📙 Part 2: Describe a famous person that is a role model for young people

You should say: who he/she is, how you knew them, what they've done, and explain why they can be a role model for young people.

This episode's vocabulary

To taint (verb) - to spoil something or give it an unpleasant quality.

Scandal (noun) - (an action or event that causes) a public feeling of shock and strong moral disapproval.

Fanbase (noun) - the fans of a singer, group, team, etc. considered as a group.

Iconic (adj.) - very famous or popular, especially being considered to represent particular opinions or a particular time.

Work ethic (noun) - the belief that work is morally good.

Sizable (adj.) - large.

Presence (noun) - the fact that someone or something is in a place.

Crucial (adj.) - extremely important or necessary.

Controversy (noun) - a lot of disagreement or argument about something, usually because it affects or is important to many people.

Judgmental (adj.) - too quick to criticize people.

Morally (adverb) - based on principles that you or people in general consider to be right, honest, or acceptable.

Act (noun) - something that you do.

To move mountains (idiom) - to do something that seems impossible, particularly when love or a particular belief makes you feel determined to succeed.

Questions and Answers

R: Oh, wow. It's hard to think of someone who isn't tainted by some sort of scandal these days, but a fairly safe option might be someone like Dolly Parton. She's a famous country music singer from America who has released lots of music over the decades, and at least seems to have a massive fanbase. I think she's also had a lot of plastic surgery done, but that's not relevant to being a good role model, or why she might be a good role model. She's all over social media these days, despite being older, since she's had many iconic interviews in the past, and still does now, where she shows off her sense of humour and wisdom that's built up over time. I also sort of grew up hearing about her, since my mom and dad were very big fans of her and Kenny Rogers, who is another singer, and they worked together. Not my mom and dad, but Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. They used to have all the videos of their concerts back in, well, back when people had video cassettes that is. So that's what I remember from my childhood. Dolly is a singer, but I actually think the reason she makes a good role model is actually connected to her work ethic and charity works. She's built up a sizable media presence and maintained it while working to promote literacy in the United States. And I think she has her own charity for that, but the name actually escapes me just now. I think, but I still think that's important, as it shows that it's important not only to help yourself, but also to help others where you can and being able to read is pretty crucial to being successful, usually. Another thing is that she's the godmother of Miley Cyrus, someone who isn't without controversy in their lives, but she doesn't seem to be very judgmental towards this person that she is morally responsible for and I think that's a good act for young people to follow as well, that we can be supportive of other people, even if they aren't perfect. If it hadn't been for Dolly, all of those people would have been without someone to help them in that way. And at the same time, it's not like she's moved mountains or achieved the impossible either. So young people can see that it is possible to help lots of people in a realistic and easily accessible way, rather than trying to be some sort of superhuman.

M: Hey, thank you, Rory!

R: Thank you Dolly!

Discussion

M: Describe a famous person that is a role model. So I would talk about Messi. Remember Messi, the football player?

R: I thought you were going to say something else for a moment there, but okay. Yes, fair enough.

M: I'm going to talk about myself.

R: I'm gonna talk about myself. I'm a role model.

M: Yeah, I'm a role model, you know? Yeah. So you can pick Messi or like Ronaldo or Ronaldinho, I don't know, like some Brazilian football players. Or kind of like Usain Bolt, for example. So he's a true role model for children in his country. And also Messi, because he does a lot of like good things for, like football, for promoting football in his country. And like the whole... Everybody knows Messi. Right. And Rory started it off like this. It's hard to think of someone. So think of someone, like choose someone, who isn't tainted by scandal. So to be tainted by scandal, Rory, what does it mean?

R: So if you're tainted by scandal, it just means your reputation has been damaged by something bad that you have supposedly done or been accused of. And maybe you have done it, maybe you haven't. But that's not what a scandal. A scandal is not actually doing the thing. It's the sort of crazy drama that happens around whatever the action was.

M: Because usually celebrities have some stories with drugs, with, I don't know.

R: Other things we cannot mention on the podcast.

M: Dark, dark things. Yeah. So you know what I mean. So, and Rory means that it's very difficult to choose someone who isn't connected with scandal. And a safe option might be someone like Dolly Parton. You can google Dolly Parton. She's on Wikipedia. Dolly Rebecca Parton is alive. She's an American singer.

R: And that's reason enough to be a role model. If you've stayed alive this long, then good for you.

M: No, actually, actually, can we talk about dead people? Like...

R: You could, yeah. I don't know many dead people who are role models, though.

M: Maria Theresa.

R: Who?

M: Maria Theresa.

R: Oh, Mother Teresa. Because Maria Theresa is the queen of Bohemia, or was from 1740 until her death in 1780. Mother Teresa was a Catholic nun who was famous for her charitable acts. But is also not free of scandal. So we will just leave it there.

M: Hmm... Okay.

R: You see how difficult this was? The most difficult thing about... Let me tell you as someone who had to speak about this. The most difficult thing about this task was not actually thinking about the vocabulary to use. The most difficult thing was to choose someone who people wouldn't be like, oh, my God, that is like the worst person ever. Because there are so many celebrities having scandals right now, it is crazy. So there you go. Dolly Parton was my attempt. But if you think Dolly Parton is a terrible human being that I don't know who else I could talk about.

M: Yes, dear listener, so if I were you, I'd go for a famous football player or an athlete. Usain Bolt, Messi.

R: Because, you know, famous athletes and footballers are never tainted by scandal. They're always flawless.

M: No, no, they're ideal, they're saints, ideal people. And we say that she is, or he is a famous football player or a famous music singer from America, from Britain, from Scotland. And if a person is alive, we use the present perfect. So she has released lots of music, or he has won many competitions. So what have they done in their life? If you talk about a dead person, then you use only past. Like he did, he wrote, he sang, he was. Okay? And this person has a massive fan base, so she has a lot of fans all over the world. So to have a massive, a very big, fan base. And also, like, uh, she's, she has had, she's had a lot of plastic surgery.

R: But that's not relevant.

M: Yeah, not relevant, no. She's not promoting plastic surgery. No, no.

R: I actually think she says it's a great thing, but that's still not reason enough why someone's a good role model.

M: So she's all over social media. So she's like all over the internet, everybody's discussing her, and she's quite old, right? She has had many iconic interviews. If something is iconic, it's like, whoa, like super cool. And we can say, for example, like, Madonna is a pop icon, and the adjective is iconic, she's got a good sense of human and she's got some wisdom. Okay?

R: I think she's got a lot of wisdom at this point.

M: And then you say the reason she makes a good role model is connected to something. Or like the reason he makes a good role model is connected to her work. Or to her private life. Or to her, I don't know, achievements in sport, and here Rory talked about her work ethic.

R: Work ethic is just how you, well, how principled you are about working. I think she has a good work ethic. She obviously works hard.

M: And charity, like she does a lot of charity work. She donates money for charity. And actually, ethic is a C2 word. So like band nine level. Yay! Band nine. Like ethic, a system of accepted beliefs that control behavior. A system based on morals. Like a code of ethics. Work ethic means the belief that work is morally good. So you do good to people in your work. And she has built up a sizable media presence. So she has created a huge presence in the media because, like, she is on TV, she is on different shows, so they are showing her, so she is all over the internet and TV. She has her own charity. Or you can say she does a lot of, a lot to help different charity organizations.

R: Or charitable organizations.

M: Charitable organizations. Yeah, like to help children, to help the poor, help different hospitals, for example. And it's important not only help yourself, but also other people, help other people around you. And this is what makes her a role model.

R: Yes, it's not so much about the singing.

M: And we can say that this is a good act for young people to follow.

R: Yeah, you follow a good example.

M: Young people should follow a good example. Also, like, donate money to charity, help other people, like promote good behaviour, and this is a good act for young people to follow, like she is supportive of others, and this sets a good example for the youth, like young people see that we should be supportive of other people. I really enjoyed how you said it's not like she has moved mountains.

R: Well, that just means achieved the impossible.

M: Yeah, like to move mountains. Like I'm not saying she has moved the mountains. I'm not saying that she has achieved the impossible. Like she does usual things, right? So nothing extraordinary. But she's a good role model for young people. So young people can see it is possible to help lots of people and to be accessible.

R: Exactly.

M: To be famous and to be accessible, so like other people can contact her, can get help from her. Like it's not that she's a superhuman. She's not a superhuman. She's not a superhero.

R: Well, she doesn't do the impossible. I think that's one of the important things to keep in mind about good role models, is that they don't do anything that other people could not do if they applied themselves. So it's all possible.

M: Yes. Sweet. What helped you organize this answer, Rory?

R: I think I really wanted to give a little bit of background about Dolly Parton and how I knew about her, so I spent most of my time talking about that, rather than why she's a good role model. However, that was required by the task, and then I rounded off by saying why it's important that Dolly Parton exists. However, there aren't really many things that I use to structure the answer that we haven't commented on previously. Except for things like another thing to add a point here, another thing is. And then I also sort of grew up. So these are vague ways of talking about things, especially when it's in the past and we're not so sure. So it's like, I think I did this, and that's good to have as well.

M: Yes, sweet. So dear listener, thank you very much for listening! And choose a role model for young people.

R: Choose wisely.

M: Yeah, you can talk about Rory, for example. I think Rory is a good model for young people. No, he's organized. Rory is organized. He's Scottish.

R: Being Scottish makes you a good role model.

M: So talk about Rory. And then you look at the examiner, and say like, the examiner, you know, Rory Duncan, right? Rory Duncan Fergus, something, something from Scotland. No? You don't? Oh, I'm gonna tell you about Rory.

R: The famous IELTS or the famous former IELTS examiner.

M: The famous Scottish Rory, the famous Scottish Rory. Yeah, exciting stuff, dear listener. And then the examiner is gonna Google, oh, the famous Scottish Rory.

R: And then you build up the examiner's expectations and ruin them completely.

M: But it's gonna be after the exam, after the examiner gives the scores. So hey-hey! Thank you very much for listening! And we'll get back to you in our next episode! Bye!

R: Bye!

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