Hello, everybody.
I'm Maria.
And my name is Rory.
And we are 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 to give you a look at how a native super English speaker would answer some of the most common IELTS speaking questions.
I'm asking questions and Rory is answering them using grammar and vocabulary for a high score.
Band 9 score.
Rory, are you ready to answer some questions?
I hope you're going to paint me in a good light.
We are going to talk about art today.
Rory, do you like going to museums?
Actually, to be honest, no, not now.
I try to be cultured and sophisticated, but these days it's all just lost on me just seeing old things constantly.
Have you ever been to an art gallery, Rory?
Yes, as part of this effort to be cultured and sophisticated, I went to the Tretyakov Gallery and I saw different portraits and landscapes which were quite nice.
But like I say, it wouldn't have been my first choice of a place to go.
Did you take art classes when you were a child?
No, I didn't take art classes, but I was quite good at drawing when I was younger.
I'm not so good at drawing now, unfortunately.
Although I think this is quite a common thing, that people were good at drawing and now they're not so good at drawing.
Are there any paintings on the wall in your bedroom?
I suppose it depends which bedroom you're talking about.
I have two.
My bedroom at my apartment in Moscow doesn't have any artwork on it at all, but it does have pictures of my friends and memories from my time in Moscow and before I came here.
Don't you have a portrait of me hanging on your wall?
I don't have any portraits of you.
I'm sorry.
I'm devastated now.
That's it.
I hope you'll recover.
Rory has officially broken my heart.
I hope you'll recover soon.
However, back home, I do have comic strips on the walls of my bedroom in Scotland.
And there are some sort of abstract collages of different parts of my hometown as well.
So I suppose what I don't have in Moscow, I compensate for in Scotland with where I live there.
This is so cute.
Now, I'm going to ask you a couple of questions from Speaking Part 3.
Okay?
Rory, let's talk about arts and crafts.
Why do people undervalue art?
Well, I think in my case I undervalue it because I don't really have the time to appreciate it.
I suppose if I had more time then I would be able to appreciate it more basically, and value it more.
But for other people, maybe they just have a different mindset.
For example, they care more about their relationships with people than they care about looking at sort of abstract artwork, for example.
Are artistic skills innate do you think?
Initially?
Yes because, like I say, when I was younger I was quite good at drawing and then a lot of my friends were good at drawing as well, and I hear people saying this that they start off being good at drawing, but if they don't take classes to maintain it, then they lose this ability over time.
So yeah, I actually think so when you start out, but then you lose them over time.
What's the difference between good and bad art?
For me.
I think good art is something that makes you think this applies to all good art, and there are some pieces of good art which I don't know how they should do this, but they should stop you in your tracks and make you just go wow, this is an amazing piece of artwork.
This can be accomplished in different ways.
For me, it's admiring beautiful representations of people and some landscapes.
But for other people, it could be something like watching battle scenes, for example.
So it depends, but that's the effect it should aim to achieve if it's to be considered good art.
Thank you very much Roy for your answers.
No problem.
Now let's look at the grammar and gorgeous vocabulary that Rory has just nicely used.
Rory, when you talked about culture, you said that you are sophisticated and you are cultured.
Oh, well, I said I'm trying to be, but I don't think I'm doing a very good job of it.
Well, you've been to the Tretyakov Picture Gallery, so you are obviously a cultured person.
I tried to be, but I didn't do it very well.
Yeah, so we can say, like, sophisticated, cultured.
So cultured, like, I'm intercultured.
Yeah.
Now, if you talk about being cultured, you could talk about being interculture, or having this good grasp of, and a good understanding of culture and how it functions.
Yeah.
I like culture.
I'm interculture.
Yeah.
Can you say, I'm a culture vulture?
Vulture.
Vulture, dear listeners, is like a bird that usually is in a desert eating dead flesh.
For sure.
I've heard this expression before.
I haven't heard it in a long time, though.
It's a bit old.
It is a bit old.
It's like they say, I'm a party animal.
Yes, although I am a party animal.
Are you a party animal?
I try to be.
Oh, wow.
Look at you.
It's about as successful as my efforts to be cultured and sophisticated, though.
Yeah, so Rory is a party animal.
I'm a couch potato.
Hello, everybody.
Now we've met.
Okay, you also said that you are good at drawing, right?
So the expression is like to be good at doing something.
Yeah, so good at plus ing form, for sure, every single time.
What about having pictures on the wall?
So we say, I have some pictures or photos on the wall.
Yes.
Not in the wall, not at the wall.
You can have them in the wall, if it's inside.
You can, but then you can't see them.
That would be very unusual.
And what do you say?
I just hang them on the wall?
On the wall.
You hang them or put them up?
Yes.
You have comic strips.
What are comic strips?
Comic strips.
They're just...
They're pictures of parts of comics, basically.
A comic strip usually tells a full story.
Mine are from the 1950s, so they just tell different sections of the story.
But the same idea is implied.
You said that you appreciate art, right?
So you can appreciate artworks?
It's like a more sophisticated way of saying that you enjoy artwork, but this is like a combination of enjoying and understanding artwork when you appreciate it.
We can say artwork or masterpieces.
Yeah, we could talk about masterpieces if it's a really well, if it's a great piece of art and if it's had lots of work put into it.
Yeah, like Mona Lisa.
She's a masterpiece.
And we can admire this painting.
Absolutely yes admire, or can i admire people for sure?
Um, i think you do that in different ways, though.
You admire a painting by looking at it, you can admire people by well i don't know following them on instagram or um, in your conversations with them, And speaking about arts, we can say like landscapes.
Speaking about paintings, it could be a landscape.
Yes.
Or you've mentioned a battle scene.
Yes.
Battle scene, like about war.
So, well, it just shows something out of a war.
There's lots of them in different Russian art galleries.
You've used a nice one.
Some people have a different mindset.
What does it mean, mindset?
A mindset is just a way of thinking about.
Well, it can be a way of thinking about the world or a particular topic.
Now, dear listeners, you can listen to Rory's answers again, and this time notice grammar and gorgeous vocabulary for high score, and also our jokes.
Rory, do you like going to museums?
Actually, to be honest, no, not now.
I try to be cultured and sophisticated, but these days it's all just lost on me just seeing old things constantly.
Have you ever been to an art gallery, Rory?
Yes, as part of this effort to be cultured and sophisticated, I went to the Tretyakov Gallery and I saw different portraits and landscapes which were quite nice.
But like I say, it wouldn't have been my first choice of a place to go.
Did you take art classes when you were a child?
No, I didn't take art classes, but I was quite good at drawing when I was younger.
I'm not so good at drawing now, unfortunately.
Although I think this is quite a common thing, that people were good at drawing and now they're not so good at drawing.
Are there any paintings on the wall in your bedroom?
I suppose it depends which bedroom you're talking about.
I have two.
My bedroom at my apartment in Moscow, which doesn't have any artwork on it at all, but it does have pictures of my friends and memories from my time in Moscow and before I came here.
I thought you have a portrait of me hanging on your wall.
I don't have any portraits of you.
I'm sorry.
I'm devastated now.
That's it.
I hope you'll recover.
It has officially broken my heart.
I hope you'll recover soon.
However, back home, I do have comic strips on the walls of my bedroom in Scotland.
And there are some sort of abstract collages of different parts of my hometown as well.
So I suppose what I don't have in Moscow, I compensate for in Scotland with where I live there.
This is so cute.
Now, I'm going to ask you a couple of questions from Speaking Part 3.
Okay?
Rory, let's talk about arts and crafts.
Why do people undervalue art?
Well, I think in my case I undervalue it because I don't really have the time to appreciate it.
I suppose if I had more time then I would be able to appreciate it more basically, and value it more.
But for other people, maybe they just have a different mindset.
For example, they care more about their relationships with people than they care about looking at sort of abstract artwork, for example.
Are artistic skills innate, do you think?
Initially yes because, like I say, when I was younger I was quite good at drawing, and then a lot of my friends were good at drawing as well.
And I hear people saying this that they start off being good at drawing, but if they don't take classes to maintain it, then they lose this ability over time.
So yeah, I actually think so when you start out, but then you lose them over time.
What's the difference between good and bad art?
For me.
I think good art is something that makes you think this applies to all good art, and there are some pieces of good art which I don't know how they should do this, but they should stop you in your tracks and make you just go wow, this is an amazing piece of artwork.
This can be accomplished in different ways.
For me, it's admiring beautiful representations of people and some landscapes.
But for other people, it could be something like watching battle scenes, for example.
So it depends, but that's the effect it should aim to achieve if it's to be considered good art.
Thank you very much for listening and don't forget to like share comment subscribe, review all of those lovely things that we enjoy.
Thank you bye bye, bye.
