IELTS Plus: Episode 67 - Pets

Hello and welcome to another episode of the IELTS Plus English podcast. Today we're going to talk about pets. So differently to previous episodes where I've talked about pets and animals, I think I mentioned I had a dog. You may know that, but he's no longer here. He passed away last year at the age of 20. So very healthy, very healthy age, and he did very well. But I can't talk about him as a current pet anymore, but I do have pets.

You know, my parents have pets and my friends have pets. So plenty to talk about. Just my family, we don't have a pet in the house right now. So, a couple of things to talk about to start off today. Firstly, some wonderful vocabulary. We've got some, perhaps, ones you don't know, stray... obedient, playful, lovely adjectives to describe your pets. Very topic specific. And that can be found in the textbook, the IELTS plus total speaking textbook, if I can say it correctly.

And that's on www.britplus.net. So go and pick it up there. That will help. The other thing I want to answer, I had a question recently, and I have this a lot, and I've noticed it a lot. is the question was roughly this. They said in the YouTube comments that they study very hard. They know lots of vocabulary. They feel like their level is pretty high. But when it comes to the exam, the tension and nerves win.

And they end up just making lots of mistakes that they don't normally make. So basically, to summarize, I am too nervous to take the exam. So my score is lower than I should be, I should have. So I want to give you a couple of tips that I give my students. Firstly, I do feel that when you take the exam, if you pay attention, you... Enter the exam. Whether you're on the computer or if you're in person, pay attention to your posture and your demeanor. Demeanor means you're kind of...

The way you seem, the way you hold yourself, if you have a very positive demeanor, then your face is bright, your posture is good. Pay attention to that because... Definitely there's a correlation between going to an exam and you're very crouched and nervous and you're not friendly to the examiner. You've got a bit of a frown because you're nervous. There's a correlation between that and poor performance. And you can slightly overcome that by forcing yourself to...

Have a nice posture, stand up straight, smile at the examiner, say hi, and be happy. I know it's hard, but if you can focus on that a little, it will help. The second... advice that i give um and i hope i can communicate this well enough on the podcast but when i played golf i used to be a golf teacher

Perhaps you know that, perhaps not. I used to be a golf teacher. And if you imagine a golf hole, you have to put the ball in the hole. That's the... the name of the game right you have to get the golf ball in the hole and the hole is let's say sort of 10 centimeters wide in order to

prepare to train for a tournament i got this item a practice tool that i put it in the hole and it made the hole about six centimeters wide so it's normally it's 10 and it made it six that made putting that made the putting the ball in the hole Very difficult. Very, very difficult. But then when I went and I played the competition, and it's a normal 10 centimeter hole, the hole felt enormous. And I felt...

Great. So why am I telling you this? When you practice, don't be comfortable. You must make your practice conditions As hard as the exam or harder. So how can you do that? Number one, when you're taking a mock test alone at home. Record yourself on video. That makes it much harder. Put a timer. Give you that pressure of time and show yourself. That makes it harder.

Give yourself less preparation time. In part two, give yourself 30 seconds rather than a minute. That makes it harder. And finally, do the hardest questions you can give yourself. All of this will make your mock test experience harder than reality. And then when you take the real exam, it will feel... bit more comfortable a little bit easier and hopefully you'll feel a bit more relaxed I've said a lot there I hope you understood my golf reference I know a lot of you don't play golf but

I just think it's such a good comparison and a good way of thinking about training. So that's all I'll say. Let's get on with today's topic. Part one, question one. Do you have a pet?

i don't have a pet unfortunately i had a pet uh for a long time it was a dog he was a wonderful companion And we had a very close bond. But unfortunately, last year he was 20 years old and he finally passed away from old age. Part one, question two. What are some common pets in your country? I live in Korea and common pets, really the common pet is a dog. And there's not that much more than that. There's not many cats. Not many birds.

Hamsters, rabbits, you know, there's a few, but really dogs are the most common pets in Korea. And that's why you can find a lot of stray dogs. And it's very easy to... pick stray dogs up from the adopt stray dogs from the animal shelters which is sad but um yeah that's the most common pet i just realized something that I haven't given you a student challenge. So don't think you've got away with it because I'm going to give it to you now. And I'm going to give you the same question. So...

Your student challenge today, whether you are on YouTube or Spotify or whatever platform you're on, is what are some common pets in your country i'm curious to hear your country because i do know depending on the country there's some variance I know there are some countries that really like cats and some that really like dogs and some that love both. So what are some common pets in your country? Let me know in the comments. Part two.

So I'm just putting two minutes on the clock. And today's part two is describe a pet you or someone you know has. Describe a pet you or someone you know has. Okay, two minutes on the clock. My time starts now. I'd like to tell you about my parents' pet, Dexter. Maybe three or four years ago, my... Parents decided to get another dog and they adopted a dog. He's a cockapoo, which is a cross between... This breed is a cross...

between a cocker spaniel and a poodle. So they adopted this dog and brought him into the family. He's very young and he's lovely. He's just such a wonderful... affectionate dog um he's an incredible breed you do see it in this breed this cockapoo which is a a hybrid of these two breeds and they're so playful they have such a funny character um but he's also loyal he especially to my father

And he's quite obedient. It took a lot of time to train him, but eventually, yeah, he's a very obedient dog. So let me tell you a little more about Dexter. He's, as I said, a cockapoo. He's kind of a medium-sized dog and he's black. His fur is black. He's nice because his fur... doesn't come out you know he doesn't molt and that makes it easy to keep the house clean and as i said before he's very playful he has an incredible character

And he's also smart. On the negative side, he's a very needy dog. I don't know if that's a negative, but he just needs so much attention and he doesn't like to be alone. So he is quite needy. For me personally, I've had such a lovely experience with him that I think I would like the same breed, if possible, in the future. Okay, there you go. The time is up. And yeah, that was all true.

Lovely dog, Dexter. So how about you? Have you ever seen or do you have a cockapoo? Check it out on Google if you don't know what it is. It's a lovely looking dog.

kind of medium-sized. And yeah, that's my parents' pet. So part three, question one, what are the benefits and drawbacks of having a pet? I think... The benefits of having a pet is that you can have another very strong and important bond in your life. We all have... important friends and family members who we share a strong bond with but to have an animal whatever animal it is that you share a strong bond with is wonderful and for some people

so important in their life. In my parents' case, the Dexter, the cockapoo, this dog has... really brought a lot of joy to their lives. So in my dad's case, if my mum is out of the house, he never feels lonely because he always has Dexter. Good. Next question. How can owning a pet teach children responsibility? I think that owning a pet... It can teach the child how to think about something other than themselves. So it teaches them the responsibility of keeping time.

taking care of someone or something else in terms of exercising them, feeding them. I think that's a great start for a child is to have a pet and start to understand that you can take care of others. Because as I can see in my daughter's case, they're... There's no world outside of their own when they are very young. I've seen lots of children in Korea who really benefit from having a dog.

It's always a dog in Korea, but they really seem more responsible and able to think about others and know how to treat animals. Okay, not a bad answer there. I am trying to be strict with myself in terms of showing you a really clear structure today, trying to show you that. Direct answer, detail and example. I do try to do that and hopefully you're hearing that today. What are some ways people can ensure their pets are well cared for? Hmm.

That's a tricky question. I think really you've just got to make sure that... You feed them well. You give them plenty of exercise. Don't give them too many treats, especially when it comes to human food. Be very careful. Take them to the vet or the veterinarian to get them checked periodically. In Korea, I think one of the strengths in Korea is people are very keen on bringing their dogs to the vet and making sure they check their health.

maintain the health, check the weight and the fat percentage, all these different things.

So I've been impressed when I go down to the park, most dogs look really in shape, healthy and happy. Okay, so I think that's probably been a long... episode today because I talked a lot at the start but I hope you enjoyed that and I hope that talking about the tension people feel in exams helps you because I think a lot of people feel that and experience that. So hopefully that helps. We move on to our next topic next week, next Monday, which is public transportation.

So really focusing not just transportation generally, we are focusing on public transportation only. So let's tackle that next Monday. So have a lovely week. Study tremendously hard. And I'll see you next Monday to talk about public transportation.