Hello, Sunshine.
I'm Maria.
And my name is Rory, and we are the hosts of the IELTS Speaking for Success podcast, a podcast that aims to help you improve your speaking skills, as well as your listening skills, along the way.
We started this podcast to give you a look at how an educated native speaker would answer some of the most recent IELTS speaking questions for a high score band 9 score.
Rui, you know what?
I've been thinking of changing our usual coincidence joke.
Oh, don't change it.
I don't like change.
That's a shame, because we're going to be talking about change today.
Oh no, it's another coincidence.
Yes, in Speaking Part 1, they can ask you questions about change.
Rory, do you like changes?
I suppose it depends on what kind, actually.
If it's a positive change, like if your workout at the gym is working well, then it's great.
If it's a change for the worse, then it's not great.
Like a change in working conditions, to be at home more, for example, which some of us are having to do now.
I don't like that.
I'd rather be in the classroom.
Do you often change?
Um, not too often.
I have a pretty regular routine going on that I quite like, so I don't think I change it that much.
Although I should say it's designed to enable positive change through self-improvement.
So you could argue that I'm changing all the time, I suppose.
What do you change?
Um, well...
I don't usually change it, but my workout routine at the gym gets changed by my personal trainer.
And I have the chance to change my lesson plans to suit the classes I teach, which is good for them and good for me.
It keeps me on my toes.
What would you not like to change?
Um...
Don't like last minute changes.
I suppose that's because I have a fixed idea of how things should be, and then my expectations are set.
But if we speak about more specific things, then I don't usually like changing my outfits, to be honest, especially at work.
I get quite comfortable with them.
Have you changed a lot since your childhood?
Oh, definitely.
I used to be fat and eat junk food and I didn't study properly at all.
So all of those things have changed for the better now, I think.
What was the last change you made?
Well, I say I changed it, but really my personal trainer changed it.
I changed my routine at the gym.
And by that, I mean I hired a personal trainer to help make it more effective.
So instead of just doing the same three sets of exercises all the time, now we do lots of different exercises and that seems to be working quite well.
What has been the greatest change in your life so far?
I have probably moving to Russia, to be honest with you.
I think it changed everything.
I gained access to more opportunities for professional development and I gained new clients and I got to do a variety of jobs which expanded my competency.
So that's been great.
It was very worthwhile to move out of my comfort zone and move here.
I suppose it depends on how you define recently.
I think there are a lot of ongoing changes down at the waterfront area.
For example, they're reworking and renovating a lot of the buildings there.
That's been going on for quite a while now.
I can't think of anything that's happened this year just because of the crisis.
But last year, I'm sure they opened a lot of new stores, for example.
Whether that's still the case now, I'm not so sure.
What do you plan to change next year?
Well, actually it's funny we talked about changes to my career path, because I'm going to change my career again next year.
I'll go back to university and become qualified as a primary school teacher, and I'm planning to go all in on this podcast so we can open up a range of services online, amongst other things, as well, and I'll move back home.
So next year is going to be a year of major changes, I think.
Rory, thank you so much for your life-changing answers.
Let's take a look at the grammar and vocabulary that Rory has used and we can use about change.
Rory, tell us, what's going on with this change business?
Do we say change, changes a change?
It can be a verb too, to change something.
But can i say like i like change, or should i say i like a change or changes um?
So if we talk about I like change, then you're talking about the process of changing.
But if you talk about I like a change, then we talk about well, one particular change at a time and then changes, multiple changes, like multiple processes, multiple things changing.
Yeah, we can also use it as a verb, yeah, to change or to alter something.
Alter would be a synonym, like alter your routine, change your routine, alter.
You can overhaul your routine, like make big changes to it.
Oh, this is so Band 9.
It is.
I can smell Band 9.
It's so Band 9.
I didn't use it in my original answers, but hopefully people will forgive me for that.
Yeah, but you've used, for example, a change for the better or a change for the worse.
That's a good collocation to use.
Yes, and indeed...
You should use these things, especially with it shows.
You can use the prepositions and you can change the comparative adjectives like better and worse.
So that will bump up your flexibility for lexical resource.
It will bump up your flexibility yes, it will improve it.
Bump it up.
Bump up your IELTS.
Bump it up.
I like it.
Yeah, so a change could be for the better, for the worse.
You've also mentioned a positive change.
Yes.
Or you've also mentioned a major change.
Yeah.
A major change.
Like a big change.
We can also say, yeah, a big change, enormous changes, a major change, considerable changes.
We can say drastic changes.
Or even sweeping changes.
Sweeping, like big changes.
For example, there have been many sweeping changes in my hometown.
Have there?
What changed?
Oh, for example, Moscow is my hometown and new parks have appeared.
For example, cycle lanes. have appeared recently.
And I guess over the last decade, Moscow has changed drastically.
We can also talk about last minute changes.
And Rory, you're not fond of last minute changes.
No, those are changes that happen just before the thing that is scheduled to happen takes place.
So if someone calls you five minutes before a meeting and says that the meeting is cancelled, then that's a last-minute change.
Yeah, we can say, I hate last-minute changes.
Rory has also said ongoing changes.
So speaking about his hometown, you said...
There are ongoing changes.
There are, yeah.
It's part of a... Oh, God.
I think it's a 15-year plan or something to revamp the city center or revamp the waterfront area.
Yeah, or you said, like, reworking, renovating...
Yeah, I don't really know what's going on there.
I don't think the people who planned it know what's going on either.
It seems like a bit of a disaster to me.
But that's just my opinion.
Yeah, we also can have life-changing moments.
We can, yes.
That's all connected to change.
Life-changing moments.
We introduce changes or we make changes.
We can also witness changes, accept or resist changes.
Rory, do you accept or resist change?
I accept most changes, just fine, but I find it very difficult to Well sorry, I resist changes that I don't think are going to be for the better.
Yeah, so resist like, do not accept yeah, and we kind of we shouldn't resist changes, let things flow naturally, you know, because life is full of natural and spontaneous changes.
Yes, we go philosophical on this podcast.
Right Rory, tell us about your routine.
You've said you have a regular routine.
I do.
Well, I try to.
If I have a regular routine, it's something that I do often or every day in my case.
I have a very boring home life. home life, right?
But, for example, changes that you made at the gym with your PI personal instructor.
Keep you on your toes.
It keeps me on my toes.
That's a nice one.
To be kept on your toes as well.
To be kept alert.
You don't get lazy.
You don't take things for granted.
Yeah, so kind of you make small changes and then like they keep you on your toes.
Well, yeah, they keep you active and involved in the process so it doesn't just become run-of-the-mill boring stuff.
When we talk about changes, we should use different grammar structures.
We're going to talk about the grammar.
Grammar, absolutely.
Yes, it's a grammar podcast now.
Grammar.
Yeah.
Rory, you told us that you used to be fat.
Yes.
Oh, my God.
Seriously, how fat? like very fat.
I think it was like, 100, 110 kilos.
Now I'm 70.
So that gives you a vague idea of the drastic weight loss.
So used to is important, especially when we talk about change.
Like I used to do something, but now I don't.
That's quite important because, well, used to is quite important.
Higher level grammar structure, intermediate level, so pushing further.
But I also used modal verbs.
Yes, modal verbs.
Which ones?
Modal verbs.
I used would, like I would rather or I'd rather.
Yes.
To say it correctly.
And I also said could as well, so... or what's possible, but talking about hypothetical things.
Yeah, with I'd rather, I would rather, yeah, I'd rather change something, right?
Or I'd rather welcome changes for the better.
When we talk about changes, we use present perfect and present perfect continuous.
So especially when you talk about like your personal changes, like I've changed, right?
Or I've changed a lot since I was a kid.
Like I used to be fat, but now I've changed.
I also said you could argue that I'm changing all the time.
So this way, you could... for what's possible or hypothetical, but you're not doing that.
It's just a possibility that you're mentioning.
And then, plus a present continuous form, like I'm changing all the time, with could.
Oh, this is gorgeous.
Yeah.
Or you can say, like, I'm always changing.
I'm always changing.
I'm changing constantly.
I keep changing myself, right?
And about your hometown, you can say there have been lots of changes.
There have been lots of changes.
Have been, right?
Like over the last couple of years, recently, or over a decade.
Decade means 10 years.
So, there have been lots of changes.
Or...
You can use, like my city has become more tourist-friendly, or people have started, or many buildings, many new shops have been built.
Present perfect passive.
Rory, do you like it?
Oh, mind-blowing.
My God.
Present perfect passive.
Yes um, because also they can ask you questions about change in speaking part three.
So it's good to learn some present perfect passive structures about change.
Yeah, On the subject of structures, I said I have a pretty regular routine going on.
So if you have something going on, it means it's like a habit or some kind of regular activity that you're doing constantly or frequently.
So for example, I have a routine going on.
I have a good, well, I have a good position right now.
It's going on.
So that's quite good to use as well.
Yep.
Yep.
Absolutely.
And also you said like, I got to do something.
Yes.
What did I get to do?
Oh, yes.
You talked about changes at work and you moved to Russia.
Everything changed.
You gained access to something and then you got to do...
Yeah, I got to do a lot of different jobs, didn't I?
Yeah, like, got to do, like, I started doing these jobs.
And you can say, like, it gets changed.
We can say, like, many things get changed.
But not by you, by someone else.
Yeah, by someone else, right.
Like getting your hair done.
That's a change.
A life changing moment.
Yeah, and moving to Russia was worthwhile.
It was, yeah.
So if something is worthwhile, then it's a good idea to spend your time doing this thing.
But instead of saying it was a good idea to spend my time doing this thing, we say it's worthwhile.
Yep.
You've also mentioned changes about your outfit.
Outfit?
As in the clothes that you wear in a certain environment.
So I have my work outfit and then I have my going out outfit.
Going out outfit, yeah.
In the end, you talked about your career path and that's a nice collocation.
So I'm going to make some changes to my career path.
Your career path is like.
Well, if you think about a career, it should be the progress that you make in a certain line of work.
So for example, you start being a teacher. and then you become a senior teacher, and then a director, or an assistant director, and then you become a director, and you just get more and more experience and, I suppose, authority, allegedly. yep yep and also like if you want to keep talking about grammar there's a nice structure about change i'm used to so we talked about i used to be fat but now i am fit and gorgeous but we can also We can also say I'm used to getting up late.
I'm used to going to the bank to do transactions.
I don't know.
Or my parents are used to going to the bank to do transactions.
It means like I have a habit.
It's my habit.
It's my habit to get up late, so I'm used to getting up late.
We could also say I got used to.
Oh, this is so complicated.
So when you get used to something, it's like...
It becomes the normal way of doing things for you.
Like I got used to living in Russia after five years.
Or I have gotten used to.
Or I have got used to living in Russia.
I think we should discuss it in a separate podcast.
Yeah, we should have a grammar podcast, shouldn't we?
However, that is a lot of grammar for people to listen to and use for a high score for GRA.
So that's quite good, I think.
Yeah, yeah.
So just like to keep things like simple, genius and simple.
So like if something is your habit, you can say like, I'm used to getting up early.
It's my habit.
It's my routine.
And people resist change because they're used to doing things.
They are used to their routine.
But we never resist change.
Remember Rory, nothing changes if nothing changes.
Does it make sense?
And I think that's a good way of leading into the end of our podcast.
Yes.
So hopefully you've enjoyed listening to us talking about change.
And remember, change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and gorgeous at the end.
Wise words.
Bye.
Bye.
Rory, do you like changes?
I suppose it depends on what kind actually.
If it's a positive change, like if your workout at the gym is working well, then it's great.
If it's a change for the worse, then it's not great.
Like a change in working conditions, to be at home more, for example, which some of us are having to do now.
I don't like that.
I'd rather be in the classroom.
Do you often change?
Not too often.
I have a pretty regular routine going on that I quite like, so I don't think I change it that much.
Although I should say it's designed to enable positive change through self-improvement.
So you could argue that I'm changing all the time, I suppose.
What do you change?
Well...
I don't usually change it, but my workout routine at the gym gets changed by my personal trainer and I have the chance to change my lesson plans to suit the classes I teach, which is good for them and good for me.
It keeps me on my toes.
What would you not like to change?
Don't like last minute changes.
I suppose that's because I have a fixed idea of how things should be, and then my expectations are set.
But if we speak about more specific things, then I don't usually like changing my outfits, to be honest, especially at work.
I get quite comfortable with them.
Have you changed a lot since your childhood?
Oh, definitely.
I used to be fat and eat junk food and I didn't study properly at all.
So all of those things have changed for the better now, I think.
What was the last change you made?
Well, I say I changed it, but really my personal trainer changed it.
I changed my routine at the gym.
And by that, I mean I hired a personal trainer to help make it more effective.
So instead of just doing the same three sets of exercises all the time, now we do lots of different exercises and that seems to be working quite well.
What has been the greatest change in your life so far?
I'm probably moving to Russia, to be honest with you.
I think it changed everything.
I gained access to more opportunities for professional development and I gained new clients and I got to do a variety of jobs which expanded my competency.
So that's been great.
It was very worthwhile to move out of my comfort zone and move here.
Have there been any changes in your hometown recently?
I suppose it depends on how you define recently.
I think there are a lot of ongoing changes.
Down at the waterfront area, for example, they're reworking and renovating a lot of the buildings there, But that's been going on for quite a while now.
I can't think of anything that's happened this year just because of the crisis.
But last year, I'm sure they opened a lot of new stores, for example.
Whether that's still the case now, I'm not so sure.
What do you plan to change next year?
Well, actually it's funny we talked about changes to my career path, because I'm going to change my career again next year.
I'll go back to university and become qualified as a primary school teacher.
And I'm planning to go all in on this podcast so we can open up a range of services online, amongst other things, as well.
And I'll move back home.
So next year is going to be a year of major changes, I think.
