📙 Part 2: Describe a toy you liked in your childhood

This episode's vocabulary

Questions and Answers

Maria: Describe a toy you liked in your childhood. You should say what kind of toy it is, when you received it, how you played with it, and how you felt about the toy. Rory, give us your story.

Rory: Oh, wow. I used to have a teddy bear that came everywhere with me from about, I think it was the age of seven. I still have it actually, though he doesn't come to work or on holidays. Well, since I'm a grown up and I don't really need that anymore. But he sits in my home office with another bear that was also given to me as a gift, as it happens. That's how I got him originally. I woke up one day with him after a visit from the tooth fairy. Usually children are given money when their teeth fall out or their milk teeth, I should say. And usually I did too, but this was like a one-off change. I'm not exactly sure why that particular change happened, but I was pretty happy to have a bear at the time and I didn't question it. When it comes to how I played with it, well, it's a bear. So he was just something to cuddle when I was in bed or in the car, and just to make those occasions a bit more comfortable. And that did work rather well, at least as far as I recall. I'm not sure what material it's made of, but it's very soft and fluffy. I think it's like rabbit down or something like that. He actually has his name embroidered on the sole of one foot as well with thread. But that's the only non fluffy part, really. In terms of how I felt about it, like I said, I was quite happy to have a furry friend as a child and I'm sure it made me feel better at the time, and it still does actually. It's a nice reminder of the past and I'm glad I kept it. If I hadn't been given that, well, I suppose I would have been equally happy to have been given the money, but it was only like a pound coin back then. So I think that that's not really equal to the value of all of the good memories I have with that particular toy. So I'm glad that the, well quote unquote tooth fairy made that choice.

Discussion

Maria: Thank you, Rory for your story. So, dear listener, describe a toy you liked in your childhood. So, the easiest option is to talk about a teddy bear.

Rory: Or a doll.

Maria: A doll, your favorite car. Don't go crazy describing Lego or, I don't know, something that you can't talk about. Pick something easy. A teddy bear.

Rory: You could talk about Lego.

Maria: Yeah, but it's difficult to describe, like different parts and what are they statues? Are they figures?

Rory: It's got different bricks. I made it into different figures, yes, and you could talk about the figures and say it's very versatile.

Maria: That's fine.

Maria: Yeah, but you need to know that they are called figures, right? So it does require specific vocabulary. But Teddy bear is a Teddy bear.

Rory: Well, yes, but we're aiming for a high score. It will always do require specific vocabulary.

Maria: So, my choice for you, dear listener, a teddy bear. Even if you are a man, a teddy bear because you were a child, right? So did you play with a teddy bear? Of course you did. Or a teddy dolphin, could be a teddy tiger. So that's absolutely fine and yeah, no problem. You can talk about a doll, a Barbie doll, I don't know, a robot. Well, I played with my cat. Right. So you can say I used to have a teddy bear. I used to have, right? In the past. When I was about seven, when I was at the age of five, I used to have a teddy bear. And now this teddy bear sits in my home office. So I still have it. Rory still has it. But maybe you don't. It's okay. So it still sits in my home office. Or you can say, I it got destroyed, or my parents threw it away, or I lost it. And you can say that it was a gift from my parents, it was a gift from my friends. It was a gift. No, usually parents, right? And you can tell a story how you got it. You can lie, dear listener, just imagine the story, come up with something nice and pleasant for the examiner to hear. I woke up one day and I saw this teddy bear next to me, in my bed. Rory told us about the tooth fairy. Who is the tooth fairy?

Rory: The tooth fairy? You don't know the tooth fairy?

Maria: No, maybe our listener doesn't know.

Rory: The tooth fairy is a magical being that gives children gifts in exchange for their teeth when they fall out. I should say when their teeth fall out naturally. So when you are born, you grow up with one set of teeth and they fall out over time and then the replacement grows in and you have this extra tooth lying around. So you put it under your pillow and the tooth fairy will come and she will turn, or well, she will either turn the tooth into a coin, a pound coin if you're in the U.K., or she will exchange the tooth for a pound coin.

Maria: Yeah, usually it's common in the Western cultures. So in in the West.

Rory: However, if you, you don't need to say it was a gift from a magical creature. You could say it was a gift from my parents, perhaps. But my bear was a gift from a magical creature. That makes it superior.

Maria: Yeah. Or you can say I got it for my birthday, or just my parents gave it to me. Don't say presented. My parents presented this to me. No, no, no. My parents gave it to me. I was pretty happy to have such a present. I was ecstatic, like super happy. I was over the moon to get it, like super happy. And again, we use a linking phrase. When it comes to how I played with it, well...

Rory: It's a bear.

Maria: So how do you play with it? Well, you cuddle it. Cuddle means a hug. So you hug it. Cuddle guys, oh my bear, you hug it and you take it everywhere. Or you can just what do you call it when you talk as if the bear talks?

Rory: Oh, you make believe.

Maria: You make believe. You see you take this teddy bear and you say, oh, I want food, and the teddy bear talks, you don't talk. Okay, so you make believe.

Rory: But the teddy bear does actually talk. It's magical.

Maria: So, I cuddled it when I was in bed, when I was in the car, at school, I don't know, everywhere. I am not sure about the material, so I don't know what it's made of, but it was soft and fluffy. So, teddy bears are usually fluffy, and all teddy toys are usually fluffy and soft. So you can say, well, I don't know what it was made of. It was made of something.

Rory: It's made of magic.

Maria: Usually something is embroidered.

Rory: Yeah. Like well, it's like written, but in thread.

Maria: Yeah. Something could be written on the toy and we can use the word embroidery. Embroidery, dear listener, about clothes, about toys. So it's this, you know, pattern or picture that is put on clothes or on a toy. You can just Google it. Embroidery. E. M. B. R. O. I. D. E. R. Y. Embroidery. Embroidery. Embroidery. A nice word. A very specific word. And you can say that my name was embroidered on the toy. So it was written on the toy. Even if it wasn't. Just use this word, okay?

Rory: But it's got to be a fur toy. You couldn't embroider something on Lego.

Maria: Yeah, yeah. It should be something soft and fluffy like clothes, like a piece of material. So we can do it. And we finish off with our feelings. So you can use a linking phrase. In terms of how I felt about it, I was quite happy to have a furry friend. So, we used the word soft, fluffy, fluffy like, oh, so fluffy, so soft. And furry. Furry like fur. Bears have fur. Animals have fur. So, I was super glad, I was delighted to have a furry friend. It made me feel better. It made me feel at peace, relaxed. And now it's a nice reminder of my past. So it reminds me of my past. It's a nice reminder of my childhood. I'm glad I kept it. Or you say that I wish I could have it with me now as a reminder, if you don't have it now. So I wish I could have it now. It's a pity I haven't kept it. It's a pity they threw it away. Right, dear listener, thank you so much for listening. Please make a choice about the toy. Again, my advice would be to talk about a teddy bear and just steal Rory's story.

Rory: But you could talk about other things using similar vocabulary.

Maria: True.

Rory: That's true.

Maria: We'll get back to you in our next episode about toys. Bye.

Rory: Bye.