This episode is sponsored by Smalltalk your virtual IELTS speaking assistant.
Hello, lovely.
I'm Maria.
And my name is Karl Marx.
I mean, Rory.
Yeah, we are a bit too excited about this episode, dear listener.
So please excuse our horrible jokes and dreadful sense of humor.
And flagrant submission to the Church of Capitalism.
Adam Smith was Scottish.
He invented capitalism.
He would be so proud right now.
Dear listener, we have premium episodes for you, surely.
This week.
Capitalism.
This week.
This week on our premium, Rory is going to describe something he received for free.
And then speaking part three, he's going to be getting things for free.
Isn't it lovely?
Isn't it a coincidence, dear listener?
I'd love to believe that this was a coincidence.
I think that's amazing.
So you can get them on our Patreon, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Telegram.
And the links are in the description.
Now, we're going to be making lots of jokes today and I still have a cold.
So if you struggle to understand anything that we say, then we refer you to our lovely transcripts and you can find the link to them in the description of the episode.
Rory, but what's the joke for this episode?
We are the joke.
It's just going to be capitalism and Karl Marx jokes all the way.
Okay, wait, but what's the topic of this episode already?
I'm confused.
The topic of the episode was in the sponsorship message at the start.
Are we doing this deliberately to draw attention to our sponsors?
No, wait, so our sponsor is Smalltalk, and Smalltalk is... A virtual IELTS speaking assistant.
It's a website, yes, absolutely.
Are we going to talk about websites?
Finally, let's talk about websites.
Rory, what kind of websites do you visit?
I suppose the same as everyone else, really.
When I think about my daily shortlist though, the most salient ones are like email and news and language sites which keep me abreast of various kinds of information, whether it's about the world, my life or language.
I think that's what most websites are basically for, isn't it?
What's your favourite website?
To be honest, I don't have one.
I suppose the one thing all the major ones have in common is that they're worth spending my time on so I can learn a new skill or get better at doing something.
Actually one I find quite useful as an English teacher who works with English learners and sees their struggles to get better at speaking, is called Smalltalk.
It's basically a free virtual AI, like a speaking assistant, that helps students improve their spoken English.
One thing that I particularly like about it is that it has an IELTS speaking simulator, which helps predict students' IELTS scores.
What websites are popular in your country?
I imagine the same ones that are popular elsewhere.
Everyone loves social networks and has a favorite news site.
I'd also imagine people who play a lot of games have a preference.
And I can't think of anyone who hasn't done a bit of online shopping, or at least online window shopping.
Are there any changes to the websites you use?
Not recently, though they do get updated from time to time.
It's usually a change in the layout or an addition of functions based on their analytics.
At least, that is allegedly the case.
It always takes me ages to get used to anything new like that.
Thanks to people at Smalltalk for reaching out to us.
Again.
Smalltalk is a free virtual AI speaking assistant that helps you improve your speaking skills.
It's basically like having a speaking partner that can actually give you helpful feedback.
And get a predicted IELTS speaking band.
All for free.
You can try this episode's topic websites by clicking the link in the description.
So you can actually answer the questions on the topic of websites and use this program to get feedback on your speaking.
Shall we go over the vocabulary about websites that you've used for high school?
What's an AI?
AI.
It stands for artificial intelligence.
That's just a way of saying like a computer program that behaves like well, an allegedly intelligent human being.
So when we talk about websites, we can say websites or sites.
Can I just say just sites?
Yes.
I visit different sites.
Yeah, websites, pages, right?
And Rory talked about his daily shortlist.
A short list is just well.
In a nutshell, it's a short list of things that like the main features of something, or you can have a short list of candidates.
So that would be like the main candidates for a job position.
But you don't actually have a list of websites.
You just use them daily and you can say, okay, so like these are the websites I use daily.
Yeah.
Or you do have a list saved somewhere?
I have a list.
I have several lists, actually.
Although I've got one called Quick Glance and I open this like every morning.
And so it opens things like my main email websites and...
YouTube and the news pages that I read.
So it's quite useful for this, actually.
Hmm.
And do you know what the top global websites are?
Number one, Google.
Number two, YouTube.
Number three, Facebook.
Number four, Twitter.
And number five, this year is going to be success.
With IELTS.com.
That's our main aim.
Our website.
Yes.
Yes.
Then, Rory said the most salient website.
Salient website.
Yeah, salient is like another way of saying the highest place, the most noticeable ones.
So the most salient websites I use are Successful Dials and Google.
Yeah.
And then you said something like language sites keep me abreast of various kinds of information.
Keep you abreast?
Like abreast?
Like abreast?
That means to stay informed of something.
Are you joking?
Really?
Keep abreast of things means keep up to date.
Keep side to side with things.
Or side by side with things.
Oh, so strange.
Listen, isn't it strange?
Because breast is part of a woman's body.
Breast.
Yes.
Keep me abreast.
Interesting.
Okay.
Then you can say that the websites are worth spending my time on.
So I usually use this and that and they are worth spending my time on.
That's a nice expression.
Yes.
Then you can say that I find them quite useful.
So websites could be useful, could be educational.
I get better at something using this or that website.
Like small talk.
Yeah, and Roy talked about small talk using specific vocabulary.
Okay, what is it?
It's a free virtual AI speaking assistant, AI, artificial intelligence.
Then it improves your spoken English.
So lots of specific words about it.
Oh, it's a simulator.
Also, when you describe, for example, an online dictionary, you might use an online dictionary.
Make sure that you are using these specific words.
Rory, are you still here or you are browsing through your shortlist?
No, I'm just thinking about some of the things that I said.
However... Which things?
About capitalism, Karl Marx?
No, we're talking about different words to describe websites, but I was just thinking about answers that we could use in general.
For example, when you asked what websites are popular in your country, you could say I imagine the same ones that are popular everywhere or elsewhere.
And you could also use this for any other question that involves popular things.
So it could be, what shoes are popular in your country?
And you'd be like, well, I imagine the same things that are popular elsewhere.
Yeah.
So websites do get updated from time to time.
And you can speak about changes in the layout.
So the layout of a website.
And Rory said that it takes him ages to get used to the changes.
Takes me ages to get used to it.
Yes, that just means it takes me a long time like a really long time when things get updated, because I'm old and I don't like change.
Right.
But, you know, can we actually talk about Google, for example, as a website?
Because Google is a search engine.
So is it a website?
I don't see why not.
It's got a web address.
Yeah, you can also say that I usually use news websites or personal websites official, unofficial travel websites.
Oh, here's a fun fact, though.
You can do different things with Google.
If you type in do a barrel roll in Google search engine on the main page, then it turns the screen upside down.
I'm pretty sure.
Let me see if it still does that because it used to do it a long time ago.
Hold on a second.
So you can say that I usually visit this or that website.
Thank you for listening to this episode of Capitalism with IELTS.
Success with capitalism.
Thank you, everybody.
Thank you, world.
Thank you, Rory.
Goodbye.
Bye.
Rory, what kind of websites do you visit?
I suppose the same as everyone else, really.
When I think about my daily shortlist though, the most salient ones are like email and news and language sites which keep me abreast of various kinds of information, whether it's about the world, my life or language.
I think that's what most websites are basically for, isn't it?
What's your favourite website?
To be honest, I don't have one.
I suppose the one thing all the major ones have in common is that they're worth spending my time on so I can learn a new skill or get better at doing something.
Actually one I find quite useful as an English teacher who works with English learners and sees their struggles to get better at speaking, is called Smalltalk.
It's basically a free virtual AI, like a speaking assistant, that helps students improve their spoken English.
One thing that I particularly like about it is that it has an IELTS speaking simulator, which helps predict students' IELTS scores.
What websites are popular in your country?
I imagine the same ones that are popular elsewhere.
Everyone loves social networks and has a favorite news site.
I'd also imagine people who play a lot of games have a preference.
And I can't think of anyone who hasn't done a bit of online shopping, or at least online window shopping.
Are there any changes to the websites you use?
Not recently, though they do get updated from time to time.
It's usually a change in the layout or an addition of functions based on their analytics.
At least, that is allegedly the case.
It always takes me ages to get used to anything new like that.
