Hello, lovely people of the world.
I'm Mariam.
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 super podcast because we want you to use high-level words, phrasal verbs and gorgeous grammar in your everyday English and in your IELTS speaking exam.
Rory, so you work very hard, you slave away every day.
What do you do in the evening?
I probably tidy everything up after I'm done, because I make quite a mess during the day while I'm working.
Wow, what a coincidence!
Today we're going to be talking about being tidy.
We have lots of coincidences on this podcast.
Yes, in IELTS Speaking Part 1 they can ask you questions about being tidy.
Rory, are you a tidy person?
Usually, though right now my laundry pile leaves something to be desired.
But in the main yeah, I'm quite good at having everything in its place and tidying up and cleaning dishes and things.
So, yeah, I'm pretty good at that.
What do you do to be tidy?
Well, I like everything to be in its place.
So everything has a place that it should be in.
Or at the very least, it's out of the way and I know where it is.
So that's just one way of doing it.
The other thing is...
Just making sure that everything is organized.
If we talk about clothes, I have drawers for different clothes.
So if we have all the socks in the sock drawer, then they're all in the right place.
It's not just like a mess, for example.
Do you think that it's necessary to be tidy?
Well, because I'm a tidy person, I suppose I'm meant to say yes.
But actually, no, I don't think so.
I think it's actually a personality thing.
Most people think it's like the key to being the best at everything, to be tidy and organized.
But, like I say, if your personality is not like that, then you shouldn't force yourself to be, because you just make yourself miserable.
So if you're an orderly person, then yeah, you should definitely try.
But if you're not, then don't worry.
It's not the end of the world.
Just find someone that understands why you're untidy.
Do you think that people should be tidy all the time?
No, I think like a little chaos can be a good thing actually, because it forces you to think creatively about well, how to solve the problem of chaos.
So in this sense, it's not something that you have to 100 be all the time, but it is something that I try to be most of the time.
Do you keep your workplace tidy?
Well, I definitely try to, but it feels like a losing battle sometimes, because the work often piles up and then I've got to get through everything, and so the focus is on the work more than the being tidy.
But then I'll come back to the tidiness, so it's not like I completely give up.
What about your house?
Yeah, it's quite tidy.
Like I say, apart from the laundry pile.
But it's a laundry pile, so it doesn't have to be tidy.
It is my logic at the very least.
When was the last time you cleaned up?
Like, you mean everything?
Yes.
Well, oh God.
Well, it's called spring cleaning, but to be honest, I did it before I went on holiday in the summer.
So I guess that would be about a month ago, but then I do like little bits and pieces of tidying every day.
And what did you do during this spring cleaning?
Oh God, everything.
I cleaned the dishes, all of the surfaces in the kitchen, swept the floor, did the vacuuming, even the parts of the apartment that I'm never usually in.
I was vacuuming.
So, yeah, I just went on a bit of a cleaning frenzy, I suppose.
Nice.
Can I invite you over to my house so you can do the same?
It's okay.
No, hire a cleaner.
I have work to do.
You can do this spring cleaning in summer, you know, every month.
No, no, I have work to do.
Get your own cleaner.
You always say no to me.
I don't know how old you are.
I don't know your birthday.
Now you refuse to clean my flat.
I know.
Oh, yeah.
That is a tragedy that I don't clean your flat for you.
Yes.
Thank you, Rory, for your answers.
No problem.
Now, Rory, so tidy.
What does it mean, tidy?
Is it the same as clean?
What is it?
I think people use them interchangeably, but they do actually mean different things.
So for example, tidying is more about organizing or reorganizing things, so physically moving them.
Whereas cleaning is more like the act of making sure that there's no dirt on them.
So there is a difference between the two.
But if you're using them naturally and interchangeably, then it shouldn't be such a huge problem.
Oh, this is so confusing.
So, can I say that I'm a tidy person?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm a clean person.
Yeah.
Although that could have two meanings, couldn't it?
Because it could mean that you are physically clean.
Ah, right.
So I'm clean.
It means like I've washed my body.
But then...
Is that a bad thing either?
I don't think so.
I think it should be clear from the context what you're talking about.
So it shouldn't be something you have a breakdown about.
Yeah.
So when I say I'm a tidy person, I'm an organized person, which means I clean things up.
Right?
Yeah.
Or can I say, I tidy up.
Right?
Yes.
Yes.
So, tidy up, like clean your flat.
What about nouns?
So, tidiness.
Right?
Cleanliness.
Cleanliness.
Wow.
But that's about our body and soul.
Cleanliness.
No, no.
Cleanliness is about... How?
What's the word?
It's a character trait.
Or it's actually a state of being as well.
How can you use it in a sentence?
People frequently question my cleanliness.
Wow.
If my apartment hasn't been tidied.
Yeah, antonyms would be untidy.
So, some people are untidy or messy, right?
Mm-hmm. or disorganized, right?
When we talk about, like, not being clean, we can say, like, something is dirty or filthy.
That's a strong word, filthy.
It is.
It's also not a way that I would describe any of the places I have lived, because I like to keep them tidy and clean.
Maybe at university.
Right.
And we can say, yes, keep things organized.
I enjoy keeping things clean, keeping things tidy, and you said that um, you prefer to have things in their places right yes, so if everything is in its place, it's in the well, it's in the place it's supposed to be in, And out of the way.
You mentioned drawers, so you keep your things in drawers, right?
Yes, so that's just well.
It's something that you pull out and put things in and then you put the drawer back in.
I think everybody, hopefully everybody knows what a drawer is.
Drawer, yep.
I can't think of any other ways it's described, actually.
There must be an American word for it that I'm not thinking of right now.
So, you keep your socks in drawers?
Yes, I keep my socks in a sock drawer and I have a place for my shirts.
Sock drawer.
And how do you fold your socks?
Do you kind of like fold them in half or...?
What do you do with it?
Oh, I'm awful, apparently.
I iron my socks and then I fold them.
Are you joking?
I'm told that almost nobody does this these days.
Rory irons his socks, ladies and gents.
Wow.
Why do they do that?
It's just part of being disciplined.
It's funny because actually my dad does the same thing as well as my mom.
But a lot of the people that we know, in fact, I would say almost 100 of the other people I know.
Do not do this.
Oh, my God.
Okay, dear listeners, do we have anybody who irons their socks?
I don't do that.
It's crazy for me.
So, like, if you iron your socks, could you keep Rory company?
Go to our social media and give us a shout-out.
Yay!
I iron my socks.
Nice to meet orderly people.
All right.
You've mentioned your laundry pile.
Laundry.
What is laundry?
Oh, a laundry pile is just well, laundry is the clothes that need to be cleaned.
And if you do the laundry, then you're cleaning them.
And if you're organizing the laundry, then they are cleaned and you have, you're putting it back in its right place.
Could you use it in a sentence?
Laundry.
I do my laundry once a week.
You do your laundry once a week.
You clean all the surfaces in your house, right?
Yeah, ideally once a week, but it's more like once every two weeks now that I think about it.
You sweep the floors.
That's more like once a month, but it still gets done.
And you do the vacuuming.
Again, more like once a month.
Vacuuming or hoovering?
Hoovering in the UK, vacuuming in the US, but they're used so interchangeably again that it doesn't matter.
Yeah.
So all these things like sweeping the floor, doing the vacuuming, we call them chores, household chores.
Yes.
And you can say like, I try to keep up with daily housekeeping or household chores.
I liked it when you mentioned a little chaos.
So, a little chaos is fine.
So, this creative chaos, yeah?
But sometimes you lose battle.
You lose battle with what?
Oh, it's a losing battle.
So it's like it's like something that you're trying to accomplish, but it's not working for you.
Although I just said it's not that it's not working for me.
It just feels like a losing battle because there's just so much work to be done and there's only so much time to be tidy.
Mm hmm.
And in spring, you have this spring cleaning.
So is it like a massive cleaning?
You clean everything like crazy?
I think that's the idea.
Although in my family, spring cleaning seems to happen once a month, when everybody just goes crazy and starts cleaning things in spring, I think in Russia also we do this massive cleaning, so it's like two days we clean everything.
You've mentioned a nice phrase to go on a cleaning frenzy.
Well, that's just when you do a lot of cleaning, to be honest.
A frenzy is like a lot of activity happening at once.
So you can have a cleaning frenzy when you do a lot of cleaning at the one time.
Or if you watch any documentaries about animals and you see wolves or sharks going crazy, trying to eat whatever it is that they're eating and that's called a feeding frenzy.
But it's something negative, right?
It's kind of overwhelming.
Well, it depends.
If you're the one being eaten, then it's negative.
I think I don't know for cleaning.
It's more like positive, because you're cleaning and you're going crazy about cleaning.
So that's okay.
But if it's a feeding frenzy, then it's definitely a negative thing.
When we talk about being tidy, we can also say that some people hang on to items, hang on to things and they prefer hogging things or kind of piling up.
Lots of things.
Oh, yeah.
You mean hoarding?
Yeah, hoarding.
Hoarding, right.
Well, you could.
Hoarding is like you're excessively controlling over something.
So you could do both of these things.
But hoarding is when you keep a lot of things.
Yeah.
What can I hoard?
What can't you hoard?
People hoard everything.
Cats?
I think, no, no, crazy cat ladies do this more than most.
I think a lot of people hoard newspapers.
And I don't know why.
I suppose it's this connection to the past that they quite like.
So they hang on to the past or...
If you hoard, I don't know, like books, you have so many books in your house.
Okay.
But this could end up with you being overwhelmed by clutter.
Yeah, if you don't organize yourself, then yeah, it's going to be a bit of a disaster.
Yeah, and clutter, we mean, again, like old newspapers, all this, you know, rubbish, right?
Yes.
And then it's spring cleaning time and you need to declutter your house.
Declutter.
I need to try and declutter my house.
It's not always successful, but I do try.
Rory, do you hoard anything?
No, I keep.
I have keepsakes which are like small things that people have given to me over the years and have a lot of sentimental value, but I don't keep anything.
Maybe books, but does that count?
I don't know.
I don't think people consider it hoarding if it's books.
Do you save our photos and selfies?
Yes, absolutely.
And then I post them on Instagram.
Yes, you post them on Instagram.
Have you printed them off and put up your ceiling or on the wall?
Not quite.
Although I do have a collection of photos that I keep on my wall, so I should probably start adding to them, because they finished around about last year and so much has happened this year.
So I'm not on your wall.
Yet.
Yet.
Again, no.
Everyone knows.
What part of the word yet did you not get?
I don't get anything.
You're so rude to me.
No, I'm very polite and fluffy.
You do nothing but worship the ground that you walk on.
I'm worshipping the ground I'm walking on.
Dear listener, this is all from us.
We hope that you've learned some new words phrases adjectives verbs, phrasal verbs, grammar structures.
So, thank you very much and stay tidy.
Bye.
Bye.
Rory, are you a tidy person?
Usually, though right now my laundry pile leaves something to be desired.
But in the main yeah, I'm quite good at having everything in its place and tidying up and cleaning dishes and things.
So, yeah, I'm pretty good at that.
What do you do to be tidy?
Well, I like everything to be in its place.
So everything has a place that it should be in and or the very least it's out of the way.
And I know where it is.
And so that's just one way of doing it.
The other thing is just making sure that everything is organized.
So once um like, let's talk if we talk about clothes.
Like i have drawers for different clothes, so if we have all the socks in the sock drawer, then they're all in the right place, it's not just like a mess.
For example, Do you think that it's necessary to be tidy?
Well, because I'm a tidy person, I suppose I'm meant to say yes.
But actually, no, I don't think so.
I think it's actually a personality thing.
Most people think it's like the key to being the best at everything, to be tidy and organized.
But, like I say, if your personality is not like that, then you shouldn't force yourself to be, because you just make yourself miserable.
So if you're an orderly person, then yeah, you should definitely try.
But if you're not, then don't worry.
It's not the end of the world.
Just find someone that understands why you're untidy.
Do you think that people should be tidy all the time?
No, I think like a little chaos can be a good thing actually, because it forces you to think creatively about well, how to solve the problem of chaos.
So in this sense, it's not something that you have to 100 be all the time, but it is something that I try to be most of the time.
Do you keep your workplace tidy?
Well, I definitely try to, but it feels like a losing battle sometimes, because the work often piles up and then I've got to get through everything.
And so the focus is on the work more than the being tidy.
But then I'll come back to the tidiness.
So it's not like I completely give up.
What about your house?
Yeah, it's quite tidy.
Like I say, apart from the laundry pile, but it's a laundry pile, so it doesn't have to be tidy.
It is my logic at the very least.
When was the last time you cleaned up?
Like, you mean everything?
Yes.
Well, oh God.
Well, it's called spring cleaning, but to be honest, I did it before I went on holiday in the summer.
So I guess that would be about a month ago, but then I do like little bits and pieces of tidying every day.
And what did you do during this spring cleaning?
Oh, God, everything.
I cleaned the dishes, all of the surfaces in the kitchen, swept the floor, did the vacuuming, even the parts of the apartment that I'm never usually in.
I was vacuuming.
So, yeah, I just went on a bit of a cleaning frenzy, I suppose.
