📙 Part 2: Describe an important decision made with the help of other people

This episode's vocabulary

Malfunction (verb) – to stop working correctly. → My old laptop started to malfunction after three years of use.

Get input from (phrase) – to ask for advice or opinions. → I needed to get input from my colleagues before making a decision.

Time-sensitive (adjective) – needing to be done quickly or by a deadline. → The application is time-sensitive, so submit it as soon as possible.

Settled on (phrasal verb) – to make a final decision. → After much deliberation, I settled on the blue dress.

Higher spec (phrase) – having better technical specifications or features. → I chose a higher spec computer to handle more demanding programs.

Functioning (adjective) – working properly. → It’s nice to have a fully functioning phone again.

Get to grips with (phrase) – to begin to understand or deal with something difficult. → I need to get to grips with the new software before next week.

Vendor (noun) – a person or company that sells something. → I ordered the laptop from a reputable vendor on Amazon.

Layout (noun) – the way in which the parts of something are arranged. → The new computer keyboard layout takes some getting used to.

Faffing around (phrase) – wasting time doing unimportant things. → I was faffing around with my old laptop instead of finishing my work.

Deliberation (noun) – careful consideration before making a decision. → After much deliberation, she chose a different career path.

Cost-effective (adjective) – providing good value for the amount spent. → Buying in bulk is often more cost-effective.

Upgrade (verb) – to replace something with a better version. → I decided to upgrade my phone to the newest model.

Weigh the options (phrase) – to consider all possibilities before deciding. → I had to weigh the options before choosing a new laptop.

Trial run (noun) – a test to see if something works properly. → I did a trial run of the new software before installing it fully.

Questions and Answers

Maria: You should say what the decision was, why you made the decision, who helped you make the decision, and how you felt about it.

Rory: Oh god, I had to decide what sort of laptop to get recently, and that was a total nightmare for me and everyone else I had to get input from. My old one started to fall to pieces and malfunction a lot, you see, and I'm not very good with information technology or that sort of stuff, so I had to ask almost all my friends to get help with finding a new one.

When it comes to why I made the final decision, well, it was a pretty time-sensitive matter. I need a computer for work, so it was important to get things done and dusted as soon as possible. Eventually, I settled on the one I have now, which is a little bit bigger than my old computer, but it seems reasonably higher spec by comparison, and it works well with all the other bits and pieces I have to use. And it wasn't that expensive, actually, somewhere in the region of £400, which apparently is quite reasonable. To be honest, I was just happy to have a functioning laptop again.

In terms of who I asked for help, I think I talked to just about everyone I know, but for my best friend. Not because he isn't knowledgeable, it's just that he's an Apple fanatic, so it would have been a Mac or something else along those lines, and frankly, I don't want to have to get to grips with the new operating system. I didn't want to have to get to grips, and I still don't, not with all the other things I need to do in my life. But I spoke to just about everyone else, my tenant, my other friends, my parents, my partner, obviously. I think I even sent a question to a vendor on Amazon, where I ultimately wound up buying the thing from.

To tell you more about how I felt about the whole thing, I think I made the right choice, though I'm still getting used to the new computer layout and its functions. If I hadn't made the decision when I did, well, I'd still be faffing around with something that was falling to bits, and that's not very great, is it? I think most people want to have something fixed or something new and functioning as soon as possible.

Maria: And how did the people who helped you feel?

Rory: I don't know, I didn't ask, but hopefully they feel good about helping me.

Discussion

Maria: Alright, dear listener, so what can you talk about here, hmm? Yeah, buying something, buying a laptop, buying a car, a house, a flat, even like a dress, a bag, shoes, anything, or entering a university, choosing a course, travelling, choosing a country to go to, buying a ticket, going to a concert, to the theatre, a gallery, any decision, even like where to go out. It was an important decision to make: where should I go out tonight? And you can start off with I had to decide, or last week I had to decide what to buy or where to go.

Rory: Or I had to make a decision…

Maria: About, yeah, to make a decision about. And for me, it was a total nightmare, like buying a new laptop or buying a new phone, yeah, for me also, it's a total nightmare. It's like horrible, oh no, I have to get a new computer, what? Yeah, it's crazy, so I need help. And when you get help, you get input from people, so you get input from other people about your situation.

Rory: Or you can get input from people on a topic as well. I had to ask people for advice, and I had to get their input. So my old computer or my old phone started to fall to pieces, so it started disappearing on me, and it started to malfunction, malfunction, it doesn't work properly. And I'm not very good with technology, I'm not very good with, I don’t know, choosing tickets, I'm not very good with cars, so I had to ask around, ask around, like ask people for help.

Maria: Ask different people, yeah.

Rory: I had to ask around to get help with buying a new laptop, and to get help with doing something.

Maria: When you change the topic, you start with, when it comes to why I made this decision, it was because blah, blah, blah. So when it comes to it, it was because. It was important to get things done and dusted, yeah, that's an idiom. So if you get things done and dusted, you kind of have them ready to complete something or to finish something, like that deal was done and dusted. And you make a decision to do something, and I wanted to get it done and dusted as soon as possible.

Rory: Get it finished. Oh, it's a binomial! Done and dusted. We don't say dusted and done.

Maria: And I was choosing between different laptops or phones, and I settled on the one I have now. So I settled on something, I decided that I'm going to buy this one. And again, we change the topic. In terms of who I asked for help, it was my best friend. I asked my parents or my friends, my colleagues.

Rory: Or in this case, it was everyone but my best friend, which means I asked everyone, but I didn't ask this one person.

Maria: Yeah, I asked my knowledgeable friends, like who know a lot of things about this. I spoke to many people about this. My tenant, like a tenant, is a person who pays rent. I even sent a question to a vendor on Amazon. So a vendor means a shop assistant, someone who sells something, a vendor. Usually, like street vendors, people who sell vegetables, fruit on the street. So see, you can also talk about some written requests. Maybe you wrote somebody to ask for help.

Rory: I never did get a reply.

Maria: Oh, no, they didn't reply?

Rory: No, I took a chance. And it seems to have worked out so far. The laptop is functioning two weeks after I bought it, so that's a good sign.

Maria: Yeah, you can use two phrasal verbs. It worked out fine, and I wound up buying a laptop on Amazon. So I ended up buying it on Amazon. I bought it on Amazon. I wound up.

Rory: The end result, wound up.

Maria: And again, we're changing the topic with to tell you more about how I felt about the whole thing. Well, I was pretty glad. I was ecstatic, like super happy. I was pleased. I was delighted. Okay, that I made the right choice.

Rory: I was over the moon.

Maria: Over the moon. I was so happy. Yeah. I made the right choice. I made the right decision. Yeah, because, well, the topic is about the decision. So it turned out to be the right decision to make, or I made the right choice. And Rory used my favourite phrasal verb. Rory, what's my favourite phrasal verb? Yeah, I love it.

Rory: What is your favourite phrasal verb?

Maria: Faff around, of course.

Rory: Oh, I thought you like wind up.

Maria: Yeah, wind up is… You like wind up. I like faff around, faff about. That's my nature. Yes, dear listener, it's a UK informal. So and it means to spend your time doing a lot of things that are not important. And you should not be doing this, but you do do them anyway. Instead of studying, you kind of watch television, for example, or you just run around the house doing nothing. So stop faffing about and do something useful. So you can say that without my friend's help, I'd still be faffing around with a broken computer. Yeah? Or without my friend's help, I'll be faffing about doing nothing or staying at home. Rory, which linking phrases did you use here?

Rory: Well, it was the usual ones, really, when it comes to and in terms of and to tell you more about. However, I am quite a decisive person. So it was difficult for me to think about the specifics of this arrangement and talk for a long time about it. So I had to be a little bit vague about things. So some of the vague language that I used to help with this is that involves things like that sort of stuff, just meaning things related to this. What else did I use? Oh, yes. All the other bits and pieces I have to use. So that was just instead of saying all the other things, and it was bits and pieces. And that's important because it's once again, it's another binomial. We say bits and pieces for things. We don't say pieces and bits. Oh, what else? Oh, yes: I forgot how much I actually paid for it as well. And I said it was somewhere in the region of 400 pounds. So it wasn't exactly 400 pounds, but something like that. But were there any more linking phrases or vague language that you noticed?

Maria: Just the phrases that we use to start a new topic when it comes to. It was in terms of who I asked for help, blah, blah, blah. And to tell you more about how I felt. And then we just use the usual ones like and, eventually, but yeah, these are all good, dear listener. Though, like, although, though, lovely. What will you talk about, dear listener? Any important decision to study IELTS, taking IELTS is an important decision. And you can just lie that you asked Rory, you asked me, you asked everyone about IELTS. You asked everyone but one person. That would be a good phrase to use. Feel free to steal Rory's story completely and just tell the examiner about your new laptop.

Rory: Well, how would the story look if it were about IELTS? We'd say, oh, God, I had to decide to take IELTS. And that was a total nightmare. So you could basically replace the information about computers with that about IELTS.

Maria: Yeah, I had to ask around. And surely I asked Rory Fergus something something. I don't remember his surname. You know, from the IELTS Speaking for Success podcast, dear examiner, you know? No, you don't? Okay, all right. And then you just talk about Rory. Or me. Well, I have zero knowledge about laptops, but anyway.

Rory: Well, you carry one around with you. You should know more than I do.

Maria: Thank you very much for listening, sending hugs and love. Bye!

Rory: Bye.

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