📙 Part 2: Describe a time when you found something someone else lost

You should talk about: what the item was, when and where you found it, what you did after finding it, and explain how you felt about the experience.

This episode's vocabulary

Organized (adj.) - an organized person is able to plan things carefully and keep things tidy.

To come across something (phrasal verb) - to find something by chance.

Inexpensive (adj.) - not costing a lot of money.

To keep hold of something (phrase) - not to let go of something.

To pile on (phrasal verb) - to increase quickly.

By a process of elimination - by removing from several possible answers the ones that are unlikely to be correct until only one is left.

Promptly (adverb) - quickly, without delay, or at the arranged time.

To hand something over (phrasal verb) - to give something to someone else.

Questions and Answers

M: Rory, hello!

R: Hello! I'm ready to talk about the thing I lost.

M: Rory story. Off you go.

R: Oh, wow, I've really had to think about this one. Because it's not every day that this sort of thing happens, to be honest. Most of the people I know are pretty organized and don't lose things, and even if they do, or even if someone does lose something, then it's someone else who picks it up. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that one time, though, I came across someone's earbuds on the bus home from work one day. I think that was back in 2020. Probably the winter. I'm not really sure. It was a staff bus that took us to and from the school where we worked. So it was easy to guess the person who might have lost them would be one of my colleagues. I mean, who else could it be? Anyway, I was just getting up to get off the bus. And I noticed the case just sitting there. When I took a closer look, I realized they were Apple, oh, AirPods. I think they're called that officially at least. And they are definitely not inexpensive and someone wouldn't have just casually left them lying around. So I asked around, but they didn't belong to anyone who was still on. So I, well, I just assumed that they must have belonged to someone who already got off. So I kept hold of them until the following day when people were piling on and made a point of asking them, or at least the ones I didn't speak to the previous day if the earbuds belonged to them, it was just a process of elimination, really. And sure enough, after about five tries, one lady told me they were hers. And I promptly handed them over. She was really happy since they were quite expensive like I said, and she liked having them in... Well, she liked having them in when she was doing things around the house. Or when she was lesson planning. It helped her block out any distractions. It was great being able to help a colleague, but I like to think even if I hadn't done it myself, then someone else would have done the same. We were a pretty good team like that. Everybody helped each other out with no problems at all.

Discussion

M: Hey, what a lovely story! Dear listener, the topic is tricky. And maybe you've never found anything that someone else lost. Then you should lie. You should make it up. Imagine. Imagine that you found someone else's passport, or driving license or keys. Alright? So a typical situation would be in your neighbourhood you found someone else's passport or driving license. Alright? And then you give it back.

R: Yeah. And in this case, I had to lie. Because I've never found something that belonged to somebody else. So I thought about a time when I lost something, and somebody gave it back to me. And I just imagined the process that they went through in order to do that. But I was thinking up a lot of these things just on the fly, just as I was thinking about my experience. So that's something that you can do as well. Just turn it back on yourself.

M: Exactly. A typical thing to lose would be keys, passwords, earphones, well, maybe a smartphone. Maybe some cards, like a membership card, for example. Yeah? And maybe you found something at work, in the office, right? At school, at university. So choose what you will talk about now. Okay? Or lie. And we can start off with this, I don't know, "oh, wow" reaction. Wow, what a topic, you know? I really had to think about this one. So I really had to think about it. This one? One refers to the story, to the task. So I really had to think about this one. And then you explain that it's not every day that this sort of thing happens. It's not every day that I find things that other people lose. Okay? So kind of it's not every day that this sort of thing happens. One time I came across someone's earbuds on the bus. So I came across? I found them. Earbuds. Well, earphones, well, this kind of special kind of earbuds.

R: Came across is an important phrasal verb here for finding things because it's like you found them but you weren't looking for them.

M: Yeah. Kind of like, oops, oh, I found them. Ooh, I came across a passport on the bus. I think it was back in 2020. Or it was back when I was at school or at university. So it happened back in 1990. Probably the winter. I don't remember. Probably it was the summer, I don't remember. And then we give more details about the situation. It was a staff bus. So a bus for people who work for this company. Staff. The staff of the company. Employees. It was easy to guess the person who might have lost them because it was a company bus. So, you know, Rory worked for the school, and this school organized this transfer. And Rory's colleagues used this bus. And there weren't any random people on the bus. Yeah? Only the ones who worked for the school. Right?

R: Yes. Is it using might have for a logical deduction?

M: Yeah. So Rory figured it out. Okay? Who it was. And here, we should use Present Perfect. Like, it was easy to guess the person who might have lost them. So it was possible that this person lost them. So I knew who might have lost them. In the past. So one of my colleagues might have lost them. Okay, dear listener? How are you? Are you okay? Might have lost. Or you can say it was difficult to guess who might have lost them or it.

R: So we could talk about the easy logical deduction, and not making the logical deduction about who it was.

M: Yeah. You can say like, oh, I felt like Sherlock Holmes. Like who... Like who... Who was it? You know? I was getting up to get off the bus and I noticed the case just sitting there. So kind of I was, Past Continuous like I was getting off the bus, getting out, when I noticed the case. The case with earbuds. I took a closer look at the earbuds or like, ooh, I saw this passport. I took a closer look. So I picked it up and like looked at the item closely.

R: And you need to do that when you're trying to understand who something belongs to, because maybe their name would be on it.

M: Yeah. Or I kind of examined the item. Like I picked up, I picked up the passport and examined it. Or I picked it up and examined it, looked at it thoroughly. I realized they were Apple AirPods. The expensive ones, huh?

R: Well, at least I think they're expensive. Apple products usually are expensive, aren't they?

M: And then Rory understood that somebody didn't leave them casually. You know? Like if you don't need something, you just like leave it there. Like, okay, like a bottle of water. Okay? I don't need this, I'm gonna leave it in the bus. It wasn't a thing that a person left casually, you know? Just because they didn't need them. I asked around. So this is what we usually do if you find something. Like you ask around. But they didn't belong to anyone who was on the bus, for example. Or like it didn't belong to anyone who was nearby. Yeah? Or, for example, you found something in the shop and I asked around, and it didn't belong to anyone there. I assumed that. So here, kind of like, I guessed that I assumed that. So I kind of made conclusions. And I have some assumptions. So I just assumed that they belonged to someone, who is already at school, yeah?

R: Yeah. Well, who else could it be?

M: I kept a hold of them. So I kept them. So I took them with me. I kept a hold of them, or kind of I found a passport, I kept a hold of the document.

R: Yeah, I looked after them. I was making sure they were safe.

M: I made a point of asking the people about them.

R: So I gave special attention to something.

M: And here we use the verb belong. So I didn't know who they belonged to. And we say kind of like, the keys belonged to my friend, like the passport belongs to somebody. So I didn't know who they belonged to. And then finally, Rory found this lady and handed the AirPods back to her. So I handed them over. So I just gave them to her. So gave them the AirPods. Or the passport, for example. I handed the passport over. So I handed her the passport. So I gave it back. Yeah. And the person was really happy. Because they were quite expensive. So because the item was quite expensive.

R: If I say one lady said there were hers. Is that reported speech?

M: Yes, absolutely.

R: Oh, it's another advanced structure.

M: Yeah. So kind of I met with the person. They said it was theirs.

R: They were hers.

M: Yeah, like she said it was hers. Like her thing. Or he said it was his. It was great being able to help a colleague, or it was great being able to help out. Right? And, usually, it feels great, dear listener. Yeah? Kind of you find the passport, you give it back, and then you see that the person is very happy. They don't have to go through this process of replacing a fricking passport. It's long and... Yeah, horrible. If I hadn't done it, the third conditional. We're imagining, if I hadn't done it, then someone else would have done the same. Yeah. Someone else would have found this thing. What helped you organize your answer?

R: Well, knowing the story helped me organize it. But there was something in particular that I did while I was organizing it. I used fillers. So I said, I think it was back in... 2020. Or when I talked about the kind of thing that was lost. I said they were, ah, Apple AirPods. And I used, well. And then I said so I, well, well, I just assumed. These are all things that you can use if you are doing this kind of thing with the story to help buy you time to think of more things to say. Though, it's quite useful in this way. That's about how to tell the story. But when it comes to the planning behind it, I really did just follow the whole thing, from start to finish. What the item was. When and where I found it. And what I did after finding it and how I felt about the whole experience, I covered them all in a logical order.

M: Sweet. Thank you very much for listening! And we'll get back to you in speaking part three about losing things.

R: Losing things in general.

M: Bye!

R: Bye!

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