📙 Part 2: Describe a time when a person persuaded you to do something, and you were happy about that

This episode's vocabulary

Seldom (adverb) – not often; rarely. → To be honest, I'm seldom persuaded to do anything I don't want to do.

Stand out in my mind (idiom) – to be very memorable. → One exception that does stand out in my mind is when my friend convinced me to come and visit her.

Latterly (adverb) – recently; in the later part of a period of time. → ...a teacher and who latterly became a teacher trainer.

Catching up (phrasal verb) – sharing news with someone you haven't seen for a while. → It was during one of those times that we were catching up...

A while back (idiom) – some time ago. → This was quite a while back.

Reluctant (adjective) – unwilling and hesitant to do something. → At first, I was a bit reluctant to go.

Have a lot on my plate (idiom) – to have a large amount of work or problems to deal with. → ...since I had a lot on my plate at that moment.

See the upside of (idiom) – to understand the advantages of something. → And I started to see the upside of what she was on about.

Deliberate (verb) – to think or talk seriously and carefully about something. → So, after a bit of time to deliberate and think things through...

Head off (phrasal verb) – to start a journey or leave a place. → I decided it might be fun to head off and join her later that year.

As it turned out (idiom) – used to say what happened in the end. → As it turned out, it was a great decision.

Wind up (phrasal verb) – to end up in a particular place or situation. → ...and I wound up having a really fun time.

Talked into (phrasal verb) – to persuade someone to do something. → I'm glad that I let myself be talked into this one.

Rewarding experience (collocation) – an experience that gives you a feeling of satisfaction. → That was a really rewarding experience.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Describe a time when a person persuaded you to do something and you were happy about that. You should say who this person was, when, where it happened, what they persuaded you to do, and explain why you were happy.

Rory: To be honest, I'm seldom persuaded to do anything I don't want to do. But one exception that does stand out in my mind is when my friend convinced me to come and visit her for a month in Kyrgyzstan. That's a country in Central Asia.

When it comes to exactly who she is, Chui is a former colleague that started out as a teacher and who latterly became a teacher trainer. We used to work together in Russia and kept in touch after we both left. It was during one of those times that we were catching up when she suggested coming to visit and maybe do a little bit of teaching and teacher training.

This was quite a while back. It must have been in mid 2023 when it came up in the course of conversation. At first, I was a bit reluctant to go since I had a lot on my plate at that moment, and didn't want to add more on top of that. However, she made the point that I could continue to work remotely, and I could also relax and do things while I was away. And I started to see the upside of what she was on about.

So, after a bit of time to deliberate and think things through, I decided it might be fun to head off and join her later that year. As it turned out, it was a great decision, and I wound up having a really fun time. I've actually been back since then, and I've not once regretted it actually. Hopefully I'll get the chance to go again soon, but if I don't go back, then at least I'll have had the chance to go a couple of times and enjoy myself.

So, even though I'm not usually one to be convinced to do things or persuaded to do things, I'm glad that I let myself be talked into this one. That was a really rewarding experience and I very much hope that I get the chance to do that kind of thing again.

Discussion

Maria: Yay, thank you Rory for your story. So, dear listener, do you have such a situation when another person made you do something? They persuaded you to do something. Oh, Rory, can I say they convinced me to do something?

Rory: Yes.

Maria: Yes.

Rory: They talked me into it, which is a great phrasal verb, I guess.

Maria: Phrasal verb. Yeah, they talked me into doing something, which means persuaded me to do it. Dear listener, so this is the verb for you. I was against the idea, but they talked me into it. So please use this one. "My friend talked me into traveling to Japan." He persuaded me to do something.

Rory: And if they persuade you not to do something, they talk you out of it.

Maria: Out of it. Yeah. And you can start off with, "To be honest, I'm seldom persuaded to do anything I don't want to." Very seldom, rarely, people talk me into doing something I don't want to do. But "one exception stands out in my mind." So, I remember one exception, when my friend or my partner, my mother, father, convinced me to do something. Convinced me to come and visit her in Japan, in London, in anywhere, or convince me to enter university, find a job.

But again, dear listener, it's your choice what action to talk about. Then you describe your friend or the person who convinced you to do something, who talked you into doing something. When it comes to who the person is, it's my colleague, it's my friend, it's my partner, it's my wife, husband. And if you talk about your friend, you can say we keep in touch very often. We've been friends for a long time. We met when I was... And she, he convinced me to do it when we were living in London, when we were studying at university. Yeah, past continuous.

Rory: When we were talking, or having a catch up.

Maria: Or just catching up.

Rory: Yeah.

Maria: Yeah, I met my friend, we were catching up, we were just chit chatting, and then she suggested. So, here, dear listener, a verb suggest is interesting, because we say she suggested, or he suggested, coming to Japan, for example. So, she suggested doing something. So it was a suggestion and we can't use it with an infinitive, it's a mistake to say "she suggested to visit her." So she suggested visiting.

Rory: Suggested plus ing.

Maria: Right. She suggested that I should visit her. Please write it down. Or he suggested that I should buy a car. She suggested that I should rent a house. It was quite a while back. A while back, it was a long time ago. And if you don't remember when it was, you can use, "Oh, it must have been last year." Maybe it was last year. So it must have been two weeks ago.

Rory: I love models of deduction. Must have been. Or must be.

Maria: I was a bit reluctant to do it because the person convinced you to do it. So you didn't want to do it, first. So you can say, I was a bit reluctant to do it. I wasn't excited about this idea. I was not willing. I didn't want to do it. I was slow to do it. And I was reluctant to. C1. Because at that time, I had a lot on my plate. So, I had a lot of things.

Rory: A lot to do. I was busy.

Maria: But I was busy is very simple. You say, I had a lot on my plate. A lot of things, a lot of activities.

Rory: Busy, busy, busy.

Maria: My friend made the point that... Again, she was convincing me. She made the point that, she explained that. She started talking me into it. And I started to see the upside of this suggestion. So, at first, I was reluctant to do it, but then I started to see the upside. The upside, meaning the advantage of this plan, suggestion. The advantage of a situation. At first, I was reluctant to do it, but she made the point that I... and I started to see the upside of this situation.

Rory: The positive aspects.

Maria: And Rory, you said deliberate.

Rory: Yes. But if you deliberate something, it just means that you think about it.

Maria: To mull it over.

Rory: To think or talk seriously or carefully about something.

Maria: So, I deliberated on the suggestion. So I was thinking about it. So after I took some time to deliberate on the idea, I decided it might be fun to do it. I decided it might be fun to head off to Japan or to start driving. As it turned out, it was a great decision. So usually even if it turned out not so well for you, you can say, well, it was successful. Just lie. As it turned out, as it happened, it was a great decision. And I wound up having a great time. So, to wind up, I ended up having a great time, or I wound up having a really fun time. I had a fun time, I had a really great time. And I didn't regret it.

Rory: I've not once regretted it.

Rory: Not once have I regretted it. Oh my gosh, inversion. Or here, sort of semi-inversion. That's got to be C2. Because usually it would be, "I haven't regretted it once," but I said, "I have not once regretted it" for emphasis.

Maria: Super cool. Yeah, you can say I enjoyed myself in the end. I'm happy that I had the chance to do it, to have the chance to do it. Yeah. But again, if it wasn't pleasant, you can say, well, it turned out to be awful. I was exhausted, I wasn't happy. But well, it's better to wrap it up on a happy note to make the examiner happy and to just tell happy stories. Rory, what helped you organize this story?

Rory: I think I just talked about things in the order which they were mentioned. So, for example, I had to say who the person was, and I did that. Then I moved to where it happened. Well, it's more about when it happened really because we were talking online. And then what I was persuaded to do in particular, and explaining why I was happy about it. I'm glad I was talked into this. If I hadn't done it, then it wouldn't have been bad. If I don't get the chance to do it again, it will be okay, but it's good we had this chance.

Maria: Yay. Thank you very much for listening, and we'll get back to you in our next episode, okay?

Rory: Bye.

Maria: Bye.