📙 Part 2: Describe a time when you needed to search for information

This episode's vocabulary

To poke around (phrasal verb) - to go into different files on a computer, places on the internet, etc. usually not in a very careful or organized way.

To unwind (verb) - to relax and allow your mind to be free from worry after a period of work or some other activity that has made you worried.

To elaborate (verb) - to add more information to or explain something that you have said.

To decompress (verb) - to relax.

Laid-back (adj.) - relaxed in manner and character; not usually worried about other people's behaviour or things that need to be done.

To misjudge (verb) - to form an opinion or idea about someone or something that is unfair or wrong.

Intense (adj.) - intense work or thought requires a lot of effort.

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Questions and Answers

M: Rory, could you start speaking now, please?

R: You would think this would be easy, because I'm a teacher. So I'm always poking around for things. But nothing, in particular, stands out. I suppose, maybe it would be when I had to find a place to do yoga a few months ago, to help me unwind from the first term at school, and I needed to find it. So I just used Google. To elaborate further, I thought that doing yoga might help me chill out and decompress from the previous eight weeks of hard work. So I hopped on Google to find out where the closest yoga place was to where I was staying. This was about a week before I left, but it didn't seem to be such a big deal in terms of finding where I needed to be. I was under the impression these places were pretty laid back and relaxed about timing. And I found that to be the case with this one. So it wasn't such a big deal. Oh, yes. Well, I suppose I Googled it because everyone does that for everything these days, don't they? I needed the address and the phone number and a map to understand how to get there. And Google created the map and seconds and displayed the information in even less time, which is quite remarkable when you think about it. How people found their way around before the advent of the Internet and search engines, I have no idea. So regardless of how I got it, it was definitely worth the effort, I got what I needed. And I set up the account with the place and I enjoyed two weeks of yoga at a discount. The one downside is I think I might have misjudged exactly how relaxing yoga was supposed to be because it was very painful afterwards. However, that's not exactly connected to looking for the information related to it. Maybe I should have dug a bit deeper in that sense and I would have understood that it was going to be an intense experience. Despite that, though, it was still a rewarding one. And I'm looking forward to doing it again.

M: And do you often search for information?

R: Um, yeah, I have to do it on a daily basis because of my job. I need to find out how things work so I can explain them clearly.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your lovely answer!

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Discussion

M: Yeah, so the task is a time when you needed to search for information. Search means look for. So just a time when you looked for some information. Which information? Any information. Any information on IELTS, on restaurants or anything, right? And Rory was really original in his response. He said I Googled it. I used Google. Wow.

R: And so if like maybe 90% of the people on the planet right now, you have used Google, you will have something to talk about for this.

M: Yeah, here, you just need to find the topic. Rory told us about information about yoga. So he wanted to look for some information on yoga. Surprise, surprise, Rory was doing yoga. Did you do this facing dog, facing dog position?

R: What... I guess it's called down dog, but that wasn't really, that wasn't really too difficult because all you do is just put your bum up in the air with straight legs. I'm probably oversimplifying this, so I'm sorry if you do yoga. I'm about to really butcher the topic.

M: Exactly. Yeah, maybe it was that simple because you were not doing the right thing, Rory.

R: I was very sore afterwards. I must have been doing something right.

M: Yeah, I was really sore. Like my body was sore. Sore like, it was like painful. So you said that I had to find a place to do yoga. So dear listener, please make your decision now. What are you gonna be talking about here, I needed to find a restaurant or a cafe, something easy. Something that is easy for you to talk about and to describe. If you don't know the words about yoga, don't speak about yoga.

R: I was just thinking, what other kinds of information do people look for? Usually directions.

M: Directions, yeah, a map.

R: So directions or reviews. Maybe they look up things about movies.

M: Yeah, which film to watch. But then you need words about reviews and movies.

R: And you also look up information, which is a phrasal verb. If you like phrasal verbs you'll love our podcourse on phrasal verbs. successwithielts.com/podcourses.

M: Rory, stop it, it's premium.

R: I know. But I can't help it. It's a verbal tic now. So that's going in.

M: So phrasal verbs. Yeah, look it up online. Or look the information up, look it up, check it up. Or you said that I'm always poking around for things. That's a really nice synonym.

R: Yes, yes. It's like, well, in the real world, you would be looking with your fingers, like poking to see if things work, but poking around is like, just looking randomly for things online.

M: Yeah, I'm always checking things up, or I checked it up online. I was poking around online, and I had to find this place for yoga. Yeah? And you said that to help me unwind.

R: So if you unwind, you relax.

M: If you're tired of the word relax or rest, use unwind. What do you usually do on the weekend, Rory? Use unwind.

R: I like to unwind by going to Jiu-jitsu.

M: Using the Google.

R: By using the Google.

M: I use Google.

R: I use the Google to unwind. No. I don't know what I do to unwind at the weekends, because usually my weekends are pretty not sedate. I like to unwind by reading a nice book at the weekend. There we go.

M: There we go. Yeah, I like to unwind by listening to our podcast, I just use Google. I think this should be a quote, I just use Google.

R: Well, it is. There's a specific expression for it saying that you Googled something,

M: Use it as a verb. I googled it. I needed to find a restaurant to go to. I just Googled it. I googled it. And also, you said that I hopped on Google. Hop like you jumped on the Google?

R: Yes. Well, hopped on, if you hop on something, it's like you just, it's a quick action where you get on to kind of transport usually, so you can hop on a bus. But you can also hop on Google, because all you need to do is just open up your web browser. And there it is.

M: I opened up my browser and I started searching for a place to celebrate my birthday. I hopped on Google. If you don't use Google, if you use any other search engine. Yeah, we call it search engine, like Google. What else do we have?

R: We've got Yahoo and Bing.

M: Oh, Yahoo.

R: Bing is just amazing. There was a time, this is about 10 years ago, when Microsoft developed Bing. And they paid off a whole load of advert, like they paid for the whole load of advertising and films. And you heard like, there's the spate of films from like the early 2010s. Where they're like, I'll Bing that, let's Bing this. And nobody has ever said that outside of these movies ever.

M: Chandler Bing. Friends, remember?

R: Yeah, that's all I can think of.

M: Then to start a new kind of point, you said to elaborate further, I, blah, blah, blah. Yeah? So to elaborate means to add details, yeah?

R: Um, yes. And it's one of the phrases that we can use when we run out of things to say, to elaborate further means to add more information, which is what I had to do because I stopped talking because I thought I'd run out of time. Do not stop talking until the examiner silences you.

M: We use past tenses. The card is about describe a time when you needed to search for information, so you had to search for it. So past tenses, and also past perfect is good. So, Rory, you said that. I had thought that yoga might help me. So I had thought, I'd thought that, so before, yeah? Past Perfect is nice. And then I hopped on Google. And then it didn't seem to be such a big deal in terms of finding the place. I just Googled it. I was under the impression. That's a nice one. I was under the impression, that yoga places were pretty laid back. Laid back like relaxed, like hey, and yoga people are walking everywhere. I suppose I Googled it, because everyone does that for everything. I needed the address, I had to find the phone number. I googled it.

R: I googled that.

M: So that's the key phrase of the whole episode. I googled it. I just used Google. Yeah.

R: Well, that, and to elaborate further, when you run out of things to say.

M: And this was quite remarkable, remarkable, you know, like, oh, wow, I Googled it and I found everything, it was quite remarkable.

R: So anything that you can pass comment on, you can just use this whole fixed expression, which is quite remarkable when you think of it. And that was contained in a relative clause. So score for grammar and for vocabulary.

M: Yes. And then you added a really nice sentence. How people found their way around before the advent of the Internet, and search engines, I have no idea. Oh, my angels, Rory, this sentence is just band nine in itself.

R: Why?

M: It's good, because first of all, to find our way around something. Right. So how people found their way around means how they managed to do things.

R: Or navigated.

M: Navigated. Yeah, navigated. So find my way around. Before the advent of the internet. You can say before the internet, but before the advent of the Internet, before the invention. Yeah?

R: Yeah, well, or before the creation of something.

M: And search engines like Google, Yahoo, I have no idea. You can paraphrase it like this, you can change the order, like I have no idea how people found their way around before the internet. Or before the internet was invented, for example. That's a really nice one. With specific vocabulary for you.

R: And for a high score.

M: Band nine score. And then you finished it up with regardless of how I got it, I got this information. Regardless, like it doesn't matter how I got the information. Yeah?

R: Yes, but that's another expression that you can use to add more details, regardless of and then whatever part of the subject you want to cover, then you launch into why something else was good too.

M: If you spend ages on finding this information, you can say regardless of how much time I spent on finding this place, it was worth it. It was definitely worth the effort. And then you say I got what I needed. So I received the information, I found the information. Can you say that I laid my hands on this information?

R: That's almost as bad as before the advent of the Internet and search engine. Yes, you can lay your hands on the information.

M: So lay, lay like lay the table, yeah? Prepare the table for dinner, for example. So lay my hands on the information. Like imagine your hands and you like lay, puts your hands on this information. Could you use it in a sentence, Rory, please?

R: Yes. When I finally laid my hands on the information, I could put my plans together.

M: Hey, there you go. So lots of synonyms, right? And can we paraphrase I got this information? So I learnt about it, yeah?

R: Oh, learned about it or learned of it.

M: I learned of it.

R: Accessed.

M: Accessed it. Yep. Found it. I found out about this place on Google. Oh, and it's on the internet and on Google, right? On Bing, on Yahoo. On the internet, don't forget the article, the internet. On the internet or online. I was browsing about and found it. I was like poking around online and I found IELTS Speaking for Success podcast. Or Rory's nice pictures. On social media also, yeah? On Instagram. Sweet, Rory, what helped you to continue talking? Because I was coughing.

R: Aside from you making all of these noises to tell me that I had to keep talking?

M: Yeah.

R: So I understood that I needed to keep talking and I used things like to elaborate further. And then I went on I suppose I did this because and then explained why I did it. And then I used the phrase regardless of how I did something, something else was also good. So all three of these phrases will be quite useful for any time that you need to keep adding information to keep talking and keep going.

M: Yes, if you run out of things to say, well again, the examiner will look at you and will gesture you. Okay, come on, you still have time, you can continue. If not, you can say, I think that's all. Yep. As easy as this.

R: Yes.

M: Super! Thank you very much for listening! And we'll get back to you with speaking part three about information in general.

R: And accessing it.

M: Bye!

R: Bye!

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