Hello, Sunshine.
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've started this super podcast to give you super duper vocabulary and gorgeous grammar for your high IELTS score.
Your band 9 score.
Gorgeous grammar like the third conditional, which is our focus today.
Oh, Rory is getting super great with the third conditional here.
Wow.
Rory, why is your signal so poor?
I can't even hear you.
I'm really sorry.
The geography here isn't the best in that way.
Oh, I see.
The geography.
Shall we talk about geography?
Oh my.
Is it another coincidence?
On this podcast again.
Yes, dear listener.
Geography is a fresh IELTS speaking topic.
So in speaking part one, they can ask you questions about geography.
So, the grammar focus is the third conditional.
You can listen to the episode and notice the third conditional structures.
In the real exam, just use one example of the third conditional and this would be okay for you.
Yes.
Let's talk about geography.
Have you ever studied geography at school?
Well, yes, but if I'd had the chance, I probably wouldn't have taken it as a subject.
I mean, I remember all the stuff about tectonic plates and earthquakes and other natural disasters.
But to be honest, I don't think that stuff has any relevance for my life right now.
Do you like geography?
Well, like I said, it's not really my thing.
If I'd been able to, I'd have dropped it as a subject, but I couldn't, so I just had to stick with it.
All of the things about erosion and plate movements...
I mean, it's interesting, but it doesn't have any direct relevance for my life.
And you know, if it doesn't really have much relevance, then it's not terribly interesting or it's not terribly engaging is what I should say.
Do you want to travel to a country because of its geographical conditions?
Well, I think if I'd been able to, I would have traveled to South America to see the rainforest, but it seems like that will never happen now.
And to be honest, even if I had gone, I don't think I could handle the humidity.
Are you good at reading maps?
Well, I probably would have gotten into it if I'd had decent lessons at school, and you know much interest.
But to be honest, I've never had much of an interest in either geography or orienteering.
So it's not something I'm terribly good at.
Hey, thank you so much Rory for your geographical answers.
This week on Premium, Rory is describing a time when he needed to search for information.
This is a fresh IELTS Speaking Part 2 topic and in Speaking Part 3 we are discussing information and searches and the Internet in general.
And in our writing podcast, yes, we do have writing episodes for you.
We are discussing interesting writing essays and graphs.
The links are in the description.
Do check it out.
Only four questions this time.
Yeah unfortunately, because it's a fresh IELTS speaking topic, I couldn't find any other questions on geography.
So, dear listener, if you had this topic in your exam, could you please write in the comments what questions you remember about geography?
I think everybody remembers their geography classes.
And geography is taught at school as a subject, right?
And we have a lot of topic-specific vocabulary here.
For example, Rory started with tectonic plates.
But tectonic plates are, I think they're just the same word in every language.
They're the parts of the crust that move around.
It's like the surface of the crust that moves around.
And they move around because of the magma and convection.
Like that's the movement of the magma underneath the plates.
Hmm earthquakes yeah, let's move on to earthquakes, because they cause earthquakes.
That's when the tectonic plates like rub against each other and then they suddenly move and that causes an earthquake.
Oh yeah, earthquakes is like when every every, everything like oh, Just like this.
Yeah, but if you get geography and you have to answer questions about it, then you can say this.
Natural disasters.
Earthquakes, floods, fires.
What else do we have?
Bushfires.
Did you say storms? storms, yeah, hurricanes, tornadoes, hurricanes.
Yeah, so you can mention all that.
And you can say that, okay, I did geography at school.
So and you say I did geography or I had geography.
Or took.
Although geography, like if you take a subject, that means you've chosen it.
So I didn't have a choice because it was compulsory.
But if you opted to do that, then you could say I took geography.
And usually geography is an academic subject and it's compulsory at school, usually even in primary school.
And we can say that geography is fundamental to everybody, because a child discovers the world when he or she studies geography.
So it's fundamental.
It's about global warming.
It's about... I'm reading from Wikipedia. international population movement.
In the exam, you will not have time to check Wikipedia.
You're just going to have to go with what you know, which is why I was like, oh my God, like I know about X, Y and Z, but nothing major about geography.
I don't understand how convection currents work, for example.
I could guess, but I don't know much about it, sorry if you're doing geography.
So yeah, if we talk about geography, it's not only about the countries and continents, it's also about the populations, about food security, For example, about different natural disasters and stuff.
So yeah, throw in some posh vocabulary like tectonic plates.
Yeah.
You could just say that.
Just say like, I learned about tectonic plates, but I don't know anything else about them.
That's just.
I know the name and that's fine, because it's a test of your language, not your understanding of the ideas underlying them, I suppose.
If you don't like geography, you can say, it's not my thing.
It's not my thing.
It's not my thing, right?
I don't like it.
I don't like geography.
Rory, can I say, it's not my cup of tea?
Why not?
Because I heard it's a cliche and it's old and nobody is using it anymore and it's unnatural.
And it's this old idiom that you want to squeeze in to impress the examiner.
So does it work?
If you stress it and go like, it's not my cup of tea.
It's not my cup of tea.
But okay, how would you say it naturally?
So do you like geography?
No, it's not my cup of tea.
It's never been my cup of tea.
So it's okay to use it, yeah?
It's okay, yeah.
I don't think anyone will really care.
They'll just be like, hmm, unusual.
But then move on.
When was the last time you personally used this phrase, talking with your friends?
I have absolutely no idea.
I don't keep track of these things.
I'd need an idiom diary.
Yes, you do, Rory.
Starting from today, you should have your idiom diary and notice it's raining cats and dogs.
Do you ever say this?
It's not my cup of tea.
It's what?
Hold on.
We could just type in cliches.
Examples of cliches in writing.
Yes.
Get up on the wrong side of the bed.
Think outside of the box.
A loose cannon.
A perfect storm.
Open up a can of worms.
Dead as a doornail.
Dead as a doornail?
Who says that?
As old as the hills.
To burn the midnight oil.
Also, if you studied geography at school and then you decided not to, you can say I dropped it.
So I decided not to study it.
I dropped it.
You can say I did learn a couple of things from geography.
For example, I remember plate movements.
Plate movements.
Look at their vocabulary.
Erosion.
Erosion is what happens when the environment interacts with the terrain.
So it's like...
The wind, for example.
If there's lots and lots of wind blowing, then that will erode the surface of stones, for example, and it will flatten them or smooth them over.
The same thing happens with water when things get worn away.
Erosion has an influence on terrain.
That's all you need to know.
You just say that.
Like, I know that erosion has an influence on terrain.
Terrain means earth.
So it's a posh word to mean the ground.
Terrain.
Also, you can mention such things as the globe, the North Pole continents hemispheres, two hemispheres in our brain equator lowlands highlands, deserts.
This is this kind of geographical vocabulary.
An interesting question.
Would you go somewhere because of its geographical conditions?
What a weird question.
Like, just say I would go there because of the weather or the climate.
But I talked about the humidity, which is how much moisture is in the air.
Yeah, so in Thailand, for example, it's humid, humidity.
But geographical conditions, what do you mean by this?
I'm going to read it to you.
Geographic conditions or geographical conditions.
This is turning into a geography lesson.
The natural physical environment presented by the country.
And pretty much this is about mineral resources, water supply, soil, flora, fauna, you know.
Stop it.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Were you saying something?
Yes, about water supply.
Now you know how it feels.
So pretty much geographical conditions are about animals and the weather, water bodies, rivers, oceans that you have in a country.
And you said...
Something about rainforests, right?
I did.
I would go to the rainforest.
There's a technical piece of vocabulary for you.
The rainforests are a specific place and the humidity we already talked about.
And then the examiner can ask you about reading maps.
So I can be good at reading maps.
I'm good at reading maps.
I'm good at following directions.
Or I'm not so good at orienteering.
You said, what is orienteering?
Orienteering, really simplified, is just using maps to find your way around.
So you have a look at the map and then you see what direction you're going to go in.
You have a compass.
Right, Rory, now we're going to check your geography knowledge.
So what's the capital of Malta?
Come on.
Oh, my God.
What's the capital of Malta, Rory?
It's got a really funny name and I've totally forgotten it.
It starts with V. Vale... Valetta!
Minus point for Rory.
What's the name of the largest river to flow through Paris?
It's not the Seine.
Well done, one point.
What's the currency of Sweden?
Oh, that's the kronor.
Oh, yay, Swedish krona.
I live there, so I should know that.
To what country do the Canary Islands belong?
Canary Islands?
The Canary Islands.
The Canary Islands.
Do you mean the Canary Islands?
Delete this.
Oh my God, please keep that in.
That's funny.
The Canary Islands belong to Spain, by the way.
I've been there.
The Canary Islands.
Canary.
Canary.
The Canary.
The Canary Islands.
I can't pronounce the islands.
The Canary Islands belong to Spain.
Yes, well done.
What's the highest peak in Africa, Rory?
Come on.
Oh, that's Kilimanjaro.
Hey, Hemingway.
What's the capital of Peru?
Oh, it's not Quito, is it?
Lima.
Oh, no, it's Lima.
Yes, sorry.
Quito is the capital of Ecuador, I want to say.
So, dear listener, as you see, an educated native speaker is not quite educated.
Well, I'm being badgered and I don't even know what my time limit for answering questions is.
However, I already said that geography wasn't my thing, so whatever.
But what is my thing is grammar.
I used a lot of the third conditional here.
Can we talk about the grammar, please?
Shoot the third conditional.
Hit us with the third conditional.
I did, but now you're going to explain it because I can't.
Good luck.
If I had had the chance, I wouldn't have taken it as a subject.
So in the past, you see, we're talking in the past, about the past, at school, finito.
And we imagine a situation.
So if, you know, but it's not real, not real past.
So if Rory had had the chance, but he didn't.
I would have taken, but he didn't, right?
So, yeah.
Rory, could you pronounce it naturally so our listener could hear the natural pronunciation?
If I'd had, or if I had had, had had, had had.
If I'd had.
Well, I'd say if I'd had.
If I'd had the chance.
If I had had.
So it's like really quick.
Had had.
Had had.
Had had the chance.
Had had the chance.
Had had the chance.
I... Had had the chance.
The whole thing.
Oh, sorry.
Say the whole freaking sentence.
If I had the chance, I would have dropped it.
Sweet.
Thank you.
But can we transfer to something else?
Could you ask me a question about school subjects, for example?
Yeah.
What about astronomy, Rory?
Oh, yes.
I never studied astronomy, but if I'd had the chance, then I would have taken it at school.
Yeah.
When you talk about school university, your childhood, feel free to use the third conditional about unreal past.
For example, if in the past, like when I was at university.
If I'd been able to?
If I had been able to, I'd have traveled to South America, but I couldn't do it.
I didn't have any money or I was busy and I didn't go.
So I'd have traveled.
I would have traveled.
I'd have traveled.
Rory, could you pronounce the whole sentence for us to hear your natural Scottish pronunciation?
Scotland freedom.
What was it?
I think if I'd been able to, I'd have traveled to South America to see the rainforest.
Yeah.
Although I didn't say it like that.
It's like, oh, yeah, I wouldn't have said it like that.
I would have said like oh, if I'd been able to, then I would have traveled to South America to see the rainforest.
There we go.
Mm-hmm.
Much more natural pronunciation.
Back in the past, right?
But I wasn't and it didn't happen.
Also, for example, you can say that, for example, your geography teacher was horrible.
Like a horrible teacher, you hated geography.
And then you imagine, oh, what if...
The teacher, you know, right?
So what do you say?
If I'd had decent geography classes, I'd have loved it at school.
But you didn't have good classes, the teacher was horrible, and you hated geography.
If I'd had better teachers, I would have paid more attention.
I would have paid.
You could say that for any subject.
Maybe that's our new hack.
Like, if you get asked a question about a random topic and you'd be like well, if I'd had better teachers, I would have paid more attention to that in school.
Ask another question.
Let's transfer it.
For example, mathematics.
Did you have mathematics at school?
Yes.
Did you like it?
No, I hated mathematics.
If I'd had better teachers, then I probably would have done better with it.
There we go.
Any subject.
Yeah.
And anything about school, just blame it on teachers.
Well, why not?
We're doing that anyway.
Sorry, teachers.
If you're a school teacher, sorry.
It's just a good way to use the third conditional.
Thank you very much for listening.
Thank you so much.
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Have you ever studied geography at school?
Well, yes, but if I'd had the chance, I probably wouldn't have taken it as a subject.
I mean, I remember all the stuff about tectonic plates and earthquakes and other natural disasters.
But to be honest, I don't think that stuff has any relevance for my life right now.
Do you like geography?
Well, like I said, it's not really my thing.
If I'd been able to, I'd have dropped it as a subject, but I couldn't, so I just had to stick with it.
All of the things about, like, erosion and plate movements...
I mean, it's interesting, but it doesn't have any direct relevance for my life.
And you know, if it doesn't really have much relevance, then it's not terribly interesting or it's not terribly engaging is what I should say.
Do you want to travel to a country because of its geographical conditions?
Well, I think if I'd been able to, I would have traveled to South America to see the rainforest, but it seems like that will never happen now.
And to be honest, even if I had gone, I don't think I could handle the humidity.
Are you good at reading maps?
Well, I probably would have gotten into it if I'd had decent lessons at school, and you know much interest.
But to be honest, I've never had much of an interest in either geography or orienteering.
So it's not something I'm terribly good at.
