📙 Part 2: Describe a person who inspired you to do something interesting

This episode's vocabulary

Career change (noun) – a switch from one type of job to another. → I made a big career change when I moved from publishing to teaching.

Pan out (phrasal verb) – to turn out well or succeed. → My new job didn’t pan out the way I expected.

Mutual friends (noun) – people who are friends with both you and another person. → We met through mutual friends at a birthday party.

In hindsight (phrase) – when looking back and considering the past. → In hindsight, I should have studied harder for that exam.

Throw a party (phrase) – to organise and host a party. → He decided to throw a party for his colleagues.

Publishing (noun) – the business of producing and selling books or magazines. → She works in publishing as an editor.

Opportunity (noun) – a chance to do something. → Moving abroad gave me the opportunity to learn a new language.

Skills necessary (phrase) – the abilities needed for a task or job. → He didn’t have the skills necessary to complete the project.

Well-organised (adjective) – able to arrange things efficiently. → She is very well-organised and always meets deadlines.

Sociable (adjective) – friendly and willing to talk to people. → He’s a sociable person who enjoys meeting new people.

Eloquent (adjective) – able to express ideas clearly and effectively. → The speaker was very eloquent and inspiring.

Laugh something off (phrasal verb) – to pretend that something is not important. → She laughed off the criticism and kept working.

Words of encouragement (phrase) – things you say to give someone confidence. → His words of encouragement helped me prepare for the exam.

Authentic (adjective) – real, genuine, not fake. → The restaurant serves authentic Italian food.

Motivation (noun) – the reason for doing something or willingness to act. → Good teachers know how to spark students’ motivation

Mentor (noun) – an experienced person who helps and advises someone. → She had a mentor who guided her in her career.

Turning point (noun) – an important moment when things start to change. → Getting my first teaching job was a turning point in my life.

Supportive (adjective) – giving help or encouragement. → My family was very supportive during my studies.

Guidance (noun) – advice or help given by someone experienced. → The teacher gave us guidance on how to improve our essays.

Influence (noun) – the power to affect how someone thinks or behaves. → His father had a big influence on his choice of career

Questions and Answers

Maria: You should say who he or she is, how you knew him or her, what interesting thing you did, and explain how he or she inspired you to do something.

Rory: Well, my best friend and I were talking a while back, and in the course of the conversation we had, I was really encouraged to make a huge career change that's panned out rather well for me. To tell you a bit more about him, I met Rob a while back through some mutual friends, and we realised we had a lot in common. And actually, it was even more so than we did with the original friend group, which is kind of funny in hindsight. We've been friends for about 15 years now, and I'm not sure where I'd be without him.

Back then, we'd only just met, and we were getting to know each other at this party he'd thrown for some people. And I remember it rather well, because we were sitting on his couch having a cigarette, and he asked me what I did, and I explained I worked in publishing, but I'd always wanted to be a teacher, though I didn't think that would happen for me. I'd been to university, and that moment of opportunity had passed. At least, it had in my opinion. And it was at that moment that he suggested I try English teaching, since there were various courses running, and I could join them. I didn't think that it was very likely, since I wasn't sure I had the skills necessary. And I remember distinctly him looking at me and saying: If you're as reasonably well-organised, sociable, and eloquent as you seem, then you'd do very well for yourself. And I laughed it off at the time, but when I thought about it later, I felt really encouraged by those words. And so I looked into it, and I found a course that worked for me, and the rest is history. I've spent over a decade as a teacher now, and it was the best decision I've ever made. It's made such a difference to me, and I hope the lives of all the people I've worked with.

I think it was just hearing some words of encouragement that identify your strengths in a really authentic way that can make a really big difference in terms of motivation. If I hadn't heard them, well, who knows where I'd be now? I might even still be at that old job, and that would be a bit dull.

Discussion

Maria: What a story, dear listener. Are you inspired by this? Wow. Nice. Yeah, here you need to talk about, well, your friend, or someone, or your parents, or somebody who inspired you to do something interesting. It could be changing a job, taking up some sports, or traveling to a new country. Or you can make it up, dear listener, to kind of study English, study Chinese, I don't know. Or just imagine the whole story. Now, pick up an activity that is easy for you to talk about, like a person who inspired you to do something. What? I don't know. Change your diet. Change your life. But how? Change your life. Change your job. But it should be something, not just like, oh, oh, I'm going to talk about this. But what can you talk about? I was really encouraged to make a huge career change. So I was encouraged, I was inspired to do something, and here Rory told us about making a huge career change. Well, it's like a common thing, I think. Most people… Well, many people change their careers, change their work, and it panned out rather well. A superphrasal verb: if something pans out, it happens successfully - Pan out. So it panned out rather well. I was inspired to change my job, and it panned out rather well, so it was successful. So things panned out rather well. If you want more phrasal verbs, check out our phrasal verb course. The link is in the description. And my friend Rob inspired me to do so. We met a while back. We met through some mutual friends. We had some common friends, and we met, and then we realised we had a lot in common. So we had a lot of similar things. We've been friends for about 15 years. Wow, that's a lot. So present perfect.

Rory: That's a long time.

Maria: I've known him or her for a long time, or we've been friends for ages. And back then, we were getting to know each other. So we were just chatting, getting to know each other, and then this conversation happened. You know, when Rory got inspired to change his job. So we were sitting on a couch, we were talking, and Rory explained that he worked in a publishing house, but he had always wanted to be a teacher. So you can say that I talked to my friend, and I told him that I had always wanted to be... Or I had always wanted to go to South America. I had always wanted to buy a Gucci bag. And it was at that point that he suggested I try English teaching. A very nice structure. And it was at that point when my friend told me to... And it was at that point when my friend told me to go there, or suggested. He suggested I try English teaching. The structure, dear listener, with suggest is a strange one. He suggested that I should try English teaching. He suggested that I should change my work. He suggested I change my work. You see, so we remove should, and it becomes I should change my work, I change my work. That's why this structure is a bit odd, strange. He suggested I change my work.

Rory: Or I change my career.

Maria: Yeah, I change my career. So he encouraged me, he helped me, we were laughing. So the conversation was, you know, light and easy. I felt really encouraged by his words, or I felt inspired, or I didn't take it seriously at the time, and I laughed it off. So I was like, no, come on, like, no, no, it won't happen. So I laughed it off. But then I started thinking about it more seriously. I looked into it. If I was inspired to visit South America, I laughed it off at the time. But then I looked into it. I found tickets. I started researching how to travel there. And the rest is history.

Rory: And life has been crazy ever since. So the rest is what's happened since that point.

Maria: And I've spent over a decade, over 10 years as a teacher. So if you have changed your career, and I've worked for da-da-da as a teacher. It was the best decision I've ever made. Yay. So present perfect. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Hearing some words of encouragement was very important. So we use this word, like, I was encouraged, and I heard words of encouragement. And Rory, what can we say about inspiration? So if I was inspired, and this was like a stroke of inspiration, or something like inspiration struck me, something like… what phrase can I say?

Rory: I was motivated to do something?

Maria: But with inspiration, do we have any collocations? Like a stroke of luck, with luck. But inspiration? No? Nothing?

Rory: I don't know. A spark of inspiration, maybe? Or it lit the fire of inspiration. But that's a bit poetic for this kind of thing. I don't know. I can't really think. It gives you the inspiration. I think we really need to talk about motivation and inspiration, really.

Maria: Yeah. And inspiration for something. So it gave me the inspiration for my work, for my book. And my friend was an inspiration to me. So kind of, I admired my friend. I wanted to be like him, because my friend is so cool, full of awesome. So he was an inspiration to me. And this conversation made a big difference in my life. It made a big difference in terms of motivation. So I became motivated to change my life, to change my career, or to go travelling. Sweet.

Rory: And hopefully, we've made a big difference to your life with this inspirational chat.

Maria: Thank you very much for listening, and I'll get back to you in our next episode. Please check out our course on phrasal verbs. The link is in the description. Bye!

Rory: Bye!

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