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 to give you a look at how an educated and experienced native speaker would answer some of the most common IELTS speaking questions.
Rory, are you listening to me or what?
Rory?
Oh, sorry, Maria.
I was just checking my phone there.
What a coincidence on this podcast again.
Today we're going to be talking about how awful mobile phones are.
Yes, dear listener, in speaking part three, they can ask you questions about mobile phones.
Actually, they can ask you questions about mobile phones in speaking part one, but today Rory is going to answer some questions from speakers.
Rory, do you think we should set up laws and regulations on the use of mobile phones?
Well, on the face of it, it seems like a good idea, given the negative effects they sometimes have.
But I'm not sure it's something that you could legislate for very well, given how well they're pretty much endemic at this stage.
So it's probably easier to work around the problem to try and solve it.
So, with that in mind, it's maybe better that guardians are encouraged to take control of the situation and educate their kids about how to use mobile phones effectively.
Do you think children should have mobile phones?
No, I'm not a parent, but when I am, I'm not going to let my children have mobile phones, at least not for the first few years of their lives.
I think it's a real barrier to the enjoyment of being a child, and parents should be really careful about letting their kids use them.
I think child locks and sort of other protective mechanisms like that are a great idea for young people in particular, just because it protects them from doing something stupid or ill-advised, because young people don't know what they're doing on the internet or with mobile phones and they could get themselves into serious trouble.
So it's important their parents educate them as much as possible about how to use them sensibly.
In your opinion, at what age should we give a cell phone to a child?
Well, given how some people behave when they're using them, maybe no one should be allowed to have them ever.
But if I think about it seriously, In general, probably like the mid to late teens, when you start beginning to act like a responsible adult, but still with some supervision and education about how to use them properly.
But I don't really agree with this idea of parents giving phones to children who are five or six years old.
I don't see the point in that.
You have a mobile phone to get in touch with people, but who do you need to get in touch with when you're six years old?
Your parents should be looking after you.
No, you need to browse the internet, you need to play games, come on.
You need to be enjoying your childhood outdoors.
Why do some people dislike using text messages?
Um...
Well, I think for some people, it's hard for them to articulate their thoughts in writing, so I think they opt for voice messages and calls instead, because that's easier for them.
It can be annoying sometimes because it's a lot more demanding on the time of the person who's getting the call or the voice message.
You know, if you want to get your message across clearly and that's the priority then maybe this is a good idea for them.
Why do some people prefer texting as compared to phone calls?
Like, we never call each other, you know, we just text.
Well, I suppose for the opposite reasons of what I just said.
If we think about texting, it's easier to put a small text message together.
It's shorter.
It's usually self-contained.
And people who you're sending text to can control the intrusion into their life and time more easily.
So I think it's... probably better if you're someone who values your time and using it effectively.
You know, there's usually no need to answer a text message immediately, whereas if it's a call, then you do need to answer immediately.
Do you think modern technology has any negative influence on communication?
Oh, definitely.
For example, it removes body language and nuance from the equation in some ways.
That can probably lead to confusion if you don't communicate very well.
And then some people feel a lot freer to express their opinions and say things which they would never say in real life, which can be quite disappointing and hurtful.
Although I suppose, since it's usually through technology, it's easier to get over than if someone was saying horrible things to you in person.
So with those two examples in mind, there are definitely some downsides to this for sure.
What do you think are some of the main differences between written communication and spoken communication?
Well, probably.
No, definitely.
Everything connected to conveying meaning through pronunciation and body language.
Although the advent of emojis is designed to help with this, so people can convey their emotions clearly.
But there's still a bit of a barrier to overcome in that.
The structure of written and spoken communication is actually quite different.
Now that I think about it.
For example, you repeat yourself more when you speak.
You use different expressions.
Some vocabulary is different.
You use more slang and colloquial terms when you're speaking as opposed to when you're writing.
To be honest, people have probably written lots of books about the differences between these two things.
But I think those are the big things that come to mind when you ask this question to me.
Rory, what about the future of mobile phones?
What will happen in the future?
Will babies be using mobile phones or they'll disappear like dinosaurs?
Well, I think we'll probably always need some kind of mobile communication device.
Whether it'll be a mobile phone that you can hold in your hand or not is probably not the case.
I imagine, like 50 years down the line, we'll probably have something different, maybe something that's even integrated with our bodies.
And there are lots of discussions around that.
I think it'd be quite cool, though.
I mean, you could carry it around more effectively, but...
As long as you only get it at a responsible age where you know what you're doing with it.
Rory, thank you so much for your answers.
No problem.
Okay, first of all, let's clarify the difference between speaking part one, speaking part two and speaking part three questions.
So what's the major difference between speaking part three and the other parts?
Well speaking.
Part one is about answering questions about topics which are sort of everyday, and you can give answers which are personal to yourself.
However, if we talk about speaking part three, the questions are designed to be more general and should be discussed in more general terms.
You could give personal examples, but it's also a good idea to refer to the world in general in speaking part 3, because it's supposed to be a discussion, absolutely so speak more generally and air out your opinion about other people, right.
So, like I reckon that most people blah blah blah, but some people blah blah, blah rather than, as for me, I enjoy ta-ta-ta yeah.
Because speaking part one is about you, speaking part two is about you, but speaking part three, as Rory has just said, it's about more general topics.
I would point out though, that one of the answers I gave, or a couple of them, were couched in my personal opinion.
But then I used my personal opinion as a starting point and then branched out into more general topics.
So I talked about my children and I talked about my opinion about people.
But then I said, and then we think about the world in general, for example.
Yes.
So you can start that way, but you should always try and keep it as broad as possible.
Rory, when you talked about mobile phones, you mentioned this phrase on the face of it.
On the face?
Whose face?
It's just another way of saying when you think about something at first.
Although phrases like at first are a bit more mechanical when we talk about this.
So here on the face of it is...
First of all, less common.
It's more idiomatic, so it'll get you a higher score for your vocabulary.
And second of all, sorry, third of all, it sounds more natural.
Give us an example.
Yeah, on the face of it, everybody having a mobile phone seems like a good idea, but that's just at first, and then we think about it more clearly.
When I asked you about laws and regulations, you've used a verb, to legislate.
Yeah, to legislate is just like to make laws for something.
You usually legislate for, in favor of, or legislate against something.
But you can use just the words to legislate as well, meaning to create law.
You've also said that mobile phones are now endemic.
Yeah, if you don't have a very high opinion about mobile phones, then you can use this word, and if something is endemic, it means like it's just a bad thing that's always around.
For example, if we talk about the common cold.
The common cold is endemic because it's like in every country and place in the world.
So in the same way mobile phones are like this, it's got a lot of negative connotations behind it.
Yes, they're everywhere, mobile phones, they're endemic.
They are.
You've used a nice phrasal verb, to work around the problem.
Should work around the problem and try to solve it, right?
Yeah, so if you work around a problem then you don't try and fix it.
The problem exists but you create a situation where it's not important or it's not relevant anymore.
So, for example, if the Wi-Fi in my apartment doesn't work, then I work around the problem by using 4G and turning on the hotspot on my phone.
So I haven't fixed the Wi-Fi, I just created an alternative thing for me to use.
When we talk about children and mobile phones, we can say that we shouldn't or should let our children use the phone.
So let somebody use the phone.
You've talked about child locks.
What are they?
So child blocks are well.
They're usually used on bottles of medicine to stop children from getting into them, but I think you can actually have them on computers as well to stop kids from getting access to various websites, and you can have them on phones to stop them from doing something similar.
Maybe they're not called child locks, maybe they're called something else, but the idea is the same.
It's something that stops a child from doing something reckless.
We should make sure that children use mobile phones sensibly, right?
Yes.
And when they are more responsible, when they start being responsible adults.
They can use mobile phones.
When did you start using a mobile phone, Rory?
How old were you?
I think I was 13 or 14 although again, what I needed a mobile phone for, who can say?
And they were very expensive back then as well.
So yeah, if I could do life again, I think I would wait a longer time to have a mobile phone and just relax a bit more and enjoy my childhood.
Rory, how old are you now?
Old.
Older than I was.
When's your birthday, Rory?
What date?
It's the date that I was born.
What's your mobile phone number?
Tell the world.
We're going to call you.
I'm definitely not telling you that.
Oh, it's a three no's in a row, dear listeners.
Okay, we keep going with mobile phones.
When we talk about...
And texting.
So we can call each other or we can text, right?
So to text is to write a text message.
So we can say also like texting is wildly popular, right?
Yeah, although voice messages are catching up.
Whether or not that's a good thing, I'll leave up to you to decide.
And you said that it's easier to articulate your thoughts.
Articulate, yeah?
Yeah, if you articulate a thought then you state it clearly and it's easy to under well.
It should be easy to understand if it's well articulated.
So if you articulate something, it's just like saying it.
You've also used a good phrase, get your message across.
So if you want to get your message across, texting is much easier, right?
I think so.
At least it is for me.
Some people think that voice messages are easier.
I disagree.
But I can definitely see why people would think that.
We can say that when you call somebody, it's a lot more demanding, right?
So it demands a lot from you, so a lot more demanding than just writing a simple text.
And a text message is self-contained.
What do you mean here?
Well, you don't need to ask for any.
Well ideally, you don't need to ask for any follow-up information.
If someone sends you a text message, then the purpose is clear.
You're not in any doubts as to what the person means.
Whereas if you're having a conversation, it's not self-contained.
People usually ask follow-up questions, maybe something that they've said hasn't been immediately clear, this kind of thing.
Yeah, then you end up chatting to them for three hours.
I say this you can have a text that's not self-contained and you have to discuss it in a bit more detail.
But I think if the purpose of text is to be efficient and save time, then it should be self-contained.
When you are talking about a choice, you can say that some people opt for texting, other people opt for voice messages.
Yeah.
So if you opt for something, it's like you've chosen it from a selection of options although again, this is higher level vocabulary.
So it's better to say this instead of choose.
If you want a higher score for your vocabulary, band 9 score.
Yes Rory, you talked about disadvantages of mobile phones.
You said there are downsides to them, right?
Yeah, I could have said there are disadvantages, but we already said that word.
So downsides is another way of talking about the negative side of things.
The other nice one is the advent of emojis.
So with the advent of emojis is like with the creation or with the beginning of people using emojis, it's been easier for people to let other people know what they're thinking and the exact emotions behind what they say in text messages.
You talked about spoken communication and you said that we convey meaning through pronunciation and body language.
So convey meaning.
If you convey meaning, then it's just well how you transfer the meaning from inside your head to the other person.
So we don't say this, though.
We don't transfer meaning.
We convey meaning.
We convey meaning through speech or through text, for example.
While you spoke about the future, you said that mobile phones might be integrated in our bodies.
So we can also say that some mobile phones will be implanted in our bodies, some chips will be implanted.
They are already, they have been implanted.
Would you like a mobile phone to be implanted in your neck, for example, or in your wrist?
If I had full control over it and there was no chance of things going wrong, then yes.
But if not, then no.
Rory, would you like to be a robot?
No, definitely not.
I get more done, but I like being a human being.
Thank you very much for listening.
That's all from us for today.
We hope that you've learned some new phrases and noticed the grammar structure Rory has just used.
Now you can listen to Rory's answers again And notice all the juicy, delicious vocabulary for band 9 score.
And we'll see you next time.
Bye.
Bye.
Rory, do you think we should set up laws and regulations on the use of mobile phones?
Well, on the face of it, it seems like a good idea, given the negative effects they sometimes have.
But I'm not sure it's something that you could legislate for very well, given how well they're pretty much endemic at this stage.
So it's probably easier to work around the problem to try and solve it.
So, with that in mind, it's maybe better that guardians are encouraged to take control of the situation and educate their kids about how to use mobile phones effectively.
Do you think children should have mobile phones?
No, I'm not a parent, but when I am, I'm not going to let them.
I'm not going to let my children have mobile phones, at least not for the first few years of their lives.
I think it's a real... barrier to the enjoyment of being a child.
And parents should be really careful about letting their kids use them.
I think child locks and sort of other protective mechanisms like that are a great idea for young people in particular, just because it protects them from doing something stupid or ill-advised, because young people don't know what they're doing on the internet or with mobile phones and they could get themselves into serious trouble.
So it's important their parents educate them as much as possible about how to use them sensibly.
In your opinion, at what age should we give a cell phone to a child?
Given how some people behave when they're using them, maybe no one should be allowed to have them ever.
But if I think about it seriously, In general, probably like the mid to late teens, when you start beginning to act like a responsible adult, but still with some supervision and education about how to use them properly.
But I don't really agree with this idea of parents giving phones to children who are five or six years old.
I don't see the point in that.
You have a mobile phone to get in touch with people, but who do you need to get in touch with when you're six years old?
Your parents should be looking after you.
No, you need to browse the internet, you need to play games, come on.
You need to be enjoying your childhood outdoors.
Why do some people dislike using text messages?
Um...
Well, I think for some people, it's hard for them to articulate their thoughts in writing.
So I think they opt for voice messages and calls instead because that's easier for them.
It can be annoying sometimes because it's a lot more demanding on the time of the person who's getting the call or the voice message.
But...
You know, if you want to get your message across clearly and that's the priority then maybe this is a good idea for them.
Why do some people prefer texting as compared to phone calls?
Like we never call each other, you know, we just text.
Well, I suppose for the opposite reasons of what I just said.
If we think about texting, it's easier to put a small text message together.
It's shorter.
It's usually self-contained and people who you're sending text to can control the intrusion into their life and time more easily.
So I think it's probably better.
If you're someone who values your time and using it effectively, you know there's usually no need to answer a text message immediately, whereas if it's a call, then you do need to answer immediately.
Do you think modern technology has any negative influence on communication?
Oh, definitely.
For example, it removes body language and nuance from the equation in some ways.
That can probably lead to confusion if you don't communicate very well.
And then some people feel a lot freer to express their opinions and say things which they would never say in real life, which can be quite disappointing and hurtful.
Although I suppose since it's, usually through technology.
It's easier to get over than if someone was saying horrible things to you in person.
So with those two examples in mind, there are definitely some downsides to this for sure.
What do you think are some of the main differences between written communication and spoken communication?
Well, probably.
No, definitely.
Everything connected to conveying meaning through pronunciation and body language.
Although the advent of emojis is designed to help with this, so people can convey their emotions clearly.
But there's still a bit of a barrier to overcome in that. sense.
The structure of written and spoken communication is actually quite different.
Now that I think about it.
For example, you repeat yourself more when you speak.
You use different expressions.
Some vocabulary is different.
You use more slang and colloquial terms when you're speaking as opposed to when you're writing.
To be honest, people have probably written lots of books about the differences between these two things.
But I think those are the big things that come to mind when you ask this question to me.
Rory, what about the future of mobile phones?
What will happen in the future?
Will babies be using mobile phones or they'll disappear like dinosaurs?
Well, I think we'll probably always need some kind of mobile communication device.
Whether it'll be a mobile phone that you can hold in your hand or not is probably not the case.
I imagine, like 50 years down the line, we'll probably have something different, maybe something that's even integrated with our bodies.
And there are Lots of discussions around that.
I think it'd be quite cool, though.
I mean you could carry it around more effectively, but as long as you only get it at a responsible age where you know what you're doing with it.
