Hello, everyone.
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 develop your speaking skills, as well as your listening skills along the way.
We started this super podcast to give you a look at how a native English speaker would answer some of the most common IELTS speaking questions.
I ask Rory questions and Rory gives answers using grammar and vocabulary for high score band 9 score.
Rory, are you ready?
I'm toying with a few ideas.
That's great, because we're going to talk about toys today.
Now Rory, I'm going to give you a topic and you should talk about this topic for about two minutes, from one to two minutes.
Okay.
And this is speaking part two.
Yes, dear listeners, for just like for some variety on the podcast, we decided to have speaking part two.
So, Rory has a card and he will talk about it from one to two minutes.
Okay?
So, Rory, your card is describe a toy you liked in your childhood.
Okay.
Now, in the exam, Rory will have one minute, right?
I think so.
Yeah, Rory can take notes if he wishes.
If he doesn't want to take notes, it's up to him, right?
So, for one minute, he gets all prepared, and then he should speak from one to two minutes.
I definitely recommend taking notes, though.
It makes life so much easier, doesn't it?
Yeah, yeah.
Rory, could you start speaking now, please?
Of course.
So I thought I'd talk about a toy from my childhood.
It's a die cast model of Thunderbird 2.
Now to give a little bit of background.
Thunderbirds is a TV show that was made in the 1960s, but it's still popular to this day.
It features a family.
They create these different machines and they go on adventures to rescue people as part of their organization.
It's called International Rescue.
And there are five main machines.
They're called Thunderbirds.
But I liked the model of Thunderbird 2.
My parents gave it to me when I was, I think, when I was six or seven years old.
And it's very heavy, like it's made of metal.
But the actual toy itself looks like it's a lush green color.
It's very big and bulky machine.
The other ones are sleek and aerodynamic, but this one isn't because it's a transport aircraft.
It's responsible for taking the rescue machines from one place, where all the machines are housed, to another place where the rescue needs to take place.
It was a special toy for me because I really had a serious interest in machines when I was younger.
But it's not just that.
I think there's like this heroic element to it as well, which I quite related to.
So it was just a nice combination of all of these things and I really enjoyed it.
And of course you know, when you're younger it's nice to reenact the scenes from the TV show using the different toys and obviously Thunderbird too, because it could carry different machines, was useful for coming up with different sort of, I guess, scenes that I would make with my siblings when I was younger.
It sounds a bit childish, but I really liked it, so I'm quite proud of that.
Do you play with this toy now?
No, I'm not.
I'm a grown-up now.
But I think I lost it, actually, so I should try and find it again.
It would be nice to have a model to look at.
Thank you, Rory.
Now, a couple of questions from Speaking Part 3.
Do you think children learn something from toys?
Yeah, absolutely.
There was some research done on this.
It's connected to gender roles and they found that children like playing with toys that are reflective of their different gender roles.
So girls like generally like playing with Barbie dolls and things connected to relationships, whereas boys tend to be more interested in things like machines like the one I just described.
So, yeah, I think they do.
I think they learn the different norms that are expected of them in this sense.
Do the parents spend too much on buying toys for their children?
I think it depends how much you think is too much really, although probably they do, I think it's better.
Well, we were just talking about what toys teach children.
I think parents should also teach their children to appreciate what they have by not buying so much for their children.
I think it's a good life lesson for them.
How do the media attract the children towards toys?
Oh, all kinds of ways.
Like the advertising, for example.
When I was thinking about the toy I just described, I remember seeing adverts on television and it was all like action orientated.
It was really eye catching.
So advertising definitely on television is one way.
But also, like when you go to the shops, you notice that the children's toys tend to be at eye level for children.
So when they're walking, they can see the toys, for example.
And then finally I think this applies to all toys regardless of whether they're at eye level or not, they all have bright colors and, of course, if you're a child, you are attracted to the thing with the bright colors, so I think that really draws them in.
Do you think it's good for children to play many computer games?
Well, I think it depends what you mean by many computer games.
If you mean like a variety of computer games, then yeah absolutely, because you get different experiences from them.
And it's nice to have a range of experiences, I think.
It helps kids find out exactly what it is they're interested in.
So why not?
I suppose there's a downside to this though, in that they're not reading, and people should be reading more.
But if it's in balance with everything, it should be OK.
Do you think playing with electronic toys has a good influence on kids?
In the main yes, because we live in a technologically sophisticated world now and it's good preparation for entering this world.
But I can see it having some negative side effects.
It's like people spend too much time with physical things rather than with people and developing their relationships with them.
But there should be some kind of preparation, I think.
Rory, thank you so much for your great answers.
Thank you.
Rory, shall we go over the vocabulary you've just used?
Yes, let's.
So when you described your favorite toy, you said that it's a model of a Thunderbird machine.
Yes.
Right.
So this is a very specific name, right?
Absolutely, yeah.
Yeah.
So, dear listeners, it's better for you to research what toy you had when you were a child and know the specific name.
Or at least think about it in detail.
Yeah, so we can have, I don't know, for example, Lego City.
Lego?
How do you say it?
Oh, Lego.
I think everybody likes Lego, actually.
Yeah.
Or maybe some remote control cars or a drone.
Maybe you had a drone when you were a child.
Well, if you grew up recently, then yeah, maybe.
Yeah.
And you said that it's made of...
Yes, absolutely.
So when we talk about the materials which something is created from, it's made of something.
So for my Thunderbird model, it's made of metal.
Thinking about it, that's probably a bit dangerous for a child to have.
But in the 90s, it was a different time.
You said it's bulky.
What does it mean, bulky?
Yeah, the shape is bulky.
So it's not smooth and streamlined and sleek.
It's big.
But big is such a common word, bulky is better, it describes things more accurately.
A less commonly used word.
What else can be bulky?
Well, I suppose boxes which are difficult to handle.
Anything which is large and difficult to handle is bulky, yes.
Yeah, but bulky things, are they heavy?
I think it's connected more to the shape, but usually we associate bulky things with being quite heavy, don't we?
You also said the word sleek, right, when you described the toy.
So the toy was bulky and sleek.
Well, mine was bulky because it was a transport aircraft, but the other aircraft were sleek because they were like scout and reconnaissance aircraft.
So they were much smoother designs, much thinner and narrower.
But again, thin and narrow, they're very common.
I don't like it.
You need more variety.
Yes, sleek is like more eloquent, more advanced.
And also you said about the color, you said lush green.
Yes.
You didn't say like, oh, it was green.
It was lush green.
Yeah.
Lush, like grass, right?
Yeah, it stands out more.
In this case, the Thunderbird 2 had to be green.
Well, primarily because it's good camouflage, I think.
Camouflage.
Yes, that's a nice one.
Camouflage.
So you mentioned heroic element, right?
So it's like when you played with this toy, it added heroic... Qualities.
To me, I think.
Yeah.
So if you get into the mind of a child, you know, you're not really separating fantasy from reality.
And when you have that heroic element, it makes you feel like one of the heroes in the TV show.
The heroes, yes.
Yeah.
And you said that it was nice to reenact the scenes from TV shows.
Yeah.
Reenact?
Reenact is like repeat.
But again, repeat is very common.
Reenact is connected to this idea of acting and theatre and performance.
So when you reenact...
When you repeat a scene from a TV show, you reenact it.
Yeah, and we say, like, scenes, so basically episodes, moments.
Moments, yeah.
For TV shows.
Episodes are different stories within the series, but scenes are different moments, like you say.
So could you tell us the name of your toy again, so the listeners can Google it and see a picture of it?
Sure thing.
It's Thunderbird 2.
Like thunder and bird together.
Excellent.
Speaking about three questions, you mentioned some machines, right?
So when we talk about toys, we can say machines, Barbie dolls for girls.
We can also say electronic toys or battery toys.
I think battery operated in America, battery powered in the UK.
I think that's the biggest distinction.
But you can use both.
You just decide which one you like.
Yeah, and then handmade toys.
Absolutely, yep.
So you have toys that are made by machines, but handmade toys are well made by people, made by hand.
Yeah, also like remote control robots or cars.
Absolutely, yep.
Although they won't be handmade unless you paid a lot of money for them.
Yeah, that's true.
A remote-controlled Ferrari-style car, handmade.
Yeah, that would be very expensive.
We can also talk about puzzles, right, as toys.
Puzzles?
We can.
I didn't like puzzles much when I was younger.
I don't know.
What about you?
Puzzles, no.
I didn't have any puzzles.
I had some Lego.
Great.
What about push toys?
I had push toys.
I had a push toy butterfly.
Oh, really?
I don't... When you push it along, it moves?
Yes.
Ah, cool.
All right.
Nice.
The wings were moving.
It was, like, very nice.
Very cute.
Very girl-like.
We can also have doctor sets, for example.
When you talked about the media, you said that toys are eye-catching.
Yeah, aha.
What does it mean, eye-catching?
Well, it means that they're attractive.
They draw your eye towards them.
It's not like something normal that you would see.
Although we did point out that question was actually about the media and I talked about things that you see in shops as well.
I probably should have stuck more to advertising.
Hmm, you said they have bright colors?
Yeah, so any colors that are easy to see, like very vivid and clear red, for example, or light blue all of these are bright colors.
Can you say vivid colors?
You can say vivid colors instead of bright colors.
Yeah, like vivid memories.
Yeah, it would be better, I think.
So we can also say that bright colors and eye-catching toys draw kids in.
Yes, absolutely.
So it's like getting someone's attention and pulling it towards, is to draw in.
Right, so it's a phrasal verb, draw somebody in.
When you talked about disadvantage, you mentioned a downside.
Yes.
So when we talk about disadvantages in a more casual sense, I suppose then we can talk about the downside.
And then for advantages, we can talk about the upside as well.
This is actually quite useful, because most people just use the word advantages and disadvantages, but we also need to show that it can be flexible.
So upside, downside.
Yeah, there's a downside to it.
Yes.
Or for example, you say on the flip side.
Yeah, like on the other hand.
A nice phrase is technologically sophisticated.
Yes.
Yeah, could you give us a sentence?
Well, we live in a technologically sophisticated world because we have all these computers and smartphones and everything.
So it's important to be prepared for this, like I was saying.
Right.
I think that's about it.
So we can also say a few words about mass-produced toys.
For example, innovative toys?
Absolutely.
Innovative or innovative?
It doesn't matter how you pronounce it.
There are different ways to say it, but it's a bit like tomato on tomato.
You don't need to worry about it.
Innovative or innovative?
Innovative, yeah.
Either way.
Dear listeners, now you can listen to Rory's answers again, and this time notice all the gorgeous vocabulary and grammar he's just used.
Rory, could you start speaking now, please?
Of course.
So I thought I'd talk about a toy from my childhood.
It's a die-cast model of Thunderbird 2.
Now to give a little bit of background.
Thunderbirds is a TV show that was made in the 1960s, but it's still popular to this day.
It features a family.
They create these different machines and they go on adventures to rescue people as part of their organization.
It's called International Rescue.
And there are five main machines.
They're called Thunderbirds.
But I liked the model of Thunderbird 2.
My parents gave it to me when I was, I think, when I was six or seven years old.
And it's very heavy, like it's made of metal.
But the actual toy itself looks like it's a lush green color.
It's very big and bulky machine.
The other ones are sleek and aerodynamic, but this one isn't because it's a transport aircraft.
It's responsible for taking the rescue machines from one place, where all the machines are housed, to another place where the rescue needs to take place.
It was a special toy for me because I really had a serious interest in machines when I was younger.
But it's not just that.
I think there's like this heroic element to it as well, which I quite related to.
So it was just a nice combination of all of these things and I really enjoyed it.
And of course you know, when you're younger it's nice to reenact the scenes from the TV show using the different toys and obviously Thunderbird too, because it could carry different machines, was useful for coming up with different sort of, I guess, scenes that I would make with my siblings when I was younger.
It sounds a bit childish, but I really liked it, so I'm quite proud of that.
Do you play with this toy now?
No, I'm not.
I'm a grown-up now.
But I think I lost it, actually.
So I should try and find it again.
It would be nice to have a model to look at.
Thank you, Rory.
Now, a couple of questions from Speaking Part 3.
Do you think children learn something from toys?
Yeah, absolutely.
There was some research done on this.
It's connected to gender roles and they found that children like playing with toys that are reflective of their different gender roles.
So girls like generally like playing with Barbie dolls and things connected to relationships, whereas boys tend to be more interested in things like machines like the one I just described.
So, yeah, I think they do.
I think they learn the different norms that are expected of them in this sense.
Do the parents spend too much on buying toys for their children?
I think it depends how much you think is too much, really, although probably they do.
I think it's better.
Well, we were just talking about what toys teach children.
I think parents should also teach their children to appreciate what they have by not buying so much for their children.
And I think it's a good life lesson for them.
How do the media attract the children towards toys?
Oh, all kinds of ways.
Like the advertising, for example.
Like when I was thinking about the toy I just described.
I remember seeing adverts on television and it was all like action orientated.
It was really eye-catching.
So advertising definitely on television is one way.
But also, like when you go to the shops, you notice that the children's toys tend to be at eye level for children.
So when they're walking, they can see the toys, for example.
And then, finally I think this applies to all toys regardless of whether they're at eye level or not, they all have bright colors.
And of course, if you're a child, you are attracted to the thing with the bright colors.
So I think that really draws them in.
Do you think it's good for children to play many computer games?
Well, I think it depends what you mean by many computer games.
If you mean like a variety of computer games, then yeah, absolutely.
Because...
You get different experiences from them, and it's nice to have a range of experiences, I think.
It helps kids find out exactly what it is they're interested in, so why not?
I suppose there's a downside to this though, in that they're not reading, and people should be reading more.
But if it's in balance with everything, it should be okay.
Do you think playing with electronic toys has a good influence on kids?
In the main yes, because we live in a technologically sophisticated world now and it's good preparation for entering this world.
But I can see it having some negative side effects.
It's like people spend too much time with physical things rather than with people and developing their relationships with them.
But there should be some kind of preparation, I think.
Rory, thank you so much for your great answers.
Thank you.
Dear listeners, thank you very much for listening.
And remember to play safe.
Bye.
Bye.
