IELTS Speaking for Success - 📚 Describe something you borrowed from a friend or family member (Part 2) + Transcript

Episode Date: October 14, 2026

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Hello, hello, dear listener and welcome into IOT speaking part two. Describe something you borrowed from a friend or family member. You should say what you borrowed, who you borrowed this thing from when you borrowed it, and explain why you borrowed this thing from a friend or family member. Rory, could you give us your story? I don't do this sort of thing very often, to be honest, since I'm usually pretty organized and prepared for everything, so I don't need to ask for a loan much.

But one time that does stick out in my mind right now is when I borrowed a laptop stand from my flatmate. When it comes to exactly what it is, well, it wasn't terribly exciting. It's just a piece of black plastic that sits at an angle, which you can rest your laptop on while you're talking. It's supposed to make the experience more comfortable and prevent repetitive strain injuries or something like that. I'm not sure how true it is, but I wanted to try it out and see if I could or if I should get one of my own.

In terms of who I borrowed the thing from, like I said, it was my flatmate. He's a university student and a lot more tech savvy than I am. So he seemed like someone more in the know about these things, even if he is younger by about 10 years. he's also very good natured so he had no problem with giving me a loan of it to see how it worked out and if it did then I would buy my own one. With regard to when all of this went down, oh God, I honestly don't remember the exact dates. It must have been well over a year ago since it's been sitting in my room for a while now. I really liked using it and he didn't have a problem allowing me to have it since he had another one

so it's just become almost part of the furniture in my office. As for why I asked for a loan of it in the first place, well, I'm pretty cautious when it comes to buying things, so it made sense to have a trial run before committing to buying my own. As it turned out, I ultimately didn't have to do that because Pete decided instead to give me the stand for Christmas last year. And that was very kind of him, in addition to being super convenient. And that's especially true because of it,

it's so useful. Despite being just made of thin black, hardened plastic with some decorative circles on it, it's made doing my job a lot easier. And do you think you'll be borrowing more things in the future? I hope not, because

like I say, I'm usually very prepared and if I need to borrow something, then it means I haven't prepared well. 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, dear listener, so describe something you borrowed from a friend. So borrowed like you took it and then you gave it back. It's not just like you took it, oh, it's mine now. So maybe you borrowed a book, I don't know, a hat, an umbrella, some clothes. A saxophone. saxophone, Rorych.

A coffee machine, I know, a car. You borrowed something, okay? From a friend or some family member. Usually, I don't know, we borrow clothes, we borrow some money. Money, there we go. You borrowed money, and then you gave it back. You just, just like, didn't take it. Oh, okay, can I borrow a pen?

Like, you take a pen, you use it, and then you give it back. If you don't, then, well, are you? Yeah, yeah, not good, you know. Yeah, usually it happens with books. Like, oh, like Rory, let me borrow that book. And then it's mine. And Rory forgets, I forget, and then it sits on my shelf forever. I haven't even read it, a typical story.

So, what did you borrow? Rory has chosen a laptop. Yes. A laptop stand. A laptop stand, yes. That's something you put your laptop on. Yeah. And then Rory gave you.

it back. Well done you. The story is in the past, so we are using pass simple, I borrowed, I took, I gave it back, and you can also use pass perfect. By the time, ta-t-ta-ta, I had given it back. You can start off with, I don't do this very often, so I don't borrow things very often, to be honest. To be honest with you, I don't do this very often, because I'm pretty organized. I'm prepared for everything in my life, you know, yay. You can lie about it, even if you are not organized. You can say, well, I'm pretty organized. I'm pretty prepared for everything. So I don't need to ask for things. Here, Rory tells us about money. If you borrow money, then you ask for a loan. You take a loan out from a bank. Get a loan. Take out. Take out.

alone. Maria, you missed the most important part. One time that sticks out in my mind. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Yeah, like one time that sticks out in my mind. Or one time that stands out. Ooh, yeah. One time that stands out in my mind. One time that sticks out in my mind is when I borrowed a saxophone from my friend, brother, mother, flatmate, colleague, okay. Oh, excuse me, can I borrow your car? Please? Just give me your phone. Would you be so kind just let me borrow your car?

Yeah, would you just give me a flat? Can I borrow your flat? For the weekend. You know, it's my birthday party. Some people might borrow flats, I suppose. But do you actually borrow a flat? Just you borrow, I don't know. You borrow a jacket, you borrow...

But you could rent someone's apartment, I suppose. suppose. Yeah, but then you pay. But if you just, you know, just give me your flat for the weekend. Can I borrow your flat? Just for the weekend. Oh, can I, can I borrow your friend? I need to, I need someone to go to the cinema with, you know, because I can't go alone according to Rory? Can I borrow your friend? Well, actually, some people say that. Like, they say, can I borrow you for a moment? Like, can I speak to you for a moment? Yeah, can I borrow you for a moment? Exactly. So, dear listener, if someone tells you, can I borrow you for a moment, you say, no, I'm not. borrowed. I'm not to be borrowed. No, you can't. You can rent me. My rate is $100,000 per hour. So, what did I borrow?

When it comes to what exactly it was, it was da-da-da, right? It was a flat, it was a friend, it was a laptop. It was a piece of plastic. So a laptop stand. This thing that you put your laptop on. Yeah, we don't actually borrow headphones, right? It's strange. You could borrow someone's headphones. Yeah, but it's strange because, like, headphones go to your ears and it's kind of not hygienic, right? Yeah, but you can change the ear tips, or the earbud tips.

I guess it's what they're called. Maria doesn't like to share. I wanted to try it out. If you want to try something, you can say, I wanted to try it out. I didn't have my own laptop stand, and I wanted to see how it worked, so I wanted to try it out and see if I should get one of my own. So I tried it out to see if I should buy it. Should I buy it or not?

It's interesting because we use if. So I tried it out to see if I should get the same thing. In terms of who I borrowed this from, it was my first. Flatmate. So again, we're changing the topic in terms of who I borrowed it from. When it comes to who? When it comes to who, in terms of who I borrowed it from, it was my flatmate or my brother or my colleague. He is tech savvy. So he knows things about technology. So he is a tech savvy person. Hopefully.

He's good with technology. tech savvy. Knowing a lot about modern technology, especially computers, tech savvy workers. And you can say that I'm not tech savvy. I borrowed it from my colleague who is a lot more tech savvy than I am. And he's very good-natured. So my friend, my flatmate is good-natured. So he's a kind person and he just gives me things, right?

Good-natured. Pleasant, friendly. And he had no problem giving me this thing. So, she had no problem giving me her flat. He had no problem giving me his friend. Can I borrow your flat and your friend and your life and your car? Just leave the car keys there. With regard to when I borrowed this thing.

Again, we're changing the topic and we're using another phrase. So the first phrase was when it comes to what, in terms of who I borrowed it from, it was my brother. With regard to when I borrowed it, I honestly don't remember. So it's absolutely fine to not remember things. How is anyone supposed to remember these exact dates? You just forget things. And you say, I honestly don't remember the exact dates. So like, to be honest with you, the examiner.

Honestly, I don't remember the exact dates. I don't remember. And then we use must have been. So probably it was last week. And I don't remember. Probably it was last year. It must have been last year. Okay.

Oh, Rory, what about this one? Like last year. Do you say last year? Last year? Last year I'd say last year But you could say last year And that's fine

Okay Do your friends say last year Some of the English ones might But Rory is Scottish He pronounces all his You know Syllables Well I'm also an English teacher

So this may have an impact on that too He changes his accent It must have been Last year Last year It's been sitting in my room For a while now Whoa, whoa, whoa, roll.

So you didn't give it back? It's been sitting in my room. Well, this is the thing. It started off as a loan and then it evolved into ownership. Oh, how convenient. Here's the lesson. So this always, not always, often happens. So you borrow a thing and then you own it.

So it becomes yours. So you can say, well, I borrowed it last year. And it's been sitting in my room. for a while now. So it's still with me. It's been sitting in my room. It's been, it has been in my room ever since. I really liked using it. So I really enjoy using it. That's why I didn't give it back. No, it became a present. My precious. Yeah, and because Rory is very smart, he took this thing from a very good-natured person. Okay?

I didn't take it. It was given to me. He took it. Yeah, it was given, right. It was given. It was given to me. Yeah. And you can say, I really liked using it.

And my friend didn't have a problem allowing me to have it. So my friend didn't have a problem allowing me to have it. So he just gave it to me. Maria's had more problems with me having this than my friend did. I'm happy you have it. Yeah, because I often do the same. So, yeah, just people give me stuff. How nice of your people to give me stuff.

Yeah, feel free to send me stuff, like shoes, hats, diamonds, gold, you know. That's not borrowing, Maria. That's ticking. No, it's borrowing. I enjoy wearing diamonds and gold. people have no problem allowing me to have these diamonds and gold. So in terms of why I borrowed it is because I'm pretty cautious about buying things. I'm careful about buying things.

Cautious or careful. I'm careful about buying things. I'm cautious about buying things. So I prefer to try it out first and then I buy it. So I have a trial run. So, Rory, what's a trial run? A trial run is when you have a period of time where you try something out. And if you like it, then you keep it.

Yeah, trial run. Kind of a test of something unknown before, kind of, you buy it. So let's have a trial run. And ultimately, finally, ultimately, I didn't have to buy my own because Pete, my flatmate decided to give it to me. Yeah, just okay. you can have it. It's fine. So this is the protocol. This is like a step-by-step instruction.

How you make things yours. Okay. Something like a mug, a pen, you know. Just how to make things yours. No, this is how. That was very kind of him. Oh, it's so kind of you. That was very kind of him.

And it's super convenient for me, because I didn't have to buy anything and it's very useful so the thing is very useful I should say I noticed towards the end because I was looking at my timer I still had time to talk so what I've been encouraging my students to do

is just to keep describing an object or a person or a place and as long as it's the one you started talking about then that will be fine so I decided I would describe what it is it's useful and then I describe what it's made of as well and how it looks It's thin, it's black, it's made of hardened plastic, there are some decorative circles on it.

If something is decorative, it's just for decoration, and it just makes it look nice. Yay, so dear listener, choose an object that you borrowed from some people or lie about it. Choose something easy for you to talk about, okay? Thank you very much for listening. We'll get back to you in AILS speaking part three about borrowing things. Bye. Bye. Describe something you borrowed from a friend or family member.

You should say what you borrowed, who you borrowed this thing from when you borrowed it, and explain why you borrowed this thing from a friend or family member. I don't do this sort of thing very often, to be honest, since I'm usually pretty organized and prepared for everything, so I don't need to ask for alone much, but one time that does stick out in my mind right now is when I borrowed a laptop stand from my flatmate.

When it comes to exactly what it is, well, it wasn't terribly exciting. It's just a piece of black plastic that sits at an angle which you can rest your laptop on while you type. It's supposed to make the experience more comfortable and prevent repetitive strain injuries or something like that. I'm not sure how true it is, but I wanted to try it out

and see if I could, or if I should get one of my own. In terms of who I borrowed the thing from, like I said, it was my flatmate. He's a university student and a lot more tech savvy than I am. So he seemed like someone more in the know about these things, even if he is younger by about 10 years. He's also very good-natured, so he had no problem with giving me a loan of it to see how it worked out. And if it did, then I would buy my own one.

With regard to when all of this went down, oh God, I honestly don't remember the exact dates, it must have been well over a year ago since it's been sitting in my room for a while now. I really liked using it, and he didn't have a problem allowing me to have it since he had another one, so it's just become almost part of the furniture in my office. As for why I asked for a loan of it in the first place, well, I'm pretty cautious when it comes to buying things, so it made sense to have a trial run before committing to buying my own. As it turned out, I ultimately didn't have to do that

because Pete decided instead to give me the stand for Christmas last year. And that was very kind of him, in addition to being super convenient. And that's especially true because it's so useful, despite being just made of thin black, hardened plastic with some decorative circles on it, It's made doing my job a lot easier. And do you think you'll be borrowing more things in the future? I hope not, because like I say, I'm usually very prepared. And if I need to borrow something, that it means I haven't prepared well.