IELTS Speaking for Success - 🎳 Spending time with others (S06E18) + Transcript

Episode Date: November 1, 2021

Do you like being around other people? Would you prefer to stay alone or with other people? What do you and your friends do together? Do you remember a time when you needed to cooperate with others? Tune in and have a great day! - Get exclusive episodes on IELTS Speaking parts 1, 2, and 3: https://linktr.ee/sfspremium Our course on Phrasal Verbs: https://successwithielts.com/podcourses Transcript: https://successwithielts.com/s06e18 Find an IELTS Speaking Partner: https://links.successwithielts.com/ieltspartner Our social media: https://linktr.ee/successwithielts © 2021 Success with IELTS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello Sunshine, I'm Maria. And my name is Rory and we are the host of the AIL Speaking for Success podcast, the podcast that aims to help you improve your speaking skills as well as your listening skills along the way. We've started this podcast. Well, we've started this podcast to give you joy and gorgeous grammar and IELT super duper vocabulary for a Rory score. Now we know that Rory score means band nine score. Yes. You've probably noticed that we're...

We've changed the music, right? You also probably know why we did it. The time has finally come to create some holiday mood. We did it last year, and we're doing it this year again. So grab a cup of tea, coffee, or whatever, and join in. Rorya, haven't heard from you for ages. You don't spend time with me anymore. I don't spend enough time with many people now, to be honest.

Sorry about that. Shall we talk about spending time with others? It's another coincidence, so yes. Dear listener, we have our premium episodes where we talk about I'll speak in part two and part three. So by subscribing to our premium podcast, you help us. Well, you just say thank you. And you help me to buy new shoes. You help Rory to buy food.

So please do check out our premium episodes. This week we're going to be talking about a bike or a motorbike or a car trip that Rory would like to have in his life. And in speaking part three, we're going to be discussing traveling and transportation in general. Click the link in the description and do check out our premium episodes. Do you like talking to people? I love a good natter, doesn't everyone? Especially if it's about something I'm into or if people have lots of questions

about something I can help them out with. I suppose there has to be some sort of constructive point to it, but generally, yes, I do like talking to people. Do you like being around other people? Usually, particularly if they're, I don't know, competent or interesting to be around. I doubt anyone's thrilled by being with those who complain about, well, everything and don't hold out any chance

of finding a solution. It's just a waste of time and it sort of sucks the energy out of the room, doesn't it? Would you prefer to stay alone or with other people? Well, that's contingent on what I'm doing. If I have an essay to write, then I prefer to be by myself. However, I'll be the first to admit that it's better if other people are around, in general. You can share ideas and have a good time and you probably get more done. Do you like to spend time with friends? Well, doesn't everyone? I don't see the point in having friends if you don't want to hang out with them. Even if it's online, you would ideally still want to be around them. I mean, I can't think of any other circumstance when you would want to have friends unless it was, I don't know, to exploit them for some sort of purpose.

But then they're not really your friends, are they? What do you and your friends do together? Typically for Scotland, and if it's a weekend, then we pretty much head out to a bar or a club. If it's a school night, I suppose it's comparatively tame and we'd sit and watch movies and reminisce and tell jokes and anecdotes. Do you remember a time when you needed to cooperate with others? Well, I have to cooperate with people all the time since we live in a society. Though if you want a specific instance, then my tutor group at university collaborates on when to have meetings and how to structure our ideas and tasks every week. Thank you, Rory, for spending this time with me

answering these deep philosophical questions. Philosophical questions, yeah. Like, do you like to spend time with your friends? What do you do together with your friends? What a ridiculous question. You should actually, what a great, what a great fixed expression for whenever you get a stupid question

like that in your eye arts exam. Just say, what a ridiculous question. Of course I do. Yeah, yeah. Who doesn't, like, spending time with their friends? Yeah. Who hired you and just go nuts at the examiner? Yeah, do you listen to an examiner is a person or is like a human being.

So sometimes they do understand that some questions are ridiculous. So be natural and react to such ridiculous questions. Like, do you like talking to people? And usually kind of we are okay talking to people. So, well, yes, you know. But then you can make a joke You can say like, no, I hate everybody I'm joking

It's fine in the exam Because speaking is natural Speaking is an informal part So crack jokes Be natural Be yourself Make the exam in a laugh Yeah so

And if you have some ridiculous questions Like silly questions Do you like to spend time with your friends Have a laugh Together with the examines These questions are silly silly. Yeah, they're very silly. But now they are out there in the IOT's land. So if you take IOTs before January 2022, you can be asked questions about spending time with others. So yeah,

that's why we're doing it for you. The question was, do you like talking to people? And you said, I love a good Nata, doesn't it? And everyone? So there's a lot going on here. From the lexical perspective if we focus on the vocabulary and natter. Natter is just like a chat for a prolonged period of time. Nattering away.

Hmm. Mm-hmm. So I love a good chat or I love a good natter. Natter. Netter. Notter. You know, just nattering away.

Although Natter is like meaningless conversation. It's just like blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And then we follow up with a question tag. Doesn't everyone? You can't see it, but I'm moving my eyebrows.

And as everyone doesn't, doesn't, everyone. It's strange. Very strange. Don't we say don't everyone? No, because it's one. It's like every individual person. So if we're addressing every individual person, it's like, doesn't he? Doesn't she? Oh, although you've missed something.

After everyone, and then I moved on into more detail, because you can't just like give a short answer to it. a question for part three, you have to extend it. And so you extend it by saying, especially, and then you give a specific example. Yeah. And we also say, like, especially if it's about something I'm into, like, I'm into video games, I'm into reading. Mm-hmm.

I'm into chatting to people, talking to people. I like being around people. So the question was about being around other people. And Rory said, I doubt anyone is. thrilled by being with those who complain all the time. Yeah, although if you want to use the extended version, it's like, I doubt anyone is thrilled by the prospect of being with those who complain all the time. So usually you're thrilled by the prospect, but this is a shorter way of saying it.

You can also say that being around people who complain all the time sucks the energy out of the room or out of you, out of somebody else, out of a person, yeah? So to suck the energy out of something, just like it takes your energy. Yeah. How do, like, how you feel when people complain all the time? How do you feel when you talk to people who complain all the time? And you have a concrete example, because I complain all the time. No, you don't.

Oh, yes, I too. If you do complain, it's kind of, it's in a nice way. I like it. When? Well, give an example. I just, oh, yeah, the documents, for example, the visa application kind of, you tell me about the situation, you are not happy about it, but you do it in a kind of like stylish way, I don't know.

Oh, when I complained about, come, come into our country and do what you're like, live here for free. When you complain about this situation, you kind of make it funny and you crack jokes and it kind of makes me laugh, you know. So you are kind of, you are not a negative person, you see, Rory. I'm positive that that is not true.

Well, but you have this air about you, that you are like positive and you just like, yeah, you accept the situation and you just like have a laugh about it. So that's what I like. So what else is there to do? Anyway, let's move on, shall we? Because we've talked about what we're not thrilled by and that is people sucking the energy out of the room. Oh, we skipped over something though. In the previous answer, I said, and this relates back to what we were talking about previously, there's got to be some sort of constructive point to. it. Now, if you're speaking constructively or giving constructive criticism or complaining constructively,

it means that you are complaining, but you are doing it to help people, or you are saying it in a way that is designed to find a solution. You're not just saying, well, this is rubbish, and that's all. Yeah. Would you prefer to stay alone or with others? It depends on what I'm doing, or that's contingent. Contingent on what I'm doing. Jesus, that's contingent. On what I'm doing. This is so strange. Like, that depends on what I'm doing. I got bored of saying it depends on. That's contingent.

Isn't it a bit formal? I think it's like so formal that you can't really say it in a speaking exam. Why not? I don't know. I said it in a speaking exam. No, you can. All right. That's contingent on what I'm doing.

Sometimes I prefer to be by myself, to be by myself, or on my own. Ah, well, here, look. Because some people have problems with saying, like, you know how you have depend or it depends, but she depends, I depend, for example. But it's always that or whatever is contingent on something. So it's a way to around this problem of third person present simple X. Yeah, that's contingent on what I'm doing. Yeah. Yeah, and then like if I have an essay to write, I prefer to be on my own.

Ooh, conditional. First conditional? Blah, blah, blah. Yeah, first conditional. Oh, maybe zero, zero conditional. No, no, it's zero. Is it? Zero conditional.

Present and present, yeah. If I have an essay to write, I prefer to be on my own. Yeah, so zero conditional. Oh, God, don't you're just making up conditions? Anyway, yes. Okay. You can share ideas with other people. You can get things done.

You chat to other people. You strike up conversations with other people. Oh, but you get things done. And that's important because, first of all, get, causative get, yes, to get more done. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And also, things are done. You don't get things made, you get things done.

done let's get this done two things yeah you hang out with other people and I talked about hanging out with my friend yeah that's another way of paraphrasing is spend time

okay deal listener even if you don't have friends or if you have very few friends that's fine that's okay you say like okay I don't have many friends but yeah but again a friend in English

is just a friend a friend could be anybody we have like an acquaintance, a person who is not your close friend, but a friend could be like any person you know well. And then your best friend or your close friends. Okay, then what do you do with your friends? In Scotland, you head out to a bar or a club. We could just say you head out.

Head out to a bar. Head out. Head out. Go out. Right. Then reminisce. Reminis. Yeah.

You think about times past and enjoy the memory. You remember things. Yeah. You watch movies. You binge watch Netflix. Reminis. Tell jokes. Enidotes.

Tell anecdotes means like tell a story. Usually a funny story or a shocking story. Mm-hmm. There are not many of those in Dundee, to be honest with you. Yeah. So have some activities that you usually do with your friends. If you want to use some cool language, so head out. to a bar or

binge watch Netflix series Do people actually watch TV shows with their friends? Like do they do they pass comment as they're watching

the TV show? Oh I have no idea that's a good question And actually there's an expression for that like to give a running commentary As you're watching Yeah To give a running commentary

I like I like doing that with my friends And just like making snide remarks how awful the actors are or how terrible the plot is. People do it when they watch football. Like you watch a match and then you make running commentary. Like you are shouting at the football players and the goalkeeper. No, you're like, what are you doing? All these things.

Anyway, then, Rory, you said that we live in a society. We do live in a society. That's a meme. So here Have you seen this meme? We should use an article. No. We live in a society.

Oh, Google it. No. Shall I Google it now? Yeah, just type in, we live in a society meme. We live in a society. Oh, with Donald Trump dressed as a joker. Well, the whole meme is about living in a society and how crazy it is. No, anyway.

Moving on. Yeah, here an article is okay. so we live in a society. We live in a society. And then the question was about cooperating with others. You can also say collaborate with others. You can. Although, what's the difference between to cooperate with others and collaborate?

Co-operating is working together on a shared goal, whereas collaborating is working together on a goal that isn't really one that you originally had. Oh, the difference. The difference. There we go. Cooperate is B2 level. so collaborate is advanced. Yeah. So that's why in the question, they use cooperate. Yeah, you see.

And then in the answer, you go, oh, I usually collaborate with my tutors or with my colleagues. I have to collaborate. Collaborate with my colleagues, definitely. Yeah. Well, none of us would be working together if we hadn't been told to. That's not because I don't like the people in my tutor group. but there are hundreds of people on my course,

so you can't work with everybody, can you? Mm-hmm, yep. So cooperate with people, collaborate on a project. I usually collaborate with somebody on something. Okay, wow, what an episode. What an episode. Dear listener, hopefully you spent a lovely time with us on this hungry episode. and check out our writing podcast.

Yeah, we have success with writing now, where Rory and I are writing graphs and essays on the spot. So click on the link in the description and do check out our writing podcast. Have some quality time with yourself or with others and with us. Bye. Do you like talking to people? I love a good notter.

Doesn't everyone? Especially if it's about something I'm into or if people have lots of questions about something I can help them out with. I suppose there has to be some sort of constructive point to it, but generally, yes, I do like talking to people. Do you like being around other people? Usually, particularly if they're, I don't know, competent or interesting to be around. I doubt anyone's thrilled by being with those who complain about, well, everything and don't hold out any chance of finding a solution. It's just a waste of time and it sort of sucks the energy out of the room, doesn't it? Would you prefer to stay alone or with other people?

Well, that's contingent on what I'm doing. If I have an essay to write, then I prefer to be by myself. However, I'll be the first to admit that it's better if other people are around, in general. You can share ideas and have a good time and you probably get more done. Do you like to spend time with friends? Well, doesn't everyone? I don't see the point in half. having friends if you don't want to hang out with them. Even if it's online, you would ideally still

want to be around them. I mean, I can't think of any other circumstance when you would want to have friends unless it was, I don't know, to exploit them for some sort of purpose, but then they're not really your friends, are they? What do you and your friends do together? Typically for Scotland, and if it's a weekend, then we pretty much head out to a bar or a club. If it's a school night, I suppose it's comparatively tame when we'd sit and watch movies and reminisce and tell jokes and anecdotes. Do you remember a time when you needed to cooperate with others? Well, I have to cooperate with people all the time since we live in a society. Though if you want a specific instance, then my tutor group at university collaborates on when to have meetings and how to structure our ideas and tasks every week.