IELTS Speaking for Success - 🥙 Food, culture, and social interaction (Part 3) + Transcript

Episode Date: June 22, 2026

Get access to our episode archive: https://successwithielts.com/ Is using your phone at dinner the height of bad manners? Rory thinks so! Dive into this chat about modern etiquette, Scotland's most famous (and awful) dish, and why we have to shell out so much for a meal. 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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free of charge. BetMGEMGEMP operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming, Ontario. Hello, hello, lovely and welcome into ILD speaking part three. We are discussing food, meals, and just food in general. Yum, yum, yum. Are you hungry? If you're hungry, go get yourself something, you know, delicious, okay? A cup of tea, coffee, juice, water.

Water? Yeah. Water. Water. Water. No. Water. Water.

Yeah, but like, can I say water? You can. I'm not going to. But what about your friends and family? Do they say water? No. No? They see water. And who says water? A glass of water? I don't know. I'm trying to think about... I suppose it's probably people from England that would say it.

Yeah. Okay. Right, dear listener. We are super rich, so say water. Okay, but if you hear somewhere a glass of water, or a, that means water. We are aristocracy. Okay, Rory lives in Scotland in a castle by the sea. So, with ghosts. So he says water, like proper aristocracy. Perfect. Anyway, talking about meals,

he spent the first minute and a half talking about water and how to pronounce it. Yeah, it's connected to food and meals. What do you think of people using their mobile phones during a meal? Well, I don't think that's socially acceptable, really, is it? Or I should say it shouldn't be so. It's quite rude to have them out on the table where they could just distract you from the people you're meant to be spending time with. Obviously, there are some exceptions when this doesn't apply like an emergency or something, but that's a rarity. And can you explain it further?

Yeah, like, I think people are kind of losing touch with each other and social bonds are becoming weaker, which isn't something that's helpful to have in any society. so we should be actively trying to avoid things that might damage that further. In your country, do people cook at home now as frequently as people did in the past? I'm not sure, to be honest. I suppose with the rise of fast and readily available food, there might not be as much of a need for it as before, but I don't know if that's translated to people doing things less,

although it could do. And what evidence do you have for that? Well, when things are readily available, few people go out of their way to do more under normal circumstances. It's just easier not to, isn't it? Do you think it's good to communicate when you eat with your family? That's pretty much unavoidable, isn't it? But yeah, it's usually a good idea. We already talked about social bonding.

That has various psychological and physical benefits. So, yes, it is a good idea. Has that always been true? probably for as long as we've been a social species, I'd certainly say so. I'm sure there are times when it's not been a good idea, like if there's conflict in a family, but that's not the norm, is it? Why are some people willing to spend a lot of money on meals on special days? Well, I suppose the logic is that by investing money in something, you show how much it means to you.

Plus, lots of people usually show up to these things, and they demand some extravagance. so that means that you have to shell out more than usual. Is there any food in your country that is eaten at special times or on special occasions? I can't think of any off the top of my head. Oh wait, that's not true, actually. We usually eat something called haggis on Burns Night, which is a celebration of our national poet and culture. The food itself is basically awful,

but lots of people like it since it coincides with the spirit of the evening. Do you think that can change? I think so. There are more vegans and vegetarians these days, so vegan and vegetarian haggis is probably going to be increasingly offered as an option. What are the differences between special food in your country and other countries? I'm not sure, since I haven't actually sampled many of them, although the ones I have tried generally involve something that might be traditionally considered off-putting, like awful or fermented animal parts.

It's just been the animal used that's been different. So like in Sweden they have fermented fish dishes, for example, instead of haggis, which is more sheep organs. Do you think that will also be true in the future? I think that depends on the direction of globalization. On one hand, things could become increasingly homogenous as countries and cultures come together, but there could also be a backlash to that that might encourage people to try and stand out more in terms of their food.

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. Oh, no questions about cake, so we don't even get to say it's a piece of cake. That's sad. Yeah, I know.

Like, no, no cake question. Can we not add in like a part three question? Do you think people will be eating more cake in the future? Okay, okay. No. No? Okay. Could you imagine if the examiner said that?

A lot of people use their mobile phones, their smartphones during a meal. This is absolutely unacceptable. The height of rudeness. Even though Marie is doing it right now. You should have seen the expression on your face. when you were caught. You're like, how could people use their phones and not pay attention to what's going on?

Meanwhile, Maria's like, yeah, how could it happen? Continue as normal. You can say it's quite rude to use a phone during a meal. You could say it's the height of bad manners. That means it's like the rudest thing ever. Which it probably isn't, but it's still not very nice. And the mobile phones could distract you from the people.

So you should be spending time with people. But a phone is a distraction. It distracts you from doing something. But if it's an emergency, if it's something urgent, you know, an emergency. So you need to do something urgently, some like a serious or a dangerous situation. So it's okay if it is an emergency. Then the rules don't apply. And if people use mobile phones during a meal, they'll lose a.

touch with each other. So lose touch, they kind of stop communicating. Lose touch with someone is an idiom. It's a very good idea. To no longer communicate with someone. For example, like, I lost touch with Bob. So Bob and I are no longer friends.

I don't know who Bob is, which is Bob, sorry, that we lost touch. Because you were using your mobile phone during our meals. And social bonds become weaker. Social bonds between people, like social connections. Like bonds mean connections. So they become weaker. And if you want to have a functioning society, you should probably want that.

The examiner might use the word frequently. It means often. So do people cook as frequently now as they did in the past? And this is a common question. you should compare the past to the present. So we can use Eustre in the past people. Used to cook at home every day. Now the situation has changed.

So use Eustre plus present perfect. And today people are going out. People are cooking less at home. You know, the present continues because it's a trend. Well, it seems like they are. I don't know if that's true or not. Yeah, kind of like, what about the delivery, for example? example, because very often people order delivery. Oh, they order in. That's what it is.

Then you say, just, I'm not sure, to be honest. Do listen, if you don't know, if you are not sure, you just say it, okay? Because I don't know what people did in the past. I was like five years old. I was fed by my parents. I'm not sure, to be honest. So that's absolutely fine. This is a natural reaction to the question. Or I don't know, like, what people did in the past. And then you say, I suppose, I think, today we have readily available food. You go to a shop and it's ready, it's available, it's ready made. You make no effort.

You don't have to cook. There's no need to cook. So I suppose that people might be cooking less these days. But in the past, they used to cook a lot more. Then the examiner might like chichat and ask, oh, like, can you prove that? Okay. Like, what evidence do you have, you know, like prove it to me, you know? It's fine because it's kind of a conversation, right?

So you say something, then the examiner asks more questions if they don't understand what you say. Or if they want you to add more information. So that's fine. Evidence means facts, information, documents, to prove something. But maybe you have no proof. Yeah, and you say, OK, I don't know. Who knows? Leave me alone.

What do you want from me? Yeah. Do you have evidence, you know? Maybe don't ask the examiner for evidence. But still, I have no idea. And then guess. Yeah, and you can say, like, from what I see online, there are a lot of deliveries, there are a lot of restaurants.

And, like, most people, all over the world. prefer deliveries or just rely on good old human nature if things are easier then probably people will take the easy option for band nine you can use a tag question so it's easier not to cook isn't it so it is easier then in the question it's negative isn't it rory could you pronounce it it's just easier not to isn't it yeah isn't it so it's not a question the intonation goes down because it's kind of a fact okay so we're We're not asking a question. Like, it's much easier, isn't it?

Isn't it? No, it doesn't go up. It should be, isn't it? So it's easier, isn't it? But I think it is easier, isn't it? Well, if you are asking, then the intonation goes up. It's easier, isn't it? Like, really?

But it is easier, isn't it? Maria, do you agree? I agree. Oh, thank God. Okay. Yeah, I, um, I go somewhere to eat. I find a few venues where. where a dinner is quite cheap.

So it's kind of a homemade food. So I just eat there. I rarely cook dreadful. Oh, it's fine. It's probably fine. This spring, denim gets a softer, lighter update. Introducing Old Navy's drapey denim wide leg. A new fit that moves with you.

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You can if you want a five or a six, but for more than a six, it's safer to talk about things in general. So most families, people in my country, some people communicate with the family, some people eat in silence, okay? Some people don't talk during a meal, but not your family, right? And you can say, yeah, it's a good idea to talk about things, to speak about different things, to discuss the weather. And again, like social bonds. It strengthens social bonds, social bonding. You would hope so anyway. It makes people like each other.

And you can say like, okay, we are a social species. So people are social. So that's why we talk, right? especially during our meals with our families. So as we are a social species, we prefer to talk. Like, why not? People are willing to spend a lot of money. This means that people want to spend a lot of money on meals.

Spend money on something. And a very nice synonym, a phrase or verb, shell out. Yeah, to pay money for something. And Rory, do I say like shell out for? a cake or shell out on a cake. Shell out for. Yeah. So pay, give money for something.

Usually unwillingly. So if you don't want to spend this much money, but you kind of have to. So some people shell out for a massive wedding cake. So they may not want this cake, but they have to pay for it. And you can say, yeah, many people shell out more than usual. for a birthday meal, for a wedding dinner. Okay, shell out. Another synonym is fork out.

Fork out money for something. Lots of money. Yeah. Like, ooh, many people fork out for a wedding dinner. Yeah, it's expensive. Shellard, fork art, paying money for expensive things. Yeah, we have special meals, special occasions. Occasions like special events like wedding,

birthdays, celebrations, anniversaries. And what food is served in your country? So you should investigate what food. Rory is from Scotland. So they eat haggis. So in your country, maybe you eat noodles, I know, like cabbage soup, like what? So name two dishes, but use English, dear listener. So use English, translate those dishes into English.

And if there is no English, translate. then you just describe the dish. Yes, for the trends, you can mention vegans, vegetarians. So some people prefer to go vegan, to become vegetarians. And the difference between your country and other countries, you can mention spices. For example, in my country, we use a lot of spices, but in other countries, they don't. Or we eat a lot of meat. We eat a lot of, like, name specific dishes from your country.

And you can say, oh, I'm not sure, to be honest with you. I've never been anywhere. I don't get out much. Yeah, I don't get out. Yeah, like, why not, you know? Yeah, feel free to lie. Maria's life advice, just lie. No, but why not?

Like, if you don't know, just why not? You can talk about globalization. And see. So it depends on globalization. Oh, God. Are you about to try and define globalization? No, no, homogeneous is the word. Ah, okay.

Things become homogeneous, homogeneous. It means consisting of similar parts. Globalization is just the idea that the world is getting more and more connected in various different ways. Possibly not as popular as it used to be, but still. So cultures come together. Okay, so you can say, food-wise, there will not be many differences because of globalization. countries become homogeneous and cultures come together. Well, there might be more differences because they're trying to avoid being, I don't know, standardized and boring.

And they want to stand out more. Stand out is our super phrase of verb, which means to be different from somebody else. Stand out from the crowd, for example, be different, be very noticeable. and you can say that some countries might want to stand out and they will have their own food or their own cuisine, dear listener. Cuisine is like food. Well, all the food, the things that define the food in this particular place. Yeah, like French cuisine, Italian cuisine.

Thank you very much for listening. Hopefully you enjoyed our delicious answers. When we didn't make a meal of it. We'll get back to you in our next episode. Bye. Bye. Hey, y'all. It's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair.

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What do you think of people using their mobile phones during a meal? Well, I don't think that's socially acceptable, really, is it? Or I should say it shouldn't be so. It's quite rude to have them out on the table where they could just distract you from the people you're meant to be spending time with. Obviously, there are some exceptions when this doesn't apply like an emergency or something, but that's a rarity. And can you explain it further? Yeah, like, I think people are kind of losing touch with each other and social bonds are becoming weaker, which isn't something that's helpful to have in any society.

So we should be actively trying to avoid things that might damage that further. In your country, do people cook a share? home now as frequently as people did in the past? I'm not sure to be honest. I suppose with the rise of fast and readily available food, there might not be as much of a need for it as before, but I don't know if that's translated to people doing things less, although it could do. And what evidence do you have for that?

Well, when things are readily available, few people go out of their way to do more under normal circumstances. It's just easier or not to, isn't it? Do you think it's good to communicate when you eat with your family? It's pretty much unavoidable, isn't it? But yeah, it's usually a good idea. We already talked about social bonding. That has various psychological and physical benefits.

So, yes, it is a good idea. Has that always been true? Probably for as long as we've been a social species, I'd certainly say so. I'm sure there are times when it's not been a good idea, like if there's conflict in a family, but that's not the norm, is it? Why are some people willing to spend a lot of money on meals on special days? Well, I suppose the logic is that by investing money in something, you show how much it means to you. Plus, lots of people usually show up to these things, and they demand some extravagance,

so that means that you have to shell out more than usual. Is there any food in your country that is eaten at special times? or on special occasions. I can't think of any off the top of my head. Oh wait, that's not true, actually. We usually eat something called haggis on Burns Night, which is a celebration of our national poet and culture. The food itself is basically awful,

but lots of people like it since it coincides with the spirit of the evening. Do you think that can change? I think so. There are more vegans and vegetarians these days, so vegan and vegetarian haggis is probably, going to be increasingly offered as an option. What are the differences between special food in your country and other countries?

I'm not sure, since I haven't actually sampled many of them, although the ones I have tried generally involve something that might be traditionally considered off-putting, like awful, or fermented animal parts. It's just been the animal used that's been different. So, like, in Sweden, they have fermented fish dishes, for example, instead of haggis, which is more sheep. organs. Do you think that will also be true in the future? I think that depends on the direction of globalization. On one hand, things could become increasingly homogenous as countries and cultures come together, but there could also be a backlash to that that might encourage people to try and stand out more in terms of their food.

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