📙 Part 2: Describe something you would like to learn about

This episode's vocabulary

Decentralised (adj.) - used to describe organizations or their activities which are not controlled from one central place, but happen in many different places.

To bang on about (something) (idiom) - to talk about (something) repeatedly or for a long time.

To be better off - to have more money than you had in the past or more money than most other people.

Fine (adj.) - very exact and delicate, or needing to be done, treated, or considered very careful.

To loan (verb) - an act of borrowing or lending something.

Interest (noun) - money that you earn from keeping your money in an account in a bank or other financial organization.

Intermediary (noun) - someone who carries messages between people who are unwilling or unable to meet.

Cryptocurrency (noun) - a digital currency produced by a public network, rather than any government, that uses cryptography to make sure payments are sent and received safely.

Digital currency (noun) - a form of digital cash bought from a particular company in order to pay for goods and services on the Internet.

Gist (noun) - the most important pieces of information about something, or general information without details.

To gain (verb) - to get something that is useful, that gives you an advantage, or that is in some way positive, especially over a period of time.

Mastery (noun) - if someone has a mastery of something, they are extremely skilled at it.

To get the hang of something (idiom) - to become familiar with something.

Tangentially (adverb) - in a way that is different from or not directly connected with something that you were talking about or doing before.

Questions and Answers

M: Give us your story. Rory-story.

R: I'm on something of a mission to discover more about decentralised finance, actually. I have a few friends who are really into it and won't stop banging on about it. Plus, it's in the news a lot for having made a lot of people at least a little bit better off. I'm not sure about the fine details, so some of the vocabulary might not be exact, but I hope you get the point. Basically, the idea behind it is that instead of having all your money held by a bank to loan out and then pay you interest on your behalf, you take control of your money and loan it out to people and charge interest through intermediary platforms using cryptocurrency. Which is a little bit like digital currency. Because you can manage everything via the Internet, you have access to a greater pool of people looking for money. Put the amount out there and then charge fees for it or charge fees for using it. Obviously, it's a complex set of systems and algorithms managing everything, so I'm oversimplifying a lot, but I think that's about the gist of it. When it comes to the process or at least the learning process behind it, I've downloaded a few audiobooks on the subject to listen to and I'm thinking of experimenting with a few platforms online that my friend is going to help me set up. So, there's like this balance of theory and practice that I have in mind. I don't have a set schedule of classes to gain mastery through. However, like I said, I have a friend who can help me out with it, so I'm not sure I need to pay any experts to train me just yet or pay for any expert training. I think it won't be too difficult to get the hang of the basics, but I'm under no illusions about complete mastery of it and then becoming a crypto millionaire or something like that. I think that requires a degree of skill and focus I just don't have at the moment. Maybe in a few years when I have complete mastery of it. But at the moment I'd be happy just to make a few extra bucks on the site, to be honest. If I don't get to grips with it completely, then I won't be too upset, since there are more important things in life than money. But I think I'll have missed out on an opportunity to live a little more comfortably, if I don't at least try.

M: And have you talked to your friends about this?

R: Most of them only tangentially. But my friend Vanya is a real pro at it. I always encourage others to talk to him about this sort of thing.

Discussion

M: So, dear listener, this task is about the future. So something you'd like to learn in the future, a skill. And here you need to choose something that is easy to talk about. So maybe it's a new language or cooking or an activity or a skill like driving, swimming. Or you can imagine things, but choose something that is easy for you to talk about. And this could be a lie. Rory here has chosen an interesting topic. Finance.

R: Decentralised finance, no less.

M: Yeah. What did you mean by decentralised finance?

R: Decentralised finance is where instead of the bank handling your financing for you, like essentially controlling everything, the control is distributed amongst other people. That is the best way I can describe it in one sentence. It's much more complicated than that.

M: And Rory started it off with I'm on a mission to discover blah, blah, blah. So I am on a mission. You have a task, you have a mission to do something. So I'm on a mission to discover Chinese or, I don't know, cooking.

R: Yeah. So if you're on a mission, it usually means that you're really dedicated to finding something out or to doing something, I should say.

M: When you're friends won't stop banging on about it. So to bang on about it is to keep talking about it, to keep telling you things about it. So my friends are always banging on about my bad habits of getting up late, for example. So they always tell me things about it. Like, oh, you should get up early, you should do this, yeah? So Rory's friends know something about this topic. They're into this topic and they won't stop banging on about it. And then you used to be better off. So to be well-off means to be rich. To be better off means to be a little bit richer.

R: Yes.

M: I'm not sure about the fine details. So the fine details are these little details. Like technical details about the topic. But I hope you get the point. And then Rory explains what this decentralised finance is. So the idea behind it.

R: So the idea behind something is the sort of central point that supports the argument.

M: And Rory has used a lot of specific vocabulary. Like a loan, a loan from a bank. Some money we take from a bank. And then if you take this loan in a bank, you pay interest. So this percent that you pay, it's called interest. You pay interest.

R: Well, you might pay interest if you borrow money, but you can charge interest if you loan the money.

M: Right. So charge interest, you take.

R: Yeah, the money is coming to you.

M: Then Rory talked about cryptocurrency.

R: Yes.

M: And digital currency. Yeah. Virtual money, dear listener, are you into this? No? Okay.

R: Well, if you're not, then you should be, because it's the future, so I'm told.

M: So when you manage everything via the Internet, you have access to a greater pool of people who look for money. Swimming pool, yeah, dear listener? But in this context a greater pool of people, like there are many people there who look for money. The same way we can use it like a greater pool of ideas.

R: Or resources.

M: A pool of resources, so a lot of resources.

R: But it also can be a verb if you pool resources, that means to put the resources all in one place or bring them together.

M: After Rory's explanation about what this finance is all about. He says "I'm oversimplifying it", so to make it too simple. I'm oversimplifying it, I'm making it too simple. But I think that's the gist of it. The gist of it, that's the main idea of it. Then Rory talked about the learning process and he started it with when it comes to the learning process behind it. So how Rory would like to learn about it. So Rory has done something. I've downloaded a few audiobooks on the subject. I'm thinking of experimenting. So think about what you have done so far and use the present perfect. So I have downloaded, I've talked to people, I'm thinking of doing something, I'm thinking of taking classes. I'm thinking of experimenting. And my friend is going to help me set up things. And there is a balance of theory and practice, yeah? So you can talk about that, I need a balance of theory and practice. I don't have a set schedule for classes, so a set schedule is a fixed schedule of classes. And then Rory you said like to gain mastery. Hmm. What did you mean by this? To gain mastery?

R: Well, if you gain mastery, then you gain a complete knowledge over something or complete control over something. So that you're like a master at it, you're very good at it.

M: Yeah. And then a friend will help me out. So help out. Another synonym to be good at it, to get the hang of something. So it won't be too difficult to get the hang of the basics. To get the hang of the basics, to get the hang of it. I really want to get the hang of it. So I really want to be good at it. I want to learn about this.

R: So that's like the opposite of gain mastery. If you get the hang of something, then you get the basics. So we've got the two there to have enough of an understanding and to have complete understanding.

M: You've used mastery again. I am under no illusions about complete mastery of it. So I don't have illusions about the fact that I will become a master of it. Correct?

R: Yeah. I don't have the idea in my head that I'm going to be amazing at it.

M: Yeah, and Rory used like, oh, I am under no illusions that I will become a crypto millionaire soon. But maybe one day. So, dear listener, yeah, if you don't understand what we're talking about. So Rory is into this cryptocurrency. He deals with virtual money and stuff and, yeah, he's learning all about it. That requires a degree of skill and focus, okay? So learning this requires a degree of skill and focus. And learning anything really requires a degree of skill. A degree of skill? So certain skills, certain amount of focus, concentration. In a few years, yeah, we're talking about the future, so in a few years, in the future, when I had complete mastery of it, I'd be happy to make a few bucks, right? To make some money. Make money. So Rory is using the second conditional when I had complete mastery of it, when I learnt it, I'd, I would be happy, yeah? To make more money. And another conditional. If I don't get to grips with it. If I don't get to grips with it, it's possible. So we're using the first conditional and get to grips with it. What does it mean?

R: Oh, to get to grips with is just... It's when you get to grips with something. That's not a good explanation. When you get to grips with it, you begin to have a reasonable understanding of how something works.

M: So get the hang of it, get to grips with it, be good at something, understand how it works.

R: All of these to do with learning and understanding.

M: Sweet. Rory, what helped you organise your answer?

R: I use the prompt again, but instead of saying something I would like to learn in the future would be. I said instead that I'm on a mission. So currently I'm looking at this goal and then to do something. So that's how to start off. And then I delved into more detail about it. So basically the idea behind it is and that's like describing what it is and then talking about how I would like to learn it. Instead, I changed that to when it comes to the learning process behind it. So when it comes to and then what the next thing is. Why I would like to learn it? I think I went into a bit more detail about it, talking about the kind of money that you could make from it. And then explaining whether I think it's difficult or not to learn, how I don't have the skill to do... Like to get this complete mastery, but I could probably make a little bit of money and it's okay. So you don't have to say, oh, it's going to be impossible or it's going to be really easy. You can talk about how some parts will be easy and some parts will be difficult. And then I rounded off by talking about if I don't learn it in its entirety or if I don't understand it completely, then it's not such a big deal.

M: Sweet. What else can we talk about here? Describe something you'd like to learn in the future. I think English would be... English, another language or Italian?

R: Yeah.

M: You know.

R: Have we talked about learning languages before?

M: Yeah. Yeah. Or again, driving might be... But driving is difficult in terms of vocabulary, dear listener, yeah? So maybe you want to lie. Yeah, to tell a lie here. So choose an activity which is easy to talk about. Driving does require certain vocabulary that you may not know about a car, about driving, about different like changing gears, driving instructor. Yeah, so all this jazz. Sweet. So I'd go with any language. Maybe like Italian. Even if you don't want to learn Italian or cooking, yeah? Something much easier. But still, you can use the synonyms that we've given you. Like to get the hang of it. To get to grips with it, yeah? And some adjectives. Thank you very much for listening! And we'll come back to you in speaking part three where we talk about learning in general. Bye!

R: Bye!

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