📙 Part 2: Describe a time when you used your mobile phone to do something meaningful

This episode's vocabulary

Handy (adj.) - useful or convenient.

On a (tight/limited) budget - not having much money.

To set something up (phrasal verb) - to arrange for an event or activity to happen.

Grasp (noun) - understanding.

Essential (adj.) - necessary or needed.

To back something up (phrasal verb) - to make an extra copy of computer information.

Sentimental (adj.) - giving too much importance to emotions, especially love or sadnessю

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Questions and Answers

M: Off you go, Rory boy.

R: Well, this will be difficult, since I doubt many people use their phones for much that's meaningful these days. But I'll try. I use my phone to make all of the recordings from my last book. It wasn't too difficult since there was a recording app on the phone. But it was handy. And I was still happy about it. Oh, well, I suppose in greater detail, I had to travel the world on a tight budget with minimal space in my luggage. So my phone was ideal for that. Moreover, there was a lot of memory on the phone, so I could record for hours. And it didn't pose many problems. Oh, well, this was over the course of 2019 and early 2020, I think. And we had the pandemic. So being able to store everything easily was extremely useful. Oh, by that, I mean, it was easy to set things up and hit the record button and then playback, well, whatever I had recorded, when I had to type everything up, my grasp of technology wasn't what it is now. So the ease of use was essential. And it also had a live internet connection. So I could back everything up if I needed to. And you know, that can happen with technology. If it breaks down then and you lose all of the memory or all of the stuff that's on the memory, then that's not great. Is it? Oh, yes. In terms of my feelings about it, well, I was naturally glad that I had it. And I still do, in fact. It has quite a lot of sentimental value for me because that phone and I have been through a lot. I don't think I would be caught without it.

M: And would you buy a new one if you lost it?

R: I'd have to. There's no other alternative to life for their own.

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

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Discussion

M: Yeah, dear listener, the task is a new one. And the card tells you to describe a time when you used your mobile phone. But not just you used a mobile phone but you used it to do something meaningful. And Rory, what do we mean by meaningful? So you use your cell phone to do something meaningful? What is it?

R: Well, it just means that I did something that had a purpose, like a genuine purpose behind it. And it was useful in a particular circumstance.

M: So here you shouldn't talk about how you use your mobile phone to check up your Instagram or Facebook. No, no, no. This should be something meaningful, something important, right? So you had a purpose and you used your mobile phone. Right? So for example for directions, to record an important message, right? Or to make a super important phone call, for example, right? Or you used your phone as a light. What do you call it, when it's dark and you use this light?

R: Oh, the torch.

M: Torch. Yeah, torch. There we go. You know, some phones have this torch and you switched on and you're somewhere in the dark and your phone saved your life, you know, from zombies. Yeah, something like this, right? And the situation is going to be in the past, dear listener, right? A time when you used your mobile phone. So past tenses. Rory started with this will be difficult since, because I doubt many people use their phones for much that something meaningful. Yeah? But that's true. We usually use our phones for nothing special, just for fun, and we rarely use it for something meaningful these days. Yeah? And then you said I used my phone to make all the recordings for my last book.

R: So when we talk about the recordings' part, you make a recording, you don't take a recording.

M: So make a recording. If I use my phone to record my voice, also like make a recording or record my voice. Yeah? It wasn't too difficult since there was a recording app on the phone. Right? So recording app, application, and we say on the phone, there was a program on the phone, or I had photos on my phone, right? And then you said, it was handy. Handy, like a hand,

R: No, handy like useful, although I've just realized there that handy is the German word for mobile phone.

M: Really? Wow. Handy in English means it's useful. So I had my phone, it was really handy, because I had a torch. And I could light the way in this darkness, for example. Yeah? And then you said that I had to travel.

R: Yes.

M: I had to travel around the world. And this is nice expression to be on a tight budget.

R: So if you're on a tight budget, and you can't afford to pay for lots of space, or lots of luggage, so I redid some, I couldn't like carry around all of the stuff that we use to record the podcast now with me. And in the same way to make similarly high-quality recordings. I just couldn't do that. So I had to use my phone only. Because I had minimal space.

M: So I used my phone to record to make all the recordings because I had to travel on a tight budget with minimal space. Minimal space is like you don't have a lot of space in my luggage. And my phone was ideal for that. Yeah, another one. So my phone was ideal for that with handy applications. And there was a lot of memory on the phone. You can also say something about memory, the result of memory on the phone, so I could record for hours. So Rory recorded for hours. Was it an audiobook, Rory? Because I thought you write books.

R: It should have been an audiobook. But no, I wrote the book, I just needed recordings to make the notes for it.

M: Oh, wow. Okay, cool. And then you can say it didn't pose many problems. So the recording didn't pose many problems. Just I didn't have many problems with that. That's a nice phrase. And then another one is to store everything easily. So I made those recordings, and I was able to store everything easily to keep the information. Yeah? To store everything on my phone. Then it was easy to set up, for example. Yeah, if you use some applications to do something important, it was easy to set things up. So when you set things up, what do you do?

R: Well, you get them prepared to use, you set up your phone. In my case, all I had to do is unlock and open the recording up. But that's still setting it up.

M: Hit the record button, hit the button, hit like press the button. And then a nice one is my grasp of technology, then wasn't what it was now. So my grasp of technology. So my knowledge of technology, yeah?

R: So it's just like my understanding of how to use it. Although, I made a bit of a mess of the tenses there. And I was like wasn't what it was now. It should be wasn't what it is now.

M: Yeah, yeah. So my grasp of technology wasn't what it is now.

R: Yes. But still, it's a minor slip. And the examiner will understand the point like, you were rubbish with technology. And now you're not so rubbish with technology. But definitely wasn't what it was now. Oh, sorry. Wasn't what it is now. Need to stop doing that.

M: Yeah. And then you can say that it was essential to use my phone to record it, right? Because the task asks you to describe something that was meaningful, right? So we can say that it was important for me to use my phone at that time, it was essential, the phone had a live internet connection. Oh, you see, you can talk about the connection. Tell them that my phone was connected to the internet. Wow.

R: It's such a novel experience in this stage. And then I rounded off by talking about how I felt about it. In terms of my feelings, I was naturally glad I had it.

M: Yeah, I was glad I had it or what else can I say? I was happy I had it. I felt satisfied, for example. And then you can also say that my phone has a lot of sentimental value for me, you know...

R: After this experience.

M: My favorite phone. And yeah, it still has, if you still have your phone it has a lot of sentimental value for me. Or it had if you don't have this phone anymore. So that's a nice one. Rory, when you stopped, I coughed.

R: Yes, you did.

M: And you kept going. So which phrases did you use to help you connect your ideas to help you to keep going?

R: Well, I stuttered a bit because I was like, oh, in greater detail, and then moved into why I needed the phone. And then you coughed for well, after me saying, oh, it wasn't really a problem, because hadn't said enough. So I then went, oh, yes, to talk about the time this was over the course of 2019 and 2020, or early 2020. And then, I think. You can add I think, because you're just having to keep going. And then you coughed and the examiner wouldn't cough, they would look at you like you're a crazy person. And I went into a bit more detail about why it was useful. So I could say by that, I mean, and then I just kept going. And lastly, to talk about my feelings, I could say, oh, yes, in terms of my feelings about it, and then launch into more detailed descriptions about feelings.

M: Yeah, when you stop and you still have the time the examiner usually looks at you as if like come on, you know, say something else. Or the examiner usually gestures like, the examiner points at the time that like, come on, like, keep going, right? So yeah, usually this happens during the exam. Sweet. Okay. So dear listener, now you should choose a situation when you used your phone for something important in the past, or you can make it up. So imagine. Again, you can talk about a time when you took a very important picture, or you made a very important call, or you recorded yourself doing something, right? Or what else, Rory? Any other ideas to do something meaningful?

R: Maybe you had to order an emergency birthday item over the phone?

M: Yeah, you ordered something over the phone. You called somebody important. But it should be something important, right? I don't know what else because again, usually we don't use our phones for something like important, like really important.

R: Yeah. Honestly, I said it at the start. I was like, this is difficult, because no one uses their phone for anything important anymore. Yeah, although maybe people have more interesting lives than me. Who knows?

M: Or maybe, you know, you posted something on social media, and this post was really important to you. So you just explain that this was really meaningful to you, right? Maybe you never post anything, and then you used your phone to post stuff. And that was like, crucial for you.

R: Who knows? If anyone's got any other ideas, please send them to me on Instagram because I was totally floundering for this one.

M: Yeah. Yeah, but this is a good one, like you recorded. You made recordings for your book. So this was I think really important.

R: Yeah, but how many people have written a book? I mean, you know....

M: Yeah, yeah, that's, that's why. Yeah. But again, dear listener, you can still Rory's idea, and you can say, oh, once I recorded, I made recordings of myself, because I was writing a book. You can make it up, you can imagine stuff, you know, and now you know which phrases to use and how to organize your answer. Thank you very much for listening! We'll get back to you with speaking part three about mobile phones! Bye!

R: Bye!

M: Bye!

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