📙 Part 2: Describe a time when you broke something

This episode's vocabulary

Stand out (phrasal verb) – to be noticeable or memorable among other things. → One time that really stands out for me was my first job interview.

Given (preposition) – considering or taking into account. → The exam was quite easy, given how much time we had to prepare.

Literally (adverb) – used to emphasize that something is exactly true without exaggeration. → I literally studied for eight hours yesterday without a break.

In the course of (phrase) – during a particular period or process. → In the course of preparing for IELTS, I improved my vocabulary significantly.

With regard to (phrase) – concerning or about a particular matter. → With regard to the speaking test, I feel quite confident.

Wind up (phrasal verb) – to eventually be in a particular situation, often unexpectedly. → I wound up choosing a completely different career path than I'd planned.

Grasp (noun/verb) – a firm hold or understanding of something. → The book slipped from my grasp and fell into the pool.

Cursing (verb) – swearing or expressing anger through offensive words. → I spent the afternoon cursing my carelessness after losing my wallet.

Mercifully (adverb) – fortunately or thankfully, especially when avoiding something unpleasant. → Mercifully, the test was postponed due to technical issues.

Unsightly (adjective) – unattractive or unpleasant to look at. → The unsightly stain on my shirt made me feel self-conscious during the presentation.

Warranty (noun) – a written guarantee from a manufacturer covering repairs or replacements. → I was relieved to discover my laptop was still under warranty when it broke.

Devastating (adjective) – extremely upsetting or shocking; causing severe damage. → Losing all my photos was devastating because they had sentimental value.

Clumsy (adjective) – awkward in movement or handling things, prone to accidents. → I'm so clumsy that I've dropped my phone at least five times this year.

Irreparable (adjective) – impossible to fix or repair. → Unfortunately, the damage to the antique vase was irreparable.

Sentimental value (phrase) – emotional attachment to an object beyond its monetary worth. → The watch had tremendous sentimental value as it belonged to my grandfather.

Questions and Answers

Maria: You should say what it was, when and where it happened, how you broke it, and explain what you did after that.

Rory: Well, to be honest, I'm pretty good at keeping my things in a reasonable condition. But one time that does stand out for me was when I cracked my phone screen, which was really annoying given the lengths I'd gone to protect it from that exact problem.

When it comes to the where and when of it all, this was about maybe, oh, maybe three years ago, when I was living in the north of Scotland. I used to be a primary school teacher, and I'd literally just left my job to become an independent teacher. And part of that involved moving back to my hometown to find a house to buy there. I didn't really want to live up north anymore, and my family was closer. That's important to mention because in the course of tidying up and packing everything and getting it all into boxes, I decided to clean my phone and remove it from its cover. So, with regard to how I broke the thing, that is how it wound up being unprotected. And as I was cleaning it, it slipped from my grasp and struck the side of the coffee table in my living room, and it landed right on the corner at an angle and then fell face down on the carpet.

In terms of what I did after that, well, after I was done cursing myself and my bad luck, I picked it up and saw it was cracked. There wasn't a phone shop in the village because it was quite an isolated place, and I'd have to wait to get it all patched up. Mercifully, it was just a small part of the screen that was cracked, and it didn't seem to affect the functionality; it just looked really unsightly. So I suppose in that regard, I was quite lucky.

If I hadn't dropped it, obviously, I'd have been much happier with it, but at least it's given me something to talk about. Like I said, I'm not so careless with my things. I have a new phone now, and I'm very careful when I have it out of its, well, the new protective cover for that one.

Discussion

Maria: Right, dear listener, so what do we usually break? Phones? Computers? Earphones? Earbuds? What else, Rory?

Rory: Oh, wow. You could break literally anything. Some people split the spines of their books, for example, or break mugs and glasses.

Maria: Heart, dear listener, okay? I break people's hearts. I'm gonna tell you about one heart I broke last week.

Rory: You're not that evil.

Maria: So that would be an interesting story. But yeah, you can talk about it, you know, how you broke someone's heart and then make the examiner cry.

Rory: Aww.

Maria: Right, dear listener, so the safest option would be to choose your phone.

Rory: Well, do people break their phones that often? You could break a glass.

Maria: Well, yeah, like, what exactly in your phone? Like screen. That's a typical story.

Rory: Yeah, I think lots of people crack their screens.

Maria: Yeah. Or a camera, for example. I broke a camera, my phone camera. Because you drop your phone and then something breaks. What breaks? The screen or the camera?

Rory: My heart breaks because I try to keep it safe, but that doesn't happen.

Maria: Yeah, and then like something in the kitchen, maybe a kettle or an oven. But it's difficult to talk about an oven.

Rory: Oh, wow. Yeah.

Maria: It's like, what, what, what? I don't know anything about certain parts. Well, it's broken, it's broken, right? Or toilet, for example. If you break your toilet. Can you talk about that? No.

Rory: Well, when, what do you break in your toilet?

Maria: Yeah, yeah, something, you know, like it breaks. And then the water keeps running.

Rory: No, I disagree.

Maria: Yeah, something just breaks down. Yeah. You have to call a plumber. Anyway, dear listener, choose your phone. My phone screen, just steall Rory's story. Okay? Yeah. So you can start off with, to be honest, I'm pretty good at keeping my things in good condition. So I'm good at keeping my things safe. Or I'm pretty good at breaking everything everywhere. Like me.

Rory: I'm clumsy.

Maria: Yeah. Oh, I can break everything. You know, I can break your bed. I can break your door.

Rory: I don't know why. I thought you were going to say I can break your back for a moment there. I was like, Where are you going with this?

Maria: I can break, no, bones. I can't break bones yet. But one time that stands out for me that I particularly remember is when I cracked my phone screen. Crack is when you just drop your phone, and there's a crack. Bam. And there's a line in it.

Rory: It's not nice. Maybe several lines.

Maria: Go to Google images and type crack phone screen and you'll see what I mean. It was really annoying, irritating, like, uh. I tried so hard to protect it, to protect my phone, but it broke. But Rory, did you have a special, what do you call it? A special thing that you put on your phone to protect it?

Rory: Yes.

Maria: What do you call it?

Rory: A phone cover. But I have a very, a very old one. It's like something an old person would have. It's got a flip to it. It's got a flap. And so it's like you can open it and close it. Most people just have something that goes on the back, and they're happy with that. But I have something to keep my credit cards and things in, which I appreciate. Makes me look very old, but it's cool and I like it.

Maria: When it comes to where and when, it was about three years ago, or it was last week when I was living, or when I was walking in the street, when I was, I don't know, cooking and doing three things at the same time.

Rory: When do most people break their phones?

Maria: I think when they, you know, when they start fussing about, when you kind of, you drink your water, you close the door of a taxi, at the same time, you know, like you rush out for a coffee. Yeah, something like when you have several things and you are doing several things at the same time.

Rory: Well, the moral of the story there is just not to do many things at once. I say this, like I'm currently multitasking. So what do I know about anything?

Maria: Yeah, or kind of like I was having a shower and then somebody called, I took my phone and bam, I dropped it. And that's how I cracked my phone screen, or just like broke the phone. I was tidying up. So I was cleaning my house, tidy up or clean. I decided to clean my phone. Yeah, sometimes you do that. Oh, I haven't cleaned my phone for like two years.

Rory: Oh my God.

Maria: So Rory removed the phone from its cover. A cover is what you put your phone into to protect the phone. And that's how my phone wound up unprotected. Because while I was cleaning my phone, I removed its cover and the phone was unprotected or the phone wound up unprotected, ended up unprotected. As I was cleaning it, it slipped from my hands and landed on the floor. So it slipped like you slip on a banana peel, like wee, and you fall down. So it jumped out of my hands, bam. So it slipped from my grasp. I was holding it in my hand. So it slipped and struck the side of the coffee table.

Rory: Or hit. Yeah.

Maria: Yeah, it hit the side of the coffee table. It landed face down on the carpet. Landed like it fell on the carpet, that’s good, it fell on the carpet. But yeah, it struck the coffee table. Then we changed the topic in terms of what I did after that, after I was done cursing myself.

Rory: Yes. I was just like, oh, I cannot repeat the words I used, but it was not, it was not a good thing.

Maria: Fabulous. Yeah. So I was cursing for a long time. So I used bad language. First, I was screaming and shouting and whining all over the place. Like what? *. But anyways. So after I was done cursing, I picked it up and saw it was cracked. So it was broken. My phone screen was broken. I had to wait till the shop opened, or…

Rory: I had to wait until I could find a shop.

Maria: …to get it patched up.

Rory: So to get it patched up means to get it fixed.

Maria: Yeah. Or to get it fixed up.

Rory: Ooh, many idioms, many phrasal verbs.

Maria: So I had to wait for a week to get my phone patched up or to get my phone fixed up or to get my phone fixed. This is the phrase, dear listener, because some other people repair it for you. So I had to wait to get my phone repaired. It was a small part of the screen that was cracked. It wasn't everything that was cracked, but just a small part of the screen. Nice. It didn't affect the functionality. So my phone kept working, but it looked unsightly. Rory, what does it mean if something is unsightly?

Rory: It just did not look good. It was not a good look. Not a good look.

Maria: So it wasn't pretty at all, this massive crack.

Rory: Crack in my screen.

Maria: Unsightly, not attractive, ugly. And you can say that I dropped my phone in the bathroom. You can just lie. Did you listen? Just lie. You know, like a typical situation. I was having a shower, and then the examiner imagines you without any clothes, and you say like, Yeah, I dropped my phone in the shower. Oh, maybe you dropped it into water. Hmm. All right. How about that? But just steal Rory's story about the screen. And that's all. Yeah. A very good story. You know, with all the words.

Rory: Well, you don't have to. If you don't want to do that, then there are other words that you could use in what I said, and you could use them to talk about your own thing. For example, you keep your things in a reasonable condition. And then you could talk about, yes, you could talk about cursing yourself and your bad luck. And then you could pick something up after you drop it. So lots of phrasal verbs here, actually. And if something is broken, then it definitely looks unsightly. No one likes the look of broken things. So a lot of these things could be used to talk about anything. It's not just my thing. Oh, and of course, if you get it patched up, then you'll get a chance to use that too.

Maria: You can say that I'm not usually so careless with my things. Careless, like I don't care, I break things. Like me, pretty much. You know, I throw them everywhere when I get home. Careless, like, not showing enough care. I'm usually pretty careful with my things. Right, dear listener. Thank you so much for listening and being with us, sending you hugs, and enjoying love. Take care of your things, and your things will take care of you, like your shoes. See you in the next episode. Bye!

Rory: Bye!

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