Maria: Are you a patient person?

Rory: I mean, I like to think so, yes, I'm generally pretty good at managing my emotions when people aren't doing what they should be. Of course, I'm not perfect. It's harder some times compared to others, like when I'm in a rush, then I'm probably less likely to have time for people.

Maria: Are you more patient now than you were when you were a child?

Rory: Yeah, I certainly think so. I feel like kids in general tend to need instant gratification. And it was no different when I was younger. Now that I've had a bit more life experience and cognitive development, it's definitely easier to hold myself in check.

Maria: Does your job require you to be patient?

Rory: I'd say it requires more patience on the part of my students than for me personally. My job is to find things that work for them. So if something doesn't work, it's easy for me to find alternatives. But for them, it could be quite a frustrating experience, especially to experience failure, since it's an investment of their time and money, and they want to do well.

Maria: How do you feel when you have to do something for a long time?

Rory: Well, I suppose that's contingent on what I have to do, really. If it's something I like, such as reading, then I don't really have a problem getting on with it. But if it's something I think is quite dull or pointless, then I get put off pretty quickly. And it's very evident that my heart just isn't in it.

Maria: What is it that makes you feel impatient?

Rory: Well, generally, when people waste my time, or rather when they can be perceived as wasting it, I have a lot to do in my life, and I don't like sitting around doing nothing if it can be helped. So when people get cavalier with my time, I tend to get annoyed fairly quickly.

Maria: So, dear listeners, patient. Patient is an adjective, and this means that you have the ability to wait or suffer without complaining or becoming annoyed, or to continue doing something despite the difficulties. For example, you get stuck in a traffic jam and then like, oh, like I hate it, I'm getting annoyed, like, oh, you should be patient, you know... So, we are patient with people, you should be patient with her, or like the opposite, what's the opposite, if you are not patient?

Rory: Impatient.

Maria: Yeah, impatient, so I'm impatient with small children. And here you can say, I'm a patient person overall, or I'm generally pretty good at being patient. Or here we're talking about managing your emotions, anger, anxiety, these are our emotions. You can say, I'm pretty good at managing my emotions, or I'm not good at managing my emotions.

Rory: I always think it depends on the time of day and the situation. Oh, in fact, I remember reading about this. They did a study with federal judges in America, and if they did not eat before they gave sentences to criminals, then the sentences were much harder.

Maria: Oh, yeah.

Rory: So, this just goes to show, being hangry is a real thing, so if you want to be patient, then you should definitely avoid being hungry when you have to make decisions.

Maria: Yeah, it's like hangry, to be angry and hungry. Yeah, no, no, not a good combination. When I'm in a rush, when I have to do something really quickly, I'm rushing about, like, oh, I don't have time, this, so when I'm in a rush, I usually get really impatient. You remember that when the examiner asks you something about your childhood, you say, I used to. So, I used to be a very patient child, or a super impatient child. I really enjoyed how you said it. Now, I've had more life experience, and I've had more cognitive development. Nice. What do you mean, cognitive development? Have you developed cognitively?

Rory: Yes. So, you have patterns of thought in your head that you've created over time and through experience that allow you to cope with situations much better than before.

Maria: Yeah. How effective they are is a matter of opinion. And now it's easier for me to hold myself in check.

Rory: That just means to have control over yourself and your emotions.

Maria: So, hold something in check, or hold myself in check. For example, I've learned to keep my temper in check. Like, temper, like how angry I can get. My job requires me to be patient, or doesn't require me to be patient. So, it requires, like, I have to be patient. And sometimes it could be quite frustrating.

Rory: So, when you're frustrated, you're trying to do something, but you're failing to do it.

Maria: Yeah, it's actually C1.

Rory: Oh my gosh. Okay, I was thinking that would be like B2, band 6.

Maria: No, no, no, C1 would, yeah. So, making you feel annoyed. Like, my job could be frustrating. It makes me feel annoyed, less confident. I can't achieve it. Like, I'm trying and trying to get a band 8 for writing, and I can't do it. So, it's really frustrating. So, I could get impatient, or like, usually I get impatient when I'm frustrated or something is frustrating. Being patient, or having patience, means being able to wait calmly in the face of frustration. And when you have to wait for something for a long time, when you do certain activities which take a long time, you should be patient, ideally. And that's why the question is, like, about activities, what you do for a long time, like, what's going on. And here Rory says: That's contingent on what I have to do. Meaning, that depends on what I have to do. That's contingent.

Rory: Surely, that's got to be a C2 level expression.

Maria: Contingent. No, it doesn't say. Nothing about the level, according to the Cambridge Online Dictionary, sorry. But yeah, it's a less commonly used word. It's pretty formal, dear listener. It's contingent on. It's formal. Or upon.

Rory: I'm going to say that it's C2, because I think I said it during my exam.

Maria: Sweet. Yeah, like, it's contingent on the weather. It depends on the weather. Yeah, but formal, formal. Usually, in natural speaking, native speakers don't use it. I don't know, like, Rory, do your friends use it? You're watching a film, and then, like, your friend goes, like, Yeah, you know, it's contingent on what he'll do next in the movie. No, they don't do this, right?

Rory: Well, I suppose it depends on what we're talking about. If it's like a logically structured argument, then you're more likely to use the word contingent. Depends on how often you have logically structured arguments with your friends.

Maria: Yeah, but again, like, a logically structured argument is kind of something more formal rather than just a simple chat about a movie.

Rory: Yeah.

Maria: If it's like reading, I don't have a problem getting on with it. So, I don't have a problem getting on with reading. So, doing the reading. But if it's something dull, dull like boring or pointless, I get put off quickly. So,зut someone off means to take someone's attention away from what they want to be doing. So, nothing will put me off this TV show. So, I will watch it no matter what. But if you get put off something, then kind of your attention focuses on something else. Or kind of like, it can also mean to make someone dislike something. For example, this smell, a disgusting smell, puts me off, like, I don't like it. Or this person puts me off. Or you have to work long hours and that puts off a lot of people. So, they don't like it, they feel discouraged. And here we can say that if I do something dull or pointless, I get put off quickly. So, I'm like impatient. I get impatient really quickly. You can also say that good things really do come to those who wait. So, that's about patience. Meaning that, if we are good at waiting, if we wait, then, like, goodies of life will come to us. So, to be patient, and to be able to wait patiently, actually, “patiently” as an adverb. So, good things really do come to those who wait, to people who wait. I try to be a patient person. And, Rory, do you know, like, what the benefits of patience are? Why is it good to be patient?

Rory: That's a very good question. Can you tell me, please?

Maria: Yes, of course. It's mindful.org. Okay? The benefits of being a patient person. Dear listener, for you, from Maria. So, patience supports our mental health. Patience helps reach personal goals. And patience is linked to hopefulness and a positive outlook. You can say that I've got interpersonal patience. Interpersonal. Meaning, like, when you meet annoying people, you kind of, you treat them with, in a calm way.

Rory: Is there anything about the benefits of being impatient there?

Maria: No, no.

Rory: Yes, it's interesting. I wonder if there are some benefits to being impatient. For example, if you're impatient, people might be more likely to help you. Because they're like, oh my God, I don't want this person's mood to get worse. This depends entirely on the kind of person you are, of course. You might not feel very good about it.

Maria: Impatience can be a motivator, driving you to action and helping you prioritise what's truly important. Okay, people. Three unexpected reasons why being impatient can be good for you. So, fastcompany.com. There you go. You can Google this article. Pretty interesting stuff. Okay. Yeah, and they also write about being frustrated, being angry, being stressed, or anxious. So, a focus on efficiency. So, impatient people have a focus on efficiency. Action-orientated. You can say that my impatience helped me to be action-oriented. Nice. Yeah, and they have some research. Motivation. Impatience can be motivating. There you go. And perseverance. Rory, what's perseverance? A nice word.

Rory: Isn't perseverance just continuing despite difficult conditions? I realised it there just as we were talking. We talked a lot about patience and the vocabulary connected to that today. But a more general point I'd like to add, this is just based on my own experience with the exam, is when I said in my answer to the last question “...or rather, when they can perceive or whether people can be perceived as wasting time”. This is something I talked about in my exam because my examiner asked me why people are more focused on having a work-life balance. And I said, well, I think they've always been concerned with this actually. And she argued with me and said: Yes, but they're more focused on it now, aren't they? And I said, no, I think it's just the perception that is in the media. It's not really a thing. So there you go. You can also talk about not what is the case, but also how things are perceived as well.

Maria: Dear listener, please don't argue with the examiner. OK, like Rory can pull it off. He's educated. He's been with IELTS for a long time. But please, dear listener, choose neutral things. The most obvious ideas, perhaps.

Rory: You can talk about how things are perceived, though…

Maria: Don't argue with the examiner. If you see that the examiner is not happy and if they're raising their eyebrows, like looking at you as if you are an alien, you know, like this… Changed the topic.

Rory: Well, I think she was more entertained by the idea than anything else, because… Yeah, we were laughing throughout the whole thing because it was just ridiculous.

Maria: Oh, OK. All right. OK, yeah, that's important to mention. All right. Yes. Then it's OK. Yeah. But if, dear listener, you are sitting there and the examiner is kind of looking at you like, oh, what? What are you telling me? Interesting, Rory. Very interesting. You were laughing. You were cracking jokes. You were kind of bombarding the examiner with your bad nine ideas. Wow.

Rory: Well, I don't think we crack jokes. I just think we were laughing about it because I was asked different things, and some of the things were just very strange. But this is one that I thought would be very relevant to this particular episode, because how things are perceived to be or what we think they are like is not always what they are.

Maria: Thank you very much for listening. And we'll get back to you in our next episode. Bye.

Rory: Bye.

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