Hello, everyone.
We're almost at 1 million listens, and we'd like to ask you to help make us millionaires.
Could you either share this podcast with a friend or on your social media or give us five stars on a review on Apple Podcasts.
And when we reach 1 million, I'll tell you how old I am.
Oh!
Hello, lovely.
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 because we want you to use high-level words and gorgeous grammar in your IELTS speaking and in your English life.
Rory, so how old are you?
Well, it's like I said I'm not telling anyone how old I am until we reach one million listens, so end of discussion.
But Rory, it's not the end of discussion, because we're gonna be talking about discussions today!
Rory, what do you like to talk about?
Oh God, I could have a blether about anything, really.
I'm actually interested in what other people have to say about different things, so all I need to do is think up the questions and then enjoy the ride of the conversation.
How often do you talk to people on different topics?
Oh, God, I think probably every day.
So if you think about being an English teacher in general, you speak to people about different topics because they need to learn the vocabulary and grammar connected to it.
But also just in general My personal life, like I was speaking to someone the other day about how they teach chemistry online, for example, and Another person was talking to me about playing board games.
So it's a side effect of both my job and being quite gregarious and curious about other people.
I guess, Who do you usually have discussions with?
Oh, everybody.
I like talking to strangers as much as I like talking to my friends, actually.
However, usually people prefer to talk to their friends, and definitely I prefer my friends.
So usually it's them, and we're forever having discussions about different things how to live, what's happening in our lives, what the next move should be.
There are rarely any revelatory conclusions, but I think it helps people along and it certainly sustains the friendship.
Have your discussion topics changed since you were a child?
Um, well, in some ways, yes.
But in other ways, they remain rather static, I suppose.
For example, I still talk about things that I like, but the things I like have changed.
So I never used to speak about future plans for having a family, for example.
We compare this to when I was a teenager, then I suppose few teenagers do like to have these discussions, but now it's probably one of the things that I talk about the most.
Do you often change your opinions?
Well, I try to be as open to new information as much as possible.
And sometimes I realize that I'm going on a bit of a mindless rant about nothing as opposed to expressing a real opinion.
On the other hand, I can be quite conservative.
So change is often rather difficult for me, even if it's just a change of opinion.
I think there has been some growth in this area of opinion changing, however begrudging.
Well, it's easy for me to talk about myself for hours on end, but I understand that most people prefer not to hear someone natter away like that.
So I'm trying to change my initial preference to that of listening more.
I think people prefer being listened to rather than doing the listening if we speak generally.
And the same is true of me, but I'm trying to change that.
Rory, thank you so much for your answers.
No problem.
Wee!
Okay, so when we talk about discussions, discussions, so we should talk about talk and speak.
Rory, tell the world what the difference is.
Talk and speak.
I have no idea.
I used to know, but I don't.
So rather than be what's the word?
An overconfident native speaker Maria, I'm instead going to ask you to explain the difference, because I've completely forgotten.
You see, Mr. Nature Speaker has no idea.
Yeah, I'm not a nature speaker and I know.
Speak is a little bit more formal than talk.
Yeah, it's just it.
That's why we say Mr. President spoke in public.
It's just a little bit more formal.
But again, in real life, they're used interchangeably.
So just make sure that you use correct collocations.
We talk to different people.
We speak. to different people and we speak to people on something or about something.
We talk about something.
Yes.
Thank you.
Yay.
My pleasure.
My pleasure.
How I know.
Now you know.
We can also use synonyms.
That's why we can say chat like i usually chat about and um, rory has used this nice one i talk for hours on end about myself.
Yeah, so if you talk for hours on end about something, it just means that you talk about something for a really long time, possibly too long, to be honest.
So it's not a positive trait to speak for hours on end about something.
Oh, shopping?
I could talk about shopping for hours on end.
You could go shopping for hours on end.
Yeah.
Then Rory has used go on a mindless rant on something.
So if you go on a mindless rant, then it just means that you're just expressing anger or annoyance about something.
You're not really thinking clearly at all.
You're just telling people how angry you are about a situation, without trying to find any solutions to it.
It's not a very positive personality trait, to be honest with you.
Which is why I talked about it here because usually people have discussions in order to form an opinion or change it, but if you go on a mindless rant, then that's the opposite of what you're trying to do.
You've also used the natter away.
Yeah, it's the same thing.
We're having all of these negative collocations for talking about discussions.
If you're nattering, it's like you just complain or talk about something without end, and it's not good.
Rory, you've used have a blether about anything.
Yes.
So have a blether is a little bit more positive.
If you blether, then you are talking a lot.
But it can also be negative if you're blethering away about something.
Like it doesn't make much sense, but you're just talking and talking.
Is it a Scottish word or American speakers would understand that?
I think probably it's something that's unique to Scotland.
I think in Ireland it's blither, but we use the word in Scotland as well.
But you understand from the context what you're talking about.
Like if you talk about a politician and just say oh, they blither away about nothing, then you know that it means that they're just talking and not really doing anything, as politicians are wont to do.
You can also say, I have a lot to say about politics, right?
Or people usually have a lot to say about medicine.
Yes, I have nothing to say about politics, I would like to say.
I don't like reading about it on my Facebook feed, on my Instagram feed or anywhere.
I don't like it when people express their political opinions at me.
Yep, okay.
Yes, express opinions at me.
Beautiful.
Well, actually, that's a good point.
Usually you express an opinion on something.
But if you express an opinion at someone then you don't give them a chance to say I'm not interested in your opinion.
You just... fire your opinion at them and expect them to listen to it.
But the great thing about opinions is that you don't have to listen to them.
So I often don't when it comes to politics.
Yeah, we can also use the verb chat.
Like, I enjoy chatting to strangers.
So Rory enjoys chatting to strangers.
And if Rory talks non-stop, we can call him a chatterbox.
Oh, i'm such a chatterbox, i just love talking.
And he's like blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, like would not stop so a chatterbox?
Am i a chatterbox?
No, you're not.
Good.
No.
No.
No, you're okay.
I'm tolerable.
We can also... Yes, he's tolerable.
We can also say, have conversations with people, right?
Yes.
And I do.
I have conversations with strangers.
Frequently.
On a daily basis.
Oh, no, on a daily basis I do, yeah.
Really, it's fun.
And while Rory is having the conversations with the complete strangers, he's enjoying the rides of these conversations.
So normally when we talk about enjoying the ride, we talk about like a roller coaster or something like that.
But you can enjoy the ride in a situation as well.
Because like some conversations can be a lot of fun.
So you enjoy the ride of the conversation.
Rory, you've used something strange.
We come to any revelatory conclusions.
Revelatory conclusions?
Come on.
I probably should have just said revelations because I stuttered when I said that there.
So I'm stuttering again.
Isn't that great?
A revelatory conclusion is just like, it's a conclusion that changes your life.
It's like, I don't know, when you discover God or something like that.
So, yes, it's just like a life-changing conclusion that you reach.
Although most people just say revelation.
I've no idea why I said revelatory conclusion.
Yes, he says things and then he can't pronounce this word.
Having a speech impediment is not the same as being unable to pronounce something.
I know how to pronounce it. revelatory.
Say it again?
No, I don't want to.
Just rewind the podcast and you find out for yourself.
We sometimes come to conclusions.
Right.
So when you talk about how your discussion topics have changed, use the present perfect.
So the topics have changed.
I used to talk about blah, but now I talk about blah.
But some topics remain rather static.
Yes, so if something is static, then it just stays still.
It doesn't change.
Much like the jokes that we use to introduce the podcast.
Ha ha ha ha.
Yeah.
So you can say that I prefer being listened to.
It's passive voice.
So I prefer when people listen to me, I prefer being listened to.
Then doing the listening.
So you can do the listening, you can do the talking.
Yes.
So in a conversation, someone does the listening and someone does the talking.
You can change positions, but that's how a conversation works.
Yeah.
And talking about some collocations we can use with discussions.
We can say that I enjoy in-depth discussion or I enjoy lively discussion, heated discussions, serious discussions.
You can have or hold discussions with somebody, right?
Or take part in discussions, participate, or you can generate discussions.
By causing controversy.
But we would never do that.
No, no, no, no.
We understand that discussions, like, during discussions we exchange knowledge.
So it's not, like, about arguing.
Discussions are better than arguments, okay?
And it's always about being sensible.
You would never find us being... unsensible on the podcast.
No, we are professional and sensible.
Okay, and to wrap it up, Rory, I have something philosophical.
Are you ready?
Oh, God, no, but go on.
No, I'm not going on with the jokes and, yeah.
But it's not philosophical.
All right.
So, are you ready?
No.
Great minds discuss ideas.
Average minds discuss events.
Small minds discuss people.
So, dear listener, we encourage you to discuss ideas and events.
If you want to discuss people, you can discuss Rory.
No.
Yes.
No.
Check out our social media to discuss Rory in depth.
Let's have a heated discussion on Rory's life, his haircuts and clothes.
Yes.
Yeah, so check out our social media.
And if you enjoy what we're doing, could you please share our podcast?
And discuss it with your friends.
Yes, and actually Rory did six hours of free classes on Instagram on Saturday.
Oh my God.
So if you'd like to participate in one of these in the future, you can subscribe to our social media Telegram, Instagram.
Find Rory on Facebook.
And the link is in the episode description.
Or just you can search Success With IELTS on Instagram or Telegram.
Thank you so much for listening.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye-bye-bye.
Rory, what do you like to talk about?
Oh God, I could have a blether about anything, really.
I'm actually interested in what other people have to say about different things, so all I need to do is think up the questions and then enjoy the ride of the conversation.
How often do you talk to people on different topics?
Oh, God, I think probably every day.
So if you think about being an English teacher in general, you speak to people about different topics because they need to learn the vocabulary and grammar connected to it.
But also just in general my personal life, like I was speaking to someone the other day about how they teach chemistry online, for example, and Another person was talking to me about playing board games.
So it's a side effect of both my job and being quite gregarious and curious about other people.
I guess, Who do you usually have discussions with?
Oh, everybody.
I like talking to strangers as much as I like talking to my friends, actually.
However, usually people prefer to talk to their friends and definitely I prefer my friends.
So usually it's them.
And we're forever having discussions about different things how to live, what's happening in our lives, what the next move should be.
There are rarely any, I don't know, revelatory conclusions.
But I think it helps people along and it certainly sustains the friendship.
Have your discussion topics changed since you were a child?
Um...
Well, in some ways, yes.
But in other ways, they remain rather static, I suppose.
For example, I still talk about things that I like, but the things I like have changed.
So I never used to speak about future plans for having a family, for example.
We compare this to when I was a teenager, then I suppose few teenagers do like to have these discussions.
But now it's probably one of the things that I talk about the most.
Do you often change your opinions?
Well, I try to be as open to new information as much as possible.
And sometimes I realize that I'm going on a bit of a mindless rant about nothing as opposed to expressing a real opinion.
On the other hand, I can be quite conservative.
So change is often rather difficult for me, even if it's just a change of opinion.
I think there has been some growth in this area of opinion changing, however begrudging.
Do you prefer to talk or to listen?
Well, it's easy for me to talk about myself for hours on end, but I understand that most people prefer not to hear someone natter away like that.
So I'm trying to change my initial preference to that of listening more.
I think people prefer being listened to rather than doing the listening if we speak generally.
And the same is true of me, but I'm trying to change that.
