IELTS Speaking for Success - 🤖 Machines (Part 1 ) + Transcript

Episode Date: June 2, 2025

Get access to our episode archive: https://www.patreon.com/ieltssfs What is your favourite machine in your home? Do you read the instructions before using a machine? Is it important to read the instructions? Do you think washing machines and sweeping machines are important? 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/s12e09 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, lovely. I'm Maria. My name is Rory and we're the hosts of the IEL Speaking for Success podcast. The podcast 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 fabulous vocabulary. For your, for your, for your, for your, what? For your I, high alt score. Kandai score. Rory, look at you. You've taken IELTS.

You're now doing your visa. you're going to Oxford this summer you're like a machine Rorya like you are like a productive machine of life you kind of you produce stuff it's like a machine like pooh-bh-poh-pah-pah

I have become a machine that is true shall we talk about machines dear listener let's talk about machines and this is a super new topic we've never had such a topic

machines IELD speaking part one. So yeah, it's like, wow, it's a new topic. And what a coincidence, because our Rory is indeed a machine. A Scottish Ailes machine. Rory produces Ben 9 answers. Oh, pock, pock, pock, pock, like a factory. Rory, you're not just like one machine, but you are a factory of IELTS band nine answers.

Huh? Oh, heck, wonder if I can print that on my CV. What's your favorite machine in your home? Well, I suppose the biggest time saver is the washing machine, actually. I use it once a week, but it saves me having to do all that manual labor of washing, well, of hand washing clothes by myself. I can't imagine life without it, actually. Do you read the instructions before using a machine?

Normally, the first time, yes. Usually the process is fairly self-explanatory, but it's always good to check. After that, I find it easy enough to remember what I need to do. Is it important to read the instructions? Generally, yes. Even though you can usually work things out just by looking at whatever the device is and what functions are, a manual or a set of instructions can be handy. You have to do something out of the ordinary, like use new settings, for example.

Do you think washing machines and sweeping machines are important? Well, I think the washer is. pretty much indispensable at this point, given the number of hours it lets you spend doing other things. But when it comes to sweeping machines, I don't actually know what those are. So I couldn't say, they're definitely

not so important for me. I mean, I know my way around a brush and dustpan reasonably 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. What a topic, dear listener, machines. First of all, what are machines? Like, like, machines, like, what is a machine? Mechanical things that make life easier? A piece of equipment with several moving parts that uses power to do a particular type of work. For example, a vending machine. Like we buy our drinks and chocolates from a vending machine. Or a washing machine is a machine. But here, in this context, we can talk about different gadgets, dear listener,

appliances that we usually use at home. So home devices, appliances, gadgets, AI-powered machine. Dear listener that you use at home. And our common devices are air conditioners, refrigerators, blenders, air purifiers, smart TV. Maria is just listing things that I don't have in my home. Yeah, Roar, because you're boring. Come on. Let's just like, come on.

Come on. Come on. Just like, like, Rory, you don't need any machines because you are a machine. Okay? Our listener may not be a machine, that's why. Our listener might have an automated coffee maker or a dishwasher, a vacuum cleaner. So, dear listener, you can talk about these machines. And your favorite machine in your home, you can be very interesting and just say something more interesting than Rory. So Rory, you just said a washing machine, okay.

and a washing machine is a real time saver. It saves your time. It washes clothes for you. And what do you call a machine that washes the dishes in the kitchen, worry? A dishwasher? A dishwasher, yes. So a dishwasher washes your dishes in the kitchen. Do you have a dishwasher?

Yes, I do have a dishwasher. Oh my God, that's amazing. I don't have a dishwasher. I have a pair of... Or you can say that my favorite machine is my multi-room audio system. Hmm. Or is my smart lighting system, you know, lights or different lights. Or for example, my favorite machine is a do it all smart oven.

It can be interesting. Dear Listen, even if you don't have anything at home, just say, yeah, I love my smart couch station. Just Google it. It's amazing. How many machines we have. Oh, it's amazing, you know. It's a smart couch station. So you have a couch, a sofa. And then there is this little kind of table, kind of coffee table, but it has different functions. It has a cup holder. It has an iPad stand. It has a cooling fan, fan, you know, like you are sitting on your side. sofa watching television and then you have a fan from this smart couch station. That's crazy!

Like a super smart coffee table. I know. We usually read instructions before using a machine or a device or any gadget. They're also called manuals. Okay. So manuals or guides or instructions that we use before using a washing machine. for example. And Rovey tells us, well, the process is self-explanatory. So you don't have to read instructions, you can understand everything yourself, and it's like self-explanatory, no need to

read anything. That's probably a very male interpretation of how you should approach things like this. I imagine some more sensible people would probably be like, oh no, it's not self-explanatory. You should always read the manual in detail before you attempt to. do things. And even though you can usually work things out yourself, understand things, work things out, it's useful to read a manual before using a device. So a manual or set of instructions can be handy, useful. And you usually read a manual if you need to do something out of the ordinary. So you need to change the settings of a machine. This is something extraordinary, out of the ordinary, so you need to read the instructions. The questions could be about specific machines. For example, washing machines,

coffee machines, like coffee makers, right? Or sweeping machines. Dear listener, go to Google images and write sweeping machines. And then you'll see sweeping machines. And then you'll see sweeping. or hand-held sweepers. Out of the ordinary is probably a good collocation to have. Out of the ordinary? Yeah, something that's not normal. Like a native speaker with a band nine score in aisles, for example. Without a dishwasher.

I don't need a dishwasher, I have two hands. Yeah, but a dishwasher is kind of a luxury, dear listener. If you don't have a dishwasher, that's fine. But you can lie to just show off your super vocabulary, dear listener, all right? Even if you don't have a refrigerator or you don't have a washing machine, just say that you do, all right? Be more interesting to the examiner. Because everybody will talk about a fridge or a TV,

and you, being super cool, dear listener, you will talk about water purifier. A water purifier cleans your water purifier. water. Okay, and this is like super interesting. Or you can talk about a gym machine at your home. Rory, what machine from the gym can I have at home? What do you call a machine you run on? Oh, a treadmill? Treadmill, yeah. Oh, I have a treadmill. I should have talked about that. Oh, there you go.

I don't use my treadmill, actually. So if anyone would like to buy my treadmill, please get in touch. What do you call a machine that cuts your grass? A lawnmower? Yeah, a lawn mower, dear listener. So you can also talk about your vacuum cleaner, a lawnmower, or please Google a sweeping machine or a sweeper. You can also call it a handheld sweeper. You just hold it with your hands.

And you can say that they are pretty much indispensable. So that's your key word. You cannot live without them. Indispensable is C2 level benign. So this machine is indispensable. So it cannot be changed. I can't manage without it. And you can say that my water purifier is an absolutely indispensable piece of equipment. Yeah. And also, dear listener, we are living in 2025, right? So everything, pretty much everything is operating with AI, artificial intelligence, and you can talk about AI powered devices. When you start talking about a different machine, you can say when it comes to sweeping machines or when it comes to dishwashers, they are definitely not. for me, for example. Or they're not useful, or they're super useful.

Or I don't need a sweeper. I know my way around a brush and a dustpan. If you don't have a special machine to sweep your floors, you use a brush and a dustpan, like the old school way. And now, Rory, you will need to choose a machine for your house. Are you ready? Oh, wow. What are my choices? Okay, okay, so the first choice is, and this is the equipment that people use in 2025, so it's like super new.

So the first one is a vacuum cleaner that has an arm for clearing socks. So it's like a vacuum cleaner that is a robot, but this vacuum cleaner has an actual arm, you know? It cleans your floor and then just an arm appears. And then it just like, whoop, it just takes your sock and removes it. How difficult is it to pick up your socks? It's amazing, right? So, dear listener, we do have vacuum cleaners with an arm installed into them. So you have one of those.

Or, Rory, you will have a voice assistant like Amazon's Alexa. for example. A voice assistant is also kind of a type of machine. Or you can get a smart couch station that we've been talking about, this kind of smart coffee table that has everything. Or you have the totem planter. What is that? That is a smart system for growing your indoor garden. So these kind of like little shelves that you can plant different herbs and plants and they grow. And it's like a self-watering system. That is the height of laziness. What was the one before the couch station?

The one before the couch station was voice assistant like Amazon's Alexa. Right, then I'll get that. That seems to be the most practical one. And it's fitting because I have an Alexa in my house. I just don't talk to her that much. You see, the listener, so we do have different machines and, like, AI-powered machinery. So, yeah. Also, you can talk about something like smart water sensors.

Do check out smart couch station. Just Google it and go to Google Images. All right. And also do check out the stair climbing robot vacuum cleaner. Rory, did you know that these robot vacuum cleaners can now climb the stairs. Did you know? What? Why?

They climb the stairs to clean the second floor in your house. It's amazing. That's crazy. Thank you very much for listening. Please be interesting when you talk about machines. Feel free to lie and just think like what super AI powered machine you'd like to have in your home and just lie about it.

This is also useful for your essays because you can make examples writing about specific pieces of technology that people are using these days. Bye! When you're flying Emirates business class, dining on a world-class menu at 40,000 feet, you'll see that your vacation isn't really over until your flight is over. Fly Emirates, fly better. What's your favorite machine in your home? Well, I suppose the biggest time saver is the washing machine, actually. I use it once a week, but it saves me having to do all that manual labor of washing, well, of hand washing clothes by myself.

I can't imagine life without it, actually. Do you read the instructions before using a machine? Normally, the first time, yes. Usually the process is fairly self-explanatory, but it's always good to check. After that, I find it easy enough to remember what I need to do. Is it important to read the instructions? Generally, yes. Even though you can usually work things out just by looking at whatever the device is and what functions are,

a manual or a set of instructions can be handy. You have to do something out of the ordinary, like use new settings, for example. Do you think washing machines and sweeping machines are important? Well, I think the washer is. pretty much indispensable at this point, given the number of hours that lets you spend doing other things. But when it comes to sweeping machines,

I don't actually know what those are. So I couldn't say, they're definitely not so important for me. I mean, I know my way around a brush and dustpan reasonably well.