Hello, everyone.
I'm Maria.
And I'm Rory.
And we are the hosts of the IELTS Speaking for Success podcast, a 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 a native English speaker would answer some of the IELTS speaking questions.
For every episode we choose some of the most common IELTS speaking topics.
I ask Rory questions now.
Rory is back from his holiday, he-hey.
Rory gives answers using vocabulary and grammar for high score.
Today's topic is water.
Yes, in the speaking part of the exam, they can ask you about water.
Rory, are you ready to talk about water today?
I am ready to talk about water.
I'm thirsty to give you my answers.
Exactly, yes.
Rory, is it true that some native speakers don't say water, but they say water?
They do, sometimes, yes.
But really, what we're looking for in an IELTS test is a clear pronunciation.
So if you can produce this native-like pronunciation that's comprehensible, then you can.
But if you can't, then maybe sticking to the clear water will be a good idea.
Yes, instead of saying, I drink too much water, you should say, I drink too much water.
Rory, so who would say water and not water?
If I want to be posh, do I say water or water?
I think that's the basic distinction in people's heads, but actually it's probably more connected to where people are from.
So, for example, if you're from an area in the north of the UK like me, when you're in Scotland, in certain parts it's totally fine just to say water, and people know what you mean.
Could you give me some water?
Exactly, yeah.
Water, water, water.
But closer to the south, maybe around London, where this sort of received pronunciation, this sort of classic British accent is the norm, then people are more likely to say water.
I don't think it's about right and wrong or poor and rich.
It's more about where you are from.
And really...
I could understand what you said and you could understand what I said, so is it such a big deal?
But perhaps some of our listeners would find it very difficult to understand.
Could you give me some water?
Water?
What?
So if you're not ready and if you haven't heard it before to understand well, maybe in context it would be clear.
Could you give me some water?
That's a good point.
And now they have heard it, so that will be helpful for them.
So, dear listeners, you can choose for yourselves if you want to say water or water.
So, the first question is how often do you drink water?
I think I drink water as is necessary, really.
I think some people like to follow these recommendations of drinking six glasses every day, but I just drink it whenever it's necessary.
What kinds of water do you like to drink?
Well, when I'm at home in the UK, I like to drink tap water because it's filtered just as part of the water system there.
So it's okay to drink.
But when I'm in Moscow, I drink filtered water or, well, no, actually, I just drink filtered water.
Is water expensive in your country?
You don't pay for water specifically.
I think it's included in your taxes because it just comes straight from the water reservoirs in Scotland.
Do you drink bottled water or water from water machines?
Actually, I drink both, but it will depend on where I am, what I'm drinking.
So, for example, if I'm out and moving around, then I will drink bottled water because it's portable, for example.
But I don't buy bottled water regularly.
I just usually just buy the bottled water once a month and then I'll reuse this water bottle just until it wears out, basically.
And then if I'm at work and I'm there for a long period of time, then I don't need my bottle of water.
I can just use the water coolers here at work.
Rory, do you feel you drink enough water?
Um, I think so.
I trust my body to maintain homeostasis just by itself.
You know, it should be obvious.
When you're thirsty, then you should drink water.
You don't really need to be constantly drinking water.
How many glasses of water should people drink every day?
Well, it's like I said, I think people should just drink as and when they need to.
I don't think there's like a specific amount for each person.
I know there's lots of advice out there saying six glasses of water, eight glasses of water.
But for me, no, just drink as many glasses of water as you need.
That's my personal philosophy.
Thank you, Rory.
You've done very well.
Thank you, Masha.
Rory, while answering these surprising questions about water, you've used good vocabulary, good and precise words.
For example, speaking about water, you said tap water.
What is tap water? tap water is just water from the tap near your sink.
Although, of course, people will just say regular water or tap water.
Yeah, so basically you go to the bathroom, you kind of switch it on, and then we have taps.
Or the kitchen.
And we can also have filtered water, special filters.
Or at work, we have water coolers.
Yes.
So, sort of different collocations.
Adjective noun collocations for filtered water or for tap water.
And then, of course, you have water cooler compound noun to describe this machine.
We can also say bottled water.
And water can be still or... sparkling.
Absolutely.
So do you prefer sparkling water with gas?
I prefer still water, but I think a lot of people prefer sparkling water because it's the fashion, almost.
Yeah, so sparkling basically like with these gas bubbles.
What about you?
What do you prefer?
Oh, still water.
Ah, good.
Great mind to think alike.
Yeah, from Baikal.
Rory, you've used a nice word, reservoirs.
Reservoirs of water.
What is a reservoir?
A reservoir is just a large body of water.
A lot of them are held behind dams or hydroelectric dams, for example.
But you can have them just as large pools of water as well.
And it's just like a way of storing water for future use, for example.
You don't have to wait for it to rain to have lots of water.
You have it there and it's ready for you.
And we can say in Russia we have reservoirs of fresh water.
Well, I hope so.
I don't know where the reservoirs are in Russia actually, but at least in Scotland they're usually in the mountains, for example.
Can we also say that we, like Rory and Maria, we are reservoirs of knowledge for our listeners?
Absolutely, yeah.
A reservoir can be like a store for uncountable things like water, knowledge, this kind of thing.
Rory, you've used a very interesting word.
You said something, homeostasis?
What?
Yeah, it's a scientific word.
Wow, band 9, woohoo!
So it's a very precise way of describing the process by which your body maintains stable systems.
This is all part of homeostasis, maintaining regular functioning of your body, I suppose.
So, dear listeners, if you're on band 9, homeostasis is your word.
Wow.
You can, for example, say warm-blooded animals are able to achieve temperature homeostasis.
By themselves.
Cold-blooded animals can do this as well, but they need the sun, of course.
Rory, you've used good grammar structures.
For example, you've used several if clauses.
If I'm moving around, I prefer bottled water.
Could you give us some more examples?
Yes, of course.
So if I'm moving around, I drink bottled water, but if I'm in the office, I drink water from the water cooler.
So it's important that candidates don't feel like they're being boxed in by these questions with two options.
If you do both things, then you can say, oh, if I do this, sometimes I do that.
Or if I do this, sometimes I do the other thing.
And that gives you a chance to show that you can use these different kinds of grammar, not just tenses.
Right, and you're using complex sentences.
Exactly.
And show your range of grammar.
You've also used a passive voice structure.
I asked you, is the word expensive?
And you said, it's included in the taxes.
Exactly.
It's included.
So again, passive voice when the agent of the action is obvious.
So in this case, it's included in the taxes by the government.
I don't think anybody wants to pay for these things, so it's got to be the government who's responsible.
You've also said the amount of water.
So the amount of water I drink.
Why not the number of water?
Well, it's like we were talking about when we spoke about reservoirs.
Water is uncountable, whereas glasses of water is countable.
So if we're just talking about water generally, usually we want to talk about the amount of water uncountable.
What about students?
Okay, so we come back to this idea of glasses of water.
That's countable.
So the number of glasses, the number of students.
Yeah, or the number of water reservoirs.
One good phrase you've used is, it's like I said, it's like I said.
How can you use it?
Well, it's a good idea actually to use this when you're referring back to something that you said previously.
So in this case, as I said, we were talking about reservoirs, for example.
So you can use this to show that you're keeping track of the conversation with whoever you're talking to, to link your ideas, and it's very natural.
It's like I said, I don't drink much water.
Rory, thank you very much for your answers.
Dear listeners, now you can listen to the answers again and notice good grammar structures and precise words Rory has just used.
So, the first question is, how often do you drink water?
I think I drink water as is necessary, really.
I think some people like to follow these recommendations of drinking six glasses every day, but I just drink it whenever it's necessary.
What kinds of water do you like to drink?
Well, when I'm at home in the UK, I like to drink tap water because it's filtered just as part of the water system there.
So it's okay to drink.
But when I'm in Moscow, I drink filtered water or, well, no, actually, I just drink filtered water.
Is water expensive in your country?
You don't pay for water specifically.
I think it's included in your taxes because it just comes straight from the water reservoirs in Scotland.
Do you drink bottled water or water from water machines?
Actually, I drink both, but it will depend on where I am, what I'm drinking.
So, for example, if I'm out and moving around, then I will drink bottled water because it's portable, for example.
But I don't buy bottled water regularly.
I just usually just buy the bottled water once a month and then I'll reuse this water bottle just until it wears out, basically.
And then if I'm at work and I'm there for a long period of time, then I don't need my bottle of water.
I can just use the water coolers here at work.
Rory, do you feel you drink enough water?
I think so.
I trust my body to maintain homeostasis just by itself.
You know, it should be obvious.
When you're thirsty, then you should drink water.
You don't really need to be constantly drinking water.
How many glasses of water should people drink every day?
Well, it's like I said, I think people should just drink as and when they need to.
I don't think there's like a specific amount for each person.
I know there's lots of advice out there saying six glasses of water, eight glasses of water.
But for me, no, just drink as many glasses of water as you need.
That's my personal philosophy.
Thank you very much for listening.
We'll see you at our center.
Bye-bye.
Bye.
