IELTS Speaking for Success - 🧠 Describe a person who solved a problem in a smart way (Part 2) + Transcript

Episode Date: April 30, 2026

Get access to our premium episode archive: https://www.patreon.com/ieltssfs You should say: who this person is, what the problem was, how he/she solved it, and explain why you think he/she did it in a smart way. 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 ILD speaking part two. We're describing a person who solved a problem in a smart way. You should say who this person is, what the problem was, why he or she solved it and explain why you think he or she did it in a smart way. Rory is here with us. Rory, hello. Hello, it's me. Give us your story.

Well, there are a load of people like this in my life, but the one who stands out the most right now is my dad, after he helped fix a door in my apartment. When it comes to who he is, well, he's my dad, so the connection should be fairly obvious. But to tell you a bit more about him, he's become a sort of local handyman in his neighbourhood and goes around helping people when things fall to pieces, basically.

He's been doing that for a while now, and he's always been uphand with tools, so it made sense for him to come and help out when my house was acting up. With regard to what the problem actually was, it was a bit annoying, actually. I had paid someone to paint a door in my apartment, and they'd layered on the paint so thick that it had actually made it impossible to close the blasted thing. Now, normally this wouldn't have been a problem, but this was the bathroom door. So it did compromise the whole privacy element of this somewhat.

I was at a complete loss of her words when I found this out. I didn't think anyone could be so stupid, but there I was with a bathroom with no functioning door. So in terms of how Dad solved it, after he came around to have a look, he suggested using a sander, which is a kind of tool that's usually used for smoothing out wood surfaces.

and that would reduce the amount of paint on the door. So once the layers had been reduced, the door would fit the frame again. Surprisingly enough, it actually went pretty smoothly, and soon enough, the door was back to normal again. And I think everybody living here was quite happy with that arrangement because no one wants a doorless bathroom. To explain why I think he did it in a smart way,

I'd never have considered doing something like that. I don't really know my way around it, tool shed. So something novel like that wouldn't have easily occurred to me. So I'm pleased that he was there to fix things up. Otherwise, I'd have been in a pretty tight spot. Frozen lasagna, medium power, 15 minutes. Sounds like Ojo time. Let's play. Feel the fun with Play-Ojo. The online casino with all the latest slot and live casino games. What you win is yours to keep with no wagering requirements, instant payouts, and no minimum withdraws. Hey, I just won.

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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. So, listen, the topic asks you to describe a person who solved a problem in a smart way. Rory told us about his dad who fixed his door. You can talk about your friend who kind of solved a problem, maybe with your computer, maybe with money, maybe something at university, okay?

So what kind of problem can we have? Oh, all kinds of problems, problems with technology. Yeah, a problem with technology. a problem at home. Or you can steal Rory's story. Like my friend fixed the door. A problem in your life, maybe like a psychological problem.

I was depressed and my friend kind of fixed me. Maybe you don't want to share that with the examiner. Probably a technology problem. Maybe something went wrong with your phone or maybe you broke something. Oh, actually, that's a good one. If you break a plate and someone puts it back together. Yeah.

You break something and some people, puts it back together, but like the task asks you to say, who solved the problem in a smart way. Here, the listener, just don't invent anything strange. Just, you know, you can tell your normal story and say, oh, I think it was very smart. It was wise. Like my friend is very intelligent and like he did it like this. I think it was very smart. So just pick any problem.

but the one that you can talk about. Don't choose a difficult topic that you can't really explain. All right. So Rory started off like this. There are a whole load of people like this in my life. A whole load of means lots of, a lot of people. So there are a lot of people like this in my life, like who solve problem. Or there are a load of people.

who solve problems in smart ways. But the one who stands out the most is my dad. And like one person who stands out the most is my friend, my mother, so my dad, who helped me fix a door in my apartment. So I've been trying to do this more with the part two speaking tasks, using the word stand out or picking out what stands out, just so that we have an idiom or a phrasal verb to describe things at the very beginning of part two, to impress the examiner.

Yeah. Then you change the topic. When it comes to who he is, well, he's my friend. I've known him for two, tutta, two years. He's my dad. All right. It's obvious. The connection is obvious.

To tell you more about him, he is this, he is that. He is a handyman in his neighborhood. So he fixes things. A handy man is a person who is good at fixing things or whose job is to fix things. If something breaks down in your house, you call a handyman is one word. So a man who is skilled at repairing different things. So when things fall to pieces, he fixes them. He's good at fixing things when they fall to pieces.

He's been doing this for ta-t-ta years. So when you talk about this person, you can say, he's been doing this, I've known this person for a long time. Then we change the topic again. With regard to what the problem was,

now it's past, because I had a problem in the past. So with regard to what the problem was, it was annoying. It was annoying, it was unpleasant, it was a problem with somebody. Or maybe it wasn't so serious. You could say it wasn't that serious, but still, it's a good way to fix something.

And then you describe the problem. Could be psychological, could be something like broke down, could be something with your phone, technology, yeah, something fell to pieces. A problem with my IELS essay. It's a good point. If you were one of my students, you could talk about how I helped you with your IELT.

or actually talk about how Maria and I helped you prepare for speaking part too. Oh yeah. I had a problem with my speaking. I couldn't speak English, but while speaking for Success podcast, helped me out in a smarter way. Yeah, you'll listen. I see you can talk about our podcast. Educate the examiner. So I paid someone to paint a door.

So Rory has a door which needed to be painted. And it was painted. Too much. Yeah, it was painted, but yeah, too much paint. So Rory couldn't close the door. And here Rory calls the door the blasted thing. It's like this horrible thing, the blasted thing, the door. This was the bathroom door.

So I needed to close the door because I wanted privacy. And Rory has a flatmate. So obviously, he needs this door to be closed. Well, I think for any bathroom, you need privacy, whether you live by yourself or not. Welcome aboard via rail. Please sit and enjoy. Please sit and stretch. Steep.

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The Volkswagen ID4 is fun to drive with instant acceleration that makes city streets feel like open roads. Plus a refined interior with innovative technology always at your fingertips. The all-electric ID4, you deserve more fun. Visit vw.ca to learn more. SUVW, German engineered for all. I was at a complete loss for words. So imagine like you paid someone to paint the door and then it won't close. You just can't close the door because there's too much paint.

And you could have, what? Like, I'm at a loss for words. I can't even find words to explain how angry I am. So that's a nice phrase. I'm at a loss for words. I've lost all my words. Actually, you can say I'm lost for words. Lost for words.

I was lost for words. I was at a loss for words. Anytime something so stupid happens, you cannot speak to talk about it. Or something so shocking happens. I didn't think that someone could be so stupid. So kind of. Or you can say like, oh, I didn't think that I could be so stupid.

stupid to break this plate or table or to break my friend's life. But that was with my bathroom dough. And then, dad helps me to solve it. And again, we are changing the subject in terms of how my dad solved it. With regards to when it comes to how my dad solved it or in terms of how my dad solved it, He suggested using something. That's a nice phrase. He suggested doing something.

He just says, oh, let's do this. He suggested doing something. And Rory, you're like, what was this? Sander? What? Oh, a sander is a special kind of tool, which makes wood smoother and not rough. Ooh.

An electrical machine that kind of, you use to make the surface smooth sander. Just Google it, Delishta. Yeah, so he suggested doing this and that. He suggested smoothing out the surface of the door. Yeah, to reduce the amount of paint on the door. Yeah, surprisingly, it went pretty smoothly. Surprisingly, my dad did it in a smart.

way, very fast, and the door was back to normal. So something was back to normal again. Everything ended up well. Yeah. I think he did it in a smart way. He was intelligent to do it very fast because this and that. I wouldn't have been able to do it myself. So I'm pleased that he was there to fix things up. So he fixed up my door. He helped me to fix things. He helped me to fix things up. The reason I don't, or I can't fix it myself, was because I don't know my way around a tool shed, which is a way of saying, I don't know anything about tools to fix this kind of problem. But you could say, I don't know my way around a computer, so I couldn't fix it myself, or I don't know my way around electronics, so I can't fix my phone myself. So not knowing your

way around something can be used to describe this idea for anything. Yeah, I don't know my way around around computers, around smartphones. And another idiom, which is C2, Ben 9, is to be in a tight spot. I was in a tight spot. I was in a difficult situation. So I had a problem. I was in a tight spot. Or I was in a tight corner.

Okay. Rory, could you give us an example, sentence, about a problem? Oh, well, one day I smashed my foot. screen so I couldn't read it and I was in a bit of a tight spot. Yeah. A bit of a difficult situation. Once I lost my smartphone and I was in a tight spot. Because I had to block my cards and buy a new one.

So yeah. Right, do you know the problem? Do you know the person? If no, still Roy's story above the door, seriously. Just think about a time somebody helped you. Like maybe it was a time when your computer broke down and you needed to take it to a repair shop. I think that's pretty standard for a problem. Yeah, for example, like the internet, right?

There was no internet in my apartment, but then my friend fixed it. He installed. But yeah, here, you have to use the special words. Like, he installed the internet. He changed my software. He downloaded new programs, you see? So that's the thing.

And the vocabulary will depend on the problem. That's why steal Rory's story above the door. We gave you all the words, you need to say, so, you know, you don't need to make up anything new. Or maybe you're really unfortunate and you've had this happen to you many types. Also possible. Thank you very much for listening. Sending lots of love and hugs, okay?

We'll see you in our next episode. Okay? Bye. Bye. Bye, bye, boy, boy, bo, bo, bo, bo, bo, bo, bo, bo, bo, bo. It's never too early to plan your summer's story in Europe with WestJet, from rolling countryside to cobblestone streets begin your next chapter book your seat at westjet dot com or call your travel agent westjet where your story takes off we're describing a person who

solved a problem in a smart way you should say who this person is what the problem was why he or she solved it and explain why you think he or she did it in a smart way well there are a lot of people like this my life, but the one who stands out the most right now is my dad after he helped fix a door in my apartment. When it comes to who he is, well, he's my dad, so the connection should be fairly obvious. But to tell you a bit more about him, he's become a sort of local handyman in his neighbourhood and goes around helping people when things fall to pieces, basically. He's been doing that for a while now, and he's always been uphand with tools, so it made sense for him to come and help out when my house was acting up.

With regard to what the problem actually was, it was a bit annoying, actually. I had paid someone to paint a door in my apartment, and they'd layered on the paint so sick that it had actually made it impossible to close the blasted thing. Now, normally this wouldn't have been a problem, but this was the bathroom door,

so it did compromise the whole privacy element of this somewhat. I was at a complete loss of words when I found this out. I didn't think anyone could be so stupid, but there I was with a bathroom with no functioning door. So in terms of how Dad solved it, after he came around to have a look, he suggested using a sander, which is a kind of tool that's usually used for

smoothing out wood surfaces, and that would reduce the amount of paint on the door. So once the layers had been reduced, the door would fit the frame again. Surprisingly enough, it actually went pretty smoothly, and soon enough, the door was back to normal again. And I think everybody living here was quite happy with that arrangement because no one wants a doorless bathroom.

To explain why, I think he did it in a smart way, I'd never have considered doing something like that. I don't really know my way around a tool shed, so something novel like that wouldn't have easily occurred to me. So I'm pleased that he was there to fix things up. Otherwise, I'd have been in a pretty tight spot.