IELTS Speaking for Success - 🦮 Stories with animals (Part 3) + Transcript

Episode Date: August 21, 2026

Get access to our episode archive: https://successwithielts.com/ Ever wondered why Peter Rabbit is so cool? Rory explains the high-level word 'anthropomorphic' and discusses if keeping a crocodile in your city apartment is a good idea. Plus, learn idioms to cushion the blow! 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

Two and five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcfwalk.ca.ca. Hello, hello, dear listener and welcome into Ireland speaking part three. We're discussing stories with animals.

I know, what a strange topic. This is the most random one we've ever had, I think. Yeah, and I think this is the first time that we had, in speaking part two, describe a story or a book with animals in it. And then speaking part three, stories with animals, stories about animals, books about animals? Well, you know, something new in the aisles world. They're running out of ideas. Why do people always tell children's stories with animals? Well, they're quite cute, aren't they? So it might be easier to draw their attention to stories if they have animal characters,

even anthropomorphic ones. And kids often have stuffed animals when they're younger, like the toys. so it almost makes them come to life in a way. Can you explain it further? Yeah, if they show animals talking and interacting in the story, like how kids might imagine or wish they would in real life when they play with their toys, it can make the fantasy seem more realistic or bring it to life. At least I think so.

Should schools teach children about animals? I suppose so. We share a planet with them, and some of them can be pretty dangerous. or might even be endangered themselves, so teaching students about them can help address such issues with them before they encounter them in the real world.

Do you think that can change? Probably not, unless all the animals go extinct, but if that happens, we'll probably have bigger problems to deal with. What are the advantages of keeping a pet? Well, it might have some practical utility, like having a guard dog, which can keep your home secure,

and they can be pretty useful companions for the family, especially if you have young children. Even the death of a pet could be a character-building thing for a young person to help prepare them for when they have to deal with the deaths of human beings in their lives. And what could be the disadvantages? Well, the death of a pet can be pretty traumatic, regardless of how much you might cushion the blow of it. And they're not inexpensive.

You have to pay for food and vet's bills. Do many people keep pets in your country? I suppose they must do. You see lots of people outwalking their dogs and taking pictures of their cats, and you hear about people keeping loads of other pets as well. What evidence do you have for that? It's just an observation, really. Plus, we have a reputation as a nation of animal lovers,

so it would be logical for there to be lots of pets. That kind of thing doesn't just come from nowhere. Many people regard pets as members of their family. What do you think of that? I think that's probably pretty inescapable, isn't it? If something lives in the house and looks after you and vice versa, then they're part of the family unit, even though they're of a different species. Has that always been true?

For me, yes, and probably for most other people. Otherwise, animals would never keep being domesticated in the first place, would they? Some people think that pets should not be kept in cities. Would you agree? Well, I can see why they might think that, since they're pretty far removed from their original habitats, but then the same is true for people. So unless it's something like a wild animal,

like a lion or a leopard, for example, I'm sure there can be various accommodations or concessions to help them cope with city life. Do you think that will also be true in the future? Well, assuming cities continue to be well managed and don't completely go to pot, I doubt it will be a serious issue. Two and five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation walk. Challenge yourself, friends and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of law.

life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcf walk.ca.ca. 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. So, do you listen to animals, stories, about animals, books about animals. We call them animal characters. So Alice in the Wonderland, there is this rabbit. It's a character.

It's an animal character. And they are cute. Cute, like, oh, like little kitten. Yeah, how cute. Was the rabbit cute? Yeah, the rabbit. Yeah, in the Alice book and film, the rabbit is a bit weird. But usually rabbits are very cute.

Oh, we have Peter Rabbit. Oh, that's cute. They have this, a lot of books about Peter Rabbit. Oh, so cute. And also, there are movies. And in the movies, so cute and fluffy. He goes to the garden and eats other people's vegetables. How cute.

So he's like a badass. Well, unless you're a farmer, in which case, you're not very happy. Yeah, so animal characters are cute. And then Rory uses this. super band nine academic word that I can't pronounce. Well, I'm through... Exactly. He can't pronounce it too. Anthropomorphic.

Anthropomorphic just means they look like human beings. So they've been anthropomorphized, which means they've been turned into human-like characters or given human traits. So I think your rabbit, for example, wears a jacket. Rabbits in real life don't wear jackets. It's to draw a connection to the humans. of things. Making animals able to talk is a way of anthropomorphizing them.

What else? If they stand upright on two legs when they wouldn't usually, that's another way of doing this. What's that film about a bear from Peru? Oh, Paddington Bear. Yeah, he's anthropomorphized. Paddington. There we go. Paddington Bear. If you don't know who Paddington is,

it's a famous bear. Well, he's not British. He was made by British character, but he's from Peru, so he's Peruvian. Yeah. So there are books, there are films, and if you go to Wikipedia, so Paddington Bear, also known as Paddington Brown, is an anthropomorphic bear in British children's literature. You see? So anthropomorphic bear, so he talks, he wears. clothes, so he's almost a person. So anthropomorphic, anthropomorphic bear. There we go.

Yeah, take a look. You can watch some films and read some books. So Paddington Bear, that's part of the British culture and literature. And kids usually have stuffed animal toys, like a teddy panda, a teddy bear, stuffed animal toys. With animals, the fantasy seems more realistic. So animals help to bring the story to life. So they bring it to life. Endangered animals are animals who are in danger. But we have one word, indangered is an adjective.

So endangered species, endangered animals. So children should know about endangered animals. animals to protect them. Or to avoid making them even more endangered. Children can encounter animals in the real world. Meet animals. But kind of like we meet people. So we see animals in the wild.

Or we encounter animals in the world, in the real world. Like you go somewhere and then like, who, a wolf. Hello, wolf Encounter You meet a wolf by chance You know, like, oh, wow, a bear Animals can go extinct That means there are none left

So endangered animals First animals become indangered And then they go extinct Extinct Extinct E-X-T-E-X-T-E-T-E-X-T-E-T-E-T-E-T-E-T-E-T-E-T-E-T-E-T-E-E-T-E-T-E-T-E-T-E-E-T-E-T-E-T-E-E-T-E-T-E-T-E-T, they stop existing. It's C1, the listener. Ooh, so it's close to band 9. Oh yeah. Band 8.8.5. So animals go or become extinct.

For example, the giant panda could become extinct. But I don't think now there are any problems. Because China has saved the day. Exactly. Like, all pandas belong to China. Do they really? Oh, yeah, absolutely. China can give you a panda. For example, like China, gives a panda to Scotland, but it's still Chinese. And then if there are babies, they take them back after some time.

Yeah, so it's all very controlled. And all pandas. Oh, Jackie Chan owns a panda. Good for him. Yeah, it's in China and he takes care of it. And, you know, like he invests money into maintenance of the panda. Interance of the panda. No, no, seriously.

They eat a lot of bamboo, like, you know. everything they do is like eat it's just a really funny thought like the panda must be maintained absolutely yeah there's the whole culture and it's amazing so if you are a chinese listener so we are amazed at what you do about pandas how you protect them it's very nice oh i love pandas is he's okay with it fluffy yeah right the listener back to our animals advantages of keeping a pet yeah some questions could be about pets we are talking about cats, fish, home crocodiles, monkeys at home. Home crocodile.

If you keep them as pets. Some of them might have practical utility, which means they are useful for something. So a guard dog guards the house, a cat kills pests, maybe. But the death of a pet can be pretty traumatic. Remember, we discussed the word trauma, which is C2, surprisingly. and the adjective is traumatic. So when your parrot dies, unfortunately. Yeah, traumatic is also C2.

So something has an emotional shock or pain. So traumatic things. And the death of a pet is truly traumatic, especially for children. Well, for adults, it is traumatic. Oh, it's just dreadful when a dog dies, a cat dies. Just off, off. Not something you want.

Two and five Canadians will hear the words you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcf walk.ca.ca. This episode is brought to you by Accenture. When your advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows.

Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales, using automation, analytics, and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business. The result? Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most. Learn more at Accenture.com slash Spotify. So the death of a pet can be pretty traumatic and it doesn't matter how much you cushion the blow. A super idiom, so cushion the blow.

Usually we do it for children. We try to make it easier for them and say it's fine, they're in heaven now. Cushion the blow is an idiom to make a bad situation less serious. so like a rabbit dies, a pet rabbit dies, and then to cushion the blow, the parents replace the dead rabbit with a new one. And then the child doesn't notice any difference. I mean, that's one way to cushion the blow. Another could be to reassure the child that it's better this way. Could you give us another example with the idiom cushion the blow?

I was going to say, if you fail your exam, you can cushion the blow by reminding yourself, It's not so serious. But that's a terrible example because sometimes it is very serious. Yeah, but not if you fail. If you, for example, if you want it a nine and you got an eight. Yeah. Then you could cushion the blow by saying, well, it's still a very high score. Exactly.

Also, you pay a lot of bills. So you have to pay for food and vets bills. Vets is a doctor for animals. Vets bills. If you want to be super advanced, you could say veterinary bills. but that would be very difficult to say. Veterinary. Veterinar.

No, we can't say it. Veterinary. Oh, no, no, no, this is horrible. Check it out. Veterinarie. Veterinary. Veterinary. Say it?

Veterinary. Oh, my God. Yeah. So connecting with take care of the health of animals. Vets. Vets. But you say V-V-V-V-V. vets. Vets bills. People keep pets. People keep loads of different pets. They take pictures of their cats.

We have a reputation as a nation of animal lovers. So lots of people keep pets in my country. And you can say that there are a lot of animal lovers in my country. Millions of people keep pets at home. Inescapable, dear listener. So something that we can't escape. It's inescapable, not unescapable, inescapable. So it cannot be ignored or avoid it. So a pet becomes a member of your family. It's pretty inescapable. And you look after your pet and they are part of the family unit.

A synonym for family is the family unit. All the family together. That might be a very professional, of saying it. You could just say part of the family or a part of the family. That's also an advanced collocation. Animals are domesticated. For example, Roy, do you know which animal was first domesticated? I think it was the dog, maybe. Yeah. Yes. Maybe donkey. No, the dog, yeah. So domesticated animals or plants. Domesticated animals like horses, pigs, dogs, cats, horses, pigs, dogs, cats. But some people keep strange pets like monkeys, crocodiles.

No, seriously, in the bathroom or some, you know, snakes, ants, birds. Pets should be kept at home should be kept outside. And some pets should be kept in special places, right? And if you have a crocodile at home, so maybe the crocodile should be kept somewhere else in their habitat. the place they live. When we talk about animals, they live in their habitat. Habitat, C-1, the natural environment where plants and animals live. So the natural habitat, habitat.

So we people live in cities, usually, but animals live in forests. So that's their natural habitat. But for some animals, the natural habitat is inside your home. You know like for cats, for dogs Oh, house spiders How's spiders Oh, okay, yeah It's a joke, you kind of

Oh yeah, I don't have, I have spiders Living in my house Whether I want them there or not But you can call them, you know, like pets But some people have huge spiders Some people keep frogs as their pets For example Wild animals

Are wild lions, zebras Monkeys So they are wild And domesticated animals So cats, dogs, pigs. Yeah, maybe you can have a donkey or a pig at home. Concessions. When we make concessions, what do we do?

We do things to make it easier for something to happen, but it means we have to give something up. So when you keep a cat, you make a lot of concessions. Like, oh, you don't go there because you should take care of your cat. You know, you come home early because you have to feed your cat. You must worship the cat as a god. Exactly. Your cat is the most important thing in your life.

No, not seriously, but cats do need your attention, right? They are like, well, babies. You know, so if you have a cat, then you take care of it. Concession, C2D listener, something that is allowed or given up, often in order to end a disagreement. So to avoid conflict, they made some concessions. You can also make accommodations, which is things. that you have to accept as well.

It's similar to concessions, actually. Go to pot. Go to pot just means go down the tubes, which means things get very bad or collapse. Oh, that's very informal. Go to pot. To be damaged, spoiled, because people are not working hard on it.

So the garden went to pot this summer. So the garden just got destroyed. Rory and I are notorious plant murder. so we kill our plants. But Rory, Rory, my plant did not go to pot when I left him or her for two weeks. I was, you know, out of the house for two weeks and it survived. Oh my God, I love you, my plant. I talked to the plant.

I like how that's something to be proud of. I neglected my plant, and it's fine. It's a milestone. My plant survived, dear listener. I still can't believe it. And actually it feels good, you know. I was afraid that it would just, you know, it would lose all the leaves. But it didn't go to pot.

Oh, and that gives our episode a happy ending. Thank you very much for listening. We'll get back to you in our next episode. Bye. Two and five Canadians will hear the words you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk. Challenge yourself, friends and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research.

Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcfwalk.ca.ca. Why do people always tell children's stories with animals? Well, they're quite cute, aren't they? it might be easier to draw their attention to stories if they have animal characters, even anthropomorphic ones. And kids often have stuffed animals when they're younger, like the toys. So it almost makes them come to life in a way.

Can you explain it further? Yeah, if they show animals talking and interacting in the story like how kids might imagine or wish they would in real life when they play with their toys, it can make the fantasy seem more realistic or bring it to life. At least I think so. Should schools teach children about animals? I suppose so. We share a planet with them and some of them can be pretty dangerous or might even be endangered themselves.

So teaching students about them can help address such issues with them before they encounter them in the real world. Do you think that can change? Probably not, unless all the animals go extinct. But if that happens, we'll probably have bigger problems to deal with. What are the advantages of keeping a pet? Well, it might have some practical utility, like having a guard dog, which can keep your home secure, and they can be pretty useful companions for the family,

especially if you have young children. Even the death of a pet could be a character-building thing for a young person to help prepare them for when they have to deal with the deaths of human beings in their lives. And what could be the disadvantages? Well, the death of a pet can be pretty traumatic, regardless of how much you might cushion the blow of it. And they're not inexpensive. You have to pay for food and vet's bills. Do many people keep pets in your country? I suppose they must do. You see lots of people out walking their dogs and taking pictures of their cats,

and you hear about people keeping loads of other pets as well. What evidence do you have for that? It's just an observation, really. Plus, we have a reputation as a nation of animal lovers, so it would be logical for there to be lots of pets. That kind of thing doesn't just come from nowhere. Many people regard pets as members of their family. What do you think of that?

I think that's probably pretty inescapable, isn't it? If something lives in the house and looks after you and vice versa, then they're part of the family unit, even though they're of a different species. Has that always been true? For me, yes, and probably for most other people. Otherwise, animals would never keep being domesticated in the first place, would they? Some people think that pets should not be kept in cities. Would you agree?

Well, I can see why they might think that, since they're pretty far removed from their original habitats, but then the same is true for people. So, unless it's something like a wild animal, like a lion or a leopard, for example. I'm sure there can be various accommodations or concessions to help them cope with city life. Do you think that will also be true in the future? Well, assuming cities continue to be well managed and don't completely go to pot, I doubt it will be a serious issue. Two and five Canadians will hear the words you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk.

Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcfwalk.ca.ca.com.ca.