This is an IELTS Energy Podcast, Episode 1576.
Make IELTS speaking your daily routine.
Welcome to the IELTS Energy Podcast from All Ears English downloaded more than 35 million times with examiner-trained IELTS whiz Aubrey Carter and Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer.
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If you get a question about your daily routine on speaking part one, you might be in luck, because you should have a lot of material.
But if you want to score seven or higher, you need great vocabulary to get it today.
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Hey Aubrey, how's it going today?
I'm great, Lindsay.
How are you?
Good.
You ready to get into some IELTS talk here?
Yes, this is a great topic.
You're often asked about your daily routine, so I'm excited to give you some great vocab for these questions.
Yeah, but before we get into the vocab, I do want to ask you a question.
Aubrey, when it comes to your daily routine, would you say that changes very much or stays the same?
It doesn't change much.
Mondays are always the same and Tuesdays are the same.
I have like specific things I do, work tasks as well as my personal life things for my kids.
Every now and then something throws a wrench in if we have an appointment or a kid is sick.
But in general, my daily routine is pretty simple.
Solid.
Well, I feel like that's pretty normal.
Don't you think?
I mean, I think so.
Right.
But it is interesting that if you haven't, you know, if you don't have a friend who asks you about your daily routine, you haven't talked about this much.
It might be kind of a tricky question to answer.
For sure.
So a good thing to reflect on now, rather than for the first time when we're in the speaking examiner room, right?
Exactly.
So first of all, let's just share a few questions that are common on IELTS.
Part one questions about daily routine might be, what is your typical day like?
Do you prefer mornings or evenings?
Or is your daily routine the same every day?
Yes.
And this is I mean, this is kind of low hanging fruit, don't you think?
Right.
Because we own our day.
We can make up something.
We know our day very well.
Right.
So.
Right.
It should be pretty easy for you to answer these fairly off the cuff.
But can you do so with impressive vocabulary?
It's kind of a strange thing to pull in, you know, interesting vocab on.
That's a good point actually, because you wouldn't think if a friend asked you this question you would answer it very basically, right?
In a very basic way.
You wouldn't pull in any kind of special vocabulary, but at certain parts of the speaking test we have to.
Right.
I tried to.
I threw in throw a wrench in with my answer.
I was like, sometimes something will throw a wrench in trying to get that idiomatic language.
But if you haven't practiced that it would be really easy to say like a very band five.
Yeah, I do the same thing every day.
Nothing changes much.
It would be kind of tricky.
That's true.
That's a good point.
So getting some kind of idiom in, even in speaking part one, is a big deal there, right?
Absolutely.
What about part two?
Yeah.
So in part two, you might hear a question like, describe your daily routine.
Describe a daily activity you enjoy.
Describe a change in your daily routine.
And we know in part two, it really behooves us to ask a question, answer a question sorry, tell a story, right?
And so, right?
You have to feel that two minutes.
Absolutely.
It should be very possible to do this, right?
Absolutely.
So I'm excited to share some high scoring vocabulary for these types of questions.
But first we wanted to share the results of a Spotify poll, which was have you ever been disappointed with a hotel stay?
We gave amazing band nine vocabulary for disappointment in episode 1558.
And what was the result of this poll, Lindsay?
Yeah, the answer is 80% of you, yes, have been disappointed at one point with a hotel stay.
20% no.
So yes, that's pretty high, right?
Yeah, I think it's pretty common.
It's a common experience, whether it's just not as good.
Maybe it was overpriced or maybe it was really dumpy.
There's all kinds of ways to be disappointed.
It's hard sometimes when you go to a very expensive city.
You spend a lot of money on a hotel and then it's really not that nice.
That's pretty frustrating.
New York is a great example for that.
You're spending all this money and then the bathroom is down the hall or something crazy.
Like what?
Oh, geez.
Yeah, that can happen.
That can totally happen.
So we need vocab then, of course, to impress the examiner here.
What could be some vocab for the morning and the start of the day, Aubrey?
So we have this fun expression to ease into the day, sort of like you would ease into a swimming pool getting in slowly.
It means to start the day gradually, trying to avoid stress.
So, for example, I like to ease into the day with a cup of coffee while reading the news.
That sounds lovely.
Yes.
That does sound lovely.
Not with your children jumping on you and yelling that they're awake and ready to go.
Right.
No, not in this universe, right?
Nope.
Or get a head start.
To begin early to gain an advantage.
I get a head start of my day by squeezing in a quick workout.
So these are idiomatic.
These are idiomatic.
These are interesting expressions that you can use to talk about getting that jump start on your morning.
And then you're probably going to move into talking about your work or your study routine, what you sort of do on the average weekday.
For example, you could say you stick to a routine.
This is an idiomatic verb to say you stick to something means you follow a regular schedule.
Yeah, I try to stick to a routine because it helps me stay productive.
Right, that's a good one.
Or to be tied up with something, meaning to be very busy with something.
You're immersed in something.
I'm usually tied up with meetings in the afternoon.
That means you can't dedicate your attention to getting work done because you're always in meetings.
Yes, it's so interesting how, if you say I'm busy with meetings or I have a lot of meetings, band five, band six But if you use this idiomatic phrasal verb, you're not literally tied up right.
We say I'm tied up with meetings means I'm busy.
Interesting.
And then power through.
What do we think about this?
Yeah, it means to continue despite being tired or maybe bored.
Who knows?
So you could say on busy days, I just power through my tasks until everything is done.
Or you could say at 2 p.m. when I start really dragging, I just have to power through.
Yeah, or go get a coffee and then coffee can help you power through.
Sure, for sure.
And then we have our evenings, right?
Our evenings and when we're talking about winding down.
So just to wind down, probably a rare word in the examiner's room, right?
In the examiner's speaking room.
Yeah, this is an idiomatic phrasal verb.
So use it.
It means to relax. after a busy day in this case, right?
It could be after the workday.
Maybe you go to happy hour with some friends to wind down over a drink, right?
Yeah, exactly.
Or call it a day, right?
So this is when we stop working or we go to bed, right?
Or it also can be used sometimes if it's a maybe you're doing a volunteer project and you're going to end.
I guess it is kind of stopping working right.
Stopping your current activity or work, whatever it is.
If you've been studying for hours, I'm going to call it a day means I'm done.
I'm stopping.
That's a good one.
I don't think we've really taught on the show, any of the shows, but it's a great one.
And I like to say it's kind of fun, right?
It is fun.
Call it a day.
It rolls right off your tongue, right?
You might say by around 9 PM, I usually call it a day and it can mean I'm like going to bed.
But it can also just mean you're stopping working, stopping whatever you're doing.
Yes.
Love it.
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Okay, Aubrey, time for some sample answers.
Shall we dive into it?
Yes.
Do you want to answer one first?
Just a part one question.
So these are shorter, right?
Three to five sentences.
It's going to be more casual vocabulary, but everything we taught today is not too formal to be used in part one answers.
It really could be in part one or part two.
So if you're able to squeeze in a couple of these phrases, Lindsay, but let's see.
Okay.
I'll do my best.
Yes.
All right.
What is your typical day like?
Oh my gosh.
Great question.
Well, Right now I don't have kids, so my dog and I own the morning.
So I like to ease into the day by taking my dog for a walk up at the park.
I like to get in a good 30 minutes of walking, brisk walking, listening to a podcast.
And then I'll enjoy a nice cup of coffee and have some breakfast.
And then when it comes to actually sitting down and working, I do stick to a routine.
So I'm always at my desk Monday through Friday by 8 am.
I follow that schedule because it helps me to get work done.
And I do my best work in the morning, usually on Wednesdays throughout the entire day.
Thank you.
So at that point, the examiner might have to interrupt you, right?
Because they have so many questions they have to ask for speaking part one.
So guys, don't let it throw you off.
If the examiner cuts you off, it will not lower your score.
If anything, it shows your fluency.
They would be impressed.
Like clearly you could have talked about that all day long.
So that's no problem that they interrupt you.
Just let them ask the next question.
But yeah, it was definitely like three to five sentences and then they got asked the next question, right?
Yeah, I think it's really important to say because it doesn't mean you've done something wrong.
It doesn't mean your answer is like subpar or irrelevant and they need to ask you another one.
They do need to ask you another one.
It's just about time.
Exactly.
And this will happen a lot that when I'm giving practice, like mock speaking tests, I'll often need to interrupt students for almost every speaking part.
One question
And this is not lowering their score. right?
If anything, that's increasing their fluency score, because I'm like clearly they have so much to say about all of these questions.
That's really interesting.
So it's a good thing to be cut off.
It's a good sign you're on a roll.
So keep going.
You know what I mean vocab here i wanted to share.
I love that you said that you and your dog own the morning.
This is such a great idiom to like, it's your.
You know we usually use own this verb to own a car, own a house, but this is an idiomatic way to say that, like you're in charge, no one else is telling you what to do.
You own the morning.
You could own.
We could use this a lot of different ways to say you own where you're going on the date tonight.
It means you're in charge of that decision right, and That's a good one.
And then you used a couple of the ones we taught today.
You said you ease into your day sharing how you did that.
And then you also shared one about your workday routine, saying that you like to stick to a routine, to stay organized.
These are all very high scoring phrases, band nine vocabulary.
Definitely band nine fluency score.
Wow.
You could have talked for two minutes.
Yeah, I could have kept talking for sure.
Again, guys, this is an opportunity because you have the material.
You don't need to make anything up here.
You've got great material to work with.
It's a matter of wrapping it up in different vocabulary words that are unique, okay?
And we can do this, right?
Yes.
So Aubrey, it's your turn.
This will be a part one question again.
Here it is.
Do you prefer mornings or evenings?
Ooh, it really depends on the day.
Often, I prefer the morning.
I get up early and get a head start on my day with a cup of coffee.
It's quiet and dark.
No one is there to bother me.
But I really love hanging out with friends in the evening.
So that's a tough competition.
I love doing a fire pit with lots of friends and hanging out, having a few drinks and And that's more fun than any morning by myself.
So I think I have to go with evenings.
Love it.
Love it.
Great answer.
Okay, I like it.
So I like how you contrasted mornings and evenings, right?
Clearly, you didn't just take one of them and just talk about that, right?
You really answered the question is what I'm saying.
Yeah, and you can.
It's interesting.
There's a lot of flexibility, right?
You could absolutely just say mornings and just talk about mornings, or choose evenings, just talk about evenings, or do what I did and be like I like both.
Here's my reasons to like both and then choose.
But make sure you answer the question, right?
If I had never really given a clear answer, even both could be the answer.
But the question is, do you prefer mornings or evenings?
So you have to directly answer that question.
And we've been talking lately on the show about the importance of answering it early in your answer.
So you get that out of the way.
Especially like an answer like this, where you know there's going to be a lot of material.
Let's make sure you answer it right away.
Then you move on to the material that you have.
Exactly right.
Because, as we saw with Lindsay's question, the examiner might say thank you and move on if you have spoken for too long.
And if you haven't answered the question yet, then your fluency score will be affected.
So yes, that's great advice to answer the question right away.
Yeah, I love that.
So I heard it really depends on the day, right?
And I also heard some nice intonation.
I really love fire pits in the evenings with friends, right?
So I could tell that you're answering the question just in your intonation of weighing what you love more, right.
Yes, absolutely.
Mm-hmm.
Go ahead.
What did you know?
It's well done.
Well, I heard the phrase tough competition.
It's a tough competition, right?
What else did you use, Aubrey?
I had said get a head start.
And this is interesting because I want to point out here I used that one from the vocabulary we had used.
And then I'm sharing details about which I like and not.
And I think it would have thrown off my fluency to try to pull in another phrase from what we taught.
So this is just a good note that, yes, you want to use this idiomatic language.
You want to use this interesting vocabulary, but not at the risk of your fluency, right?
You don't want to be clearly trained to think of vocabulary and not being able to answer the question and come up with details.
And a lot of that is about the practice, right?
If you're practicing answering these questions, you'll be able to throw in a couple idioms.
No problem.
Hmm.
That's a good point, Aubrey.
We don't want to spend our time making sure we get the perfect vocabulary word and then we lose the opportunity to answer the question.
That might cause us to hesitate, pause while we're trying.
Now, what was another phrase I wanted to use?
You don't want to do that.
Don't let that happen.
Good advice.
So we do have a poll, a special poll for today's episode, Aubrey.
And guys, remember, these polls are over on Spotify.
So you do need to be listening in Spotify to participate, but it's your way to make your voice heard.
What's our poll today?
Yeah.
Does your daily routine change much?
Yes or no?
I answered this at the top of the episode.
Mine really doesn't.
Most days look the same.
We're curious if it's the same for you guys.
Yeah, I can't wait to see it.
So guys, we will announce the results of this poll in a coming episode.
So make sure you go over and vote right now.
Make your voice heard.
And Aubrey, where's another episode we could go to?
Yes.
Check out right here on IELTS Energy episode 1574.
If you missed it was, are you making these three IELTS mistakes?
These are mistakes we see students make very commonly.
We want to make sure you avoid them.
So scroll up if you missed that episode.
All right.
Sounds good.
Great episode today.
Again, remember, guys, this is low hanging fruit.
You have the material for this.
So let's just stick some good vocabulary in here and score high to start off our speaking test strong.
Right?
Absolutely.
Awesome.
Thanks, guys.
Definitely practice.
Practice using this vocabulary so that you have it in your active vocabulary on test day.
Awesome.
Aubrey, we'll see you back here very soon.
All right.
Have a good one.
You too.
Bye.
Bye.
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