Hello, lovely.
I'm Maria.
And my name is Rory, and we are the hosts of the IELTS Speaking for Success podcast.
The podcast 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 words and gorgeous grammar in your everyday English and your IELTS speaking exam.
Rory, are you working less now?
No, I'm actually working about the same amount, unfortunately.
I think it's going to be like this for a while.
Oh, you always slave away.
You need to go out and meet new people.
It's a coincidence, because today we're going to talk about meeting new people.
Yes, in Speaking Part 1, they can ask you questions about meeting new people.
Rory, do you often meet new people?
Well actually, contrary to the joke at the beginning, I probably meet new people on a daily basis, or at least I used to, because I did placement testing.
So in order to do that, I had to go and meet students and talk to them about English and what they wanted to achieve.
So I actually did that quite regularly.
How do you feel about meeting new people?
Well, it's cool because obviously it's a new experience every time, but it's also quite difficult sometimes because it's hard for me to keep track of people's names.
And the other thing is...
Because of the work that I do, sometimes people know me before I meet them.
And then that causes, well, it's like an imbalance in information flow, isn't it?
Because they know everything about you and you don't know anything about them.
But on the whole, it's a positive thing.
Of course, you meet new people and make new friends.
Are you able to decide whether you like the person by the first meeting?
Well, according to my star sign, I am.
And apparently well, I think there might be some truth to that actually, because every time I've met someone new that I didn't quite like and I had a little uneasy feeling about I turned out not to like them so much.
I mean at least in the beginning.
Obviously you don't just give up on people because you had a bad first meeting, but it was a lot more difficult with people who were like that than people I felt positively about.
Is it easy for you to meet new people?
Um ironically, I'm given how much I hate being out in public.
Yes because, um well, even through my work, I end up speaking to people, and then, when I'm, I usually wind up speaking to people um like, Do you care about people's opinions about you?
Generally, not really.
And, to be honest, I think people in general are probably overly invested in how they're perceived by others.
But for me, I try not to think about it much.
And actually people have said that's one of the reasons that they like me, because I just say things how they are.
And apparently being authentic is something that draws people in.
How do you meet new people?
Like where?
Where do you find new people?
But, like I say, I meet lots of new people through work because being a teacher and a teacher trainer and a manager, you invariably wind up meeting new people all the time.
I think work is the main way that a lot of people do this actually.
And then of course, like when I go out with my friends again, inevitably you wind up meeting new people that way.
So I think it's a combination of like, how best to say it, like employment and just social events.
And when was the last time you met a new person?
That's a very good question.
I think it was probably, oh it was last night actually.
I'm on holiday with my friends right now.
So we invited well, they invited people around to where we were staying and we met new people that way.
So that was that recently, I suppose.
Have you ever met anyone new online?
Social dating?
Yes, actually.
Because I got Instagram and everything, lots of people have been talking to me online.
So I haven't physically met them, but I've met them just trading messages online.
Thank you, Rory, for your lovely answers.
Thank you.
So when we talk about meeting new people, we can talk about how often we do this.
So, Rory, you said on a daily basis.
Yeah, that means every day?
Yeah, pretty much.
We can also say regularly.
You can, but on a daily basis is better because you get to use prepositions and phrases and things.
So for that band nine score...
On a daily basis.
On a daily basis.
If I want to squeeze in an idiom, can I say like, once in a blue moon, I meet new people.
I meet new people once in a blue moon.
Why not?
Or the examiner asks you, how often do you meet new people?
And you say, once in a blue moon.
Would it be fine?
I think so, yeah.
Again, it's not like a phrase that I've heard said very often, so you could maybe say it once in your exam and get away with it, but I don't think if you said it all the time it would be very natural.
We meet new people.
We can make friends.
Yeah.
Or we meet people in person.
Right.
Like meet face to face or meet people online.
And you meet lots of new people through work.
So through work.
Right.
Doing placement testing.
What is placement testing, Rory?
Placement testing is something that students do when they come to well any reputable school anyway.
It helps determine which level of class they should go into.
Yeah, so when you go to Rory, Rory placement tests you and tells you oh, you are advanced, you are upper intermediate, you are elementary.
Yep.
We can say that meeting new people is difficult.
What are the synonyms?
Difficult, what else can you say?
Complicated.
It's tough.
Yeah.
I just use the word difficult a lot, which I just realised there is a bad thing.
So, yes.
Maybe if you're like me and you have a very negative idea about it, then it could be annoying to...
Annoying, yeah.
Or you said it's a lot more difficult than something, right?
What does it mean?
A lot more difficult or much more difficult?
It's just saying that something is really difficult for you.
And it's helpful, especially in your exam, to use the structure of comparing one thing to another.
So, for example, meeting new people is difficult for me.
Sorry, it's more difficult for me than well doing my work because I get very invested in my work, whereas it's difficult to be invested in meeting new people when it happens all the time.
But I still try.
Yeah, it's much more difficult for you.
Yeah.
Or we can say, like meeting new people in person is a lot more difficult than meeting new people online.
Well, it is now.
Yes.
We can also say, like, it's mentally hard.
And you said, like, okay...
Being in public is mentally hard.
It's physically okay, but mentally it is hard.
Yeah, well, it's difficult if you have like a million people talking to you, isn't it?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You've mentioned a nice phrase, keep track of the names.
Keep track of.
So, if you keep track of something, it's just...
Well, it's like remembering and then organizing at the same time.
So, for example, you use a diary to keep track of your day and all the tasks that you're doing.
So it's checking that you've done the tasks and then putting them in the logical order as well and making sure they're completed in the logical order and then knowing that that has happened.
So, keep track of is actually quite a... It's a useful phrasal verb.
Yeah.
How do you keep track of your life?
I have a paper diary because I live in the 19th century, but I think most people have their diaries online.
Oh, don't you live in a cave, Rory?
I feel like I live in a cave.
Yes.
Rory, you mentioned star sign.
So what's your star sign horoscope?
Well, allegedly I'm a Virgo, although because my birthday is on the border between Leo and Virgo, it depends which zodiac calendar you use.
But most of the time I'm a Virgo.
What date is this?
August?
I'm not telling you.
Oh, God.
I wanted to catch him.
Rory is always alert.
Okay.
All right.
I'm a Taurus.
I don't know what that means.
What does that mean for you?
Taurus, like a bull.
Taurus.
No, no, I know what it is.
I just don't know what it means in terms of personality traits because I think it's all nonsense.
But it's interesting to talk about.
I'm stubborn.
Oh, yeah, I can see this.
So...
That's okay.
Okay, so how does your star sign, how is it related to meeting new people?
Well, I remember reading somewhere that it said that Virgos have this kind of intuition about people.
You can tell on the first meeting whether or not you're going to like someone.
And, well, I don't think that's true.
Like, 100%.
I can definitely see it in some experiences I've had.
Can you say that you're a social butterfly? an unintentional social butterfly.
Social butterfly.
Do you use it?
Yes, but I use it ironically because I'm not really.
I just wind up becoming, well, I wind up talking to a lot of people just almost by accident, really.
Mm-hmm.
So if I'm a social butterfly, I kind of talk to people, I meet new people, I enjoy it, yeah?
But if I'm a homebody, I kind of stay in my shell and I don't like getting out of my shell, you know.
So I stay at home, right.
Basically, yes.
Yeah.
Okay.
So, phrasal verbs.
Welcome to our phrasal verbs world.
Rory, you've mentioned the keep track of something, right?
You've also said give up on people.
So, don't give up on people.
What does it mean?
Well, if you give up on anything, you just stop working on it or stop trying things with it.
So if you give up on people, then you just stop socializing with them and stop believing in them.
But like I say, it's not something that I will do just because I have a bad feeling about it.
Clearly, I'll keep trying.
But it is a lot more difficult not to do this, especially when your body is telling you like yeah, this is not going to work out.
Yeah, so when we meet somebody for the first time and we don't quite like this person, we can say I won't give up on this person.
I'm going to kind of talk to him or her.
So maybe later, yeah, we'll get on.
A nice one, wind up.
I wind up speaking to lots of people.
I wind up meeting new people.
So wind up and end up have very similar meanings because they both talk about the result of an action.
My understanding is that wind up is like the result after a longer process.
But to be honest, end up is used to mean almost exactly the same thing.
So you could use them both.
And to me, the same thing.
And you could show the examiner that you have a broad vocabulary and then you get a higher score.
Bad 9 score.
Hopefully a bad 9 score.
Okay, what about the past?
Wind up is present.
What about the past?
Yesterday I... Wound up.
Wound up, yeah.
One more phrasal verb is you said I always tell the truth or I'm honest and it draws people in.
Yes.
So if you draw people in, then you well, you make them interested in you.
And it's like making yourself attractive to people as well.
If people are drawn in by something and they want to be closer to it and have a better look.
Yeah.
But for some people, it's really mentally hard to meet new people.
So we can say that it could be a real hassle.
Well, if too many people are drawn in, it could be a real hassle.
Like, seriously, sometimes you talk to people on nights out and you talk to about, what, 24 people?
And you're supposed to remember all of this information.
That's hard.
It's annoying, it's a pain.
Yeah, a pain in the neck.
Yep.
Or we say a pain in some other part of your body, dear listeners.
What do you think?
Is it?
Could you write it in the comment section below, please?
A pain in the where?
Something.
Right.
Yeah, but by meeting new people, we can say that we expand our circle.
Yeah?
So our circle of friends.
We get into a conversation with new people.
And people are everything, don't you think?
Yes.
Well, I mean, without people, we wouldn't have jobs, for example.
No.
None of us would, thinking about it.
Oh, that's very philosophical.
Yeah, but on the other hand, all this small talk holding a conversation, that could be a real hassle.
It is.
It's not like, it's not the worst thing in the world, though.
Hopefully I'm not giving people the wrong impression.
I do actually like talking to people.
It's just like, it's a lot.
It's a lot of things to remember.
So, you know, it's difficult.
Yeah, but being a teacher, like, how many new people do you meet, for example, every month?
Oh, God.
Well, that's a lot.
If we go by.
Well, it will depend where you are.
I mean, if we talk about this summer, I did summer camp.
So that was there were 220 children there.
And so you wind up teaching or at least meeting most of them in some way, shape or form.
So it could be as many as like 240 people a month, maybe even more than that.
But sometimes it could just be like one person a week.
But that's still quite a lot, I think.
True.
How do you handle all this worry?
I'm fine.
It's just a little bit stressful having to remember all the information.
But I do get through it.
It's just not pleasant.
Nobody likes being overly stressed out about these things.
So you are more of an extrovert than an introvert?
That's a really good question, actually, because I have no idea.
You're an in-betweener.
I think the people who know me the most would probably say that I'm a bit of an introvert, but the people who I meet on a daily basis would probably think I'm quite extroverted.
And as for me, I haven't really decided yet.
I'm not really sure.
Thank you so much, Rory.
Dear listener, that's all from us for today.
We really hope that you've enjoyed it and you've learned something new.
So get out of your shell sometimes, you know.
Make friends.
Enjoy your life with IELTS.
Speaking for Success podcast.
Oh, yeah, they could leave messages in the comments for each other.
That would be cool.
That's a good way of meeting new people, isn't it?
Yeah, let's meet new people through IELTS Speaking for Success podcast.
Bye!
Rory, do you often meet new people?
Well actually, contrary to the joke at the beginning, I probably meet new people on a daily basis, or at least I used to, because I did placement testing.
So in order to do that, I had to go and meet students and talk to them about English and what they wanted to achieve.
So I actually did that quite regularly.
How do you feel about meeting new people?
Well, it's cool because obviously it's a new experience every time, but it's also quite difficult sometimes because it's hard for me to keep track of people's names.
And the other thing is because of the work that I do, sometimes people know me before I meet them.
And then that causes problems.
Well, it's like an imbalance in information flow, isn't it?
Because they know everything about you and you don't know anything about them.
But on the whole, it's a positive thing.
Of course, you meet new people and make new friends.
Are you able to decide whether you like the person by the first meeting?
Well, according to my star sign, I am.
And apparently well, I think there might be some truth to that actually, because every time I've met someone new that I didn't quite like and I had a little uneasy feeling about I turned out not to like them so much.
I mean at least in the beginning.
Obviously you don't just give up on people because you had a bad first meeting.
But it was a lot more difficult with people who were like that than people I felt positively about.
Is it easy for you to meet new people?
Ironically, given how much I hate being out in public, yes.
Because, well, even through my work, I end up speaking to people.
And then when I usually wind up speaking to people, lots and lots of people anyway.
So it's easy, it's physically easy for me, but it's mentally still quite difficult.
Do you care about people's opinions about you?
Generally, not really.
And, to be honest, I think people in general are probably overly invested in how they're perceived by others.
But for me, I try not to think about it much.
And actually people have said that's one of the reasons that they like me, because I just say things how they are.
And apparently being authentic is something that draws people in.
How do you meet new people?
Like where?
Where do you find new people?
But, like I say, I meet lots of new people through work because being a teacher and a teacher trainer and a manager, you invariably wind up meeting new people all the time.
I think work is the main way that a lot of people do this, actually.
And then of course, like when I go out with my friends again, inevitably you wind up meeting new people that way.
So I think it's a combination of like, how best to say it, like employment and just social events.
And when was the last time you met a new person?
That's a very good question.
I think it was probably, oh it was last night actually.
I'm on holiday with my friends right now.
So we invited well, they invited people around to where we were staying and we met new people that way.
So that was that recently, I suppose.
Have you ever met anyone new online?
Social dating?
Yes, actually.
Because I got Instagram and everything, lots of people have been talking to me online.
So I haven't physically met them, but I've met them just trading messages online.
