they ask you questions about colors. Okay. Colors could have a special meaning in your culture. Okay. So for example, colors could have a special meaning in your culture. For example, different colors can have a religious connotation. They're listening. So connotation meaning It's the idea that people think of whenever they see a particular thing. So when people see a particular sequence of colors, they think of the football team, for example.

This is in my country amongst certain groups of people. It's not true all the time. Some people wear the colors of their favorite football team. So specific colors have a like football connotation or a religious connotation. You can also talk about your national colors, national colors, the colors that you have on your flag. Different colors could have some significance, okay, which is like another synonym of like meaning.

So like red is significant in my culture. Like it's importance in my culture. And then you can give some examples. For example, in China, in my country, red means good fortune. For example, like in the Western cultures, white. is often associated with innocence and purity. But in the East, white is associated with death. And you know what?

Like Queen Victoria, you know, there was this beautiful Queen Victoria in England. Maybe not when she died, but when she was older. When she was younger, sorry. So Queen Victoria started this white wedding dress tradition. So, Queen Victoria started the white wedding gown tradition. Did you know that? No, I had no idea. That's weird.

Yeah, also you can say, like, a red is a universal color of life, of, I know, passion. It is associated with fire and desire and aggression, but not in all cultures. The question is, what color of clothes do you wear? So, color of clothes. And you can say, like, I wear blue, I wear. yellow and Rory, our simple Rory enjoys darker colors. So I usually wear a black shirt, white socks, Rory keeps it regular. So if you keep it regular, you kind of wear black every day and every day and black again and black and even more. I'm not doing a very good job for this

episode though because I wore lots of different colors and even at the start I was wearing blue. but I hope people noticed that if you're asked to comment about the clothes that you wear, you could gesture to your clothes as well and use them as a kind of prop. We talked about this in the last episode, but it would be good to mention it again because it could be useful in the exam.

Rory, you told us about like dark colour motif on the go. So what was... Well, a motif is like a recurring idea or something that repeats in design. It's usually used to talk about patterns. Of course, if you're just wearing the same solid color, you don't really have a pattern, but the motif for my outfit, the recurring theme

would be dark colors, mostly. Obviously, you can see from today's episode that I don't always have this dark motif on the go, and by on the go I mean just continuing throughout my life. But it is something that comes up very regularly. And you say motif, you don't say motive, because usually we say kind of like motive, a reason for doing something, like a motive for something, right? But he's like motif. Yes, it's M-O-T-I-F, motif.

But motive, yes, the reason that you do something is also a word. It just has a different pronunciation. Yeah, could you give us an example with this like a motif thing? Well, what would the motif for my studio right now be? Minimalist, probably, because you can see everything and there's not much fancy design around. So a motif, a pattern or design, for example, like a flower motif.

You know, like, oh, what walls should I choose, like, oh, with a flower motif? I don't think I would ever do that. You can say that darker colors look good on me, or whiter, colors, brighter, colors look good on me. An interesting fact, Rory, did you know that yellow and red together make you hungry? Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, you want food. Do they? Yes. Even, like, thinking about, like, yeah.

yellow and red, I'm already like getting hungry. And, you know what? Fast food chains like McDonald's, KFC, they figured this out. That's why, dear listener, okay? They use yellow and red in their restaurants, in their advertising, and branding. So I'm already kind of hungry. Yeah, yellow and red, make you hungry. I had no idea, and I assumed that we're being paid by McDonald's to advertise this fact for them.

Thank you, McDonald's. Send us money. And also, dear listener, wearing black makes you appear more powerful. Okay? So maybe in your speaking test, you should wear black. Black, you know, like the powerful suit, black. The little black dress, Coco Chanel, remember? Also like a black graduation gowns.

All right. And the judge, what does the judge wear? Black. Exactly. Black. Our Rory enjoys black. Black? Now you know why, Delis, Suna. Ah, Rory.

It's not because of anything connected to power. It's all because I'm just really lazy and black looks good with everything. It's nothing to do with appearing powerful. Quite the opposite, in fact. So a black outfit makes you look more powerful, Delis. Allegedly. I'm not a huge fan of yellow. I'm not a huge fan of green.

Right? I dislike. I can't stand. I can't stand, I hate. And Rory told us about acid colors. You know, this is kind of bright, acid colors. And another one was fluorescent. Fluorescent are, again, really bright colors.

You can see them, a good example of them with yellow highlighters. Yeah, usually kind of this is fluorescent lighting, like really like bright, you know, light. When we use different pens or like highlighters, you know, you write something with a pen and then you highlight. with special pens, like with bright colors, fluorescent. I'm not a huge fan of garish colors. Garish, unpleasantly bright. Too bright, you don't like them, okay? Like a garish shorts.

They're like too bright. It just shows off too much. And I don't think it looks attractive. However, this is my opinion. If you think you look good in them, then good for you. I don't think I look good in them. You don't think I look good in. You can say that bright colors are over the top for me.

Again, too much. Okay, like acid colors are over the top. Over the top, like, too much for me. I prefer something more understated, you see. Yeah, understated like this, you know, like, why, it's like calm? It's subtle. Like me. I'm very subtle.

Soutile, yeah. That was not subtle. Clash with something. If something clashes with something, kind of it's not convenient okay something happens

at the same time and it's not convenient they don't really go together for example this purple black and green combination probably doesn't go well together they clash

however white on black and sorry white on blue and blue on white together might okay we need another sentence well you might say that bright colors

like orange and yellow go together but the dark blue and red probably clash with each other because they're polar opposites. Sometimes it can be done effectively though. For example, my black and red tie, I don't think there's too much of a clash there. And even if there is, it's effectively done. So just because something clashes, it doesn't make it always a bad thing.

In fact, sometimes they can be complementary, which means they go well together. You can speak about season. So colors vary from season to season, like summer, trends, winter trends. In winter, people tend to prefer darker colors because they keep the heat in. Okay? So in summer, like, it's not good to wear black because kind of like it keeps the heat in. So you're kind of, you're hot, right?

So in summer, people tend to choose white, like, lighter, brighter colors. Okay. Did you know about color therapy, Rory? I did. I think we've talked about it before. a healing practice that uses colors to promote physical, emotional and mental well-being. Okay? So maybe like they put different colors on you and you kind of rub them in and like you feel,

you know, I don't know, better. Would you like to try it out? Color therapy, dear listener, let us know. Thank you so much for listening, dear listener. Let us know, or like what's your favorite color. But talk voice, indie goes, be interesting. Okay, dear listener, let us know in the comments. Check out our premium episode, speaking part two and three.

The links are in the description. And today's reflection task is creative. So what we'd like you to do is listen to the questions again and write your own answers to these in the comments. And we'll be happy to give you some feedback on Feedback Friday. Bye. Bye. What's your first?

favorite color? I really like dark blue, kind of like the color I'm wearing now, actually. And in fact, I like it so much I had my bedroom painted dark blue. Specifically, it's called Oxford Blue, and it's, well, at least I think it's quite calming, which is important for a bedroom. Are there any colors that have a special meaning in your culture? Well, many people wear their football team colors, for example, so they're like the same color as the uniform the players wear. And this can sometimes, have religious connotations. And our national colours, I think, are pale blue and white, or yellow and red. So these colours also have some significance for people in my country, when they represent themselves and their nation abroad. What colour of clothes do you wear? Well, I usually wear the same colours all the time,

so a dark shirt and jeans and white socks. I think I'd just like to keep it regular. However, obviously today I'm dressed quite differently because I've got this checked shirt on, even though it's still keeping the dark colour motif on the go. And I've added a little bit of colour with my bracelets as well. Are there any colours you dislike? I'm not a huge fan of acid or what do you call it, fluorescent colours, yes. I mean, outside of the highlighter pens that you usually see them on, I just think they're a bit garish and over the top and usually they just clash with the colours around them. I personally prefer something a bit understated, kind of like the black I'm wearing now, or the black and red tie that I have. What are the most popular colors in your country?

Well, I think that will vary by region and season for some of the reasons that I already mentioned. I mean, for example, in the summer, there are like the summer fashion trends, and I don't think they're different from many Western countries, to be honest with you. And there's also the winter fashion. And then on top of that, if you are living in further north, you'll probably want to wear darker colors because they keep the heat in more effectively. Allegedly, this is just something that one of my teachers used to say.