Chocolate
Do you like eating chocolate? What's your favorite flavor? Did you often eat chocolate when you were a kid? Is it good to give chocolate as gifts to others? Why do you think chocolate is popular around the world?
Vocabulary
  • Sensation (noun) - the ability to feel something physically, especially by touching, or a physical feeling that results from this ability.
  • Aftermath (noun) - the period that follows an unpleasant event or accident, and the effects that it causes.
  • Flavour (noun) - how food or drink tastes, or a particular taste itself.
  • To put someone on the spot (idiom) - if you put someone on the spot, you cause them embarrassment or difficulty by forcing them at that moment to answer a difficult question or make an important decision.
  • Sizeable (adj.) - large.
  • To overindulge (verb) - to allow yourself to have too much of something enjoyable, especially food or drink.
  • To burn something off/up (phrasal verb) - to use or get rid of energy or fat by doing a lot of physical exercises.
  • Hindsight (noun) - the ability to understand an event or situation only after it has happened.
  • Diabetes (noun) - a disease in which the body cannot control the level of sugar in the blood.
  • Diabetic (noun) - a person who has diabetes.
  • Lactose intolerance (noun) - the inability to digest lactose (= a substance in milk).
  • Connoisseur (noun) - a person who knows a lot about and enjoys one of the arts, or food, drink, etc. and can judge quality and skill in that subject.
  • Texture(noun) - the quality of something that can be decided by touch; the degree to which something is rough or smooth, or soft or hard.
  • To get hooked on (someone or something) (idiom) - to become addicted to a particular substance or activity.
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Questions and answers
M: Do you like eating chocolate?

R: I like the sensations that come with eating chocolate, but not necessarily the aftermath of eating as much of it as I would if I could. Although you have to wonder though, is that actually the taste of the chocolate? Or is it all of the sugar that's in it?

M: What's your favourite chocolate flavour?

R: There are different flavours? I had no idea. And, well, now that you've put me on the spot, probably milk chocolates. If I'm having a moment where I don't care about my health. Although I do like dark chocolate and some things, that's quite nice. I have these bars actually sitting next to me that have a higher percentage of cocoa in them than usual. And they taste pretty good. Although I would never eat anything, any kind of chocolate that had fruit in it. For example, like with raisins.

M: Did you often eat chocolate when you were a kid?

R: Well, since I was quite a sizeable child, I would definitely say I overindulged in treats more than just from time to time. Of course, when I was a teenager, I burned all the fat off. So it wasn't so bad. But it's still, in hindsight it wasn't a great idea or a great lifestyle choice at the time.

M: Is it good to give chocolate as gifts to others?

R: Well, I don't see why not, unless they're, well, assuming they're not diabetic or lactose intolerant. Because chocolate's like it's cheap, it's available, it exists in a variety of flavours and forms. So it would definitely be at the top of my list of ideas as a gift for somebody.

M: Why do you think chocolate is popular around the world?

R: Well, it's funny, actually, because I was thinking about it there after that question about whether I liked eating chocolate. And I wondered, is it because of the sugar that's in it? And I think that might actually be what attracts people to it, rather than the, or at least its combination with the chocolate flavour. Although I imagine there are some chocolate connoisseurs out there who would talk about the texture of the chocolate and the different histories that draw people in. But I would probably go back to my original answer and say that it's the sugar that's really getting people hooked on it.
Discussion
M: Yum, yum, yum. How yummy was that, dear listener? So Chocolate. Chocolate is countable or uncountable? So chocolate is good. Chocolate is expensive. There is lots of chocolate, right?

R: But you can also have chocolates, like individual chocolates in a box. I mean, for example... We came prepared for this episode.

M: Ooh...

R: I have a box of chocolates.

M: Yum, yum, yum.

R: From one of my pupils that I teach. So thank you very much! This is coming in extremely handy. So it's made from chocolate, uncountable, but there are chocolates in it. And we were talking about flavours of chocolate and these are actually mint chocolate. Cool mint chocolate.

M: Yeah, so a box of chocolates. And chocolates as individual like little things. Okay? And Rory told us that he likes sensations that come with eating chocolate. Sensations that what you feel. Sensations, like...

M: You have your taste buds, so taste buds that kind of feel the taste... And then, like the sensations which come with eating chocolate, but the aftermath. Aftermath. Math, math.

R: Yes. The aftermath.

M: Of eating chocolate is not really good.

R: It's not great.

M: Yeah. Because of a lot of sugar. Right? You said. And yeah, we can say that chocolate is this forbidden food.

R: Is it?

M: Well, like some people say it's like forbidden and we shouldn't eat chocolate because it makes people overweight. It has a lot of sugar. But I reckon that chocolate is good for us, chocolate is happiness. Dear listener, do you agree?

R: Yeah. Well, chocolate releases endorphins, doesn't it? So that's one of the sensations that you can get when you eat it. And probably it's not really the chocolate that's the problem. It's the people eating too much of it. Put down the chocolate and step away from the cake and you'll be fine.

M: If you eat chocolate in moderation.

R: Yes.

M: In moderation like in, you know, like, not like that...

R: Yeah, like a healthy, a healthy medium, a healthy balance.
M: Yeah, Rory showed us like a box of chocolates. But we have different types of chocolates. Like, for example, I enjoy chocolate truffles. These little, you know, like things, truffles. Or you can say I enjoy hot chocolate. Like a drink, right? Or chocolate milk, or chocolate spread. Nutella. Hey! Rory, do you enjoy Nutella? Spread. You spread on the bread.

R: I don't.

M: Oh, you're not a Nutella person?

R: I would eat it if I had space on it, like in my diet. But I don't, so I just won't. It's nice though.

M: You can also say like, if you like chocolate, you can say that I do have some chocolate cravings. So if I have a craving, craving for chocolate, what is it?

R: Like you really really want something?

M: Like, oh, like I need this, I have a feeling like I need some chocolate, right?

R: It's like an empty hole in your soul that you must fill with the chocolate.

M: Yeah. So have chocolate cravings, or have regular cravings for chocolate. When we discussed flavours. So a flavour, milky flavour or vanilla. But chocolate has... What? We can have dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate.

R: Oh, white chocolate, why didn't I think of that? See, this is the thing, when you're placed on the spot with these questions you can't like sometimes say, like you might have all of this vocabulary in your head, but you don't really know what to say at the time. So I said, oh, you've put me on the spot. So it's not a great piece of vocabulary for talking about chocolate. But it is a great phrase for whenever you're trying to think of something for, well, your exam when you've got a question that's about something you've never really thought about before. I wish I thought about milk chocolate. You put me on the spot. That's not fair.

M: Yeah. So do react to the examiner's question if it's a silly question, or if you know like, oh, wow, you put me on the spot. But unfortunately for a high score, band nine score, you do need specific vocabulary to talk about chocolate and we are giving this to you. So we have milk chocolate, dark chocolate. Rory also mentioned chocolate bars.

R: Yes. Oh, the bars. Yes. Now, in the real exam, you won't have the bar sitting next to you. But I had this one here. So these are the bars I was talking about. They're called naked bars. It's funny because I was talking about not having any fruit in it. But this one has raw fruit and nuts. But it's got so much cocoa in it that it doesn't actually taste like it's got the fruit in it.

M: What do you call it? A naked bar?

R: A naked bar. I think it just means that it's not made with anything... So here it's made with dates, cashews, raisins, cocoa and orange oil. And that's all.
M: Sweet. Yeah. We can say that some types of chocolates have a high percentage of cocoa. Cocoa? Cocoa beans. For example, 75% of cocoa beans, the chocolate will be bitter. And you can say that I like dark chocolate, or bittersweet chocolate or bitter chocolate, milk, white chocolate. There are also different types. And also you could say organic chocolate. Organic like made in an organic way with organic cocoa beans.

R: This is so unfair. I didn't have the chance to think of any of these things.

M: We're thinking about them now

R: I know, but I need more time.

M: That's fine. That's okay. Um, and when we talk about different types of chocolate, dear listener, I have a joke, I have a chocolate joke.

R: Oh, good, another joke. Fantastic. I can't wait to hear.

M: Okay, you're ready? So...

R: No!

M: What type... Rory, just, you listen, okay?

R: I don't want to listen.

M: Jokes on this podcast are not an option. I just give you jokes, you just...

R: You give me jokes and I put up with it.

M: It's like in the IELTS test, the examiner asks you questions, like you can't do anything about it. Right? So the same here. Jokes like, yeah, they're part of this podcast. So a chocolate joke. What type of chocolate do they sell at the airport? Plain chocolate. Plain chocolate. Dear listener, did you get it? Plain chocolate is just only chocolate. There are no nuts. No feelings. It's just like chocolate. You know? No raisins. No fruits. Plain chocolate. What else can be plain, Rory?

R: You're plain crazy.

M: Oh, Rory, you were a sizable kid. A sizable like...

R: Sizable is just a really really nice way of saying that. I was very very fat when I was a child.

M: Yeah. Wow. So like, I used to be a sizable child. And we can also say that we indulge in chocolate. So I enjoy indulging in chocolate or I indulge in chocolate.

R: But if you eat too much, then you overindulge. Like I did.

M: Yeah, like work - overwork. Indulge - overindulge. In chocolate, which is not a good thing. Oh, you didn't say chocolate. You said treats.
R: Same thing. They're just stuffed with sugar in it. It's all chocolate is these days. Most of the time I should say.

M: So I overindulged in treats. Like chocolate treats because it's a treat, like sweets, treats, you know? Or you can say like, I indulge in chocolate treats once in a while. Yum, yum, yum. And then Rory burnt it all off. He burned the fat off. Fat...

R: Because I grew up. And then the second time I didn't grow up, I joined a gym and got a life.

M: Yeah, a life of microwaved eggs. Tuna at freaking 5 am in the morning.

R: What 5 am in the morning? A life of waking up at 5 am in the morning. Like but I don't, I don't cook eggs at that time in the morning. It's just the protein shake.

M: Oh, good. Good for you. Good for you. He just microwaves eggs later in the evening. Oh my god. Okay. Yeah, so you can burn the fat off. So you can say okay, I enjoy eating some chocolates or I indulge in chocolate treats and then I burn it all off in a gym. Chocolate as gifts or presents. The gift question is a typical IELTS question. So, oh, do you usually give it as a gift? So this is like about jewellery, about chocolates, about flowers, T-shirts, like pens. Let's talk about pens. Do you usually give a pen as a gift? Let's talk about chairs. Would you give a chair as a gift? You used a lot of interesting words here, like lactose, intolerant, diabetic.

R: Well, you wouldn't give chocolate, well, you wouldn't give chocolate with sugar in it, which is what most chocolate is. You wouldn't give that to somebody who would die if they ate it.

M: We don't usually give chocolate to people who are diabetic, who have diabetes, right? So this disease. And also to those who are lactose intolerant. But we do give chocolates to chocoholics, and you can say oh, I'm a little bit of a chocoholic. Like a shopaholic, alcoholic, "podcastaholic". "Rorycaholic". "Rorycaholic"...

R: That would be a really unfortunate disability to have.

M: I'm so fond of Rory, I'm a "Rorycaholic". Anyway, chocolate is popular all over the world. And Rory mentioned connoisseur. This is a nice French word. Connoisseur.

R: And I'm going to really oversimplify it. So a connoisseur is like an expert in the taste of something. Wine connoisseur, chocolate connoisseur.

M: Podcast connoisseur. You are our podcast connoisseurs because you are listening to this quality podcast.

R: Because you know that ours is the most quality of IELTS podcasts. There is no need for anything else. Just this. This is fine.

M: Connoisseurs talk about different textures of chocolate. Chocolate textures. And histories.

R: But the texture is just how it feels when you're eating it. Really oversimplifying it there.

M: And histories of chocolates can draw people in. So if people are drawn to something or like chocolate draws people in?

R: They're attracted to it.

M: Rory, you've used a nice linking phrase. Like I said. Like I said, blah, blah, blah. And we know that in speaking, our linking phrases should be natural. There should be informal. And they should be like, well, correctly and well used. So like I said. When do we usually use this phrase?

R: Well, when we're referring back to something we've said before. Specifically when you're in an IELTS exam, and they keep asking you the same question, which you will see in the episode about jewellery.

M: Do you like chocolate? No, not really.

R: Do you like chocolate? How would you like your chocolate? How often do you like chocolate? Do you like chocolate now?
M: Yeah, so to refer to something that you've already said, you can say, like I said, I'm not really into chocolate. But my friends are all chocoholics. Like I said, I prefer dark chocolate because it has antioxidants. Antioxidants.

R: Yes. But the thing is, you shouldn't have too many antioxidants. Do you know what they are? And you know, what they do?

M: They improve my brain function?

R: Oh, my God. Right. No. Okay. Quick science lesson for people. Right. So there are antioxidants. And what antioxidants do is that the inhibit the movement of something called free radicals. These are particles that move around and damage cells, which sounds great. So it sounds like you should have as many antioxidants as possible to keep you like young and healthy. However, your body actually uses these things called free radicals to blow away things like cancer cells. In addition, it can damage your regular cells, but they're used by your body for a purpose. So if you have a whole lot of antioxidants floating around your system, you have fewer free radicals floating around, and that can really reduce your lifespan. So just because something has antioxidants in it doesn't mean it's automatically good for you.

M: Yeah, I'm not saying like you should eat chocolate every day.

R: I know. But people do say that. And they're like, oh, have all the antioxidants. No.

M: No. Okay. No, no. Okay. Okay, interesting. Yeah. Also, you know, I've been thinking about this film, which is called "Chocolat". 2000, yeah, 2000. Yeah. With this Johnny Depp. Have you ever seen it? "Chocolat", film.

R: I think I saw it about 20 years ago.

M: That's a nice film and based on a book by John Harris. So, dear listener, you can, you know, like, if you get inspired by this episode, and you want to feel and like watch some "chocolatey" films, so yeah, "Chocolat" with Johny Depp is a nice one for you. Rory, if you were chocolate, what kind of chocolate would you be? I would be a hot chocolate fountain.

R: That's not a kind of chocolate. That's a form of chocolate.

M: Okay, like what form of chocolate would you be? So I would be a hot chocolate fountain. You know, dear listener, they have this huge fountain... And fruits and you can just take some fruits or some nuts and just like plunge a strawberry into this hot chocolate.

R: I would be caramel chocolate because I am super sweet.

M: Oh, cute.

R: That's a lie, but...

M: Dear listener, could you write in the chat?

R: What kind of chocolate would you be?

M: Yeah. If you were chocolate, what form, what kind of chocolate, what flavour of chocolate would you be? Could you let us know? Yes. And just write some comments about your relationship with chocolate. Are you a chocoholic? Do you feed your soul with chocolate?

R: And hopefully you've enjoyed our mouthwatering vocabulary and grammar for a high score.

M: Thank you very much for listening! We love you! So stay "chocohappy" and we'll see you in our next videos! Bye!

R: Give me that chocolate! Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom...
Get exclusive episodes on IELTS Speaking parts 1, 2, and 3
Get exclusive episodes on IELTS Speaking parts 1, 2, and 3
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