Hello, lovely people of the world.
I'm Maria.
And my name is Rory.
We are the hosts of the IELTS Speaking for Success podcast, the podcast that aims to help you develop your speaking skills, as well as your listening skills along the way.
Why have we started this podcast?
Well, it's basically because we're super cool and full of awesome and we want you to have the best of the best vocabulary and grammar for IELTS and for you to know what are some of the most common IELTS speaking questions.
For a high score.
The Super Band 9 score.
Summer is almost here and we're going to be talking about seasons.
Rory, are you ready to talk about seasons?
Seasoning?
But we already talked about food last week.
Not seasoning.
Seasons.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Rory, which season do you like the most?
I think I like summer the most, to be honest.
The temperature is rising and there's the nice positive emotional impact of the sun.
Yeah, it's definitely the best season, in my opinion.
What's the least favorite season in your country?
Oh, that's a good question.
I suppose...
I don't think a lot of people like winter, just because it's really cold and dark and miserable.
It definitely has a negative emotional impact on people.
So I would say that winter is probably the most loathed season in Scotland at least.
You know, I think it's the same in Russia.
I think it's the same everywhere.
But would you say that winter in Scotland is the same as winters in Russia?
Oh, God, no.
Winter in Russia is like winter in Scotland on steroids.
Rory, what's the weather like in your hometown?
Well, apparently my hometown is the sunniest in Scotland.
We get something like 100 days of sunshine every year.
I think this is because it's sheltered by the hills behind the town and then we have a nice sea breeze coming from the coast that helps keep the skies clear.
Do you prefer dry or wet weather?
Well, I think it depends on what you mean, because I prefer to be out in dry weather.
I think most people do, although I really like being inside so I can listen to the rain battering down.
It's relaxing and almost therapeutic.
What's the best season for travelling in your country?
That's a good question.
I suppose because we've got quite a well-developed infrastructure for most of the country, you could travel anywhere at any time really, and it won't be so bad.
So in winter, like you can see the snow capped peaks of the mountains, and in spring you get to see young livestock running around.
And then in the summer you get to see the sunny beaches.
And then in the fall you can enjoy the different patterns of falling leaves.
So, to be honest, there's not really a best season to travel.
I think it really depends on what you're into.
Rory, how do people in your country deal with bad weather?
It's kind of funny.
There's this weird distinction between Scottish people and English people.
I'm not sure if it's real but it's kind of like a joke the two countries have.
So Scottish people always go out even when it snows heavily like we very rarely have snow days to stop people from going to school, for example, but it always seems like if there's ever a little bit of snow in England, people always seem to panic and close everything.
I think it's probably connected to infrastructure problems that they have in the south.
But that's one of the things like it's kind of like a joke that comes up sometimes when we talk about how people deal with bad weather.
It's interesting because in Russia in winter, when it snows, everyone is so shocked like whoa, there's snow, like it's been snowing heavily.
Oh my god, we've never had this before, so it's kind of.
It's the same in England.
Again, it's like, oh no, we didn't know that snow happened in winter.
Although you could say the same for some parts of Scotland.
We're sometimes not very well prepared for this either, even though you know it's going to happen.
Yeah, but Rory, how do you manage winters in Moscow?
How?
What do you do?
Go back home to Scotland.
No, I know you're staying here.
No, I go back to Scotland for like a brief holiday, but I do spend most of the winter in Moscow.
And to be honest, it's not really that difficult.
You just buy a warm jacket and make sure you don't fall on any of the ice.
It's fine.
What's the hottest and the coldest place you've ever been to?
I think for the hottest place.
It's a toss-up between ghana and east timor.
I went there a few years ago to both countries um, it was just before i came to russia, actually um, so in uh, in both of these countries it was like a really baking 40 degrees centigrade and that was in the midday sun.
So that's like really, really hot And the coldest this is probably not much of a surprise to our Russian listeners is in Russia.
About three years ago there was a winter storm and it was like minus 27 degrees when we were camping in the Russian countryside.
Of course that didn't stop us from going to the banya and having a party, but it was still like the coldest it's ever been, at least in my experience.
You were camping outside in minus 23?
Yeah, we went to the camp.
Oh, right, not in a tent or something.
No, no, not in a tent, but we were kind of camping.
We just had a house instead of a tent.
Does that not count?
Okay, okay, yeah, that counts.
We were glamping.
Glamorous camping.
Hmm, minus 27.
Yeah, I've been to Murmansk and it was pretty much minus 35.
Yeah.
When your eyelashes freeze and your nose is kind of turns to ice and you can't open your eyes because it's like all icicles on your eyelashes.
It's fun.
You should try it out.
Yes, you should go to mormon's quarry in winter, Rory.
Thank you so much for your answers.
They were relaxing and therapeutic.
Oh, thank you.
Do you know what else is relaxing and therapeutic?
What?
Giving.
Giving is relaxing and therapeutic.
And that's why it would be very relaxing and therapeutic if our listeners gave us a like on Instagram and all the other social media we have.
Yes, we have Telegram, we have Instagram.
You can subscribe and see our faces.
Rory has a video up there.
I'm wearing some unicorn clothes.
So you can get updates, help us decide on the topics and get answers to your questions.
Rory, as usual, you've used the lovely vocabulary and grammar for High School band Super 9 School.
So when you talked about seasons, you mentioned like emotional impact, right?
Yes, I did.
The emotional impact is sort of like the emotions that something causes inside of you.
So, for example, if something has a positive emotional impact, it makes you happy, it's relaxing, it's good for you.
Whereas if something has a negative emotional impact, it makes you sad unhappy, it causes you stress.
We can also say that, for example, winters have a psychological impact on people.
Yes, they do.
In most cases, like a very negative psychological impact.
Yeah, impact, like, effect, like, influence.
Winters are dark, miserable.
Miserable meaning, like, very bad.
Yes, absolutely horrendous.
Horrendous, that's a lovely word.
Horrendous, like horrid, terrible.
Yeah, it's like really awful.
Could you use it in a sentence?
Yes, of course I can.
For example, on Monday the weather was horrendous because it was raining all day.
And when you say that it was raining all day, it was like heavy rain, we can say it was pouring.
Yeah.
Like P-O-U-R, it was like pouring down.
Or battering down, I said.
Right, battering down, like B-A, right?
B-A-T-T-E-R-I-N-G.
Yeah.
Bettering down, is it more like British English or American English?
It's probably more British, to be honest with you.
I haven't really heard it said by many American speakers.
We can also say gloomy, like winters are gloomy.
And describing the weather, like how hot it was, we can say it was baking.
Baking, like you bake a cake or bread.
You can also say it's roasting, so there's lots of...
Yeah, we were just talking about food, which is amazing.
There's lots of food vocabulary and verbs that can be used to describe the weather.
So it's baking, it's roasting, it's like an oven.
Yes, so when in Ghana, in this baking weather, Rory was going bananas.
It's not going bananas.
I hate bananas.
Yeah, to go bananas, basically to go nuts.
Oh, again, food again.
So to go crazy.
Yeah, oh my God.
And as we all know, Rory loves bananas.
So in Ghana, he went bananas.
We also can say something about like cold, like freezing cold.
In Moscow it's freezing cold.
Yes.
Or we can say bitterly cold, right?
Or it's very chilly.
Yeah, very chilly, right?
But isn't there a difference between cold and chilly?
Probably cold is more permanent, whereas chilly is something that happens in like waves, so you get the chills, for example.
But it's a very minor, minor and very fine distinction in meaning yeah yeah, so you can just open the window and say oh, it's a bit chilly yeah, or it's a bit cold, or it's boiling hot.
The weather could be dry, wet, also humid, right?
Humid weather.
Yes.
For example, in Thailand, is it humid?
I would know.
I think Thailand's one of the only countries I've not been to at this point.
If it's like, if there's lots of moisture in the air but it's very hot, then it's humid.
And Thailand's like this, so yeah.
So when you hear rain battering down, it's therapeutic for you, right?
Therapeutic from therapy, right?
Yes, yoga, anything that's relaxing or takes the stress away.
So yoga... Shopping!
Shopping, exercise...
Strangling the head of recruitment to death.
All of these things, really, it might be quite therapeutic.
Right.
When you talked about Scotland, you did use some very precise vocabulary.
For example, snow-capped peaks.
Yes.
Right.
So talking about mountains, right?
Absolutely.
Although I think a hill can have a peak as well.
But you usually talk about a hilltop, which is maybe easier to remember.
Either way, they have snow on them.
And also livestock.
Yes.
Oh, you can say livestock?
What are they?
Livestock that's like animals that people keep for food purposes or actually for any kind of purpose.
So, like sheep are livestock because you eat sheep but you also use their fur and cows are livestock.
You use the milk from cows and you use the meat from cows if you like beef.
So yeah, that's all livestock.
But livestock is only animals.
It's not about plants.
At least I don't think so.
Yeah, Rory, do you know why in Ireland cows are black and white?
Why?
Because they drink Guinness.
Yeah, delicious Guinness, like, as you know, it's just, like, black and this white froth on top.
That's why cows in Ireland are black and white.
Ha, ha, ha.
Rory, you've mentioned a good one.
It's a toss-up between Ghana and some other country that you said.
What was it?
Ghana and?
East Timor.
It's a small island, or actually it's half of a small island in the north of Australia.
So it's a toss up.
So we toss a coin right and when you kind of you don't know which one, so you can say it's a toss up between yeah, it's kind of like it's divided between these two things.
Dear listeners, now you can listen to Rory's answers again and notice all the juicy vocabulary and grammar he's just used.
Rory, which season do you like the most?
I think I like summer the most, to be honest.
The temperature is rising and there's the nice positive emotional impact of the sun.
Yeah, it's definitely the best season, in my opinion.
What's the least favorite season in your country?
Oh, that's a good question.
I suppose...
I don't think a lot of people like winter just because it's really cold and dark and miserable.
It definitely has a negative emotional impact on people.
So I would say that winter is probably the most loathed season, in Scotland at least.
You know, I think it's the same in Russia.
I think it's the same everywhere.
But would you say that winter in Scotland is the same as winters in Russia?
Oh, God, no.
Winter in Russia is like winter in Scotland on steroids.
Rory, what's the weather like in your hometown?
Well, apparently my hometown is the sunniest in Scotland.
We get something like 100 days of sunshine every year.
I think this is because it's sheltered by the hills behind the Tyrone and then we have a nice sea breeze coming from the coast that helps keep the skies clear.
Do you prefer dry or wet weather?
Well, I think it depends on what you mean, because I prefer to be out in dry weather.
I think most people do, although I really like being inside so I can listen to the rain battering down.
It's relaxing and almost therapeutic.
What's the best season for travelling in your country?
That's a good question, I suppose, because we've got quite a well-developed infrastructure for most of the country.
You could travel anywhere at any time, really, and it won't be so bad.
So in winter, like you can see the snow capped peaks of the mountains, and in spring you get to see young livestock running around.
And then in the summer you get to see the sunny beaches.
And then in the fall you can enjoy the different patterns of falling leaves.
So, to be honest, there's not really a best season to travel.
I think it really depends on what you're into.
Rory, how do people in your country deal with bad weather?
Um, it's kind of funny.
There's this weird distinction between Scottish people and English people.
I'm not sure if it's real, but it's kind of like a joke the two countries have.
So Scottish people always go out, even when it snows heavily.
Like we very rarely have snow days to stop people from going to school, for example.
But it always seems like if there's ever a little bit of snow in England, people always seem to panic and close everything.
I think it's probably connected to infrastructure problems that they have in the south.
But that's one of the things like it's kind of like a joke that comes up sometimes when we talk about how people deal with bad weather.
It's interesting because in Russia in winter, when it snows, everyone is so shocked like whoa, there's snow, like it's been snowing heavily.
Oh my god, we've never had this before, so it's kind of.
It's the same in England.
Again, it's like, oh no, we didn't know that snow happened in winter.
Although you could say the same for some parts of Scotland.
We're sometimes not very well prepared for this either, even though you know it's going to happen.
Yeah, but Rory, how do you manage winters in Moscow?
How?
What do you do?
Go back home to Scotland.
No, I know you're staying here.
No, I go back to Scotland for like a brief holiday, but I do spend most of the winter in Moscow.
And to be honest, it's not really that difficult.
You just buy a warm jacket and make sure you don't fall on any of the ice.
It's fine.
What's the hottest and the coldest place you've ever been to?
I think for the Hottest place.
It's a toss up between Ghana and East Timor.
I went there a few years ago to both countries.
It was just before I came to Russia, actually.
So in in both of these countries it was like a really baking 40 degrees centigrade, and that was in the midday sun.
So that's like really, really hot.
And the coldest, this is probably not much of a surprise to our Russian listeners, is in Russia.
About three years ago there was a winter storm and it was like minus 27 degrees when we were camping in the Russian countryside.
Of course, that didn't stop us from going to the Banya and having a party, but it was still like the coldest it's ever been, at least in my experience.
You were camping outside in minus 23.
Yeah, we went to the camp.
Oh, right, not in a tent or something.
No, no, not in a tent, but we were kind of camping.
We just had a house instead of a tent.
Does that not count?
Okay, okay, yeah, that counts.
We were glamping.
Glamorous camping.
Hmm, minus 27.
Yeah, I've been to Murmansk and it was pretty much minus 35.
Yeah.
When your eyelashes freeze and your nose is kind of turns to ice and you can't open your eyes because it's like all icicles on your eyelashes, it's fun.
You should try it out.
Yes, you should go to Moorman's Quarry in winter.
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Thank you very much for listening.
The links are in the episode description.
And we'll see you in the next episode of the season.
Yay, I got in a joke.
Yay.
Told you I'd get one.
What's the best time for whiskey?
It's always the best time for whiskey.
I'm on it right now.
Cheers.
