IELTS Speaking for Success - 🌄 Describe a time when you got up early (Part 2) + Transcript

Episode Date: June 26, 2026

Get access to our premium episode archive: https://successwithielts.com ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Are you an early bird or a night owl? Rory shares his story about a 6:20 a.m. yoga class, revealing how to use Band 9 idioms like 'at the crack of dawn' and 'full of beans' to sound like a native! 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

Hello, hello, dear listener and welcome into IEL speaking part two. Describe a time when you got up early. You should say when it was, what you did, why you got up early and how you felt about it. Rory is an early bird. He is an early riser. He gets up at freaking 5.30, 6 a.m. in the morning. It's crazy. So Rory, you are the authority.

you know, give us your story. Well, I'm a bit of an early bird anyway, so I'm up at the crack of dawn all the time. But one time that immediately comes to mind is actually the start of this week when I had to get up to go to yoga. Speaking about exactly when it was, I can tell you actually exactly when, because it was Monday at 6.20. I make a point of getting up at that time, although it's usually earlier than most people that day. If we consider what exactly I did, well, I just got up to brush my teeth, go to the bathroom, and then get dressed before I left. And when I think about why I got up at that hour, well, the yoga class doesn't actually start until 7 o'clock in the morning. But I like to be away by half-past six.

So being up 10 minutes before that makes a lot of sense to me. Even though it's only a 15-minute walk up the road, it's nice to be early so you can get a space and settle in before the class starts. And I've been going with my flatmate recently as well. So I need to build in some buffer time for him to get ready so that he can make tea before yoga starts as well. As far as my feelings are concerned, I don't really mind, to be honest. I said, I'm someone who doesn't mind to getting up early, so this was just sort of a natural

extension of how things usually are for me. If I hadn't needed to be up for yoga, then I still think I've gotten up early anyway, just because I'm an early riser, so I like to get things done and dusted as soon as possible and get on with my day. So this wasn't really any skin off my back, and I imagine I'll be having similar days like that in the future. We don't foresee any possible changes unless I go on holiday or something like that. Visit BetMGM Casino and check out the newest exclusive. The Price is Right Fortune Pick. BetMGM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly.

19 plus to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor. free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming, Ontario. This spring, denim gets a softer, lighter update.

Introducing Old Navy's drapey denim wide leg, a new fit that moves with you. It's everything you want denim to feel like for summer. Easy, breathable, and effortlessly cool. With a fit that creates natural movement and a wide leg that feels modern, not overwhelming. Plus, that signature, wait, for this price? Moment. Old Navy's drapeed denim wide leg. 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. Right, do you listen. A time when you got up early, early could be 6 a.m., 7 a.m., anything I think before 12 is early, even, you know, maybe 10 a.m., 11 a.m. is early for you. But normally is something like before 9 a.m.

Yeah. Generally, that's quite early. And you can start off with, I'm a bit of an early bird. So an early riser. I enjoy getting up early. So I'm an early bird. Or if you don't like getting up early, you can say, oh, you know, I'm not an early bird.

I'm not an early riser. I'm a night owl. I enjoy getting up late. Probably good to add in a bit there. A bit of an early bird. A bit of a night owl. I get up at the crack of dawn. That's when the sun starts to rise.

It's an idiom, C2, band nine. So at the crack of dawn. At the crack of dawn very early in the morning. when the sun appears. So I usually get up at the crack of dawn. Or you can say it in the negative. I never get up at the crack of dawn. So make sure you use it anyway.

So I'm a bit of an early bird, so I usually get up at the crack of dawn. Or I'm not an early bird and I never get up at the crack of dawn, but want. time that comes to mind, that one time I remember, is a day when, da-da-da-da-da. And the story is in the past. So is a day when I had to get up to go to yoga. I had, I had, yeah, like I had to get up to catch my plane or I had to get up for school

or for something, for a party. Yeah, maybe you had a party in the morning, why not? Oh, it was on Monday as well. Oh, you're crazy. That's my normal day. Rory is a yoga instructor, dear listener. But this was just a class for me. So it was earlier than usual, because usually it's like 6.30, but on that day it was 6.20.

And then, like, what you did? I got up at an ungodly hour, 620. That would be a good place to use, actually, wouldn't it? Oh, yeah. He's this freaking ungodly hour. That's too early. It's not too early. It's too early for Maria.

I got up. I brushed my teeth. I went to the bathroom. You can explain what you did in the bathroom if you want. No, you can't. You just say you went to the bathroom and that's it. No, you just don't say, oh, I did this and that in the toilet. I did this and that.

You know. Wow. I went to the toilet and, you know, do you examine. You know what like you do. And my plane or the yoga class, the party, or the meeting with my friend started at seven. So I needed to be there before seven. So I usually arrive earlier. And it's a 15 minute walk from my home or it's an hour drive from my home. it's a one-hour metro ride from my home or it's a five-minute walk from my house. Again, tell us, you can lie.

You had to catch the train and the train station is just a 15-minute walk from your house. I think it's nice to be early, so I decided to be there earlier than something started. So you can get settled in. As far as my feelings are concerned, I didn't mind. So I didn't mind it. I was okay. I didn't mind it. I was absolutely okay with this.

Getting up at an ungodly hour, at the crack of dawn, at freaking 6.20 in the morning. So I didn't mind getting up so early. Or, dear listener, if you didn't like it, then you say, I was exhausted. I felt horrible. Roy, what else can you say? Like, I... I was dying. I was dying, yeah.

It was so early. It was freaking early. I wasn't because in the mornings I'm full of beans. Oh, okay, okay. But maybe, dear listener, I felt horrible. I was dying. I was almost dead. I was like a zombie.

I was tired. I didn't understand what. was going on. So yeah, I was very sleepy. Okay, sleepy. Yeah, but Rory was fine. He was full of beans, which means like he was active and fresh, like a flower, like a cucumber, like a fresh cucumber. Like a fresh cucumber. And then you can use the third conditional. Again, the story is in the past. So we can imagine things. If I hadn't got up. so early, I would have missed my bus, my train, my plane, my meeting, my yoga class, blah, blah, but I did wake up and I didn't miss, right?

So the third conditional, if I hadn't woken up so early, I would have missed. So if I hadn't woken up so early, I'd have missed my plane. I'd have missed a meeting with a friend. Rory, then you said something like, this was no skin of my back. that was so weird, strange. Yeah, have you never heard that expression before? No, it's strange. Like, old-fashioned, no?

It just means it's not a big deal for me or a huge problem. Yeah, so it's no skin off my back or of my nose. Actually, back is American English. Nose is UK English. Rory, are you American? Oh, great. Good to know I'm from the UK. So, you're American.

You use back. Oh, did I? Oh, okay. You see, the listener, like, they say whatever they want. British people use American. I didn't know it was an American thing. I thought it was a British thing. Yeah, you see?

So British people use American English. Americans use British. So there's no order. It's just chaos. Just chaos, yeah. It's a total mess. Yeah. So, where were we?

It's no skin off my back. if you don't take my advice. So I'm okay. It doesn't make any difference to me. I'm okay. So it makes no difference to me. So I got up early and this was no skin of my back. Yeah, it's very strange.

No skin of my back. Just means it's not a big problem for me. Yeah, but use it as it is, dear listener, right? So I got up that early. Anyway, this was no skin of my back. And, dear listener, you don't stress the idiom. You don't look at the examine and say, this was no skin off my back. Yes? Did you hear the idiom?

Behold, I have used an idiom. So, Rory, could you give us a sentence without the conditional? But, like, how do you say it naturally? Well, what would it be? I don't mind getting up in the morning. It's no skin off my back. You see, it's very low-key. Like, okay, I'm just speaking English.

You know, it's normal. Like normal words. Yeah, nothing fancy. I know it's Band 9, but I'm cool, you know? Yeah, I guess. No, la, la, la. Yeah. Do you have any synonyms for early?

Like, I got up early. It was too early. But you already said the ungodly hour. Yeah, yeah, an ungodly hour. Yeah, that's a nice one. Ungodly hour. Yeah, dearly, it's in the Cambridge-Shanite Dictionary. Ungodly hour or unearthly hour.

Oh, earthly. Oh, that's a hard one. Unearthly. Ooh, that's a hard one. You're unearthly. Just say ungodly. Because God ungodly hour, I wake up each day at an ungodly hour, extremely early. Or actually, it could be extremely late.

So if you get up at 2 p.m. in the afternoon, so that means ungodly hour. Sweet. Thank you very much for listening. We'll get back to you in our next episode about getting up. in general. Bye. Bye. Describe a time when you got up early.

You should say when it was, what you did, why you got up early, and how you felt about it. Well, I'm a bit of an early bird anyway, so I'm up at the crack of dawn all the time. But one time that immediately comes to mind is actually the start of this week when I had to get up to go to yoga. Speaking about exactly when it was, I can tell you actually exactly when, because it was Monday at 6.20. I make a point of getting up at that time, although it's usually earlier than most people that day. If we consider what exactly I did, well, I just got up to brush my teeth, go to the bathroom, and then get dressed before I left. And when I think about why I got up at that hour. Well,

the yoga class doesn't actually start until 7 o'clock in the morning, but I like to be away by half past six. So being up 10 minutes before that makes a lot of sense to me. Even though it's only a 15-minute walk up the road, it's

nice to be early so you can get a space and settle in before the class starts. And I've been going with my flatmate recently as well. So I need to build in some buffer time for him to get ready and so that he can make tea before yoga starts as well. As far as my feelings are concerned, I don't really mind to be honest. Like I said, I'm someone who doesn't mind to getting up early,

so this was just sort of a natural extension of how things usually are for me. If I hadn't needed to be up for yoga, then I still think I've gotten up early anyway, just because I'm an early riser, so I like to get things done and dusted as soon as possible and get on with my day. So this wasn't really any skin off my back, and I imagine I'll be having similar days like that in the future. We don't foresee any possible changes unless I go on holiday or something like that.