📙 Part 2: Describe a person who likes to read a lot

You should say: who he/she is, how you knew them, what they read, and explain why you think he/she likes to read a lot.

This episode's vocabulary

To proofread (verb) - to find and correct mistakes in copies of printed text before the final copies are printed.

Literary (adj.) - concerning the writing, study, or content of literature, especially of the kind valued for quality of form.

Broad (adj.) - having a distance larger than usual from side to side; wide.

Autobiography (noun) - an account of a person's life written by that person.

Extensive (adj.) - of great extent; wide, broad.

Delight (noun) - great pleasure.

Schadenfreude (noun) - the emotional experience of pleasure in response to another's misfortune.

Written word (noun) - language expressed in writing.

To take up something (phrasal verb) - become interested or engaged in a pursuit.

Questions and Answers

R: Well, I suppose when it comes down to it, other than myself, my parents probably read a lot, especially my mum, who used to be an editor of several magazines, so she had to proofread and provide lots of reports based on what she read, as part of her job. Beyond that, I think her literary tastes are quite broad, actually. The last book she read was an autobiography of Miriam Margulies, who is a famous actress in our country. And that was an extremely informal read. And I know because I picked it up after her. And then when you contrast that with the authoritative history of the Kennedy family, I remember her talking to me about when I was a child. That gives you a good idea of the, well, at least the extensive and casual reading focus she has. For work, she must have had to read hundreds, if not 1000s of reports about various publications on what they were focusing on, in addition to the articles that were being written themselves. And she also reads our local and national papers, and sort of delights in finding errors in the copy there. It's like a hobby for her, I suppose. And there's little schadenfreude in finding these mistakes by people in the same industry. I suppose it's her way of reminding herself that she still has the Magic Touch, even though she's retired. Not that this stops her, since she still does proofreading for some clients. Indeed, she's proofread some of my stuff as well, which is very nice and helpful of her. If she didn't like reading, it's hard to imagine what her life would have been like since she's dedicated so much of her time to the written word, both as a career and a pastime. And of course, like most parents, she even read bedtime stories to us as children, and got us into it as well, which has also shaped our lives, too. So it's good that my mom decided to take up reading as a hobby and keep it as her career, or part of it anyway.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your story!

Discussion

M: So, dear listener, if you don't have a person who likes to read a lot, you should imagine this person. Or you can just describe yourself, but say, oh, it's my friend Bob, or it's my friend Rory. You can actually talk about Rory, because Rory reads a lot. He has written a lot of books himself. Rory, yes. You can buy those books on Amazon, you know? So feel free to talk about Rory. And you can start off with when it comes down to it, other than myself, my parents read a lot. So kind of when it comes down to who reads a lot, other than myself, not myself, but some other people, my parents read a lot, especially about my mom. So you can start off like, ooh, I suppose when it comes down to it, other than myself, Rory, my favourite English teacher and an IELTS podcaster reads a lot.

R: Maria also reads a lot. I hope.

M: Oh, I listen to books, actually.

R: Does that count?

M: I don't know, interesting, so kind of I don't read, but I listen to books. Like audiobooks.

R: I feel like good listening is part of good literacy, especially if you're an adult.

M: Yeah, but is it reading? It's not reading, it's listening.

R: I know, but I still think that the two come together.

M: I read books which I can't find an audio version of. And Rory's mom used to be an editor of several magazines, so Rory's Mom used to edit articles. So she proofread different texts. Nice. My mom's literary tastes. So literary tastes means reading tastes. So what does she enjoy reading? So her reading tastes are quite broad. So they are, you know, different, literary, literature tastes. And you can say that the last book she read, in the past, read, was a detective story or an autobiography of... Or, I don't know, a novel.

R: Or a detective story about.

M: Yeah, we have novels, short stories, detective stories. What else do we have? Biographies?

R: Autobiographies.

M: Historical novels.

R: Historical epics.

M: Ooh... Or for example, fantasy book. Fiction.

R: Science fiction.

M: Science fiction, sci-fi or non-fiction, something about psychology, yeah, sport, therapy, non-fiction.

R: Self-help.

M: Self-help. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A book on self-help. I picked this book for her. So I chose this book for her. So she has an extensive reading focus. So she reads different books. When she worked as an editor, she must have had to read, or she must have read hundreds of reports. So I'm sure that she did it. She must have read.

R: Models of deduction.

M: In the past. Yeah, because it's in the past. And here you are pretty sure. So I'm sure she read them, she must have read them.

R: What if you're not sure?

M: Hmm...

R: Might have had to, could have had to.

M: Yeah. So she might have read a lot of books, like maybe she read, but I'm not sure.

R: The only reason I'm pointing these out now is because I'm doing a whole lot of stuff with some students at the moment on models of deduction in the past, because you don't really get a chance to use these for IELTS, and they're quite advanced, and it's quite useful to be able to use them and press the examiner if you can.

M: As you are describing a person who reads a lot, this person usually reads magazines, newspapers, articles. Okay? So Rory's mom also reads their local and national papers, like newspapers. So it's not only books, but also articles in journals, in magazines, newspapers, different, I don't know, blog posts online, and she loves finding errors in papers. Yeah, because she used to be an editor, nice. So it's like a hobby for her to read and criticize an article in a national paper. Rory, then you, then used a strange word, something like schweinstanger.

R: Schadenfreude. Making me feel glad that I'm not you. It's a German word, but we also use it in English just to mean delighting in the discomfort of other people.

M: Wow. Schadenfreude. Dear listener, yes, it's like, it's German, but some native speakers of English use this German word in their English for some reason.

R: What do you mean for some reason?

M: The pronunciation. Rory, how should I say it?

R: Well, I say schadenfreude, but I imagine that there's other people that pronounce it differently.

M: Schadenfreude, dear listener, a feeling of pleasure or satisfaction when something bad happens to someone else. Could you use it in a sentence, Rory?

R: Yes, there is a certain schadenfreude in, well, in correcting other or noticing that someone else has made a mistake.

M: Yeah, so there is a little schadenfreude in doing something. Any other example, Rory?

R: I don't know, it's all very contextual. See, I usually use it to say there is a little schadenfreude. So that's my collocation, or there's a certain schadenfreude in and then whatever it is, the unfortunate incident is.

M: Yeah, for example, like, when you talk to your friend and your friend said, like, oh, my business went bankrupt. I don't have any money. And like, there is a certain...

R: Oh, wow, okay, maybe not in that, that's being a terrible person. It's usually like, when...

M: Yeah, but it's true. It's true. People, kind of, some people feel quite happy when something bad happens to others.

R: Yeah, but not like a friend's business failing. That's probably their entire life down the tubes.

M: Yes.

R: I was thinking about something else. Like, you know when you see someone tripping up on the street, not that they fall and hurt themselves, just so if they trip up and you're like, it's funny, but not like something terrible happening.

M: So this word cannot be used if something horrible happens?

R: No, no, it can be. But I wasn't meaning it like that. People always pick the most egregious examples of bad things happening. I suppose, if it's something terrible happening to someone you don't like, then you're like... But I was just meaning it in the sense of, oh, you made a mistake. And then moving on from there, not like, oh my god, your business failed. Lol.

M: No, but the meaning of the word.

R: Yeah, it can be, it can be like that, yes, but it's a very extreme example.

M: Yeah, but kind of good context for the example. Now we can finish it off with the second conditional, if she didn't like reading. So she does like reading, but what if she didn't? If she didn't like reading, her life would be different, okay? So if she didn't something would be or she would be. So if she didn't like reading, she would watch films, for example, or she would watch television all day long. You can also say that this person dedicates so much time to reading. So they invest a lot of time. They give a lot of time to reading. And there's a collocation to be an avid reader. So if she's an avid reader, Rory, what's she like?

R: Just means that they're very into reading.

M: So we can say like she's really into reading. She likes reading. She's an avid reader. She's an enthusiastic reader. Sweet. So dear listener, thank you very much for listening, and we'll get back to you in our next episode about reading. Bye!

R: In general. Bye!

Make sure to subscribe to our social media to see some of the “behind the scenes” stuff:

Our Instagram: bit.ly/instagramswi

Our Telegram: bit.ly/telegramswi