📙 Part 2: Describe an event you attended in which you didn't enjoy the music played

This episode's vocabulary

Get-together (n) – A small informal social gathering. → We decided to have a small get-together at the new venue.

Venue (n) – The place where something happens, such as a concert, conference, or sports event. → It was a new venue up the road from where we live.

A change of scene (idiom) – A move to a different place or environment for a new experience. → For whatever reason, we had decided on a change of scene.

Seemed like a good idea at the time (idiom) – A phrase used to say that a decision appeared correct when it was made, but was later proven to be wrong. → It definitely seemed like a good idea at the time, although it turned out not to be.

To no avail (idiom) – Without any success or any effect. → We asked them to turn the music down, but to no avail.

Put up with (phrasal verb) – To tolerate or endure something unpleasant. → We'd already paid, so we just had to put up with it.

Usual haunts (n) – Places that someone visits frequently. → We'll probably just go back to our usual haunts next time.

Intrusive (adj) – Causing disruption or annoyance through being unwelcome. → The music was a lot less intrusive and there's a bit more peace and quiet.

Barely hear yourself think (idiom) – An expression used to describe a place that is extremely noisy. → It was so loud you could barely hear yourself even think.

Overwhelming (adj) – Very great in amount or effect; overpowering. → The volume was overwhelming and made it hard to talk.

Ghastly (adj) – Extremely unpleasant or bad. → If you don't like a particular genre, you might describe the music as ghastly.

End up (phrasal verb) – To finally be in a particular place or situation, often unexpectedly. → We'll probably end up going somewhere very different.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Describe an event you attended in which you didn't enjoy the music played. You should say what it was, who you went with, why you decided to go there, and explain why you didn't enjoy it.

Rory: I suppose the one that immediately comes to mind is the last time I had lunch with my friends or the place where I had lunch with my friends. Speaking about what it was, it wasn't anything special. We just decided to have a small get together at this new venue up the road from where we live. Apparently, it's been open for a while, but we, well, I'd never been before. So we decided to try it out. It's like a big open plan eating and drinking space inside this brewery with live music. If we consider who I went with, like I said, it was just some friends who live locally. We've been getting together at each other's houses for years now, but for whatever reason we had decided on a change of scene. So when I think about why I decided to go there, it's actually quite vague. I'm pretty sure it was just for a bit of variety. And it definitely seemed like a good idea at the time, although it turned out later not to be such a good idea. Because as for why I didn't enjoy it, or at least as far as why I didn't enjoy it is concerned, it wasn't the music itself that was the problem. It was the volume they played it at. It was way too loud and you could barely hear yourself even think, let alone understand what the person next to you was saying. And that seemed totally unnecessary, and I wish they just turned it down. In fact, I'm pretty sure that some of us asked at some point, but that was to no avail, and unfortunately, we'd already paid for lunch. So we just had to put up with it. If we ever decide to do something like that again, I think we'll probably end up going somewhere very different or maybe just back to our usual haunts where the music is a lot less intrusive and it's a there's a bit more peace and quiet. I know that's my preference for sure.

Discussion

Maria: Right, dear listener. So somewhere you went and you didn't enjoy the music. It might be you went to a cafe, a restaurant, you went to a library, the music was playing. You went to a party. You didn't like the music. It might be a concert, okay? A theater. You went somewhere. You can talk about the cafe, for example.

Rory: Yeah. Anywhere they play music. I think they play music everywhere.

Maria: It could even be the supermarket. They play music at the supermarket.

Rory: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Maria: Yeah, to get you to buy more stuff. So you can start off with the one that immediately comes to mind is...

Rory: So instead of the one that stands out, the one that comes to mind.

Maria: Kind of the one is this situation, right? An event, the event that I want to talk about. Or what comes to mind is the last time I had lunch with my friends, or I went to a cafe, or I went to the theater. Speaking about what it was, it wasn't anything special. It was a small get together. So we got together with my friends, I met my friends at the new place. At this new venue. Venue is a place, it could be a cafe, a restaurant, a concert hall, a mall. So it's kind of a place. Venue. So we went to this venue. Venue. I'd never been there before. Past perfect, dear listener. So I went there with my friends and I had never been there before. I had never been. We went there to try it out. A phrasal verb. To try it out just to...

Rory: See what it's like.

Maria: So it's a venue with live music and food. And how is it outside Rory?

Rory: Part of it was outside, although the inside part is open plan, but that means there's not any walls to divide things up. It's just a big space with tables.

Maria: So kind of it's an open space place with live music. Live music is when a band is playing and it's live. We write it like live but we pronounce it live music. Not a recording. I went there with my friends. I went there with my family. I went there alone. Right? I was on my own. And we decided to have a change of scene. So if you go somewhere, it might be because you want a change of scene. A new situation. I wanted a change of scene, so I decided to go to this new place.

Rory: But not all changes of scene are good, as I discovered.

Maria: I don't know why I decided to go there. It's also possible you don't know why, you just did. I don't remember. I can't recall. I don't remember why I did this. Perhaps it was because I wanted a bit of variety. So I went there for variety to have variety in my life. And it seemed like a good idea at the time. It seemed like, it looked like a good idea.

Rory: I thought it was a good idea.

Maria: Yeah, at the time, yeah? But actually it wasn't. Then we change the topic. As far as why I didn't enjoy the music, it was because the music itself was the problem.

Rory: The volume.

Maria: The volume. Yeah. It was the volume they played the music at.

Rory: It was intrusive. So it was too loud and it disrupted things.

Maria: Intrusive music. Yeah, intrusive music. annoying, unpleasant. If something is intrusive, it affects you in a bad way. So it annoys you. It makes you feel uncomfortable. You can say that the music made me uncomfortable. The music was intrusive, like intrusive lighting, for example. The light is too bright, it's intrusive. And intrusive journalists who ask a lot of questions.

Rory: Too many questions.

Maria: Or...

Rory: Too many of the wrong questions.

Maria: True. So you can say, the music was playing too loud. They played loud music. I didn't like the volume. It was way too loud. It was super loud. So it was way too loud. I could barely hear myself. So barely is a nice one. Like almost. I almost didn't hear myself.

Rory: Or couldn't hear myself.

Maria: I couldn't hear myself speak. Right? So I could barely hear myself. Or, you can also say I could barely hear my friends. You could hear them, but kind of very little. Not everything. So I could barely hear myself, or I could barely hear my friends. Rory said I could barely hear myself think. So kind of I didn't hear my own thoughts. So I was I was thinking and I couldn't hear my thoughts because the music was too loud.

Rory: I couldn't organize my thoughts either.

Maria: And it's kind of a joke, but kind of, yeah, it was too loud, so I couldn't think. I couldn't hear what my friends were saying. Past continuous. So at that time, I couldn't hear what my friends were saying. And then Rory used a super structure with I wish. Rory, what did you say?

Rory: Oh, I can't remember. What did I say?

Maria: Fudish.

Rory: Oh, I wish they'd turned it down.

Maria: So Rory was annoyed, and they wanted the administration of the restaurant to turn down the music. The volume, yeah? Just to turn down the volume. So you can say I wish they had turned it down. But they didn't. We even asked somebody to turn down the volume, but unfortunately, they didn't do it. And we had already paid for lunch. Again, past perfect, because we had paid for lunch before, we asked them. First paid, then asked them to turn the volume down. So we had to put up with it. Put up with is a nice phrasal verb, we had to tolerate it, accept the situation. We had to put up with this loud music. Rory, could you give me two more adjectives, or three more adjectives to describe the music? So, intrusive.

Rory: Intrusive, overwhelming, overbearing.

Maria: Mmm, yep. If the music was terrible, not the volume, but is just unpleasant music itself. Terrible music, horrible music.

Rory: Ghastly.

Maria: Ghastly. Ooh. Disgusting.

Rory: Yeah, not pleasant. Unpleasant.

Maria: Ghastly. Yeah, dear listener. Unpleasant, shocking, ghastly music. Like ugly, extremely bad. Yeah, the weather could be ghastly, for example. Yeah. Another phrasal verb which is good to use is end up doing something. So for example, we ended up...

Rory: Leaving.

Maria: We ended up leaving the place because I couldn't stand it. I hated it. So we ended up going somewhere else. So end up is when you find yourself doing something. We didn't like the music at all. So we ended up changing the restaurant. Or we ended up making a scandal with a waiter. And you can use a real conditional. So if we ever decide to go out, we'll end up going somewhere else.

Rory: Somewhere with less intrusive music. Or somewhere with better music.

Maria: Exactly. Did you enjoy the food?

Rory: It was okay. I just wish the experience hadn't been ruined by the music. Ooh, that's another structure with I wish.

Maria: Our experience was ruined by the music.

Rory: Talking of structures, I've changed a few of the ways to organize part two, just to give us some variety. It's not that the old structures were bad, it's just that we like to change a few things. So, when I was introducing the task, I didn't say, the one that stands out. I said, the one that comes to mind or immediately comes to mind. Then, when we talked specifically about what it was, I said speaking about, speaking about what it was. And then moved to the next part saying, if we consider who I went with. Then onwards to when I think about why I decided to go there. And then, as far as why I didn't enjoy it is concerned or so as far as why I didn't enjoy it is concerned. So all of these could also be used to move the task forward in a different direction.

Maria: Sweet. Thank you very much for listening. We'll get back to you in our next episode, speaking part three about music events and festivals and music in general.

Rory: Ooh, it's music to my ears.

Maria: Bye.

Rory: Bye.