📙 Part 2: Describe a person you know who likes to talk a lot

You should say: Who this person is, how you knew this person, what he/she usually talks about, and explain how you feel about him/her.

This episode's vocabulary

Tenant (noun) - a person who pays rent for the use of land or a building.

Lodger (noun) - someone who pays for a place to sleep, and usually for meals, in someone else's house.

To get on like a house on fire (idiom) - if two people get on like a house on fire, they like each other very much and become friends very quickly.

From the off (phrase) - from the beginning, when someone first starts to do something or a process first starts.

Talkative (adj.) - talking a lot.

To oblige (verb) - to please or help someone, especially by doing something they have asked you to do.

To chat (verb) - to talk to someone in a friendly informal way.

To revolve around someone/something (phrasal verb) - to have someone or something as the main or most important interest or subject.

Aerial yoga (noun) - a form of exercise that combines traditional yoga with the use of special hanging straps and strips of cloth to support you off the ground.

The gift of the gab (idiom) - the ability to speak easily and confidently in a way that makes people want to listen to you and believe you.

Reassuring (adj.) - making you feel less worried.

Trustworthy (adj.) - able to be trusted.

Fortunate (adj.) - lucky.

To miss out (phrasal verb) - to not use or not have an opportunity to experience something good.

Questions and Answers

M: Rory, are you ready?

R: I'm very ready.

M: Off you go. Rory story.

R: Well, I know a lot of people who can talk for hours on end. But I suppose the easiest one to talk about would be my new friend Peter, who will one day be my tenant, actually. Or my lodger. Depends on who you ask about these things. We met through a wild swimming club I joined last year, and pretty much got on like a house on fire from the off. Which was great. I suppose one of the reasons he's so talkative is that he's a scientist. So he's used to talking things through in order to work them out and I'm quite happy to oblige. Since that's how I usually understand things as well. We first got to chatting about his work. He's a PhD student at quite a prestigious university in my country. And studies tropical parasites, which I think most people would say is a pretty interesting subject. It's not like it's unimportant and without consequences, either. Over the course of our discussions, I discovered he can't do things like go near livestock, because he could be accidentally infected with the parasites he's studying. And so might pass that on into the food supply. That is highly unlikely. But it's a fun fact that you can learn about somebody. So why not mention it? Aside from the tropical parasites, our conversations usually revolve around things like aerial yoga, which he is very into. And I have tried out, actually. We went to a class together. And we also talk about regular yoga, where the opposite is the case. And he comes to that with me sometimes. I think we've also chatted about various mutual friends that we have and our plans for the future. I wouldn't quite say he has the gift of the gab since he's so young and relatively inexperienced, but we get on well enough. And indeed, we have to, because like I say, he'll be my tenant come this summer, and he'll look after the house while I'm away on business, which is quite reassuring. I suppose it should be obvious by now that I consider him to be quite responsible and trustworthy. And hopefully, he feels the same about me. It's quite fortunate that we met, actually because otherwise I'd have no one to look after things and I'd have missed out on some great conversation as well.

M: And do you often meet this person now?

R: Yeah, I have to. We're signing various legal agreements and things.

Discussion

M: Hey! What a topic! So a talkative person, dear listener. Yeah, so a person you know, who likes to talk a lot. Which means like, this person is chatty. Chatty? Like a chatterbox. Enjoys talking. Yeah, you should have this person or you should imagine this person or you can steal this talkative person from Rory. And you can talk about Rory's friend Peter. Hey! You can imagine like, oh, I have this friend Peter. And just repeat Rory's story. This is, I think, a great strategy.

R: And suddenly, all of these people are going to know my flatmate who studies tropical parasites. That's amazing.

M: Yeah. And Peter is going to be famous all over the world because people will talk about Peter in different countries. Hey! Yes, dear listener. You see? Yeah? A very simple strategy, steal Rory's ideas. So we start off with, I know a lot of people who can talk for hours on end. Talk for hours on end? Talk for a long time. Like... Like this.

R: Talk your ear off. All of these are expressions for people who like to talk, or who can't talk very well. Or a lot.

M: Yeah. Or talk your ear off also?

R: Yeah.

M: Wow. So like, my friend talks a lot. My friend talks... What? My ear off?

R: Talks my ear off.

M: Oh, wow. I see. Wow. Yeah. So I know a lot of people who are talkative and who can talk for hours on end. Hours on end. But a person that I'm going to tell you about is my friend Peter, and one day he will be my tenant. Who is a tenant?

R: A tenant is someone who lives on your property and pays you rent, or a lodger is someone who lives with you and pays rent. Both of these things are very similar.

M: We met through a club, we met, I don't know, at a party.

R: We met through mutual friends.

M: We met through friends. Like mutual. Like my friends, his friends. So common friends. We met through mutual friends, for example. And we got on like a house on fire. Hey! An idiom for you.

R: Another idiom.

M: So we just became friends very quickly. We just got along. And we just like started chatting. We got on like a house on fire. So we met and then like bam, like the connection, you know. So we became good friends. One of the reasons he is so talkative is that blah, blah, blah. So careful, one of the reasons, not reason. You say one reason he is so talkative is... But if there are many reasons, then one of the reasons he is so talkative is that he is a scientist, or is because he's a scientist or is that he is a scientist. Yeah, scientists usually talk a lot.

R: Well, they have to, to share ideas.

M: It's his habit to talk a lot. So you can say he is used, he is used to talking things through. So he is used to talking a lot. So it's his habit to be used to doing something.

R: Yeah, used to plus -ing.

M: We first got to chatting about his work. So we first chatted about his work when we met. So he's a PhD student at a prestigious university, at a very good university. And he studies tropical parasites, dear listener. Is it true?

R: Yes, it is. This is a real person. I promise.

M: Sounds like a fairy story. Wow. Tropical parasites. Dear listener, wow, what a strange subject to be studying... Parasites are these little things, you know, bacteria, worms, but actually, they're quite bad. There aren't any good parasites. Yeah? A parasite is like negative.

R: But someone has to study them. So this is what he does. I suppose if you talk about a person you know, then they could study something else. They study ancient history, for example.

M: As he studies parasites, Peter can't go near livestock. Livestock? Like cows.

R: Sheep, horses, any animals which are used for food or work.

M: Yeah, so he can't go near these animals because of like these parasites, yeah? He's studying. And a person could accidentally be infected with them, with parasites. So to be infected with. Such a lovely topic, dear listener. Are you okay?

R: But it's good. The use of could to avoid generalization.

M: So this is what we talk about. Okay, dear listener? So kind of like what did you talk about? So we talked about his work, we got to chatting about his work, or we chatted, we talked about his work. Then we talked about other things. And you can say that our conversations revolve around things like yoga. Okay? A good synonym. So like we talk about yoga, or our conversations also revolve around yoga. Or revolve around things like yoga. Revolve around? Meand like they are about.

R: The main focus.

M: The main focus of our conversations is yoga, and sport. So he's into yoga. I'm into yoga. So we talk about yoga. Or, for example, I would like to try out yoga. I would like just to do yoga, and see how it goes. And he tells me things about yoga. We've also chatted about mutual friends, Present Perfect. So we have talked about, we've chatted about mutual friends. Mutual? He knows them, and I know them, so they are like common friends. We talk about plans for the future. He has the gift of the gab, dear listener. Another super idiom for you. Hey! To have the gift of the gab. What does it mean?

R: Well, that just means that you're very good at talking to people, but I didn't... I said he doesn't quite have the gift of the gab even though he chats a lot. To have the gift of the gab means you're good at talking to people. Like you can do it very well. But we were talking about a person who chats a lot, not necessarily someone who does it very well.

M: Yeah, but you can use it here. Like, oh, my friend talks a lot. But his talking is not charismatic, monotonous, for example. So really bad. But if you have a friend who enjoys talking, and he does it in a nice way, sophisticated way, like a politician, you know? And you kind of like, oh, you just sit there listening to them. You can say that, oh, my friend enjoys talking about it. He has the gift of the gab. So he talks well, eloquently, like a professional politician. So everybody listens to them. With this friend Peter, Rory told us, I wouldn't say he has the gift of the gab. But it's nice to listen to him. It's nice to chat with him. So he's not like a great speaker. But like, overall, he's fine. So we can use it in the negative way.

R: And we can take the edge off of the feedback by saying I wouldn't quite say.

M: We get on well enough. So I enjoy talking with him, we get on well enough. Or you can say, yeah, like he talks a lot and sometimes I'm tired of it. But we get on well enough. So it's okay. I can kind of, I can manage. So he never shuts up, sometimes it's difficult. He keeps on talking and talking for hours on end.

R: And indeed, if you... I didn't say this in my example, but if it's someone who's annoying you, you could always say he or she is always talking for hours on end. So it's like always plus -ing, which is usually used to describe things that annoy people. It's an interesting quirk of English grammar.

M: Yes. And the intonation. Oh, he's always talking about his work. Or he's always complaining about his work. He's always talking about food. Oh... Not just like he talks about food every day. No. But this is a different meaning. Like I don't like it. I'm annoyed. And he's like, he's always talking about food like you don't like it. Yeah, a very good structure to use here. And you can say, for example, oh, Peter, he's always talking about parasites. I'm tired of it. Whoa.

R: I would never get tired of this, to be honest. It's a very interesting subject.

M: Oh, my God.

R: It's not my fault I know lots of interesting people.

M: Yeah, well, that's true, that's great.

R: You don't sound very convinced about that.

M: No, that's great. Like, wow. We finish off with some adjectives. Like he's responsible, he's trustworthy, he's talkative, he's chatty.

R: All this is just to achieve the description of how I feel. Like I feel about him quite positively. Because of all of these personality traits.

M: It's quite fortunate that we met. Yeah, I'm lucky to be friends with this person. And also, here, we talk about a talkative person, it doesn't mean that it's negative. Yeah? So it could be positive or negative. And we can mention that, yeah, sometimes it's too much. Right? Or it's great. Like he's talkative, I'm talkative. Yeah. Awesome. Rory, would you like to mention anything else?

R: I think we highlighted a lot, to be honest. Only to say that I as always followed what I needed to do. I talked about who the person is, and how I knew them. And what he usually talks about, and explain how I feel. I didn't actually explicitly say which things I was going to talk about, though. Apart from the first one, the easiest one to talk about would be my friend Peter. But I didn't say I'm going to talk about my friend Peter. And of course, when I said how I knew the person, I knew him through our wild swimming club, and what he or she usually talks about. We talked about tropical parasites, and then I gave you more information about this. We also talk about other things as well. That's one thing to point out, though, because someone asked me about this recently, Maria. If we talk about one aspect of the cue card more than the others. Is it okay?

M: Yeah, it's absolutely okay.

R: Yeah.

M: As long as your speech is logical, you don't jump from one idea to the other, it's absolutely okay to spend more time on one detail and not have time for something else. Yes.

R: Do I need to talk about everything on the card

M: No, no, no, if you don't have time to mention, the last point, like explain how you feel about them, it's absolutely okay. The examiner controls the time, the examiner stops you, asks a short question, you give a short answer and move on to speaking part three. Sweet. Dear listener, we'll get back to you in our next episode speaking part three about talking. We are talking about talking, huh?

R: Talking about talking. Bye!

M: Bye!

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