š Part 2: Describe an ambition you have had for a very long time
Rory shares a 'pipe dream' he's had for years, but his friends just make jokes about it. Is it an unrealistic goal or will he finally achieve it? Find out how to discuss your own goals for a Band 9.
This episode's vocabulary
Pipe dreamĀ (noun) -Ā an idea or plan that is impossible or very unlikely to happen.
Crop upĀ (phrasal verb) -Ā to happen or appear unexpectedly.
OverarchingĀ (adj.) -Ā most important, because of including or affecting all other areas.
PresenceĀ (noun) -Ā the fact that someone or something is in a place.
StressĀ (verb) -Ā to give emphasis or special importance to something.
DenigrateĀ (verb) - to say that someone or something is not good or important.
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Questions and Answers
M: Rory is going to describe an ambition he has had for a very long time. He's gonna say what this ambition is, why he has this ambition, and when he will achieve this ambition. Also he is going to explain why he's had this ambition for a long time. Rory, you're ready to rock and roll?
R: Yes.
M: Yeah, give it to us.
R: Well, it's kind of a running joke amongst myself and my friends for the last few years. It's been my pipe dream of doing DELTA module 3. I've been trying to work up the will to get it together since I finished my DELTA 1 exam. But something always seemed to crop up to prevent it from happening. It's not particularly critical from my work. But there's always been an overarching theme in my professional development that I do a course or take an exam every year as part of that. And this year, I haven't, or at least this academic year, I haven't done anything outside of social media projects, which I don't really think most institutions would count as PD. It looks nice on a CV, if you have this consistent pattern of doing well sort of professional, professional development courses for lack of a better term. And it's nice to tell your colleagues that you have more than CELTA, it's like it makes you one of the super teachers. With regards to when I will achieve it, I'm really hopeful I can do it this summer, maybe before I go home. And definitely before I start university. It probably shouldn't have taken me so long to get around to doing it. But I think the fact that I can do it any time, and just the presence of other priorities in my life makes it sort of an optional extra. Though I should stress, this is just for me, I wouldn't denigrate the efforts of people who take it more seriously by any means. There are some people who are really good at this kind of thing where they, they just set the goal, like they just do it. Whereas in my case, it's a it's a bit different. But then we're all leading different lives, aren't we?
M: What about your friends? Do they support you?
R: They support me, they support by me by making jokes about it. I suppose they're trying to poke me in the right direction.
M: Rory, thank you very much for your lovely answer!
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Discussion
M: So ambition, what is an ambition?
R: An ambition is like something you've wanted to do for a long time to progress yourself in life.
M: And the ambition, the word is positive? Usually.
R: Yes, so like ambitious people. It's positive. It's nice to be ambitious. Yes. Although you could have dark ambitions, for example.
M: From your dark side.
R: Yes.
M: What's your darkest ambition? Your darkest desire?
R: Sort of like that. Although in this case, we're talking about it in a positive light.
M: Yeah. So your ambition could be for example, like to get a job or to buy a house? Yeah?
R: Yeah, most people would be like that, they could talk about passing their IELTS exam or taking an IELTS exam, for example.
M: Right. IELTS could be your ambition or moving your family to Canada could be your ambition, right? So think about this right now. What's your ambition? Again, in the exam, you can lie about it. So now you can say, oh, I want to buy a villa in Spain. So that could be your ambition. Rory, you've started off with a running joke. What's a running joke?
R: A running joke is something that's it's like a joke that keeps coming up again and again and again. So my friends making fun of me for not getting my head in the game and doing my DELTA module 3 keeps coming up amongst my teaching friends. My non-teaching friends have no idea what this is.
M: Yeah, cuz the task is to describe an ambition you've had for a long time. So you have had for a long time, but like didn't achieve it yet. Right? So and Rory's friends are joking around about it. And we achieve an ambition, right? That's the verb.
R: Yes.
M: What else can we say? We make it come true?
R: You make your dreams come true. But fulfill an ambition sort of, but you achieve I think.
M: Yeah, usually achieve, right? And when you talk about when you gonna achieve it, you can say with regards to when I will achieve this, this a very nice one. A very nice linking and very advanced linking, not just like, oh, as for when I'm going to achieve this with regards to when I will achieve it, but it's with regards to something not like with... Can I say with regard to?
R: You can actually say that, but it's usually with regards to something else.
M: Yep. Yeah. So we achieve our ambitions and if you don't achieve this or you haven't achieved your ambition for a long time. You can say, oh, it took me so long to get around to it.
R: It's a phrasal verb, right?
M: It's a phrasal verb.
R: We can't advertise our Podcourse in this episode.
M: Our premium listeners know that we have our course on phrasal verbs.
R: They've probably bought already.
M: Anyway, so to get around to doing something, to start doing something and actually doing it right, so Rory hasn't got around to achieving his ambition. Can I say it's my long-term ambition?
R: Yeah, you can have a long-term ambition or a lifelong dream.
M: Oh, it's it's my lifelong dream. And you've said it's my pipe dream.
R: Well, yeah, a pipe dream is, it's like something that you really want to happen but in your head, you really know that it's probably not.
M: Really?
R: Yeah. So like some people have a pipe dream of, well, like buying a villa in Spain and never working again. But that is a pipe dream because it's unrealistic and probably not going to happen.
M: So a pipe dream is always unrealistic.
R: Yeah.
M: Okay, so if I want to buy my private jet, maybe three private jets. That's a pipe dream.
R: Do you really want? Why would you have three private jets?
M: Just like for example, for example, I don't know. Three villas in Spain and five flats in the center of Moscow.
R: I don't understand why that would be something you really want. You can only live in one at a time.
M: I'm gonna let other people rent my private jet so I get the money.
R: Well, then so I really yours is it?
M: Anyway, no, I'm just joking around. It's not like my pipe dream. Okay. Something can prevent you from achieving your ambition. And you can say some problems cropped up this morning but something always seem to crop up to prevent it from happening. So to prevent me from achieving my ambition, there was this nice word denigrate.
R: Oh, yeah. denigrate. It's like just to say that something is bad.
M: So I wouldn't denigrate the efforts of people who take it more seriously. So I wouldn't...
R: Denigrate.
M: Yeah, but like a synonym.
R: Oh, I wouldn't dismiss or malign, say bad things about.
M: Yeah, this word sounds really band nine. I wouldn't denigrate the efforts of people. Okay. Well done you. Yeah.
R: But it's important to point out there's a relative pronoun there. People who take it seriously.
M: A relative clause. For a high score.
R: Band nine score.
M: Dear listener, don't forget to use the present perfect in this answer. Because the situation asks you to describe an admission you've had for a long time. So I've had it, so I have had it. I've had it for a very long time or I haven't done it yet. I haven't achieved it yet. But I'm planning to get around doing it. So the tenses mind tense forms.
R: Thank you for tuning in. And we hope you like the episode. In the next episode, we'll be discussing ambitions and young people. See you there.
M: Bye!
R: Bye!
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