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've started this podcast to give you joy, smiley faces and gorgeous grammar with super vocabulary for your high IELTS score.
Rory, where are you?
It's very dark out there.
Yeah, it's a pretty overcast day today and we're moving into autumn, so that's not great.
Oh, shall we talk about the weather?
The weather.
To cheer ourselves up.
Yes, the weather.
It's a recent IELTS Speaking Part 1 topic.
I think it's a comeback.
So the weather here and now, you know, IELTS people... maybe enjoy talking about the weather.
So here it is with us again, the weather.
What's the grammar focus?
So today, because we want to be describing the perfect kind of weather, we're focusing on the perfect aspect today when we look back on events from where we currently are.
Rory, and I have a joke for you.
Are you ready?
No.
Are you ready for the joke?
No.
Yes, you are.
Yes, you are.
So, listen up, listen up, listen up.
What did one volcano say to the other volcano?
I love you.
Did you get it?
I love you.
I have to explain it now.
Did you get it?
So, a volcano, volcano, you know, volcano, Vesuvius.
Thank you very much for subscribing and watching this final episode of Wild Speaking for Success.
I'm afraid I can no longer tolerate this work environment.
Volcanoes have lava.
Lava is this orange thingy, very hot, that comes out of volcanoes.
Orange thingy, is that the technical term?
Yes, lava, lava.
What do you call it?
How do you pronounce this in English?
Lava?
Lava.
And one volcano says, I lava you.
It sounds like I love you.
I lava you.
How is this related to weather again?
Oh my god, it's, can we please have, can we please keep Vanya's recording in?
Come on, it's good.
It's good.
I love you.
No, come on.
I do not love the joke.
If I had known this joke when I was literally on a volcano, that would have been nice.
Then I would have pushed you into the volcano.
Roy, where are you?
I'm on a volcano.
I love you.
Have fun making friends in the volcano.
Bye.
What's the weather usually like in your hometown?
Well, it's always been changeable there.
We're next to the sea, so that can bring in some strong winds, and that's despite the shelter provided by the hills behind it.
What's your favourite kind of weather?
Well, I've always liked sunny weather with scattered clouds for occasional shades.
I think that's a nice compromise.
Not that we experience much of this in Scotland, of course.
Do you like the weather in your hometown?
Well usually, although there have been times when I wished it had a more, I don't know.
Mediterranean climate.
Although come to think of it, if global warming continues, then we're probably in for exactly that.
Do you like hot or dry weather?
Well, I've never been a fan of the extreme heat, like on the African savannah, for example, though I don't feel it much.
I always think something milder is better.
What do you do in hot weather?
Well, I think it depends on what I have planned for the day.
So if I've been working, then probably it's a good idea just to go home and relax.
Although if there's air con at the gym, then it's probably the best place to head.
So it depends a lot on the context.
Do you prefer hot or cold weather?
Well, like I said, I've always preferred a happy medium.
But if I had to choose, then I'd probably say I'd prefer it be too cold because well, at least you can warm yourself up.
Do you prefer wet or dry weather?
Well, since I've moved back to Scotland, it's less about what my preferences are and more about what I have to put up with.
Although I definitely prefer it when the rain is off, that's for sure.
Hey, thank you, Rory, for your weather answers.
Hopefully they haven't weathered away anyone's patience.
This week on Super Premium, Rory is going to describe his favorite childhood friend.
Yeah, I know, speaking part two.
And in speaking part three, we're going to be talking about childhood friends in general.
These are fresh IELTS speaking topics.
We also have our writing episodes where we are discussing an essay.
Advantages and disadvantages essay.
Do check them out.
The links are in the description.
So, when we talk about the weather, it's the weather.
Can it be plural, Rory?
Can I say the weathers, there are weathers?
There's only one weather.
And the question is like what's the weather like in your hometown?
It's not like do you like the weather?
No.
It's what's it like?
What's the weather like?
It's like what kind of weather do you have in your hometown?
Yes.
And you said changeable.
So changeable, it's often like changes.
Yeah.
So if something's changeable, then it just means that it's well, it changes fairly regularly.
But then that's a part of living next to the sea, isn't it?
You can get winds that clear the sky and it's very sunny, or they can bring in a lot of cloud and it becomes very dark and rainy quite quickly.
So it's changeable.
Then you can talk about strong winds, so like really strong winds, so you can say it's windy, it's cloudy, right?
Or you can say we have heat waves, heat waves when it becomes really hot.
Usually in summer, often in Europe it becomes like plus 40 degrees, really hot, so we have heat waves.
Here, Rory, you said that I've always liked sunny weather, so sun, yeah, it's sunny, sunny weather.
What are scattered clouds?
Scattered.
They're just, the clouds are not together, they're apart.
So you can see the sky through them, which is good if there's sun behind them and it's quite a warm day.
The opposite to that is overcast.
In the same way, you have strong winds and the opposite to that is light winds.
Yeah if, for example, you don't have sunny days and the clouds it's cloudy, you can say the sky is overcast, right.
So it's cloudy or the sky is overcast.
And occasional shade.
So if I'm like not in the sun, but I'm in the shade.
Well, not in the direct sunlight.
Yeah occasional, occasional like sometimes right, so i prefer occasional shade, not to be in the sun all the time.
Climate change you can talk about climate change and rory, what did you say about climate change?
Well, if climate change keeps going, then we're in for more of that, or that's exactly what we're in for.
So if you're in for something, it just means it's going to happen in the future.
And also you can say that we have Mediterranean climate.
Or what other climates can we have?
Like extreme climate?
I have no idea.
Like Mediterranean climate, Arctic climate.
The examiner might ask you questions.
Do you prefer dry weather?
Do you prefer wet weather?
So you can say, I've never been a fan of dry weather.
So to be a fan of something, or i've never been a fan of extreme heat, so when it's like boiling hot right, boiling like really hot.
So I'm not a fan of extreme heat or heat waves.
Or I hate it when it's boiling hot.
What does it mean if I say the word mild or it's milder in my hometown than in yours?
Mild is like saying soft.
Well, sorry, milder would be softer than what's been mentioned before.
So something milder than extreme heat would just be something that's not extreme, that's calm, that's enjoyable.
Yeah, and also you can say I prefer mild climate.
So mild weather is when it's not too hot, not too cold.
So you can say I prefer mild weather.
Mild weather, right?
Mild weather, mild temperatures.
You could also say moderate temperatures.
Moderate temperatures.
So not hot, not cold.
An aircon.
That's just short for air conditioning.
Yeah, when it's too hot, we go to some shopping centers where we have air conditioning or an aircon.
Or you just buy aircon.
Yeah, too expensive.
Just go to the gym.
Is it expensive to buy air conditioning?
Yeah, but it's like maybe when they fix it, you know, when they install air conditioning in your house, there are all these wires and, you know... different people in your room doing stuff breaking the window and putting it you know I remember when we had my goodbye party in Moscow and it was like it was it was crazy temperatures it was like 36 or 38 degrees and we were walking around the shopping center and we walked past all these air conditioners and I was thinking Maybe I could just buy an air conditioner for the party.
It's only 10000 rubles or something like that, and I had to be stopped just because it seemed like such a good idea at the time.
Rory has chosen, no, Rory chose to have his birthday party on the hottest day ever.
My going away party was on the hottest day of the year, yes.
Oh, your going away party.
Not my birthday party, no.
You would mix those up because one of them you attended and one of them you didn't attend.
Not that I've been keeping track of your attendance at these events or anything like that.
Because you have so many parties.
Birthday parties, gone away parties.
Then you go, but you don't go.
You stay.
And we have another... goodbye party.
I stayed because the Russian government decided they wanted me to stay.
It's not my choice.
It's not just the Russian government.
It's just we decided that you should stay, but you left.
All Russians decided this.
Aye, aye, aye.
This episode is above the weather.
Yes.
Okay.
Yeah.
And what's a happy medium?
A happy medium is just like talking about something that's moderate or mild.
I was running out of ways to describe mild weather.
So a happy medium is, again, not cold, not hot, not dry, not wet.
It's something like in between.
It's just in the middle.
It's like, I think everybody's like this.
It's like, oh yeah, it would be great if it was sunny, but not all the time.
So like a happy medium will be okay.
And then the structure, the second conditional and Rory's technique.
But if I had to choose between cold or hot, I prefer the weather to be cold.
You can warm yourself up.
So to warm up is a phrasal verb, right?
Yes.
So you can at least warm yourself up, you know, like in a cozy hoodie with bears and sun, you know.
Yeah.
So you can warm yourself up.
And if you like phrasal verbs, then you can always get our pod course.
Go to www.successwithheilts.com forward slash pod courses.
I'm sorry, every time a phrasal verb comes up, I'm contractually obligated to say this.
Sigh.
If you really dislike, for example, cold weather, or if you really can't stand, if you're like wet weather, for example, you can say i can't put up with, i can't put up with wet weather i, i hate, i can't stand it.
Put up with is another phrasal verb.
It is, but I've already shilled for advertising already.
So I'll just say it's a nice phrasal verb, meaning you have to tolerate something.
We say the rain is off.
Yes, the rain is off or the rain is on.
If it's off, it's not raining.
If it's on, it is raining.
So, if I could choose the weather, it's much better when the rain is off, so it doesn't rain, right?
Yes.
When you talk about the rain, it's important to say it rains, it sometimes rains, it never rains or it's rainy right.
So, I can't put up with rain, for example.
When we want to say that it's really hot, what do we say?
We can say it's boiling or it's roasting.
It's roasting, like you roast meat.
Yeah, well, you need heat to roast it, so...
Rory, could you please comment on super grammar, on gorgeous Rory grammar?
Yes, we already commented on the conditional structure, which contained I for the perfect aspect.
But this whole entire episode has been filled with examples of the perfect aspect, right from the very first question when I said it's always been changeable.
So for as long as I can remember, looking back on it, that's been happening.
And I've always liked sunny weather.
So again, looking back on my experience, this has always been true about me.
And then what else did I have?
I've never been a fan of extreme heat.
So again, looking back through time, this has never been something that I enjoyed.
And then there's a slightly different one.
If I've been working, then I'll probably just relax.
So I've been working.
So from this period in the past up until when I changed my mind, then we can use this aspect as well.
So make sure that you have the perfect aspect at some point in your answers to show that you can use grammar flexibly.
Rory did jam all these perfect tenses in his answers, but you don't do this, all right?
Maybe two or three examples of present perfect continuous tenses would be enough.
So just, we are giving you examples and you choose the nice ones for your answer.
So two, three examples would be fine.
Shall we try and transfer these structures to different questions?
Right.
Rory, let's talk about Godzilla.
Have you ever seen any Godzilla films?
I've seen the most recent ones.
I haven't seen the older ones because I don't like them that much.
I'm not into older films.
Rory, what about stars?
Would you like to buy a star?
I've never really thought about it before, but probably if I had the chance and the money.
Rory, do you like my hoodie from Kamchatka?
I've always admired your fashion choices.
Thank you.
What about the nails, Rory?
Do you like the color?
I can't think of... No, no, hold on.
Oh, well, no, wait, hold on.
I've been going to a manicurist recently and she's taught me a lot about this.
So I feel more informed to comment about your nail color now.
And I really like it.
So you see, yeah, depending on the question, you can use or not use present perfect.
But again, not in every answer.
One, two, three examples of present perfect.
Present perfect continuous would be fine.
Maximum three.
I'm just trying to help you out here by providing a rich environment of perfect tenses and aspects.
Well, perfect aspect.
Thank you very much for listening.
We hope that the weather is sunny and nice.
And if it's rainy, well, okay.
Please write in the comments what's your favorite weather.
What do you do in hot weather?
Which weather do you prefer?
Wet, dry, cold, hot?
And just like us.
All right.
And make your answer super perfect with the perfect aspect.
Bye.
Bye.
What's the weather usually like in your hometown?
Well, it's always been changeable there.
We're next to the sea, so that can bring in some strong winds, and that's despite the shelter provided by the hills behind it.
What's your favourite kind of weather?
Well, I've always liked sunny weather with scattered clouds for occasional shades.
I think that's a nice compromise.
Not that we experience much of this in Scotland, of course.
Do you like the weather in your hometown?
Well usually, although there have been times when I wished it had a more, I don't know.
Mediterranean climate.
Although come to think of it, if global warming continues, then we're probably in for exactly that.
Do you like hot or dry weather?
Well, I've never been a fan of the extreme heat, like on the African savannah, for example, though I don't feel it much.
I always think something milder is better.
What do you do in hot weather?
Well, I think it depends on what I have planned for the day.
So if I've been working, then probably it's a good idea just to go home and relax.
Although if there's air con at the gym, then it's probably the best place to head.
So it depends a lot on the context.
Do you prefer hot or cold weather?
Well, like I said, I've always preferred a happy medium.
But if I had to choose, then I'd probably say I'd prefer it be too cold because well, at least you can warm yourself up.
Do you prefer wet or dry weather?
Well, since I've moved back to Scotland, it's less about what my preferences are and more about what I have to put up with.
Although I definitely prefer it when the rain is off, that's for sure.
