📕 Part 1: Chocolate

Do you like chocolate?

Well, doesn't everyone? I know chocolate bars aren't very good for you. But the flavour is so nice and sweet. So definitely, yes.

How often do you eat chocolate?

Well, that's a good question, actually. I mean, my protein powder is chocolate-flavoured, so possibly every day, but I'm not sure if it's genuine chocolate or something synthetic from a factory.

What's your favourite flavour?

Of chocolate? I mean, I really like plain dairy or milk chocolate. But sometimes I have this like hankering or craving for white chocolate or mint chocolate. I have no idea why. But when I really want them, I just really need to have them.

Did you like chocolate when you were a child?

Probably a bit too much, to be honest. I was quite large when I was younger. I used to eat chocolate bars all the time, even when my parents insisted that I didn't.

Do you give chocolate as a present?

Me personally? No. But it's a popular thing to give on holidays like Valentine's Day, I'm more likely to give people something that lasts or is useful in some way.

Hey, chocolate! Yum, yum, yum. So do you like chocolate?

Do you like chocolate? Everybody does. Doesn't everyone think? It's a weird question.

Is it a rhetorical question? Like a question which doesn't require an answer.

I mean, yeah. It's like, well, doesn't everyone? It's sort of referring to the general context. Everybody likes chocolate.

So dear listener, it's a very good strategy to answer the examiner's question. For example, do you like chocolate? Well, doesn't everyone? This means that everyone loves chocolate. And you kind of ask the examiner, but you're not actually asking. You're stating. Like doesn't everyone? And everyone does. So everyone is not kind of, could be they? But here we use like does. So everyone goes, everyone loves. So that's why like doesn't everyone. Rory, what intonation are we using here? For example, if I ask you like, do you like films?

Do you like breathing? Doesn't everyone? So it's going up at the end.

Do you like cakes?

Doesn't everyone?

Yeah, yeah. And you can say I like chocolate bars. Bars, a bar of chocolate. Like a piece of chocolate. But a special piece. A bar.

Yes. It's long. And usually, it's broken up into bits or squares of chocolate. Even though they look like rectangles, people call them squares.

Yeah. Then you can say ooh, I enjoy truffles. Truffle is kind of like this special chocolate. You know, like truffles. Or you can say like, oh, I enjoy Swiss chocolate. Chocolates from Switzerland.

Take note of how Maria is mentioning some of the most expensive chocolate in the world.

Of course, Swiss chocolate. Ho-ho. Or you might like hot chocolate. So here, dear listener, choose two phrases, like two names of what you enjoy. Oh, I enjoy truffles and hot chocolate. Even if you don't like them. Okay? So be specific and use topic-specific vocabulary. And we talk about the flavour. Okay? The kind of, taste of chocolate. This chocolate taste. Do you feel it, dear listener, in your mouth? Rory, do you feel it?

Well, I will soon because I have a chocolate bar sitting next to me. Another one.

So the flavour of chocolate is so nice and sweet.

It is. I don't know how else to describe the flavour of chocolate, to be honest. How do you describe the flavour?

Well, it's amazing. It's peaceful. It's kind of, it makes you happy. Okay? It's full of endorphins. Endorphins?

Well, I don't know, I'm not sure if it's full of endorphins, or if it encourages the release of them. But it does one of these things. And the flavour of chocolate without sugar is actually quite bitter if I remember correctly. So you could say you like dark chocolate too. And dark chocolate will have a bitter flavour. It's bad if you don't like it, it's good if you do.

Another way of answering the examiner's question is that's a good question, actually. Okay? How often do you eat it? Well, I don't know how often. And Rory, could you say it again with your beautiful Rory's intonation?

Well, it's a good question, actually. And it is a good question because I don't really know if it's real chocolate or genuine chocolate or not. Actually, I could go through to the kitchen and look, but I'm too lazy.

Rory, works out and he consumes this protein powder. It's this, you know, like, just chemistry. Just Rory eats chemistry. Okay, dear listener?

Well, I don't... I... Like protein powder, at least I think, it comes from whey, which is produced after you make cheese.

Comes from all these, you know, tubes and labs.

It's produced by the cheese-making process. It's what's leftover, but it's basically just pure protein. And, so with that in mind, it's good for you if you work out. But the flavour. I don't know if it's got actual chocolate in it. I suspect not.

No, no, no, no.

But it's flavoured that way.

Yeah, it is flavoured. So something is chocolate-flavoured. Like I like this flavour, this taste, the flavour of chocolate. Or like this drink is chocolate flavoured. Or chocolate-flavoured coffee, for example.

How do you get the chocolate flavour without chocolate, though? This is a good, this is a good question.

I don't know. Like syrups? There you go. You know? Like chocolate syrup.

How do you get chocolate syrup without chocolate?

But it's chemistry. Chemistry. Okay?

You can't just say just because chemistry. How does it work, Maria?

No. Kind of like them some special additives, which are chemical additives. And they give you this flavour of chocolate. But it's not chocolate.

That's sad. But necessary, I suppose, for some people.

So kind of, it could be something synthetic. Synthetic? Like chemical, not real, not genuine chocolate. Not like real chocolate. You can also say like, oh, I indulge in chocolate once in a while. I eat chocolate or I indulge in chocolate. Because usually we indulge in something, you know, like, not really healthy, but we really enjoy it. Like I indulge in fast food once a week. I indulge in chocolate once in a while. You're favourite chocolate flavour. So we can have milk chocolate, dark chocolate. What flavor... I don't know, vanilla chocolate flavours.

Or if you're like me, then you could have white chocolate or mint chocolate. Although, I'm not entirely sure if white chocolate is the flavour or not. Or if it's just a colour of chocolate because there are different kinds of white chocolate.

Yeah.

So you might want to say white chocolate with oranges or orange pieces in it.

Exactly.

But the normal chocolate that everybody sees is plain dairy or milk chocolate.

Yeah, so we just, you can say like, oh, I really like plain dairy or plain milk chocolates. Like simply milk chocolate. That's it. What's a good synonym for like, I want some chocolate. I kind of like, I'm just, I need some chocolate right now. What's a good phrase?

Oh, well, I think in American English, it's a hankering for chocolate. And in British English, it's a craving for chocolate. It's just like this serious need to have something.

Yeah. So you can say I have a craving for white chocolate, which means I kind of, I really want white chocolate right now. To have a hankering is the same.

In my understanding it is, yes. It's just like you really want to have it. There's this need. And if you don't satisfy it, then you will still have it.

Yep. So a strong feeling of wanting something. Usually, we want something unhealthy, dear listener. Or, I have a craving for fast food. I have a craving for chocolate. I have a craving for cigarettes, dear listener. Yeah. You know? Or kind of you get up in the middle of the night and you feel like, ooh, I have a craving for a cake. I just need this cake. And another synonym is this hankering. Hankering. It's a strange word. Usually, we say craving.

Yeah, but if you're listening to American English, then you might hear this as well, more often.

Yeah, like hankering, a strong wish, have a hankering for.

I would say craving, to be honest. I've just been watching a lot of American TV, so I'm hearing this a lot.

Oh, Rory is getting American. Also, this is like mint chocolate. You know, this mint. The herb. Mint tea. Chocolate could have some mint. Mint chocolate. As a child, Rory ate probably too much chocolate. And I really liked how you said like, I was quite large. So Rory, dear listener, Rory was fat.

Fat, Maria, I was fat.

I just can't believe you were fat.

It's a nice way of saying fat. Actually, I can tell you how fat I was.

And you were like really fat, right?

Yeah. I was 100 kilograms. That's, that's something.

100 kilograms.

And now I am 76. So that's quite good.

Well, yeah, but now you're kind of all muscles and bones.

Most people are muscles and bones.

Yeah, but also like some people have fat, but Rory is just like... Rory went from fat, he turned his fat into muscles, dear listener.

Well, allegedly. Because I went on somebody's smart scales recently. This is something that shines a light through your skin and tells you what your body composition is. And it said I had like 20% body fat, which is something a morbidly obese person has.

Really?

I don't think that the sales are working properly.

Really? Oh, wow. 20% fat.

Yeah, but the scales are calibrated to an individual person. So obviously, the person who I was borrowing the scales from, it was made for them. It wasn't made for me.

I don't believe it. So you can say that as a child, I used to eat chocolate. But now I don't. Or I used to eat a lot of chocolate. But now I don't. You can also say I used to eat lots of chocolate bars, chocolate truffles, Swiss chocolate chocolate cupcakes. Remember? So like the phrases you chose, the names for specific chocolate products you chose to remember. So you can use them also here. Again, it's up to you. You can just go online and go like the best chocolate in the world. And choose three names for specific chocolate products that you can remember. Okay? I enjoy like truffles and chocolate cupcakes. It's quite nice.

You do?

Yeah, I like truffles and I like what... Well, I like chocolate cakes, for example. Or different like... I enjoy like a box of chocolates.

A whole box of chocolates?

Exactly. Yeah. And here, I mean chocolates, like different thingies. Okay? We have a bar of chocolate, dear listener, but also a box of chocolates, where you have like different things. And they have different flavours. So I prefer a box with different flavours. Of course, like handmade. Handmade chocolate only. Okay? Yeah. Preferably Swiss. But if not Swiss is also okay.

Oh, I should say, when we were talking about this expression when you were a child. This is not just for chocolate. This is about the grammar. If you have a question that's got when you were a child, it would be a very good time to use the grammar used to to talk about something you did regularly when you were younger. Or would.

How would you use would?

The same way. I would eat chocolate bars all the time. I used to eat, I would eat. There's no big difference in meaning there.

Yeah, in this context, yeah. We give chocolate as a present. Or you can say we give chocolates. Chocolates meaning like different thingies. Like a box of chocolates. But usually, we just say chocolate. We give them on holidays. Like St Valentine's Day, and Women's Day, every day for women.

So that's, that's good to point out. For me, I do not give chocolate as a gift. But I recognize it's quite a popular thing to do. So you could say yes, I give them, or I give it on holidays like Valentine's Day. So you don't need to use my whole answer, just part of it.

Do not say I present chocolate as a gift. No, no, no, no, no. I give chocolate as a present or I just give chocolate as a gift. Okay? And also a very nice structure is, I'm more likely to give people something that lasts, not just something that they eat right away. So I'm more likely to do something. Probably I will do it. Okay? So I'm more likely to give chocolates to my colleagues. Or I'm more likely to give chocolates to my little sister. Rory, would you like to learn about the recent trends in chocolate?

Why not? This would be good, maybe not for part one, but for part three.

Exactly. And also here, you can use this knowledge, you know, educate the examiner. So dear listener, today, vegan chocolate is really popular.

How do they make vegan chocolate?

I have no idea how they make vegan chocolate but it's just out there.

Magic.

Yeah, cause like people want to be healthy and they kind of eat vegan food and vegan chocolate, there you go, is becoming more and more popular. And also this kind of sustainably produced chocolates. Dear listener, also it's a trend. So chocolate should be clean. It should be kind of like purely produced. So you can say like, oh, I prefer sustainably produced chocolates. Okay? I'd go for vegan chocolate. Alright?

Ho does? I'm still confused as to where vegan chocolate comes from.

Where does it come from? Or how do they make it?

Both. Show me, tell me.

If I were to guess from what I can see, the best vegan chocolate website...

Magic. It's magic. So that's why. Okay, we have our answers. We have our answers to the questions and more importantly, we have answers to my question. That brings us towards the end of the episode. Maria, do you have anything that you'd like to share?

Rory, you're saying goodbye. But we should wrap up with the joke.

Oh, God. I mean, oh, yes.

Exactly. But first of all, Rory, tell us, who is an electrician and what does he do? We need to understand this for a joke.

The electrician? An electrician is someone who repairs or installs electrical products in someone's house.

Exactly. So the joke is, dear listener, the electrician's favourite ice cream flavour is "shockolate".

Oh, God...

Oh, my God, dear listener, did you get it? The electrician gets a lot of shock. And chocolate. Thank you very much for listening!

And we'll see you next time! Bye!

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