Hello, love.
I'm Maria.
And my name is Rory, and we're 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 high-level vocabulary and gorgeous grammar in your everyday English and in your IELTS speaking exam.
Roy, do you miss me when I'm not around?
Oh, yes, definitely.
You're like part of the furniture.
Yes, we're going to be talking about furniture because in IELTS Speaking Part 1, they can ask you questions about furniture.
And because it's a coincidence, again.
Rory, we have our IELTS Speaking for Success Premium.
Are you excited about that?
I am extremely excited.
It's super cool and we put in a lot of effort with it.
Yes, it's great because on our premium podcast you can listen to part 1, part 2 and part 3.
And we go over the grammar and vocabulary.
It's great.
Is it for a high score?
Band 9 score.
Yes.
You can click the link in the description or go to successwithieldscom slash premium to sign up for the free trial and to sign up for our premium super service.
Do you have a lot of items of furniture at home?
I suppose I have a lot of wardrobes and chests of drawers.
Actually, more than I know what to do with, frankly.
There's so many of them. what furniture do you own um well my apartment is rented so actually technically i own none of it but uh i like to think i like my bed actually it's quite big and comfy and i like the seating in the kitchen There's like a bench integrated into the wall, which I think looks very cool.
What's your favourite item of furniture?
In the whole world, probably my bed back home or the couch back home as well, actually.
When I say back home, I actually mean in Scotland.
I can just chill there, and they're nice and comfortable and I can forget my troubles, which is excellent.
Exactly what you want in a piece of furniture.
Have you ever received furniture as a gift?
I'm sure I got some bookshelves as a gift once, but nothing major like a wardrobe or something.
Do you often buy furniture?
No, I mean like all of my furniture has been provided, but I really want to buy a computer chair to sit in.
I really liked sitting cross-legged in my old one, and I think it actually might be better for my posture than the current arrangement of just sitting in my bed.
Where do you buy furniture?
I have no idea where I would buy furniture or even the furniture that I want to buy.
If we talk about computer chairs, then probably a furniture store or an electronics store, perhaps if it's got stuff for computers.
But yes, I don't know much about buying furniture, so I don't know is the short answer.
What did you last buy?
Well, I don't think I've ever bought furniture.
But if when I have to, I'll need to have the basics like a three piece suite and a bed.
Oh, I'd really like a standing desk as well and a nice chair.
Apart from the storage spaces like shelves and wardrobes and stuff.
That's all really.
What styles do you prefer, modern or traditional furniture?
Well, right now i don't mind at all because i get my apartment paid for me, so whatever they decide is the decor is just fine with me.
Um, but And to be honest, actually I think I still won't mind when I'm older, as long as the furniture matches the decor in the house.
I think that's probably the most important thing after does it work and is it of a reasonable quality?
Rory, thank you so much for your furniture answers.
I hope they have furnished you with the answers that you needed.
Okay, so furniture, it's such a strange topic, isn't it?
It's a very strange topic.
Yeah, it's like when you never buy furniture, when you're not into furniture, like what on earth should you say?
So conditional sentences and hypothetical structures will save your life here.
Yeah, it's like when you said, like, when I have to buy furniture, I'll buy blah, blah, blah.
Yeah, but dear listener, you should get ready with specific items of furniture.
And, well, listening to this podcast will give you some ideas about furniture.
So, first of all, Rory, can I say furnitures?
Nope, because it's uncountable.
Can I say there are a lot of furniture?
No, you can't, because it's uncountable.
Can I say I have many furniture?
No, you can't, because it's uncountable.
Yeah, so there is a lot of furniture.
This furniture is nice, but we can say there are many items of furniture or pieces of furniture.
Yes.
You can also say I've got lots of furniture, or I've got plenty of furniture, or I've got lots of items of furniture.
Yes, you can.
What about verbs?
I have furniture, I own furniture.
I bought furniture.
I purchase furniture.
Purchase the same as buy.
So, Rory, your flat is rented and all the furniture has been provided.
Yeah, it's great.
I love this place.
Tell us about your kitchen.
You've used some nice words.
Well, I just talked about the seating in the kitchen.
So the main sitting area in the kitchen next to the table is integrated into the wall.
So it's like part of the wall.
But we have all the basics like an oven or a cooker.
And...
Actually, that's all we have to be honest with you.
We have the storage space, of course, but the main attraction is the cooker.
Oh, and the refrigerator, but I don't think these count as furniture.
Rory says a cooker, he doesn't mean he has a person inside his furniture.
A cooker is like an oven, like a stove.
It's not like teach teacher, cook cook.
No, like this person is a cook or a chef, but the furniture is a cooker or an oven.
Right, and your favorite piece of furniture is your comfy bed.
Comfy, comfortable bed.
Yes, comfy is more informal than comfortable, but they mean the same thing.
Also, you've mentioned a couch and we say a couch.
It's like a sofa.
It is, yes.
There's probably a big difference between the two.
I think a couch is more common in the UK and a sofa is more common in British English.
But to be honest with you, they're used interchangeably these days as well.
So Rory is sitting on his beautiful couch, becoming a couch potato.
No, I'm not.
That's the problem.
The couch is in Scotland.
I'm back in, sorry, I'm in Russia.
When Rory goes back to Scotland, he's gonna become a couch potato, because he's gonna be sitting on the couch watching the telly.
I have a list of things as long as my arm.
I'm not gonna have any time to sit down at all when I go back home, eventually.
Rory, you'd like to buy a standing desk, right?
Yes, I am obsessed with this idea and it's gonna happen.
A standing desk, for those of you who don't know, is a desk that you can stand at.
So the table is raised like so everything that you have is up to your waist, or you can adjust the height so it comes up to your desk.
This is really cool because, in addition to looking cool, it also is good for your posture and for your back as well, as opposed to sitting in a chair all day, which isn't so good.
Wow, so you'd like to be working standing?
Yes, absolutely, 100%.
I hate sitting down.
Wow.
Yeah, and it's good for your posture.
Posture is like the position of your back.
Well, it's the position of your whole body, I suppose.
And you'd like to get a computer chair and a three-piece suite.
Oh, God.
I know I just said that I like standing up and I hate sitting down, but since there's no option for me to buy a standing desk in Russia, I'm going to buy a computer chair to sit in, so it's comfortable.
Yes.
And a three-piece suite, what is that?
A three-piece suite is like.
Well, it's just three pieces of furniture that have the same design altogether.
So you might have a couch and two chairs to go with it, two armchairs, and they all have the same style.
So there are three pieces of the suite, which is the whole thing.
Yeah, and sweet, we spell it like not sweet, like sugar is sweet, but S-U-I-T-E, sweet.
But they look pretty sweet.
They look sweet.
You've mentioned another word, a chest of drawers.
Yes, I did.
A chest of drawers is just, well, I think everybody's got one.
It's just like rows of drawers in the same place.
Yeah, you should Google it, like a chest of drawers.
You can also mention a wardrobe, a coffee table.
And Rory was speaking about bookshelves.
Yes.
Like bookshelves or a bookcase where you store or you keep your books.
And Rory called them storage shelves.
Yes.
So storage spaces is just places to keep things.
I have, for example, I've got two wardrobes and two chests of drawers.
This is extremely excessive.
I don't feel like I need this much.
Rory, and you've never bought any furniture?
Really?
No, I've never bought furniture.
It just, like, everywhere I've lived, the furniture's been provided.
There's a word for this.
When it's provided for you.
What about IKEA?
Have you ever visited IKEA?
Oh, God.
DIY?
Years ago.
Probably not recent.
No, definitely not recently.
When we talk about styles of furniture and what kind of question is this?
Which furniture do you prefer?
Modern or what?
We can have modern furniture, traditional furniture, contemporary furniture, which is the same as modern.
We can have casual furniture, antique furniture, second-hand furniture.
Or if you're not into this furniture business, you just say, I'm minimalist or I'm a minimalist.
Like, you don't like clutter, okay?
You kind of, you prefer spacious, empty room, minimalist style.
You are not into this interior design.
Right, tell us about this decor.
Decor?
Oh, decor.
Decor is just like how the house is decorated.
So ideally, as I understand it, your decorations in your house should match each other, or at least complement each other in some way.
And if it's not going to be throughout the house, then it should at least be consistent in the room that you're in.
So this idea of having the same style means that the decor matches.
But if it doesn't match, then it's not so good, apparently.
Yeah, and we have these lovely verbs.
Complement or for example furniture goes well with some other items of furniture.
Or furniture fits in my flat.
I'd like to buy a king size bed which fits in my flat.
Rory.
But if you, for example, if you lived in a nice house and you have, if you had like so much money that you would spend money like water what piece of exquisite furniture would you buy?
The standing desk.
Absolutely the standing desk.
I'm obsessed with this idea.
I'm not letting it go.
And when I finally buy my own house probably two years from now that will be the first thing I buy.
Even before a bed, the first thing I'm getting is a standing desk.
So you wouldn't go for a massage chair for like Italian table shaped like a woman, no?
Nope, nothing like that.
I want that standing desk.
Okay, shall we all chip in and get Rory a standing desk for his birthday?
No, it's okay.
I have the money.
I just need the house.
That's all.
Yeah, you guys.
If you want to chip in so Rory can buy his super standing desk, you can subscribe to our premium service.
No, really.
Yeah, we have this premium service and we discuss speaking part one, two and three.
So go check it out.
Successwithiles.com slash premium.
Thank you very much for listening.
We really hope that you've learned some nice vocabulary about this strange topic furniture.
Bye.
Bye-bye.
Do you have a lot of items of furniture at home?
I suppose I have a lot of wardrobes and chests of drawers.
Actually, more than I know what to do with, frankly.
There's so many of them.
What furniture do you own?
Well, my apartment is rented.
So actually, technically, I own none of it.
But I like to think I like my bed, actually.
It's quite big and comfy.
And I like the seating in the kitchen.
There's like a bench integrated into the wall, which I think looks very cool.
What's your favourite item of furniture in the whole world?
Probably my bed back home, or the couch back home as well, actually.
When I say back home, I actually mean in Scotland.
I can just chill there, and they're nice and comfortable and I can forget my troubles, which is excellent.
Exactly what you want in a piece of furniture.
Have you ever received furniture as a gift?
I'm sure I got some bookshelves as a gift once, but nothing major like a wardrobe or something.
Do you often buy furniture?
No, I mean like all of my furniture has been provided, but I really want to buy a computer chair to sit in.
I really liked sitting cross-legged in my old one, and I think it actually might be better for my posture than the current arrangement of just sitting in my bed.
Where do you buy furniture?
I have no idea where I would buy furniture or even the furniture that I want to buy.
If we talk about computer chairs, then probably like a furniture store or an electronics store, perhaps if it's got stuff for computers.
But yes, I don't know much about buying furniture, so I don't know is the short answer.
What did you last buy?
Well, I don't think I've ever bought furniture.
But if when I have to, I'll need to have the basics like a three piece suite and a bed.
Oh, I'd really like a standing desk as well and a nice chair.
Apart from the storage spaces like shelves and wardrobes and stuff.
That's all really.
What styles do you prefer?
Modern or traditional furniture?
Well, right now I don't mind at all because I get my apartment paid for me.
So whatever they decide is the decor is just fine with me.
But...
And, to be honest actually, I think I still won't mind when I'm older, as long as the furniture matches the decor in the house.
I think that's probably the most important thing after does it work and is it of a reasonable quality?
