📘 Part 3: Old people

This episode's vocabulary

Deaf (adj.) - someone who is deaf is unable to hear anything or is unable to hear very well.

To navigate (verb) - to move or progress through in a logical sequence.

Attention span (noun) - the interval during which an individual can concentrate, as on a single object, idea, or activity.

Counselling (noun) - the job or process of listening to someone and giving them advice about their problems.

To draw on (phrasal verb) - use one's experience, talents, or skills as a resource.

Strong suit (noun) - one's most highly developed characteristic, talent, or skill; forte.

Wisdom (noun) - the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.

To grasp (verb) - to get hold of mentally; comprehend; understand.

Coming down the pipeline (phrase) - something coming in the future.

To enable (verb) - to make able; give power, means, competence or ability to.

Proximity (noun) - nearness in place, time, order, occurrence, or relation; closeness.

The elderly (plural noun) - people of advanced age; old.

Fragmented (adj.) - existing or functioning as though broken into separate parts; disorganized; disunified.

Categorically (adj.) - without exception; unconditionally; absolutely.

Dementia (noun) - a condition characterized by progressive, persistent, severe impairment of intellectual capacity, including memory loss, confusion, and emotional instability, resulting from the loss of or damage to neurons in the brain.

Amenity (noun) - any feature that provides comfort, convenience, or pleasure.

Able-bodied (adj.) - having a strong, healthy body; physically fit.

Questions and Answers

M: What things can young people learn from older people?

R: Well, generally, they tend to know more about how to do practical things for themselves, because they grew up without as much tech as we have now. So younger people could learn how to cook or clean or do the washing without relying on machines.

M: How do people have a conversation with an elderly person?

R: What a question! Probably in the same way they can with just about everybody else, to be honest, assuming the older person isn't deaf or something like that. It's just sit and navigate the topics together, create interest and balance the chat. It's not hard.

M: Why might older people be better at working than young people?

R: I think that will largely depend on the type of work we're on about here. But older people might have better attention spans than younger people. Since they're in decline in younger people. That might make them better at counselling and therapy. They also have more life experience to draw on. But it's got to be the right sort in order for it to be useful in this way.

M; What are the advantages of having people of different ages living in the same house?

R: Well, every generation has that strong suit, doesn't it? Older people have wisdom, younger people can more readily grasp new ideas and technologies coming down the pipeline, and enable older people. And there can be a consistency of tradition smoothly passing and evolving from one generation to the next if they're in close proximity.

M: In your country, how do young people interact with the elderly?

R: Oh, not a great deal outside of their grandparents, to be honest. Some people have an elderly neighbour or a relative they might get on well with but overall, it's just isolated encounters. Communities are a lot more fragmented than they used to be. Which makes things like that more difficult.

M: Has old people's life quality improved compared to the past?

R: Oh, categorically not. They're living longer, but there's an epidemic of loneliness as they get shut away in homes and increasing cases of dementia and other related illnesses. And just the general lack of care, really, it's absolutely pathetic, but not at all surprising.

M: In what situations do old people share the same interests as young people?

R: Oh, God... Well, wherever there's a common interest. They might enjoy the same hobbies or live in similar places with the same amenities. And of course, they share a culture, even if it's constantly evolving. I suppose they might also share similar levels of low empowerment because power is concentrated in the hands of the wealthier and more able-bodied. So the rights of younger people who have less money and older people who are less physically able need to be protected too, just for different reasons.

M: Hey, thank you, Rory!

Discussion

M: So young people or younger people and older people, dear listener. Yeah?

R: Have we talked about younger and older people before?

M: I think so. Yeah, cause these are typical IELTS questions. Okay? About the old and the young. So, yeah. Older people tend to know more about certain things, okay? About practical things. They grew up without as much technology, without as much tech as we have now. Okay? And if we think about like what we had 10 years ago... Ooh-la-la, dear listener, yeah? We didn't have that much technology.

R: We really didn't. It's weird how things have progressed. I'm wearing wireless earbuds talking into an easily accessible microphone. That's weird.

M: I know. Crazy. So it's pretty much all about technology. Yeah? So younger people can learn practical things from older people. Like cooking, cleaning, doing the washing, and fixing things. So things have to be done without machines, without ChatGPT. And then a very stupid question. How do I have a conversation with an old person? And then Rory laughed. It's okay to laugh in the speaking test. Okay, dear listener? Yeah. Not at the examiner, no, you don't laugh at them. No. You just laugh because kind of it's funny. And then you can say, oh, what a question! Wow, what a question! What a strange question! Yeah? So this is like a natural reaction. That's absolutely fine to do.

R: But some of the questions are weird

M:. Yeah, yeah. And then you can say like, probably, in the same way, they can have a conversation with just about anybody. So just about anybody, like everybody. Deaf is an adjective, meaning a person can't hear anything. So an older person could be deaf, they can't hear you. You just sit and navigate the topics together. So navigate, you kind of what, control the topics.

R: Well, you don't control them, but you cover the topics, you talk about them.

M: Yeah. Cover them. And you create interest. And you balance the chat, kind of you ask questions, you answer questions, this is like a normal conversation. About work, you can start, that will* largely depend on the type of work. Okay? So it largely depends on the type of work. And then like older people might have better attention spans, so they can focus for longer periods of time. Young people, like teenagers, for example, well, they usually cannot. And older people might be better at counselling and therapy. Does counselling mean talking during the therapy or just when two friends are talking?

R: Oh, it can mean either. Sometimes counsellor is like a professional, well, position. But other times, it's a personal thing between two people who know each other.

M: Older people have more life experience to draw on. Okay? So this is a nice verb. So older people can draw on their life experiences. And in some professions, it's important.

R: I can't think which now, but it could be, just I don't know enough about older people in the workplace.

M: Maybe like journalists. I don't know. Journalists. Or again therapists, and doctors. Like surgeons, for example. You don't want a young surgeon.

R: Why not?

M: Okay, I have like one year of experience. Hey! No, I wouldn't go to such a person.

R: You might not get the chance, or the choice even to make that sort of decision. I think that would be very difficult.

M: No, but come on dear listener, you would agree, like if kind of you can choose, you will choose like a doctor who has some experience to draw on. Like 10 years, 26 years. Okay? 30 years. Rather than, okay, half a year. Give me your teeth.

R: I don't know. As long as it's a good experience. Well, this is it, you see. People talk about getting experienced teachers, but do they want a teacher who's got 20 years of experience doing the same thing or 20 years of experience doing a variety of things?

M: Yeah, not too much, not too much. We can have people of different ages in the same house. So any advantages? Here we can talk about generation, so like different generations. And Rory told us every generation has its strong suit.

R: Strong suit. Yeah. Something they're good at.

M: Yeah. Older people are good at practical things. They have their life experience to draw on. Younger people are usually good with technology, with like the latest gadgets, you see, so each generation has its strong suit.

R: What's your strong suit?

M: Oh, I have no idea.

R: Teaching. Say teaching. Oh, my God, say teaching.

M: No, I don't think so. Charisma.

R: Is that not part of being a good teacher?

M: Well, it's just part of being a lovely person.

R: Okay, that's good enough for me

M: Older people have wisdom. So they are wise. Okay? They have a good grasp of something. Or like, not they, like young people know about technology, so they have a good grasp of technology.

R: But that just means their understanding of it is very good, though. How to use it.

M: Yeah, or you can use it as a verb. So young people grasp technology. So they understand. Coming down the pipeline. What is this?

R: Coming down the pipeline is just in the future.

M: Yeah. So if something comes down the pipeline, it will appear in the future. And if people are in close proximity, they are close together, they live close together, in one neighbourhood, for example. So it's nice to have relatives in close proximity. Or people live in close proximity.

R: But that just means living in the same space as well, close together, close proximity.

M: Interact or communicate.

R: Is it a choice you're giving me?

M: No, just like synonyms, interact, communicate. Older people or the elderly. And we talk about grandparents, grandmothers. Like an elderly neighbour or an elderly relative, you can have. So people might get on well with an elderly neighbour, and have a good relationship with them. Get on well with, dear listener, okay? There are some communities.

R: However, they're a lot more fragmented, which means separated than they used to be. So they don't work together as often as they used to.

M: Older people's life quality has improved compared to the past, you can say. Again, present perfect, dear listener. So their life has improved. Rory said that not. I think that yes. But also there is loneliness. So there is an epidemic of loneliness. And older people can suffer from loneliness. They get shut away in homes, in special homes for old people. So the elderly could get shut away in special homes. Yeah?

R: And it would be good if that did not happen.

M: And we have a lot of cases of dementia. How do you pronounce this?

R: Dementia.

M: Dementia. Yeah, this illness.

R: Yeah, and related illnesses.

M: And like a general lack of care. Or you can say that their life quality has improved due to technology, and smartphones. Yeah, like everybody is in touch these days. We can compare older people's interests like they have the same interests as young people. Their interests are common, or they have a lot of things in common, or they don't have many things in common. Also, speak about technology here. Yeah? They might enjoy the same hobbies. They might live in similar places with the same amenities. Amenities or facilities. Like the same restaurants, the same gyms, and yoga centres. Cafes, restaurants. They share a culture, they share a similar culture. And they might share similar levels of law, and empowerment.

R: Well, it's just empowerment is the ability to do things and make choices about your life. And I don't think old people have that as much as people in like, in their mid-50s, for example. In the same way, children don't have as many rights as people who are older than them.

M: Sweet. Okay, dear listener, thank you very much for listening! Stay with us! And we'll get back to you in our new episode! Okay?

R: Another empowering episode.

M: Bye!

R: Bye!

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