Class is now in session. And the UPS Store is here to help you ace arriving on campus.
Our certified packing experts can pack everything you need, from desktops to decor.
Plus, when you pack and ship with us, you get our exclusive pack and ship guarantee.
Your items arrive safe or your money back.
Restrictions and limitations apply. To get a 20% off packing coupon and for full details, visit theupsstore.com slash packing.
Hello, lovely. I'm Maria. And my name is Rory.
And we are the hosts of the IELTS Speaking for Success podcast, the official Band 9 podcast to help you improve your speaking skills as well as your listening skills along the way.
We've started this podcast to give you gorgeous grammar and fabulous vocabulary for your high IELTS score.
Sorry I was late, Maria. It's been a very busy day.
Ah, busy, eh? So you're busy. Yes. Shall we talk about being busy?
Oh my god, shall we? Let's. Yes, being busy is a Speaking Path 1 topic.
Busy, busy. Rory, are you often busy? I suppose that depends on how you define busy, really.
Though I try and do different things every day.
And my work schedule is usually packed, so I'd say I was pretty productive.
Why are you busy? Well, lots of reasons, really.
When I'm at a loose end, I feel a bit bored and unproductive, so I like to fill my days with various activities.
And since I have a great deal of work to do, I often find myself with a lot on my plate from that.
When are you usually busy? Oh, wow. Well, it would be easier to say when I'm not, frankly.
On weekdays, it's usually... classes and sport that take up most of my time.
And then at the weekends, I like doing things with my friends, like going out.
So it's pretty much constant in this case.
Are you busier now than when you were a child?
I'm not sure, to be honest. I think so. I remember these long periods of boredom and having nothing to do when I was younger.
I don't really have that issue these days.
Of course, I'm more self-aware as an adult, so that could just be a matter of perception.
At Blinds.com, it's not just about window treatments.
It's about you, your style, your space, your way.
Whether you DIY or want the pros to handle it all, you'll have the confidence of knowing it's done right.
From free expert design help to our 100% satisfaction guarantee, everything we do is made to fit your life and your windows.
Because at Blinds.com, the only thing we treat better than windows is you.
Visit Blinds.com now for up to 40% off site wide, plus a professional measure at no cost.
Rules and restrictions apply. 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. Being busy, dear listeners.
First of all, we have some synonyms. As busy as a bee means like super busy.
So what synonyms can we have, Rory? Like, I'm busy.
I'm overloaded. My schedule is packed. I have a lot on my plate.
Overloaded. My schedule is packed. Packed like a suitcase, like full of stuff.
I have a lot on my plate. And actually, it's an idiom.
Have something on your plate. Have a large amount of important work.
Or I've got more than enough on my plate.
So I'm super busy. I have a lot of things to do.
Also, you can say, can you say like I'm engaged?
Well, it would be I'm engaged in various activities.
Yeah. I'm always engaged in different activities.
Or, for example, I'm up to my ears in work.
I'm up to my ears in housework. So I have a lot of housework.
I do different things every day. My schedule is usually packed.
So my work schedule is packed. My work schedule is full of activities.
And I'm pretty productive. Like I do things, I achieve things.
I'm super productive. An antonym of being busy could be I'm at a loose end.
To be at a loose end. Have nothing to do.
So, when Rory is at a loose end, he has nothing to do, he feels bored.
Oh, when I'm at a loose end, I feel a bit bored and unproductive.
Okay? So, when I'm busy, I feel productive.
When I'm at a loose end, I have nothing to do, I'm unproductive.
So, I fill my days with different activities.
Fill my days with something. I have a great deal of work to do every day.
So, I have a lot of work every day. I have a great deal of work to do every day.
And you can say, I have a lot on my plate.
Rory, but does it happen every day? So, every day you have a lot on your plate.
Aren't you tired, Rory, from all these activities?
When do you relax? There will be time to relax when I'm dead.
No, I don't know. I don't feel like it's particularly tiring, to be honest.
Even when I'm a little bit tired, it's not such a big deal, to be honest.
But do you have some days when you just don't do anything at all?
You just all day you watch TV or play computer games or, you know... Not so much.
Maybe on Sundays. Sunday is like a cheap day for me when I can do what I like and do nothing.
But I mean, this last Sunday I spent it with my partner.
So I don't... And that was a lot. We were walking the dog and...
We went out shopping. So we were still doing lots of different things.
It's not necessarily work-related, that's true.
And perhaps that's not being busy in the traditional sense, but I still view it as having to do things.
But being busy is not necessarily bad. It keeps the mind active.
On the weekdays, I'm usually busy. So Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. so it's usually classes it's usually my work and sports and you can say that my work takes up most of my time a phrasal verb but at the weekends i spend time with my friends i hang out with my family so yeah i'm not sure to be honest so you can be honest with the examiner and just say so but to be honest i'm not sure so when i was a child i was also busy or when i was a child I had nothing to do most of the time.
When I was younger, I had some days with nothing to do.
I'm more self-aware now. Well, this is it.
When you're a child, you experience everything very much in real time and you don't have any perspective to draw on.
So you might feel that you're bored all of the time even though you're doing a lot of different things at school for example yeah and you can say that now i'm more self-aware so i know and understand myself very well or better so i'm i'm busier now than i used to be when i was a child and dear listener here careful i'm busier than in the past.
Not I'm more busy. No, no, no. I'm busier.
Busy, busier. I'm busy now. I was busier when I was a child.
Or vice versa. So you can say that I'm more self-aware as an adult now and I'm busier.
It's crazy, eh? More self-aware but busier now.
No, it's not. It's due to the pattern of syllables.
Or the number of syllables. Do you want me to give a pronunciation lesson now?
Oh, pronunciation. Yes. If it's all... Now, let me get this right.
Maria is also a highly qualified English teacher, so she will check my work.
If it's a small number of syllables, then it's ER.
So, busy, busier. Two syllables, right? Two syllables, ER.
Yeah? Correct. Yay, good. What else could it be?
Happy, happier. Two parts. Easy. Easier.
Hard... But for longer words with more syllables, more individual sounds or sound groupings, then it will be more or less.
So more self-aware, more beautiful. Yay.
What about healthy? Healthier or the healthiest.
I should say, though, I have heard native speakers saying more healthy.
And I think that's the common pattern in many languages.
And I think it's done to emphasize a point because I've done it myself when I was speaking to some colleagues in a different country.
So you can say like, I'm healthier now or I'm more healthy now.
Well, you could. And the point would be clear.
But I can see a very conservative examiner saying that's not right, even though I have heard native speakers say it.
So I think we should stick with our control based on our syllables and make ourselves look good.
It would be better to do that, not more better.
Right, dear listener, now we are ready for a joke.
Roddy, uh, Roddy, Roddy, Rory, are you ready for a joke?
Of course you are. I am, yeah, after that pronunciation lesson, which is the first one we've ever done in the history of the podcast.
Here's the joke, dear listener, for you.
I'm really busy getting married. I'm engaged.
Funny, eh? Yeah, and Rory is going to explain the joke now.
Rory, go ahead. Am I? Okay. So, like we talked about at the beginning, I'm engaged in something.
But also, if you are getting married, then you are engaged to a person.
So, this is a joke about the two different meanings and uses of the word engaged.
Yeah. So I'm engaged, like I got a ring on my finger, right?
So I will get married. Here the joke is, I'm really busy getting married.
You could say I'm engaged. Thank you very much for listening.
We'll get back to you in our next episode.
Okay, dear listener? Bye. Bye. Abercrombie Denim is everything right now. denim should feel like this.
Confident, easy, like your butt has never looked better.
If you didn't know, Abercrombie's Curve Love denim went viral in 2019 for eliminating waist gap, and it's still a game changer.
Between that and their classic fits with a straighter line from waist to hip, the perfect denim does exist.
Shop Abercrombie denim in the app, online, and in store.
Rory, are you often busy? I suppose that depends on how you define busy, really.
Though I try and do different things every day, and my work schedule is usually packed, so I'd say I was pretty productive.
Why are you busy? Well, lots of reasons, really.
When I'm at a loose end, I feel a bit bored and unproductive, so I like to fill my days with various activities.
And since I have a great deal of work to do, I often find myself with a lot on my plate from that.
When are you usually busy? Oh, wow. Well, it would be easier to say what I'm not, frankly.
On weekdays, it's usually classes and sport that take up most of my time.
And then at the weekends, I like doing things with my friends, like going out.
So it's pretty much constant in this case.
Are you busier now than when you were a child?
I'm not sure, to be honest. I think so. I remember these long periods of boredom and having nothing to do when I was younger.
I don't really have that issue these days.
Of course, I'm more self-aware as an adult, so that could just be a matter of perception.
