Hello lovely, I'm Maria.
And my name is Rory, and we are the hosts of the IELTS 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 started this super podcast because we want you to use higher-level vocabulary and gorgeous grammar in your everyday life and in your IELTS speaking test.
Rory, have you got any news to report?
Nope, but we are going to talk about newspapers today.
It's another coincidence.
Woohoo!
Newspapers and magazines, they can ask you these questions in Speaking Part 1.
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Let's talk about newspapers and magazines.
Do you read news in newspapers or on the Internet?
It's usually on the Internet, actually.
I can't really afford or organize a subscription.
It's actually faster that way, I suppose.
Do you think the internet is a good way to get news?
I suppose if it's simple or factual information about events, then yes.
But there are a lot of opinion pieces out there that I don't like.
Which do you prefer, reading magazines or newspapers?
I suppose if I have to choose one, it's probably going to be reading newspapers.
I find magazines to be a bit frivolous most of the time.
Do you often read newspapers?
Well, online probably once a day and then offline usually when I'm at home.
My parents and I like doing the crosswords and making fun of some of the court reports in the local paper.
How old were you when you started reading newspapers?
Oh god, probably before I was born actually.
My parents are both journalists so reading and writing is sort of in my blood.
I guess if you want a more serious answer it's probably when I was Um, six or seven or eight.
My dad used to bring home the paper every day, so we'd just read it normally.
Do you think it's important to read newspapers?
In print form?
Probably not so much these days, when you can get all the information you need online whenever you want it.
Although, on the other hand, if you read the paper once a day, it might be good for just preventing information overload.
How do newspapers attract readers?
Well, I guess by advertising and appealing to tradition in the main.
Maybe there are some services that they offer for younger people, but it seems to be usually like older, more traditional people that they try to get the attention on.
What effect do newspapers have on society?
Well, in some places where communication infrastructure isn't so well developed, it might be crucial for information sharing.
And so without them, civil society couldn't really function.
More broadly, they're a big part of opinion formation on the issues of the day.
Is news important to you?
Well, yeah, you've got to know what's going on.
It's important to be well informed.
But if I read more than once a day, I'd probably get depression from all the bad things that people report on.
How often do you read the news?
Like I say, just once a day.
Otherwise, it's probably not going to have a good effect on my mental health.
Do you prefer to read local or international news?
Well, I guess they're bound up together, since Russia and the UK are major countries, so anything that happens on the local level there usually has some impact internationally.
Rory, do you discuss the news with your friends?
Sometimes, although I think it's better to avoid it, since my take on things is usually very different to my friends, and I don't really like arguing with people.
So maybe we just discuss the facts and then move on from there to talk about something more personal or interesting.
Thank you so much for your answers.
So when we talk about newspapers, Rory, you mentioned papers.
Can I call them papers or newspapers?
Both is okay.
Newspapers is more formal than papers.
Yeah, and you've said, like, I prefer local papers.
We can also talk about journals.
Yes, or you could talk about tabloids and broadsheets.
Tabloids are Well.
Tabloids are more about information that people on the streets would like to read about.
They're filled with drama, for example, whereas broadsheets usually have longer articles about more specific pieces.
Yeah, tabloids are all about gossip.
They have these gossip columns.
And can you use the word periodicals?
Like magazines or periodicals?
You can.
I don't really use that word too often. it's a less commonly used word periodicals yeah so we can also say like i prefer glossy magazines yeah with gossip colors um yeah so we read news on the internet right it's always on the internet yeah we read news online so read news online on the internet and Rory you said that you can't afford a subscription If you can't afford something, it means you don't have the money to pay for it.
And if you can afford something, then you do have the money to pay for it.
But I was thinking more in terms of the time, to be honest with you.
It just takes a lot of effort to do it and I can't be bothered.
If you could afford a subscription, what newspaper would you subscribe to or a magazine?
Men's Health?
I suppose so.
Cosmopolitan?
Cosmopolitan?
No, not Cosmopolitan.
I used to buy Men's Health, actually, a long time ago, but I don't really know.
Now, what about, like, let me give you some options.
So would you subscribe to The New York Times, The Guardian, National Geographic Reader's Digest or Cosmopolitan?
None of them, really.
No?
Sorry.
Oh, Rory, Rory news.com.
The Rory times.
Some people have the time to sit and read these subscriptions all day.
I don't, I'm very busy.
What newspaper do you prefer?
I prefer The Rory Times.
Yes, dear listener, you can make it up and in your speaking exam you can say that your favorite newspaper is The Rory Times.
Right.
OK.
So, yes, you can buy a subscription or subscribe to a newspaper or a magazine.
Rory, you've mentioned factual information, right?
Or opinion pieces.
Yes.
So factual information is just the straightforward facts about things.
Whereas opinion pieces are, well, a piece is like an article, for example.
And you can have an opinion piece, a fluff piece is usually something not so serious.
It's just designed to fill space in a newspaper.
So a piece is like an article, and an opinion piece is an article that's somebody's opinion.
It's not about the facts, it's about their opinion about something that's happened.
And speaking about opinions, you've used a good one.
My take on things.
So take on things.
What is it?
Your take on something is just your opinion about the situation.
But you can't always say my opinion, my opinion, my opinion.
So my take on something.
Yeah, can I ask you, like, what's your take on picnics?
Yeah.
Or what's your take on horse riding?
Exactly.
Yeah, my take on things.
And an interesting expression, actually.
Then we can read newspapers online, and you mentioned in print form, right?
So how can I use it in a sentence?
Oh, well, books are, well, if they're physical books, then books are in print form.
Newspapers are in print form.
So anything that has like ink on paper, anything that's been printed.
Can I call them a printed press?
They're from a printing press.
But like printed press or traditional press?
Maybe traditional press.
I've never heard this expression, printed press.
Or printed books, printed newspapers.
Yeah.
So traditional press or hard copies?
Yes.
Mm-hmm right, what's in your blood rory, is reading in your blood whiskey, in your blood newspapers um, although i could include magazines in that as well, since my mom was a magazine journalist.
But if i enjoy reading news uh, can i say that reading is in my blood.
It means like i love it right, why not?
Yes, And it's part of your family tradition as well.
Ah, right.
So, kind of, your parents are journalists, and then they say, like, journalism is in my blood.
So people read newspapers and magazines to be well-informed.
Yeah, you said well-informed.
But what other synonyms can we have, for example, to keep yourself updated?
Yes, you can keep updated.
But I like the word well-informed.
I like that one better.
You read current affairs, the latest events, like factual articles.
You follow the news.
You follow the news, yeah.
And if, for example, you go ahead and buy a broadsheet or an actual newspaper, you can read through the pages or leaf through the pages.
You can also flick.
Flick through e-news, electronic news, flick through.
Yes yeah, how often do you flick through e-news?
Oh, like i say, only once a day and it's not for me.
When you talked about what newspapers do to attract readers, you mentioned this word appealing.
So they are appealing to tradition.
Yeah, so if you appeal to tradition, it just means that you appeal to people that think that tradition is the most important thing.
So, for example, people who always read the news, you can appeal to their sense of tradition by saying oh, it's a good thing you read the news.
But in Scotland, do people still buy hard copies?
Yeah.
Not as much as they used to, but it's kind of like a dying media these days.
But they do.
And there are some local newspapers, although the readership is like getting smaller and smaller by the year, which is sad in some ways.
But we're just making a switch to online and it's probably better for the environment in the long run, I guess.
When was the last time you actually bought a magazine or a newspaper?
I can't remember.
I suppose the last time I bought a magazine must have been when I was back home.
I used to buy it when I travelled to Glasgow to see my friend.
I used to buy a magazine when I'd go and see my friend and read it through there, And then for newspapers.
I can't remember because well, my parents were journalists so they got the newspaper for free.
Ah, okay, okay.
Well, interesting.
So you've never bought any furniture.
You can't remember if you bought any newspapers or magazines.
What's your problem?
What do you buy?
Do you buy anything?
I have a very busy life.
However, I did buy some expensive belts recently.
So I'm not a complete philistine.
Yay, he's bought something expensive.
Thank you very much for listening.
That's all from us about newspapers and magazines.
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Bye.
Bye.
Let's talk about newspapers and magazines.
Do you read news in newspapers or on the internet?
It's usually on the internet, actually.
I can't really afford or organise a subscription.
It's actually faster that way, I suppose.
Do you think the internet is a good way to get news?
I suppose if it's simple or factual information about events, then yes.
But there are a lot of opinion pieces out there that I don't like.
Which do you prefer, reading magazines or newspapers?
I suppose if I have to choose one, it's probably going to be reading newspapers.
I find magazines to be a bit frivolous most of the time.
Do you often read newspapers?
Well, online probably once a day and then offline usually when I'm at home.
My parents and I like doing the crosswords and making fun of some of the court reports in the local paper.
How old were you when you started reading newspapers?
Oh, God.
Probably before I was born, actually.
My parents are both journalists, so reading and writing is sort of in my blood.
I guess if you want a more serious answer, it's probably when I was...
Six or seven or eight.
My dad used to bring home the paper every day, so we'd just read it normally.
Do you think it's important to read newspapers?
In print form?
Probably not so much these days, when you can get all the information you need online whenever you want it.
Although, on the other hand, if you read the paper once a day, it might be good for just preventing information overload.
How do newspapers attract readers?
Well, I guess by advertising and appealing to tradition in the main.
Maybe there are some services that they offer for younger people, but it seems to be usually like older, more traditional people that they try to get the attention on.
What effect do newspapers have on society?
Well, in some places where communication infrastructure isn't so well developed, it might be crucial for information sharing.
And so without them, civil society couldn't really function.
More broadly, they're a big part of opinion formation on the issues of the day.
Is news important to you?
Well, yeah, you've got to know what's going on.
It's important to be well informed.
But if I read more than once a day, I'd probably get depression from all the bad things that people report on.
How often do you read the news?
Like I say, just once a day.
Otherwise, it's probably not going to have a good effect on my mental health.
Do you prefer to read local or international news?
Well, I guess they're bound up together, since Russia and the UK are major countries, so anything that happens on the local level there usually has some impact internationally.
Rory, do you discuss the news with your friends?
Sometimes, although I think it's better to avoid it, since my take on things is usually very different to my friends, and I don't really like arguing with people.
So maybe we just discuss the facts and then move on from there to talk about something more personal or interesting.
Bye.
Bye.
