We are the perfect strangers.
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na.
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na.
I am recording that now.
Hello, Sunshine.
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 podcast because we want you to use high-level words and gorgeous grammar in your IELTS speaking and in your English life.
Robbie, do you know what my favorite song is?
No, tell me, show me.
I'm gonna play it to you, okay?
Are you ready?
Yeah, come on.
Do you like it?
It's a cool song.
I like it.
Who sang it?
Jonas Blue, Perfect Strangers, Jimmy Cooper.
I thought it sounded familiar.
They've got a couple of good songs.
Shall we talk about Strangers today?
Let's talk about Strangers.
What a coincidence.
It is.
We're full of coincidences here.
Rory, do you often talk to strangers?
Yeah, all the time, actually.
Well, in my work, I meet new people all the time.
So it's important that we can rub along well together, even though we don't know each other.
And then, I suppose, on certain dating apps, I talk to different people, which it doesn't always turn out romantic actually, but you can still make friends on these things, I should say.
So there's that.
And then random people speak to me on Instagram all the time.
They ask for advice with their IELTS exams preparation, for example.
And if you want to do that, then you're very welcome.
It's a bit weird, though.
Just because you don't expect to get these messages, do you?
Is it easy for you to start a conversation with a stranger?
Yeah, almost always.
I'm not a very shy person, obviously.
And I don't mind chatting for a bit, although it's ending the conversation.
That can be a bit problematic because I usually have work to do.
I need to, well, I just need to get on with it.
So it can sometimes end things a bit prematurely, but usually there's no reason why we can't keep speaking online later.
So it's like I said, with people, they can find me on Instagram if they ever bump into me in public.
Do you have difficulty talking to strangers?
Um, only if there's a language barrier.
Um.
So, for example, um if we talk about Russian, a lot of the Russian I speak is um functional and not conversational.
Um, so I can communicate basic ideas um, but not very complex ones uh, which can put a bit of a dampener on things at times.
And that's a problem.
Is it difficult to tell a story to a stranger?
I suppose it depends on what the story is, doesn't it?
So usually I'm quite good at, well, just telling stories.
But sometimes I get a bit carried away and leave out important details because I'm so excited to tell it.
Usually it's nothing you can't recover from, though.
And once you realize that you've left something out, then you just quickly add it in.
Are you afraid of being judged by strangers?
I used to be, but now I don't really care at all.
The people who know me well and are my friends have chosen to be my friends, so their opinions are the ones that I'm more interested in and I value more in general.
I suppose nobody wants to be disliked, and it would be a shame if people were to fall out with me over something inconsequential, even if I don't know them very well.
Although when it does happen, ultimately I just ask myself will I really care about this falling out in five years time, when I have my dream life?
Probably not.
And there's little to judge me about anyway, so it's not exactly a pressing concern.
Do people in your country often talk to strangers?
Oh yeah, we're a very friendly bunch.
Come to Scotland if you can.
Yeah, we have freedom.
Freedom to talk to strangers.
So yeah, we're a friendly bunch.
I think Scottish people are generally more open and positive about new people than in a lot of other places.
One reason could be that we have pretty good social cohesion and a lower population, so we could feel a lot bolder when we're amongst more of us, for example.
Of course it could also be because a lot of people in Scotland are quite heavy drinkers and don't know what we're doing half the time.
So there's that as well.
Maybe a lack of self-awareness.
Rory, thank you so much for your answers.
It's okay.
Hopefully most of them weren't too strange.
Well, they were just odd.
Rory, so strangers.
Who are strangers?
Strangers are friends you haven't met yet.
Yeah, isn't that a song?
A stranger's just a friend you haven't met.
Oh, I should stop singing.
So it's a musical podcast, okay?
It's not a musical podcast.
It's like swinging cats around in a bag, to be honest, is the closer way of understanding.
So, strangers.
A stranger is someone you don't know.
Yes.
At least you don't know them yet.
Yet, yeah.
We have a word foreigner.
A foreigner is a foreign person, so don't mix them up.
And we can say a complete stranger or a total stranger.
Yeah.
What do you think is easier to remember?
Complete stranger or total stranger?
I know.
It's up to you, dear listener.
A complete stranger, a total stranger, both of them are fine.
And you can say, oh, this person is stranger to me.
To me.
To me.
Rory, you've mentioned rub along well.
We can rub along well.
Yeah, like if you rub along well with people, well, you get on with them.
It's another phrasal verb.
You can also, on the subject of rubbing, you can also rub shoulders with people.
That just means you're, well, with them and getting to know them.
We make friends with strangers.
Yes.
Or you can also use a synonym, random people.
Well, they are random people, aren't they?
Yeah, like random people speak to Rory on Instagram.
So feel free to chat to Rory on Instagram and Telegram.
Mm-hmm.
With random messages.
Well, not random messages.
Like, they should have a purpose.
Like, maybe Isle's preparation would be better.
And we can say that we chat with strangers and Rory doesn't mind chatting for a bit.
Uh, no.
Um, and if you like, for example, first of all chatting is like a small conversation and then chatting for a bit is just like a short time.
Yeah, it's very easy for Roy to talk to strangers.
Basically, that's his job.
That's part of his job.
But, Rory, you said that to end things is difficult for you and to end things prematurely.
Yeah, so if you end something prematurely, you end it before it's fully developed.
I'm sure a lot of people watching and listening probably have done this before.
You have a conversation with someone, but you have to be in a place.
So you're like okay, it's so nice talking to you, but this, we can't keep talking, so gotta go but call me or uh, or write to me on instagram or something like that.
Yes, it was very strange to me when I was in Italy and telling people they say goodbyes, like for an hour.
Yep.
So I was like, okay, are we going?
Are we going?
No, we're not going.
We are saying goodbyes for pretty much like two hours.
So prematurely.
And a language barrier.
And we say barrier.
Yeah you, Yeah.
So a language barrier is when?
Well, your mutual lack of understanding, so both people don't understand what each person is trying to say and that prevents them from fully communicating the meaning.
If you're studying a foreign language, then you have this problem quite often, I think, at least at the beginning.
We can also say I can communicate basic ideas.
So communicate, like tell them.
Yes.
Well, you just you communicate.
It's important to say like you don't just you don't just talk about ideas.
It's better to communicate ideas.
So the verb goes together with the noun. communicate with strangers, communicate basic ideas.
Rory, what is this dampener?
Dampener?
Put a dampener on things.
Yeah, if you put a dampener on things, it just stops things from being as lively as they could be.
So, for example, when I'm speaking English, I'm obviously very animated, very alive.
But when I'm speaking Russian, it's not very good.
I'm not as... lively because it's difficult for me to communicate.
I manage somehow.
Yeah, so this language barrier can put a dampener on things, right?
Yeah.
So when we talk to strangers, we can get carried away.
And that's a good phrase of verb.
So if you get carried away, it just means that you forget about the other things that you have to do and you just keep talking and talking and then you realize like, oh my God, it's been half an hour and I'm late for a meeting, for example.
Yeah, or five hours, you know, the whole night you've been talking to a complete stranger in a bar, getting carried away because you're so excited.
Have you ever had this, dear listener?
I think everyone.
I think no.
Well, if you're a sociable person, why not?
It happens to me a lot.
But, like i say, i like talking to strangers.
And do you sometimes listen to some strangers having a conversation and then you are responding to that conversation mentally, you know.
Are you being eavesdropping on other people's conversations?
Yeah, do you do that?
I do.
I'm notorious for people that have worked with me know that I listen to everything that people say.
I probably shouldn't publicly admit this, but yeah, I do.
I listen to everything that people say, so eavesdropping is when you're kind of listening in when you shouldn't be, and you should be, yeah.
Um, one of the questions could be are you afraid of being judged by?
So to be judged by other people right, And we can say no, I'm not afraid of being judged by strangers.
And Rory, you've used another phrase of the verb, fall out.
Yeah, if you fall out with somebody, you have a disagreement with them and you're not friends anymore.
It's sad, isn't it, when you fall out with people?
Yeah, you argue with people, you fight with people, so fall out.
Can I fall out with strangers?
You can, oh, first of all, yes, you can.
Usually you fall out with your friends, but you can fall out with anybody.
But it's another, it's a phrasal verb, but it's also a noun.
You can have a falling out with somebody.
Oh, wow.
And that is band nine for sure.
So we had a falling out.
Yeah.
Wow.
Well, we have never had a falling out.
No.
Because we are wonderful.
No, we are just dream team.
Yeah.
Yay.
So you can say that being judged by strangers is not exactly a pressing concern.
Yeah, so a pressing concern is just something that you worry about a lot.
So usually paying your bills is a pressing concern.
If you have children, then making sure they're looked after is a pressing concern.
But for me, what random people think of me is not a pressing concern.
Yep.
And in five years, Rory is going to be living his dream life.
Hopefully.
Although I'm kind of living my dream life now, partially.
I have this job, which is amazing.
And we are in the studio.
We are, yeah.
And we could say thank you again to all of our subscribers on our premium podcast.
Yes, thank you so much.
You're making this all possible.
It's absolutely amazing.
And it's so funny, we're recording now and Vanya is somewhere, you know, close to the walls.
He's lurking in the background.
But on the subject of people that make this possible, Vanya is quite important for this.
So if you ever see him, you should thank him as well.
Yeah.
You've mentioned we're a friendly bunch.
Scottish people, right?
And the question was like, do people in your country often talk to strangers?
And you go, oh, we're a friendly bunch.
Yeah, so usually a friendly bunch is like a small group of people, although compared to Russia its population, most countries have a small group of people for their population.
But yes, so if you're a friendly bunch, then you're friendly people.
Your group of people is friendly.
And Scottish people, some of the Scottish people are heavy drinkers.
And that's a very good collocation.
Heavy drinker.
Well, only if you're not actually a heavy drinker.
Like, I wouldn't promote this lifestyle to anybody.
But Scottish people are well known for their drinking.
So, yeah, why not make people aware of that stereotype?
Yep.
I say this as I speak to a Russian person.
You know, Russian people also have this reputation, don't they?
Yes.
Yeah, but I think Scottish and English drink more than Russian people.
Well, it depends on the person.
Well, you can hold your drink better, I think.
No, I don't think so.
You don't think so?
No, I think if most Russian people drink, they drink like they drink, drink, drink, drink.
Yeah, and about strangers.
You know I enjoy this having this nice stranger smiling moment, when you know, when you smile at a stranger, they smile back at you and you have this nice smiling stranger moment.
Do you know, actually, I know what you mean, but one thing that's very similar.
Do you ever walk?
Everybody's done this, I promise.
Do you ever walk in the metro and then someone else is walking in the same direction of you as you and you both move, try to move out of each other's way and you like go in the same direction?
Yeah yeah, yeah.
And then I like, whenever that happens to me, I always just laugh because it is funny and it's awkward.
This has happened to every person on the planet and I don't know how we explain this.
Like it's weird.
Yeah, just like funny life awkward moments.
Yeah.
Thank you so much for listening.
Remember that strangers can be your best friends.
And remember to use some of the strange vocabulary in your exam to get a high score.
Bad night score.
Yeah.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye-bye.
Rory, do you often talk to strangers?
Yeah, all the time, actually.
Well, in my work, I meet new people all the time.
So it's important that we can rub along well together, even though we don't know each other.
And then I suppose on certain dating apps, I talk to different people.
Which it doesn't always turn out romantic actually, but you can still make friends on these things.
I should say.
So there's that.
And then random people speak to me on Instagram all the time.
They ask for advice with their IELTS exams preparation, for example.
And if you want to do that, then you're very welcome.
It's a bit weird, though.
Just because you don't expect to get these messages, do you?
Is it easy for you to start a conversation with a stranger?
Yeah, almost always.
I'm not a very shy person, obviously.
And I don't mind chatting for a bit, although it's ending the conversation.
That can be a bit problematic because I usually have work to do.
I need to, well, I just need to get on with it.
So it can sometimes end things a bit prematurely, but usually there's no reason why we can't keep speaking online later.
So it's like I said, with people, they can find me on Instagram if they ever bump into me in public.
Do you have difficulty talking to strangers?
Um, only if there's a language barrier.
Um.
So, for example, um if we talk about Russian, a lot of the Russian I speak is um functional and not conversational.
Um, so I can communicate basic ideas um, but not very complex ones uh, which can put a bit of a dampener on things at times.
And that's a problem.
Is it difficult to tell a story to a stranger?
I suppose it depends on what the story is, doesn't it?
So usually I'm quite good at, well, just telling stories.
But sometimes I get a bit carried away and leave out important details because I'm so excited to tell it.
Usually it's nothing you can't recover from, though.
And once you realize that you've left something out, then you just quickly add it in.
Are you afraid of being judged by strangers?
I used to be, but now I don't really care at all.
The people who know me well and are my friends have chosen to be my friends, so their opinions are the ones that I'm more interested in and I value more in general.
I suppose nobody wants to be disliked, and it would be a shame if people were to fall out with me over something inconsequential, even if I don't know them very well.
Although when it does happen, ultimately I just ask myself will I really care about this falling out in five years time, when I have my dream life?
Probably not.
And there's little to judge me about anyway, so it's not exactly a pressing concern.
Do people in your country often talk to strangers?
Oh yeah, we're a very friendly bunch.
Come to Scotland if you can.
Yeah, we have freedom.
Freedom to talk to strangers.
So yeah, we're a friendly bunch.
I think Scottish people are generally more open and positive about new people than in a lot of other places.
One reason could be that we have pretty good social cohesion and a lower population, so we could feel a lot bolder when we're amongst more of us, for example.
Of course it could also be because a lot of people in Scotland are quite heavy drinkers and don't know what we're doing half the time.
So there's that as well, maybe a lack of self-awareness.
