M: What things are boring to you?

R: Well, I really hate it when people just drone on and on in a conversation. Like especially if they're talking about something I've lost interest in, or never had any interest in to begin with. Or if they just won't give up their turn in the conversation. You know, when somebody just goes on and on and on and you just have to sit there and listen and wait for them to stop. Because if you did stop them, then you would be a bit rude.

M: What do you do when you feel bored?

R: Well, I'm trying to get better at living in the moment and just feeling my feelings, and dealing with them and coping with them as they come to me. But even I will admit that it's far too easy for me to just use my phone as a crutch. And whenever I get even a little bit bored, I just sit on my phone and open up a video on YouTube or a Reel on Instagram, and distract myself. It's just far too easy to open up a video and do that, rather than just deal with the emotion, to be honest with you.

M: Do you think school is boring?

R: Well, I just finished reading a book about this. And the author was saying that the two predominantly negative emotions in school are the sense of fear and a sense of boredom. And I happen to agree with that. Because when I was at school, I was frequently bored out of my mind. And when you think about it, that's not surprising that's such a common experience, because a lot of schooling is just someone else trying to get you to follow their plan, rather than you picking the plan that you want to have and want to follow up.

M: Do you feel more bored now than when you were younger?

R: God, I'm not sure how to measure that, really. I mean, on the one hand, I have more choices than I used to. And I have more control over those choices and when to take advantage of them. But on the other hand, there is not nearly as much novelty in discovering new things as there was. So I don't know. I think I'd have to think about it more really. I suppose the obvious answer is to say that I'm more bored or I was more bored in the past. Because, I mean, you're bound to be more bored when you have fewer things to do. But I have no idea really. Sorry, I can't give you a straight answer about that one. And I've just bored you to death with the answer.

M: I've yawned three times, dear listener.

R: Because Maria is bored out of her mind, which is just another way to say you're really bored.

M: Life can't be all fun and games all the time. So kind of life is not fun all the time. So sometimes we can get bored.

R: I've been having a lot of fun with binomials recently. And binomials are these phrases like fish and chips, push and shove. And here fun and games.

M: And what does it mean?

R: So fun and games is just a collective term for describing, well, enjoyable activities, or things that you like to do.

M: Work is not always fun and games.

R: Unless you do our job, then it is always fun and games.

M: Yeah, or can I say like school is not always fun and games.

R: Unless you take classes with me or Maria, in which case it is always fun and games.

M: No, not always. My classes - no. They're super serious, focused fun.

R: Oh, well, mine are really good fun. So check out the link in the description and sign up.

M: I can run out of things to do. So I don't have anything to do. So like no more things to do. I can run out of things to do or I get bored when I have run out of things to do. Yeah? Run out of something? There's nothing left. Okay? So usually, we use it for different like food. Ooh, I've run out of sugar. So there's no sugar in my kitchen.

R: There are no fun things to do anymore.

M: Yeah, like no more fun things to do, when I've run out of things to do, I usually get bored. I just have to sit and wait.

R: Oh, is it another binomial? Fun and games, sit and wait. Oh, yes, it's almost like I've planned it out this way. So that I can encourage people to do this better.

M: You can say that I'm completely bored when people... Or I feel completely bored when I have to sit and wait. Or you can say I get sick and tired. Sick and tired, you know? Like I'm tired of this. I'm bored. Also, can I say that I am disinterested in this topic?

R: I mean, disinterest is more like a lack of feeling. Uninterested would be not to have an interest in something.

M: So it's not the same as getting bored.

R: No, no, they're, they're, I mean, they could be related, but they're not necessarily related. But they are fun. Like classes with Rory.

M: I hate it when people drone on at lengths. So to drone on about something is to talk for a long time in a boring way. You know? Like, for example, a professor could drone on about space. Boring, it's dull, it's boring. Or, for example, like, oh, Rory was droning on and on about science, and we kind of like, oh, my God. So to drone on and on about something. Yeah? So I usually feel bored when my friends drone on and on about, I don't know, famous people, or kind of I lose interest?

R: Well, it's boring when people drone on and on about themselves and their problems, and you just either didn't have an interest to begin with, or you lose interest. Because when people complain all of the time, it is very boring.

M: Yeah, I feel bored when people complain all the time, or if they go on and on about, I don't know their problem. So go on and on. Or if they won't give up their turn in the conversation. So to give up their turn is kind of like to stop talking. And like you talk and then I talk and then you talk. It's kind of a usual conversation is like ping pong. But if people just go on and on and they don't give up their turn for you to speak. Yeah? So it's kind of like it's really dull. Monotonous, you can say monotonous. The same thing, talk on and on about this. Or it could get tedious, which is another synonym for boring. Like a tedious conversation. A boring conversation

R: Is turn a band nine word?

M: Oh, like my turn in a conversation?

R: Yeah. My turn in the conversation. That should be a band 9 word and give up is a phrasal verb.

M: Yeah, for example, when you say kind of like it's your turn. Kind of you speak now. Okay? Then it's my turn. But some people just like, keep droning on and on, complaining, boring. Other things which are quite tedious, according to Google, dear listener. And Google is always correct. Okay? So being on hold. So when you call a bank, or you call, I don't know, an airline company and you are on hold. Please, your call is very important to us. Just wait. Yeah? And you kind of like sit in there waiting. Or getting stuck in traffic. When you get stuck in traffic? When you are in a traffic jam. It's really tedious. Or when you queue in a bank. So queueing up. Yeah? Standing in a line could be really boring, dull, tedious, or, for example, tidying up your flat. Can I say I'm bored out of my mind?

R: I love that expression. That's one of my favorite ones actually. And as talking about favourite expressions, you might have noticed that I used my old favourite, doesn't everyone answer the question?

M: If the examiner asks you, do you ever get bored? You can answer back doesn't everyone?

R: And not just because it's a question. And it's a good chance to use this kind of intonation with the question structure. It's also a way to stop yourself from repeating the question in your answer. Because what was the question again, Maria?

M: Do you ever get bored?

R: And then you might repeat some parts of the question in your answer like saying, I get bored when or yes, I get bored when. And that's not really very natural. So in order to avoid doing that, and bring up the level of the answer that you give, try this instead.

M: I'm trying to feel my feelings. Rory, what's this? Feel my feelings? Ah? Are you like a Buddhist monk? Like, feel my feelings. Like touch my touch. Like face my face.

R: Feel my feelings as an expression for just accepting the feeling and not trying to distract yourself from having the feeling. So it's like appreciating things in the moment, living in the moment.

M: So Rory is all mindful now. Okay, dear listener? You know mindfulness? You know being in the moment?

R: Rory is trying to be mindful. But that is difficult to do at 11 o'clock in the morning, when you haven't eaten that much.

M: Are you eating now?

R: No.

M: Yes, you are. Jesus... When I feel bored, I open up a video. So open up a video, okay? To distract myself. Okay? Or I use Instagram, and Facebook, to distract myself and to deal with this emotion. Yeah? Deal with boredom, feel bored and the noun is boredom, my boredom. You can also say when I'm bored out of my mind when I'm completely bored, I do this and that. So like, when I'm bored out of my mind, I try to feel my feelings. School is boring, school is dull. Lessons are tedious and monotonous, you know? Rory told us that there are two main emotions at school, fear and boredom. I'm not sure boredom is an emotion, though, but, well...

R: Really? Well, maybe we could talk about it being an emotional state then. But I should say, this is not what I was directly saying. I was talking about the book I read, which is another fun thing to do. Because you should be reading. Anyway. And so if you've read a book about a related subject, this might be another good way of avoiding repeating the question in your answer, and also showing a more advanced structure at the same time.

M: And if you haven't read any books, you can just lie. Okay? Like I've just read a book about this. Actually no. You see, dear listener? I used to get bored when I was younger. I felt bored when I was younger at school, for example. But now I have more ways to entertain myself, to entertain, like to go to the cinema, to read books to hang out with friends, entertain yourself. But there is now less novelty. Okay? As we grow older and older and older, we're kind of, oh, I've done this, I've been there. Nothing new. So like less novelty, dear listener. Discover things for the first time. So there is less novelty of discovering things for the first time because like you've done a lot of things already. Right, dear listener, hopefully, you didn't get all bored. Let us know in the comments. Three things that are super boring for you. And what do you do when you feel bored? Like I eat, Rory is on Instagram. Okay? So nothing, interesting. So, let us know. Maybe you do some interesting things in your life.

R: That will keep us entertained. And if you want to take your learning to a slightly higher level, then you can always do a reflection task from today. What that task is, I don't know. Oh, yes. It's how would you grade the answers that I gave and why. You can send me a message on Instagram. Or you could leave it in the comments depending on how you are viewing or listening to us.

M: Bye!

R: Bye!

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