M: What's your favourite colour?

R: I really like dark blue, kind of like the colour I'm wearing now, actually. And in fact, I like it so much, I had my bedroom painted dark blue. Specifically, it's called Oxford blue. And it's, well, at least I think it's quite calming, which is important for a bedroom.

M: Are there any colours that have a special meaning in your culture?

R: Well, many people wear their football team colours, for example. So they're like the same colour as the uniform the players wear. And this can sometimes have religious connotations. And our national colors, I think are pale blue and white, or yellow and red. So these colors also have some significance for people in my country when they represent themselves and their nation abroad.

M: What colour of clothes do you wear?

R: Uh, well, I usually wear the same colours all the time. So a dark shirt and jeans and white socks. I think I just like to keep it regular. However, obviously today I'm dressed quite differently because I've got this checked shirt on, even though it's still keeping the dark colour motif on the go. And I've added a little bit of colour with my bracelet as well.

M: Are there any colours you dislike?

R: I'm not a huge fan of acid or, what do you call it, fluorescent colours, yes. I mean, outside of the highlighter pens that you usually see them on. I just think they're a bit garish and over the top. And usually, they just clash with the colours around them. I personally prefer something a bit understated, kind of like the black that I'm wearing now, or the black and red tie that I have.

M: What are the most popular colours in your country?

R: Well, I think that will vary by region and season for some of the reasons that I already mentioned. I mean, for example, in the summer, there are the summer fashion trends. And I don't think they're different from many Western countries, to be honest with you. And there's also the winter fashion. And then on top of that, if you are living further north, you'll probably want to wear darker colours because they keep the heat in more effectively. Allegedly, this is just something that one of my teachers used to say.

M: Dear listener, always remember that colours speak louder than words. Which means that colours do affect us, affect our mood, our, I don't know, everything. So colours speak louder than words. I think this is like a proverb, like an idiom thing.

R: Well, they're certainly affecting my mood because I've changed my costume several times in this episode, but if you're listening to us, then you will not see the full effect. So you'll have to find us on YouTube and have a look for yourself.

M: Dark blue, okay? You can also call it Oxford blue, is this nice blue colour, which is very calming. It calms you down. Okay? So I really love Oxford blue or like dark blue. I had my bedroom painted dark blue. Or you can say I had my bathroom painted white. Okay? I had my flat painted red. Oh, a red room.

R: Oh, God, if you had a red apartment or a red bedroom then you would probably go wild.

M: Yeah, can you imagine?

R: However, I should point out that Oxford blue is not the only kind of dark blue. There are other kinds as well. As I discovered when I was getting my house painted I was presented with about 3 million options. When I asked a very simple question, which was, can I just have dark blue, please? And I eventually decided on Oxford blue, because I just liked that name. And the tone seemed nice.

M: You can also say I enjoy indigo. Indigo is the name of a colour which is kind of deep rich blue. So just Google Indigo, and take a look at the photos.

R: Which shade though? There are like 300 of them.

M: Oh, yeah, but like for the IELTS purposes, you can say, oh, yeah, I like Oxford blue, indigo. And also you can say like bluish. You know? It's like a pinkish-orange colour. Kind of, it's not white, but it's kind of like whitish, pinkish. Okay? And also, dear listener, did you know that blue is the most common colour around the world? So kind of like most people enjoy blue. Like, according to Google...

R: So for once I'm fitting in with other people by liking dark blue. I'm gonna go and put on my dark blue shirt again then to fit in.

M: So blue is the most common favourite colour. Okay? And purple is like the second one. Okay? So most people enjoy purple or blue. Let us know in the comments. What are your favourite colours? But don't be boring, dear listener. Don't go like, oh, yellow, orange. So kind of like indigo. Okay? Pinkish orange. Like salmon. All right? Turquoise. So don't go like white, blue, or green. So pick one name for like a nice color. Turquoise. And use it in your speaking test if they ask you questions about colours, okay? Colours could have a special meaning in your culture. Okay? So for example, colors could have a special meaning in your culture. For example, different colours can have a religious connotation, dear listener. So connotation meaning?

R: It's the idea that... Well, it's the idea that people think of whenever they see a particular thing. So when people see a particular sequence of colours, they think of the football team, for example, this is in my country among certain groups of people. It's not true all the time.

M: Some people wear the colours of their favourite football team. So specific colours have a like football connotation or a religious connotation. You can also talk about your national colours. National colours. The colours that you have on your flag. Different colours could have some significance, okay? Which is like another synonym of like meaning. So like red is significant in my culture, like it's important in my culture. And then you can give some examples. For example, in China, in my country, red means good fortune. For example, in Western cultures white is often associated with innocence and purity. But in the East white is associated with death. And you know what? Like Queen Victoria, you know, there was this beautiful Queen Victoria, in England.

R: Maybe not when she died, but when she was older. When she was younger, sorry.

M: So Queen Victoria started this white wedding dress tradition. So Queen Victoria started the white wedding gown tradition. Did you know that?

R: No, I had no idea. That's weird.

M: Yeah. Also, you can say red is a universal colour of life, of, I don't know, passion. It is associated with fire desire and aggression, but not in all cultures. The question is, what colour of clothes do you wear? So the colour of the clothes. And you can say that I wear blue, I wear yellow. And Rory, our simple Rory enjoys darker colours. So I usually wear a black shirt and white socks, Rory keeps it regular. So if you keep it regular, you kind of wear black every day, and every day and black again and black and even more.

R: I'm not doing a very good job for this episode, though, because I wore lots of different colours and even at the start I was wearing blue. But I hope people noticed that if you're asked to comment about the clothes that you wear, you could gesture to your clothes as well and use them as a kind of prop. We talked about this in the last episode, but it would be good to mention it again because it could be useful in the exam.

M: Rory, you told us about like dark color motif on the go. So what was it?

R: Well, a motif is like a recurring idea or something that repeats in design, it's usually used to talk about patterns. Of course, if you're just wearing the same solid colour, you don't really have a pattern. But the motif for my outfits, the recurring theme would be dark colours, mostly. Obviously, you can see from today's episode that I don't always have this dark motif on the go. And by on the go, I mean, just continuing throughout my life, but it is something that comes up very regularly.

M: And you say motif, you don't say motif. Because usually we say kind of like, motif, a reason for doing something. Like a motif for something, right? But here it's like a motif.

R: Yes, it's motif. But motif, yes, the reason that you do something is also a word. It just has a different pronunciation.

M: Yeah. Could you give us an example with this motif thing?

R: Well, what would the motif for my studio right now be? Minimalist, probably, because you can see everything and there's not much fancy design around.

M: So a motif, a pattern or design for example, like a flower motif, you know? Like, oh, what, what walls should I choose? Like, oh, with a flower motif.

R: I don't think I would ever do that.

M: You can say that darker colours look good on me. Or whiter colours, brighter colours look good on me. An interesting fact, Rory, did you know that yellow and red together make you hungry? Yum, yum, yum. You want food.

R: Do they?

M: Yes. Even when thinking about like yellow and red, I'm already getting hungry. And you know what? Fast food chains like McDonald's, and KFC, figured this out. That's why, dear listener, okay/ They use yellow and red in their restaurants, in their advertising and branding. So I'm already kind of hungry. Yeah. Yellow and red make you hungry.

R: I had no idea and I assume that we're being paid by McDonald's to advertise this fact for them. Thank you, McDonald's! Send us money!

M: And also, dear listener, wearing black makes you appear more powerful. Okay? So maybe in your speaking test, you should wear black. Black? You know, like, the powerful suit black, the little black dress, Coco Chanel, remember? Also like black graduation gowns. All right? And the judge. What does the judge wear?

R: Black.

M: Exactly. Black. Our Rory enjoys black. Now you know why, dear listener. Ahh, Rory?

R: It's not because of anything connected to power. It's all because I'm just really lazy and black looks good with everything. It's nothing to do with appearing powerful. Quite the opposite in fact.

M: So a black outfit makes you look more powerful, dear listener.

R: Allegedly.

M: I'm not a huge fan of yellow. I'm not a huge fan of green. Right? I dislike it, I can't stand it. I can't stand? I hate. And Rory told us about acid colours. You know, this kind of bright, acid colours. And another one was fluorescent. Fluorescent?

R: Fluorescent are, again, really bright colours. You can see a good example of them with yellow highlighters.

M: Yeah, usually kinda this fluorescent lighting, like really like bright. You know? Light. When we use different pens or highlighters. You know, you write something with a pen and then you highlight it with special pens. Like with bright colours. Fluorescent. I'm not a huge fan of garish colours. Garish? Unpleasantly bright, like too bright, you don't like them. Okay? Like garish shorts. They're too bright.

R: It just shows off too much. And I don't think it looks attractive. However, this is my opinion, if you think you look good in them then good for you. I don't think I look good in them.

M: You can say that bright colours are over the top for me. Like kind of too much, okay? Like acid colours are over the top. Over the top? Like too much for me. I prefer something more understated, you see? Yeah? Understated like this, you know, like, white, like calm.

R: It's subtle like me. I'm very subtle.

M: Subtle. Yeah.

R: That was not subtle.

M: Clash with something. If something clashes with something, kind of it's not convenient. Okay? Something happens at the same time and it's not convenient.

R: They don't really go together. For example, this purple, black and green combination probably doesn't go well together. They clash. However, white on black and, sorry, white on blue and blue on white together might.

M: Okay, we need another sentence.

R: Well, you might say that bright colours like orange and yellow go together. But dark blue and red probably clash with each other because they're polar opposites. Sometimes it can be done effectively, though. For example, black and red tie, I don't think there's too much of a clash there. And even if there is it's effectively done. So just because something clashes, it doesn't make it always a bad thing. In fact, sometimes they can be complimentary, which means they go well together.

M: You can speak about the season. So colours vary from season to season, like summer trends, and winter trends. In winter, people tend to prefer darker colours, because they keep the heat in. Okay? So in summer, like, it's not good to wear black because kind of like it keeps the heat in so you're kind of your heart, right? So in summer, people tend to choose white, like lighter, brighter colours. Okay? Did you know about colour therapy, Rory?

R: I did. I think we've talked about it before.

M: A healing practice that uses colours to promote physical, emotional and mental well-being, okay? So maybe like they put different colours on you and you kind of rub them in and like you feel, I don't know, better. Would you like to try it out? Colour therapy? Dear listener? Let us know. Thank you so much for listening, dear listener! Let us know, like what's your favorite color? But like turquoise, indigo. So be interesting. Okay, dear listener? Let us know in the comments. Check out our premium episode speaking parts two and three, the links are in the description.

R: And today's reflection task is creative. So what we'd like you to do is listen to the questions again, and write your own answers to these in the comments. And we'll be happy to give you some feedback on feedback Friday. Bye!

M: Bye!

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