📕 Part 1: Fixing Things

This episode's vocabulary

Handy person (noun phrase) – a person who is skilled at repairing things and doing jobs around the house. → Example: I'm not a very handy person, so I always have to call a professional for repairs.

Make basic repairs (collocation) – to fix simple problems or damage. → Example: If I was pushed, I could probably make some basic repairs to a hole in the wall.

Fix up (phrasal verb) – to repair or improve something. → Example: I can't fix up a smartphone, as it requires too much technical knowledge.

Brute force (noun) – great physical strength used to solve a problem, without needing much skill. → Example: Knocking the loose railing back into place was just using brute force.

Die on someone (idiom) – for a machine or device to suddenly stop working. → Example: My computer died on me in the middle of an important project.

Component (noun) – one of the parts of a machine or piece of equipment. → Example: I needed help to replace a broken component inside my laptop.

Qualified repairman (noun phrase) – a person with the official skills and training to fix things as a job. → Example: I'm not a qualified repairman, but I can handle simple DIY tasks.

Useless at something (idiom) – to be very bad at doing something. → Example: I'm completely useless at fixing things, so I should make an effort to learn.

Break down (phrasal verb) – to stop working (used for machines). → Example: Things break down all the time, so it's a useful skill to be able to fix them.

Tradesman (noun) – a person with a skilled manual job, such as a plumber or electrician. → Example: Since tradesmen can be unreliable, it's good to be self-sufficient.

Leaky tap (noun phrase) – a faucet that is dripping water when it should be off. → Example: One of the most common household problems is fixing a leaky tap.

Clogged sink (noun phrase) – a sink where the drain is blocked, preventing water from flowing away. → Example: I had to call a plumber to deal with the clogged sink in my kitchen.

Mend (verb) – to repair something that is broken or damaged, especially clothing. → Example: My grandmother taught me how to mend clothes so they would last longer.

Get a handle on something (idiom) – to begin to understand or be able to deal with something. → Example: It took me a while to get a handle on the new software.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Can you fix things?

Rory: Unfortunately, not really. I've never been a very handy person around the house. If I was pushed, I could probably make some very basic repairs to a hole in the wall or something like that, but I couldn't fix up a smartphone or something similar.

Maria: What kinds of things can you fix?

Rory: Well, if something like a railing or a fixture came loose then I could, well, at least I can knock it back into place. But that's just using brute force to solve a problem really, it doesn't take much technical knowledge.

Maria: Have you ever asked people to teach you how to fix things?

Rory: Oh, constantly. Sometimes, my computer's died on me and I've needed to know how to replace the battery or some component in it, for example. Though I certainly wouldn't say that makes me a qualified repairman or anything.

Maria: Is fixing things a necessary skill?

Rory: It probably is. Yeah, even though I'm useless at it. Things break down or stop working all the time and since tradesmen or specialists can be so unreliable these days, it's important to be able to do things like that for yourself. So I should probably make more of an effort to learn.

Discussion

Maria: Fixing things. What synonym can we use? Fix things, can I say repair things?

Rory: Yes, or fix things up. That's a phrasal verb. Ooh.

Maria: So fix up a broken table, for example. Repair something or do home repairs. Yeah, can I say do home repairs?

Rory: Well, you can do, I think, most people talk about making repairs, for example.

Maria: Or just repairing.

Rory: That's the verb.

Maria: And what do people usually fix at home for example? We talk about broken toilets, running toilets, or taps in the bathroom, right, when you to have water you have to open up your taps, right? Or furniture, broken furniture, something electrical, electrical items, clothing, bicycles, appliances, okay? Maybe your microwave oven broke down and you fix it, right dear listener? So you can talk about electronics, different appliances, gadgets, clothes. Yeah, so we fix them. Rory can't fix things. So he says, I've never been a very handy person around the house. So I'm not a handy person, which means I don't really fix things around the house.

Rory: Or I'm not very good at it.

Maria: I'm not very good at fixing things. Yeah. And then we can use the second conditional where imagining. I can't fix things, but if I was pushed to do it, if somebody pushed me to do it, if I was pushed, I could make some basic repairs. So make basic repairs, fix something which is very easy to fix. Maybe a broken, I don't know, broken glass, glue it together. Or, for example, some basic repairs, a hole in the wall, okay? But I can't fix up a smartphone. I can't fix up a microwave or lighting or anything electrical, for example. Or I can't fix up a broken toilet, or actually we say a running toilet, dear listener. Here you do need to choose maybe three specific phrases like fix up a running toilet or fix up leaky taps. Leaky, L E A K Y, leaky taps. Rory, what are leaky taps in your bathroom?

Rory: Oh, well, they're taps that are not working properly. So usually the taps are either open or closed. So if they're open, then the water is coming and if they're closed, then the water is not. But if they are leaking, then maybe you've closed the tops or turned the tap off and the water is still coming out of the tap or maybe it even worse, it's coming from somewhere else.

Maria: Yeah, or just go to Google images and Google leaky taps. And also another one is we might fix light switches. So when you just turn on your light in your house, it's called a light switch, this kind of little button. And you have the light and then you switch it off. A light switch. So I can fix light switches or I can't fix up even light switches. And another one is nice, clogged sinks. Also in the bathroom. A sink is a sink. Go to Google images dear listener.

Rory: No, it's the thing that you fill with water to wash your dishes.

Maria: Yeah, in the kitchen or in the bathroom. And if it's clogged...

Rory: It's not draining properly.

Maria: So usually the water goes away when you're finished with the sink, but if it doesn't go away when you take the plug out, then it's clogged. It's blocked, right? And these are classical stories around the house. A broken toilet, clogged sinks. And then the next question is, what kinds of things can you fix? So you can lie, dear listener. You can say, oh, I can fix light switches, clogged sinks and running toilets. There you go, dear listener, three phrases, band nine. Yay, very specific vocabulary. And you can also say I can do some DIY repairs. Maybe car repairs or bicycle repairs. Rory, what is DIY repairs?

Rory: Oh, DIY is just do it yourself. So this is when you fix something yourself, basically.

Maria: Yeah. You can also say that you can, I don't know, repair shoes, for example. I can repair furniture if you can, dear listener, I don't know, can you? Because seriously, I can't repair anything. Oh no, no, maybe clothes.

Rory: Ooh, can you mend clothes?

Maria: Mend... Yeah. If you can call it mending.

Rory: No, no, probably not.

Maria: Well, to me it's mending, mending like improving clothes, but my mom is not impressed when she sees my mended clothes. She goes, what have you done? You should have given them to me. So yeah. So you can imagine the quality. And Rory tells us that he can fix something up if it doesn't take much technical knowledge. So some basic repairs. Yeah, I can repair something if it doesn't take much technical knowledge. My computer has died on me, which means my computer has broken down. You are working on your computer then bam, something happens and your computer dies on you, right? And you can say that well, when my computer or my smartphone died on me, I had to ask my brother or a specialist to teach me, to ask for help, ask somebody to replace the battery, for example, or to replace certain components.

Rory: In food, we have ingredients, in devices, we have components. Different parts, right? So we replace certain parts in a television or inside a computer. So television components, cars, electrical components for cars.

Maria: Yeah, parts. You can say that I'm not a qualified repairman. So when you repair things, you become a repairman.

Rory: Well, if you, if it's your job.

Maria: Really? Like a repairman? That's, that's the name of the job?

Rory: Well, I think that's the general term. And then there'll be some more specialist repairs.

Maria: Yeah, like plumber, for example. So if you have what? Clogged sink, dear listener. Go to Google Images right now. Have a look at what a sink is. So blocked sink, a clogged sink. And toilet pipes and all this jazz, we call a plumber. Like a special person who deals with blockages in your toilet, right? Ooh, another one is a shower tap. Is it shower tap?

Rory: Tap? Oh well, it depends on what part of the shower we're talking about here.

Maria: Oh, this little thingy that this circular thingy.

Rory: Oh, okay. Well, the easiest word is tap, yes.

Maria: Yeah, okay.

Rory: If you wanted to be really fancy, you'd see a pressure regulator.

Maria: Ooh, fancy.

Rory: Ooh, pressure regulator.

Maria: Pressure regulator. Alright. So maybe you asked your parents or grandparents to teach you how to fix things. But seriously, how often do we do this? Oh, please, grandpa, could you teach me how to, I don't know, how to deal with clogged sinks?

Rory: That might be a good time to learn.

Maria: Actually, they run courses at the local college where I live and I'm seriously tempted to just take one because it might be quite useful to have in the future.

Maria: Yeah. So for example, maybe you've asked your teacher or you've never asked anybody. Hey, Dad, I have a stuck door. My door doesn't open. Fixing things is a necessary skill. Yes, it's quite necessary to know how to fix things, how to make some basic repairs, right? But I'm useless at it, you can say. If you can't teach, if you can't fix things, you can say, I'm useless. I'm not good at this at all. But if you are very good at this, yes, you can say I'm good at fixing. I'm good at fixing blah, blah and blah. And things break down. So we say different things break down, break down, right? So phrasal verb. And tradesmen. Tradesmen, people who fix things, plumbers, right? So repairmen, tradesmen, specialists. Who else do we have? We have electricians who fix electricity. Plumbers, right? Who else fixes things?

Rory: People who work with furniture. What do you call them?

Maria: I mean...

Rory: That is a very good question.

Maria: Upholsterers?

Rory: Perhaps?

Maria: Upholstery is part of your furniture but, I don't know what they're called. They probably have a very special name that I don't know.

Rory: What is the name of the people that repair furniture?

Maria: Furniture repair people. Handyman. There we go.

Rory: That could be for anything, though.

Maria: Yeah, exactly. See kind of handyman or maintenance workers. Maintenance, who maintain your flat, for example, your house. Repair technicians. So all of them have, or all of them are good at fixing things, right? So they specialize in repairing, installing, maintaining household items, appliances. So yeah, oh, carpenter. Yeah. So plumbers, electricians, and carpenters. Carpenters deal with wood, usually.

Rory: But the good news is you only need to think of one or two and you can say I'm not a carpenter or something, or I'm not a plumber or something.

Maria: Yeah, yeah. And you can say just, I can fix, what can you fix, dear listener? Clogged sinks, running toilets, and what did we say about taps? Leaky taps, light switches. All right, dear listener, you can just go to Google and go to Google Images, look at the stuff you can fix. Yeah, there you go. Band nine vocabulary. Yeah, you can also say, replace light switches, fix refrigerators.

Rory: No, come on.

Maria: No, come on, dear listener, you can't possibly be able to fix a fridge.

Rory: Why not?

Maria: No, because I think it's difficult. You just call a special fridge person.

Rory: Well, I suppose it depends on what the damage is. Maybe it's just a light bulb that needs to be replaced and then it's okay.

Maria: Oh, maybe you just forgot to plug it in, to connect your fridge to electricity.

Rory: Very possible.

Maria: Oh, all right. Are we ready for a joke?

Rory: Do I get a choice?

Maria: No.

Rory: No. Yay, no choices.

Maria: Yeah. And Rory, could you please tell us first, what is a handle?

Rory: Oh, a handle. How best to describe? It's the thing that sticks out from a door and you turn it to open it.

Maria: Yeah, to open the door you just touch a handle and then and you open the door. Okay. So the joke is, fixing a door myself proved to be rather difficult. I could never quite get a handle on it.

Rory: Oh, yes. Get a handle on something, get to grips with it.

Maria: Yeah, dear listener. So, now the joke is about to get a handle on something, right? So a door usually has a handle and first of all, we say fixing a door is difficult because, well, I can't put a handle on it because it's difficult. But here, the joke is, I could never quite get a handle on it, which means...

Rory: Well, get to grips with something or understand something or something works.

Maria: Yeah, dear listener. It may not be funny, but well, it's a good idiom. So to get a handle on something, understand, be able to deal with something. For example, I started to get a handle on the problem. I started understanding this problem. Or you can say, well, I start getting a handle on this IELTS speaking test.

Rory: With the help of Rory and Maria.

Maria: Absolutely. Thank you very much for listening. We'll get back to you in our next episode. Bye!

Rory: Bye