IELTS Speaking for Success - ⌚️ Watches (Part 1) + Transcript

Episode Date: July 29, 2026

Get access to our episode archive: https://successwithielts.com/ Maria and Rory discuss why a simple accessory can be an investment, a status symbol, or just a tool for teachers. Find out why your phone just "won't cut it" in certain situations. Tune in and have a great day! - Book a class with Rory here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://successwithielts.com/rory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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

Now streaming on Disney Plus, the Hulu original series Furious follows FBI agent Alice Black, played by Emmy Rossum, on the hunt for a mysterious and calculating serial killer. Both walk their own paths toward justice, and as their lives start to intertwine, the line between right and wrong begins to blur. New episodes week over week. Watch the Hulu original series Furious, now streaming only on Hulu on Disney Plus. Hello, lovely. I'm Maria. And I am United States Supreme Court Justice Rory Fergus Duncan, and we are the hosts of the AILD 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 to give you super grammar and fabulous vocabulary for your high IELD school. Your bad nine score. Rory, what are you today? Supreme what? Supreme Court Justice. In the United States, I think they have something like nine Supreme Court justices. And nobody knows who they are.

So I've decided that I'm one and no one will check it. Right. Okay. So now Rory works in the court, de listernum. Interestingly, I am not the first Scottish person to pretend to do this either. Someone from my country created a Twitter account saying that they were on the United States Supreme Court. And lots of people were sending them hate mail and death threats. and they were like, it's a fake person.

It's totally made up. So this goes to show. Nobody knows who is part of that court. Right. Okay. All right. What's the time, Rory? I don't know.

I don't have a watch on. Shall we talk about watches? Oh, yes. Watches, dear listener. Is it time to talk about watches? It's high time we talked about watches. Why don't you wear a watch, Rory? What's wrong with you? Because I'm not teaching in a classroom. And when I'm not teaching in a classroom, I have a watch in front of me on my computer so I can see it.

But at the time this episode goes out, I will be teaching in a classroom. I will be teaching at St. Clair School in Oxford. Where? It's in Oxford. Oxford. Oxford. Oxford. Okay. That Oxford that Oxford that is in England, Oxford. Yeah. Do you wear a watch? I do, actually, but only when I'm working in a classroom so I can keep track of the time, not just the regular time, but also how long various activities have gone on for, like when I'm using a stopwatch or a countdown timer or something like that. Have you ever got a watch as a gift?

I must have done at some point when I was younger, but I don't really remember. Oh, wait, yes. I was given one when I was about nine years old. It was one with an interactive display and a backlight so you could tell the time in the dark. That was quite cool. Do you think it's important to wear a watch? I suppose that depends on the context, really. It's handy to have if you need to keep an eye on the time very closely or you need your hands free for other things so your phone really won't cut it in that case. It could also be useful as an investment, like a vintage or a gold watch that will appreciate in value over the time. That could be quite handy. Why do some people wear expensive watches? Well, good question. I think it's a status symbol or a fashion accessory or it could be an investment, like I said, or something like that.

There are a way for people to show off their wealth without physically waving money around in front of people. I can't see the point of it myself, but that's why other people do. it. 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. Watches, de listener. So, I have a watch, but if you have like two pairs, like watches, many watches, but we say, I wear a watch. Like on one hand, you wear a watch. And you wear a watch.

Like wear clothes, wear makeup, wear a watch. And you do it to keep track of the time. To control the time, to watch the time, watch. So you keep track of the time. What other things can you keep track of? Progress. Some people keep track of their weight, if they're on a diet. Yeah, or like you say a stopwatch,

but a stopwatch is this, they usually use it in sports, like a stop like a countdown stop watch, like a specific device. It could be, but some watches have that as a function. At least I have them on mine. Oh, okay, okay. Usually we use our smartphone, like you, switch on a stop watch in your smartphone. You can also say, like, I use my phone as a watch.

Why not? And, dear listener, you can say that I have a digital watch. I have a hybrid watch. Hybrid is like digital and usual watch. Not fully digital. Or I have an Apple watch, right? You could talk about the brand. It could be a Rolex, for example.

more likely to be a Casio in my case, which is a very cheap kind of watch, but it works. Yeah, or like a smart watch. Like I wear a smart watch, for example. Yeah, it's a digital and like connected to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and GPS tracking. Or, for example, a fitness watch. Oh, yeah. They keep track of your calories and stuff. Exactly.

Like take care of your well-being. So I take care of my well-being. so I sometimes use or wear a fitness watch. I've never got a watch as a gift, or once I got a watch as a gift. When I was younger, when I was a school, but I don't remember it. It's okay for you not to remember things. That's fine. Or you could remember halfway through and you can say, oh wait, I do remember.

And you can name some features of the watch. For example, an interactive display. It's interactive. You kind of push and press and it interacts with you. Or a backlight. Ooh, it has a light. Yeah, it lights up so you can see it in the dark. For example, like a fitness watch. You're obsessed with fitness watches. But I think they're popular these days. Like Apple watches.

I know, but why? Well, I guess people want to keep track of the heartbeat, of their calories, of how many steps. Why do you need to keep track of your heartbeat? If you are alive and breathing, then you have a heartbeat. You'll be okay. I don't know. You know? Like, we have Apple Watch for health, for example, the listener.

What does it tell you about your health? They tell you about your heart rate. They monitor your sleeping. Oh, blood oxygen. They measure blood oxygen. Listen, if your blood is not getting enough oxygen, then you have bigger problems. than if your watch is keeping track of it or not.

Yeah, but like a smart watch, right? So we call them like smart watches. Or if you're listening, you don't have a smart watch, you can say, oh, I wish I had a smart watch. I'd like to use a smart watch because I cycle. Like, I ride my bicycle, so it would be a nice tracker. We didn't do it here, but you could talk about the type of watch as well. Maria already mentioned a smart watch,

but you can also have a digital watch, or you could have an analog watch. which is the one that has the hands that move around. Yeah, you can also have a diving watch for our underwater activities, dear listener. Yeah, but why not? You know, like you can imagine stuff. So to use vocabulary, you can say, all right, yeah, I wear an underwater watch, but you don't see this watch on me, dear examiner.

Yeah, but it's quite professional. And it's water resistant. You see? My watch is water resistant So I can put it In water and nothing will happen You know, diving watch There you go

So it's a luxury accessory And a watch is accessory Do you listen to this nice word accessory? C1, okay? Accessory Really? I know Yeah, something which is added

To a machine or clothing accessory A luxury accessory A luxury accessory You're diving watch, the listener. Yeah. Yeah, when you go swimming once a year. Wearing a watch is important, again, to keep an eye on the time.

So keep track of the time, control the time. Keep an eye on the time. So watch the time, look at the time. But we use a nice phrase, keep an eye on. We keep an eye. Visit BetMGM Casino and check out the newest exclusive. The Price is Right Fortune Pick. BetMGM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly.

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And it's a useful investment. So buying an expensive watch is an investment. For example, if you get a vintage watch, something which is vintage is old, sometimes expensive, like vintage, a vintage bag, a vintage car from the past, produced in the past. Vintage jewelry, vintage dress.

If your watch is gold, you can say a gold watch, not golden, but the watch is made. Made of gold. Some companies used to give you a gold watch when you retired. Or after a certain amount of time in the service. However, I don't think that happens now, sadly. Expensive watches or luxury watches. And the key word is a status. symbol, a status symbol. So expensive watches show a person's status symbol. They show their

social status. Social status, yeah. But a status symbol is like this set phrase, status symbol. Like a thing that people want to have because they think other people will admire or respect them if they have it. So if you have a nice car, well, this is a status symbol. If you have a Gucci bag, this is a status symbol. Like in business, usually they look at each other's watches. And usually you expect your business partner to wear something like Rolex or Omega. How do you pronounce it? Omega. Well, that's the brand anyway.

Yeah, that's the second kind of most popular brand, I think, after Rolex. Rolex watch and you can say I wear a Rolex it means that you have a watch made like Rolex is the brand I wear a Rolex

or I wear an Omega and Cartier is also there Oh really? Cartier's watch Oh yeah I suppose Oh yeah Oh yeah absolutely

Yeah yeah then there are some other names which I don't know but yeah these three I think for me they are the most famous but yeah

Rolex and Omega like top two luxury watches and they are ultra luxury status symbols. Ooh, that's a lot of adjectives. Real Rolex, yeah. So that's like an ultra luxury status symbol. Yeah. Or a fashion accessory. Okay, so a watch is a fashion accessory.

Accessory, dear listener, all right? Accessory. That's a nice accessory. Having an expensive watch is like having a fashion accessory. And people show off their wealth. So by wearing an expensive watch, people show off their wealth. Like, look at me, I'm so rich. Look at my watch.

Show off. Like, they attract attention. So they display their luxury watches to attract attention, to show people that, yeah, I'm cool. cool, I have money, look at my watch. What a way to live. So, like, they don't waive money physically. They don't just take money and just wave money,

wave banknotes in other people's faces, but this is one of the ways how to show other people that you are rich. If you're waving something around, you're showing it off. Some people are show-offs. Yeah, some people are real show-offs. There we go. Right, Rory, so if you had a choice, like, would you wear a Rolex, a Cartier, some other brands, Omega, which watch would you choose?

Or a diving watch? Whichever one would be the best long-term investment. So if I could buy it and leave it in the box and let it put the value build up so I can sell it later, then that one. Yeah, then vintage Rolex, I guess. Because they're just getting more and more expensive. And now we are ready for a watch joke. Oh, watch out. Watch out for the joke.

Yeah. All right. So, what are the advantages and disadvantages of wearing two watches? On the one hand, you have a watch. But on the other hand, you have a watch. Now Rory explains the joke. So there's the idiom for writing when you compare things on the one hand. one thing, on the other hand the other thing.

But you wear a watch on or near your hand and if you have two watches you'd have one on the left hand and the right hand so if you look at one hand you've got a watch on the other hand you also

have a watch. Oh my God. Yeah, dear listener here is like this literal meaning on your hand. On the one hand on the other hand you have a watch, you wear a watch. But yeah, in essays, we just say one thing but the other thing,

and still we use on the one hand, on the other hand. Thank you very much for listening. We'll get back to you in our next episode, okay? Woo! Bye! Do you wear a watch? I do, actually, but only when I'm working in a classroom so I can keep track of the time, not just the regular time, but also how long various activities have gone on

for, like when I'm using a stopwatch or a countdown timer or something like that. Have you ever got a watch as a gift? I must have done at some point when I was younger, but I don't really remember. Oh, wait, yes. I was given one when I was about nine years old. It was one with an interactive display and a backlight so you could tell the time in the dark. That was quite cool. Do you think it's important to wear a watch? I suppose that depends on the context, really.

handy to have if you need to keep an eye on the time very closely or you need your hands free for other things so your phone really won't cut it in that case. It could also be useful as an investment like a vintage or a gold watch that will appreciate in value over the time. That could be quite handy. Why do some people wear expensive watches? Well, good question. I think it's a status symbol or a fashion accessory or it could be an investment like I said or something like like that. There are a way for people to show off their wealth without physically waving money around in front of people. I can't see the point of it myself, but that's why other people do it.