IELTS Speaking for Success - 🧺 Picnics (S04E07) + Transcript

Episode Date: September 14, 2020

What are some of the places that you could go to to have a picnic? Does Rory like mosquitoes and do they like him back? Why in general do people go on picnics? Where and when was Rory's last picnic?  Tune in and have a great day! - IELTS Speaking for Success PREMIUM: https://linktr.ee/sfspremium Transcript: https://successwithielts.com/s04e07 Our social media: https://linktr.ee/successwithielts © Success with IELTS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, lovely, I'm Maria. And my name is Rory, and we are the hosts of the AILT Speaking for Success podcasts. The podcast themes to help you improve your speaking skills as well as your listening skills along the way. We started this podcast to give you a look at how an educated and super-qualified native speaker would answer some of the most common AILD speaking questions. Rory, am I an easy-going person? Oh, of course you are, Maria. Life with you is always a picnic.

What a coincidence again on this podcast! We're going to be talking about picnics today. Yes, in Speaking Part 1, they can ask you questions about picnics. If you would like to know what score you are likely to get in the speaking exam, mistakes that you need to work on, or get some feedback on the structure of your answers, we've got what we call pre-recorded mock speaking test. We've recorded me asking the questions for parts 1, 2 and 3 of the AILT speaking All you need to do is sign up for a test and record yourself answering the video questions whenever you want.

It doesn't matter what time zone you're in, you decide when you want to take it. We'll send you very detailed written feedback on your answers. It's a great way to practice IEL speaking. Visit SuccesswithIELDS.com for more details. Rory, do you enjoy picnics? I think I enjoy the thought of them more than actually going on them. I'm not very outdoorsy. How often do you go on a picnic?

I think hardly ever these days I live in the city So it's hard to find the time To get out of your busy schedule To do everything required to get ready for the picnic To go on the picnic And then to tidy up after the picnic Where would you go on the picnic?

I suppose if I could I think I'd have one in the cuttentry side With a lot of mosquito spray Who would you go with? I think I'd definitely go with my friends I think it's probably a bit much To ask my family to do something like that these days And it's more original than going to the pub, and it's less stressful these days with social distancing and everything going on.

So you can be outdoors, and there's not so much pressure. Why do people go on picnics? Well, sort of like I said, when I think about it critically, I have no idea. There are bugs everywhere. People can have allergies to things. To be honest, I think it's more the novelty or the romance of it. And sometimes people want to be around nature, although sometimes you can have too much nature. What do people do while they're on a picnic?

Well, I guess they pack a few sandwiches and drinks in a blanket and go somewhere, and then throw the blanket on the ground and enjoy the food they've prepared. There are a few official picnic spots, but I guess it can be kind of ad hoc thing as well. When was the last time you went on the picnic? I honestly don't remember exactly. It's when I was younger, like a lot of. younger. If I had to guess probably when I was 21, I think we went to this ruined castle near my house and ate some sandwiches there. And I think it was like in the middle of autumn as well, so it was kind of

cold. Do many people enjoy picnics in your country? I have no idea. My guess would be that it's more common in the summer, but as to the numbers, I could not say. I don't really, I haven't seen many people doing it. When do people in your country go on a picnic? Ah, well, countryside, the seaside, the roadside. No, I'm just joking. It's got to be somewhere in the open with lots of fresh air. Will you go on picnics more often in the future? If I can find someone to go on one with, then maybe. It might be a cool idea for a date, actually.

Rory, thank you very much for your picnicking answers. So, picnics, we can go on a picnic. We can have a picnic. him but also a picnic can be used as a verb for example to picnic yes yeah what do you call this chocolate bar picnic there is a picnic bar yeah yeah maz sneakers and the picnic do you like it um i think so i think it used to have raisins in it which i didn't like it's right yeah i'm pretty sure though there are some kinds that don't have raisins and they're okay but most of the time yeah and also we can say picnicking. Picnicing as an activity, yeah? But careful, picnic is spelled with

C, but if you write picnicking, there's a K there. Is there? K-I-N-G. Oh, yeah, I think so. Picnicing. Are you sure about that? Let's check it, yes. We are Googling as we go. Let's Google it. Who is right? Maria-O-Rory Battle. Okay, Picnicinging with a K or Picnicing with a C. So, ta-dan. Really? Yay! Dear listener, it's sensation today. I knew something that Rory didn't. That seems so weird.

Hold on a minute. Let's just check this. Because I'm prepared, okay? So I'm preparing for the episodes. I'm researching and searching everything about picnics. Yeah, okay. Hold on a second. He doesn't like it.

He doesn't like Kay in the word picnicking. Wow. Okay, it's a misspelling. That's crazy. I thought it was without... I know that you spell panicking with a K. Picnicing with a K. Cool. Okay. Yeah, so for example, picnicking is a nice activity. Yeah, or picnicking is popular in Scotland. It might be popular. Who knows? Yeah, might be popular. Um, Rory, you said that I'm not very outdoorsy. Yeah, that just means that I'm not very good at coping with being outdoors and all the things that that involves. So you don't like spending your time outdoors?

As long as it's simple stuff like walking, then it's fine. But if we talk about picnicking, then it's very logistically complex. So you're not a picnic person? Not so much, no. Not these days. Yeah, so we can say, like, I enjoy being outdoors, or I don't enjoy being outdoors, or I'm not very much. very outdoorsy. We can also say that I enjoy heading out for a picnic. So to head out for a picnic. Rory, you've mentioned mosquito spray, yeah? Yes. Can you say insect repellent?

You can or you could say bog spray. Bug bugs spray. I said mosquito spray because I hate mosquitoes in particular. I do not like the mosquito. Do they hate you too? Yes. Some Scottish blood. Oh, too much whiskey. Oh, no. Okay, right. Got your comment on the grammar. If I could, I would. Yes, I was going to, you know. Comment faster.

Yes. First, I comment on your blood and how much whiskey you have in there. So then we go to the second conditional. So if I could, I'd. So what was that about? I was just imagining what I would do. So what would you do on a picnic? I would go on one in the countryside.

if I had the time, but I don't have the time. Yeah, and Rory doesn't go on picnics. We can go to the countryside, we can have a picnic by the sea or by the road, right, Rory? Well, you can, but it would probably be very unpleasant. By the road, a picnic by the road, yay. Yeah, Rory, you've mentioned some official picnic spots, right? So, spot is like a place? Yes.

It's a place for picnicking, only not. We can also call them designated picnic sites. Sites or spots or places. And usually people choose scenic picnic spots. Scenic? That means it's got some nice scenery that you can look out while you're enjoying your picnic. Yeah. And you've said this strange word ad hoc.

What? Sounds really weird, but sounds really sophisticated. Yeah, that's not English. That's just Latin. but it means you make things up as you go along. Could you give us an example? We need an example. So we deal with problems on an ad hoc basis.

So we just deal with the problems as they happen. There's no expectation or advanced planning. What do you need to have a nice picnic? So you said that you need a blanket, or you've mentioned a blanket, right? Sandwiches. Do you say sandwiches or sandwiches? I see sandwiches. Some people say sandwiches.

Sam. Sam. sandwiches. And also, Rory, you didn't mention anything about basket, a picnic basket. It's a must-have. If you go on a picnic, you should have a picnic basket. I'm not paying for a picnic basket. A plastic bag will do just fine. No. But what about this English tradition of having picnics? I've heard that the English will take any opportunity for a picnic. Is it true? Yeah, but Scottish people are really cheap, so we don't pay for picnic baskets. Okay, well, then you have like a basket, you have napkins and plates and dinnerware.

You can have dinnerware. All of this seems very unnecessary, but okay. Yeah, about the activities. So what do people do on a picnic? They eat. They breathe the fresh air. They chill. Yeah, they absorb the day.

And, well, they can spend quality. time with their families and picnics actually help with family bonding. Yes, they do. What about novelty and romance or romance? So novelty is like if a situation or something is new, then people are attracted to, and people are attracted to it because it's new, then that means it's a novelty. Romance here isn't about love, it's more about people having, having a very positive view of a situation

and not really thinking about any of the negative parts of it. So people have this romantic idea of picnics that you go out and you're in the countryside and you have a nice time and you breathe the fresh air. But they don't think about all of the negative things that could happen like ants and flies and wasps and things like this. And rain. And rain. Yes, that could also happen.

So you see. Earthquakes. Okay, it's nice to go on the picnic and spend time lounging in the sun. So it's kind of like a mood boost. Rory, when I asked you some questions, you just said, I have no idea. Is it okay to actually admit that you have no idea? Yeah, absolutely. If you're not very good at making up a story on the spot,

then just say you don't have any idea. And then you can try and remember something. And you can, well, there's still an opportunity to use higher level structures. So, for example, I said, like, I honestly can't recall. So that's fine. And then I said when I was younger, so comparative forms and past forms. And that was fine. And in the same way, I also said when I think about it critically.

So when I think about it in depth, I have no idea. And then you can speculate. You can say, I think it's a. about something or I suppose. So you can try. But if you don't have an idea and you don't want to make up a story, then you can just guess.

You're not being assessed to have good ideas. It's all about can you use language to deal with the situation. Yeah, and you said, like, I have no idea, but my guess would be that people usually go on a picnic by the sea. Thank you very much for listening. That's all from us about picnics. We hope that you've learned some picnicking, vocabulary and some grammar.

And may your life always be a picnic. Woo! Make sure you're following Success With IELTS on Instagram and Telegram for updates behind the scenes, stuff and cool announcements from us. We also have transcripts. Rory, where can people find our transcripts? They can find them on our brand new website. Yes, because we've moved all our podcast transcripts there.

It's SuccesswithIELDS.com slash podcast. go check it out. Bye-bye. Bye. Rory, do you enjoy picnics? I think I enjoy the thought of them more than actually going on them. I'm not very outdoorsy. How often do you go on a picnic? I think hardly ever these days.

I live in the city, so it's hard to find the time to get out of your busy schedule to do everything required to get ready for the picnic, to go on the picnic and then to tidy up after the picnic. Where would you go on a picnic? I suppose if I could, I think I'd have one in the cuttintry sides with a lot of mosquito spray. Who would you go with? I think I'd definitely go with my friends. I think it's probably a bit much to ask my family to do something like that these days.

And it's more original than going to the pub and it's less stressful these days, there's social distancing and everything going on. So you can be outdoors and there's not so much pressure. Why do people go on picnics? Well, sort of like I said, when I think about it critically, I have no idea. There are bugs everywhere. People can have allergies to things. To be honest, I think it's more the novelty or the romance of it

than sometimes people want to be around nature, although sometimes you can have too much nature. What do people do while they're on a picnic? Well, I guess they pack a few sandwiches and drinks and a blanket and go somewhere and then throw the blanket on the ground and enjoy the food they've prepared. There are a few official picnic spots, but I guess it can be kind of ad hoc thing as well. When was the last time you went on a picnic?

I honestly don't remember exactly. It's when I was younger, like a lot younger. If I had to guess probably when I was 21, I think we went to this ruined castle near my house and ate some sandwiches there. And I think it was like in the middle of autumn as well, so it was kind of cold. Do many people enjoy picnics in your country? I have no idea. My guess would be that it's more common in the summer, but as to the numbers, I could not say. I don't really, I haven't seen many people doing it. When do people in your country go on a picnic? Well, countryside, the seaside, the roadside. No, I'm just joking. It's got to be somewhere in the open with lots of fresh air. Will you go on picnics more often in the future?

If I can find someone to go on one with, then maybe. It might be a cool idea for a date, actually.