📕 Part 1: Discussions

This episode's vocabulary

Blether (noun) -#nbsp;long-winded talk with no real substance.

To think up (phrasal verb) - to use one's mind to form or invent (something).

To enjoy the ride (phrase) - means to simply enjoy something which is about to unfold.

Side effect (noun) - any additional result that you did not expect or want

Gregarious (adj.) - a gregarious person enjoys being with other people.

Revelatory (adj.) - providing information that was previously secret, hidden, or not known

To go on a rant (phrase) - to utter (something) in loud, violent, or bombastic tones.

To begrudge (verb) - to feel unhappy about spending money on something or spending time doing something.

-

Questions and Answers

Maria: Rory, what do you like to talk about?

Rory: Oh god... I could have a blether about anything, really. I'm actually interested in what other people have to say about different things, so all I need to do is think up the questions and then enjoy the ride of the conversation.

Maria: How often do you talk to people on different topics.

Rory: Oh God. I think probably every day. So if you think about being an English teacher in general, you speak to people about different topics because they need to learn the vocabulary and grammar connected to it, but and also just in my personal life... Like, I was speaking to someone the other day about how they teach chemistry online for example and another person was talking to me about playing board games. So it's a side effect of both my job and being quite gregarious and curious about other people, I guess.#nbsp;

Maria: Who do usually have discussions with?

Rory: Oh, everybody! I like talking to strangers as much as I like talking to my friends, actually! However, usually people prefer to talk to their friends and definitely I prefer my friends. So usually it's them and we're forever having discussions about different things: how to live what's happening in our lives what the next move should be. There are rarely any, I don't know, revelatory conclusions, but I think it helps people along and it certainly sustains the friendship.

Maria: Have your discussion topics changed since you were a child?

Rory: Well in some ways yes but in other ways they remain rather static, I suppose. For example, I still talk about things that I like but the things I like have changed, so I never used to speak about future plans for having a family, for example... If we compare this to when I was a teenager then I suppose few teenagers do like to have these discussions... But now it's probably one of the things that I talk about the most.

Maria: Do you often change your opinions?

Rory: Well I try to be as open to new information as much as possible and sometimes I realize that I'm going on a bit of a mindless rant about nothing as opposed to expressing a real opinion. On the other hand, I can be quite conservative, so change is often rather difficult for me, even if it's just a change of opinion. I think there has been some growth in this area of opinion changing however begrudging.

Maria: Do you prefer to talk or to listen?

Rory: Well, it's easy for me to talk about myself for hours on end, but I understand that most people prefer not to hear someone natter away like that. So I'm trying to change my initial preference to that of listening more. I think people prefer being listened to rather than doing the listening if we speak generally, and the same is true of me but I'm trying to change that.