📙 Part 2: Describe an invention that is useful in your daily life

You should say: what the invention was, what it can do, how popular it is, and explain whether it is difficult or easy to use.

This episode's vocabulary

The easy way out (idiom) - what is easiest in a difficult situation.

Embedded (adj.) - existing or firmly attached within something or under a surface.

Bog-standard (adj.) - completely ordinary, without anything special added.

Convenient (adj.) - suitable for your purposes and needs and causing the least difficulty.

Indispensable (adj.) - something or someone that is indispensable is so good or important that you could not manage without it, him, or her.

To enable (verb) - to make someone able to do something, or to make something possible.

Dumbphone (noun) - a very basic mobile phone that cannot connect to the internet.

Intuitive (adj.) - (knowledge from) an ability to understand or know something immediately based on your feelings rather than facts.

User interface (noun) - the way in which the information on a computer, phone, etc. and instructions on how to use it are arranged on the screen and shown to the user.

Questions and Answers

M: Rory, off you go. Rory story.

R: I'm going to take the easy way out and talk about my phone, I'm afraid. I imagine most people would talk about this since they're so embedded in our lives these days. But really, smartphones are amazing. To talk about mine specifically, I would say it's pretty bog-standard, to be honest with you. You can take photos, make notes, run various programs on it and applications. I usually use it for video recording, and messaging on various apps and watching videos. I could use a laptop for all of these. But to be honest, even the smallest ones aren't as convenient as a smartphone, frankly, because you can't fit a laptop in your pocket. You can fit most phones in your pockets, even though they're getting progressively larger all the time it seems. In more detail about its popularity, I'd have to say that it's pretty indispensable for the vast majority of people in this day and age, people seem to constantly need to be connected to each other and their online content. And smartphones both enable and feed into that because you can make posts using your smartphone as well as watch them, watch other people's too. Despite the initial learning curve involved in switching from a dumbphone to a smartphone, once you get used to it, it's pretty intuitive as to how the whole thing works, and how a new feature should be operated. Although sometimes the app updates are hard to cope with. But that's more about the software and the user interface than the phone itself, which, you know, once you get used to where your thumb should be and where your fingers should hold everything, then, you know, off you go and you're absolutely fine. If I didn't have it, I think I'd really struggle in terms of work, to be honest. I'd certainly never leave home without it, that's for sure. Because, well, I just needed to get around and access all the information I need for the day.

M: And would you buy a new one anytime soon?

R: Yes, Maria. I will buy a new phone soon, I promise.

Discussion

M: So what a story and Rory started it off with I'm going to take the easy way out. So he knows that talking about a smartphone is quite easy. Easier than talking about, I don't know, an expensive coffee machine or a lawn mower. Or I don't know... What? A digital Jacuzzi. Oh, boy... What interventions do we have in our life these days?

R: I mean, I thought indoor plumbing was a pretty good one, to be honest with you. But how many people know the ins and outs of how indoor plumbing works?

M: Yeah. No, this is a horrible idea to talk about this. Yeah, dear listener, it's pretty much the internet or your smartphone. Okay? The easiest thing. Yeah.

R: It's funny because we're supposed to say like, oh, you could talk about anything, but really, just talk about your smartphone.

M: Yeah. And you can, like a good strategy is like I'm gonna take the easy way out and talk about my phone, smartphone, I'm afraid.

R: Because everybody's gonna talk about that.

M: Yeah, everyone is gonna talk about this. Again, if you want to be different, you can pick up something like a drone. I have a drone. Do you know the thing that buzzes around? Yeah, I've got a drone. And you can talk about your drone. How is it useful in your daily life? I have no idea. Smartphones are so embedded in our lives these days.

R: That means that they're really a close part of them.

M: Smartphones are amazing. They are awesome. And also Rory told us that they're indispensable. Indispensable.

R: That means you can't do without them. They're so important for you that you cannot live without them. Which is silly, because you probably could live without your phone, but it feels like you couldn't.

M: No, no, no. You can't possibly live without your phone. Like no. Like 10 minutes without your phone? Come on... No, it's a torture. So indispensable is a C2 adjective, dear listener, okay? Indispensable. Something or someone, it could be an object or a person that is so good and important that you can't manage without them. Without them or it. For example, this book is an indispensable resource for me. Or this podcast is indispensable while you're preparing for IELTS. Or Rory is indispensable in my life, so I can't live without him. And then you give more ideas about your smartphone. So it's pretty bog standard, to be honest. Bog standard?

R: We've had that one before.

M: Yeah, but we forgot all about it.

R: Oh, for God's sake. It's just what's normal, what's usual for something. Bog standard.

M: It's like UK, informal, and it's a bit disapproving. So it's kind of like ordinary, nothing special about it. So you see? It's a little bit negative. It's like... It's like this car is just a bog standard model. So nothing special about this car, or my laptop is bog standard. Bog standard, to be honest. My phone is pretty bog-standard, to be honest. And then Rory tells us what he can do with his phone. Can you imagine? He can take phone calls, he can make notes, he can run various programs on it. Wow... And he uses it for video recording, messaging on various apps, watching videos, playing video games, perhaps. And it's all convenient on my smartphone. So it's on your phone. And also you write messages on different apps. And you can say that I constantly need to be connected to my friends, to my family. So that's why I use it on a regular basis. Like every day, I can't live without it. I can't do anything without my phone.

R: I can't live without it.

M: My phone is the extension of my hand. It's kind of, you know, it's like part of your body. Okay? It's your third arm, you can say it's your third hand. So deep and philosophical.

R: But I didn't say that. I just said it's indispensable.

M: And you did say like a dumb phone.

R: Yeah, but you have a dumb phone, which is not connected to the Internet and a smartphone that is connected to the Internet, I think that's the big difference.

M: And you can speak about switching from a dumb phone, a phone without the internet, to a smartphone. And it's pretty intuitive. Right? Or, for example, you switched from Apple to Samsung, or vice versa. On, you switched from an old phone to a new model. It's pretty intuitive. Intuition tells you what to do. You haven't read any instructions on how to use it, but kind of you feel it. It's pretty intuitive, how the whole thing works. New features are there. So all these like new things you can do on your phone, we call them features. Like a lot of new features. You can set alarm clocks, you can change the colour, so new features. And sometimes the application updates are hard because they change things all the time. So it could be annoying. The software, hardware, and interface of the phone are nice. Yeah? And we finish it off with the third conditional. Rory, could you read out the third conditional with a beautiful intonation?

R: If I didn't have it, I think I'd really struggle in terms of work, to be honest.

M: Sorry, not the third conditional, the second condition, because the story is in the present. So you use it, right? Every day. And we use the second conditional. Like what if I lost it, right? Maybe in the future, but it's real. Right? So we are talking about present or future. And it's quite real. So if I didn't have it, but I have it. So if I didn't have my phone, I think I'd really struggle. So I didn't have it, but I have it now. I think I would, I'd really struggle in the future, but I don't struggle in terms of work. So I never leave home without my smartphone. My precious. So if I didn't have it, I think my life would be so much more difficult than it is, yeah? What helped you to organize your answer?

R: Well, in this case, I would love to say it was the task, but it was just describe an invention. So I was like, I'm just gonna sit and talk about my phone, try and relate that back to the task. So I just imagined that I had my phone in my hand, and it was just going along, describing it, and occasionally looking at the task to make sure that I'd covered what I need to do. But that was quite easy to do. The only thing I had to remind myself was about how popular it was. And everything else was just there from describing and imagining what I was describing.

M: Yeah.

R: But you could do the same. Just imagine you have your phone in your hand and describe.

M: Or just copy Rory's words. Thank you very much for listening, dear listener! And we'll get back to you in our next episode. Speaking part 3 about inventions. Bye!

R: Bye!

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