TRANSCRIPT EPISODE 22: TALKING ABOUT HOLIDAYS AND LEISURE TIME Hello, and welcome to Study English, IELTS Preparation I'm Margot Politis To prepare for IELTS it is useful to consider the topic of holidays and what people in their leisure time To start us off, let's listen to someone talking about his holidays: It's always been a dream of mine to travel around the world and see as many countries as possible I suppose everyone dreams of this, although some people are content to stay close to home I get about weeks annual leave and I try and take it in summer when I can link it to the public holidays that fall around then – Christmas, Boxing Day New Year's Eve, and turn it into a or week vacation I try to get out of the country and go on a trip somewhere Somewhere like Bali, somewhere close We get about public holidays in Australia – Christmas, Easter, and Australia Day just to name a few He talked about holidays and vacations What's the difference? A holiday can be one day or several days, whereas a vacation is usually understood to be a long time – a week or more Vacation is a word used more in the United States and is not very common in Australia In Australia we say "summer holidays" instead of "summer vacation" Listen to our speaker again: I get about weeks annual leave and I try and take it in summer when I can link it to the public holidays that fall around then – Christmas, Boxing Day New Year's Eve, and turn it into a or week vacation He said annual leave We call the time when we don't go to work "leave" "Sick leave" is when we don't go to work because of illness "Annual leave" means the amount of holiday time workers have in a year He also mentioned "public holidays" These are days when most people in the country get a day off work but are still paid They are days considered important to everyone For the Speaking Test, you should be prepared to have something to say about these holidays in your country – what they are for, when they are held and what people do, like this: We get about public holidays in Australia – Christmas, Easter, and Australia Day just to name a few Australia Day is on the 26th of January, and it celebrates the day the first Europeans arrived in Australia People celebrate by having barbeques and playing cricket in the park and on the beaches and in Sydney there is always a massive fireworks display Page of It's a good idea to brainstorm the topic of holidays and try to guess what you might be asked It could be something like: Why are holidays important? Or How much should we work and how much should we rest? Or Why we need holidays? Spend some time to think of questions like these and how you might answer them Practise saying your answers – this will help you in the Speaking Test In Part of the Speaking Test, the questions can be quite simple, like: What you on the weekends? How does our speaker reply to that? On the weekend, I catch up on sleep; I the housework, the shopping, the washing – all those household chores He says 'do the housework' In reply to the question 'What you on the weekend?' it's best to reply with the same verb in the same tense – I the gardening, I the shopping On the weekend, I catch up on sleep; I the housework, the shopping, the washing – all those household chores Now listen to our speaker reply to this question What did you on the weekend? Oh I washed my clothes, I went shopping and I went out on Saturday night and saw a movie But mostly I sat around and watched TV Because he was asked in the past tense – what did you do, he replies with the past tense and uses the past tense verbs washed, went and sat instead of wash, go and sit Listen again: What did you on the weekend? Oh I washed my clothes, I went shopping and I went out on Saturday night and saw a movie But mostly I sat around and watched TV A related topic that you can expect to be asked about is leisure time and what you Let's listen to our speaker again: Page of I have a few interests but music is most important to me I have a few friends and we meet up a few times a month and play together As a child I used to have a few hobbies – flying pigeons, collecting stamps and football cards He calls what he does in his leisure time interests and hobbies When he was a child he used to have hobbies The verb 'used' is followed by 'to have' As a child I used to have a few hobbies – flying pigeons, collecting stamps and football cards There are many verbs in English which are themselves followed by verbs, but in the infinitive form like 'to have' without -ing or -ed Listen for them in this clip I need to a lot of things before I go I need to pack I need to organise someone to look after my cat And I also want to read about Bali before I go – I don't want to be just a tourist Need to do, need to pack, need to organise, want to read, want to be Listen again: I need to a lot of things before I go I need to pack I need to organise someone to look after my cat And I also want to read about Bali before I go – I don't want to be just a tourist Now listen out for one more example of a verb followed by the infinitive: I try to get out of the country and go on a trip somewhere Somewhere like Bali, somewhere close verb infinitive Try to get However, some verbs are followed by the –ing form, or present participle Listen to our speaker again: I enjoy travelling I like flying, especially taking off and I even like eating the food they give you Enjoy travelling, like flying, like eating Listen again: I enjoy travelling I like flying, especially taking off and I even like eating the food they give you Some verbs, such as enjoy are only followed by the –ing form: enjoy travelling, enjoy reading But the verb 'like' can be followed by the –ing form or the infinitive Page of Listen: I enjoy travelling I like to fly, especially taking off and I even like to eat the food they give you You need to learn which verbs are used with only the infinitive or only with the –ing form And you need to know which ones are used with both Infinitives also follow some adjectives Listen out for these in the next clip: I won't be sad to leave work behind and I'll be more than ready to enjoy myself after a hard year I'll be happy to spend the last few days doing not much at all Sad to leave, ready to enjoy, happy to spend Listen again: I won't be sad to leave work behind and I'll be more than ready to enjoy myself after a hard year I'll be happy to spend the last few days doing not much at all The –ing form isn't always used as a verb Listen to our speaker talking about his hobbies again: I have a few interests but music is most important to me I have a few friends and we meet up a few times a month and play together As a child I used to have a few hobbies – flying pigeons, collecting stamps and football cards "Flying pigeons and collecting stamps" Here the words flying and collecting act like verbs and nouns at the same time These are called gerunds Listen out for the gerunds in the next clip: On the weekend, I catch up on sleep; I the housework, the shopping, the washing – all those household chores Here, "the shopping" and "the washing" are also noun/verbs or gerunds Listen one more time: On the weekend, I catch up on sleep; I the housework, the shopping, the washing – all those household chores That's all for now To find more information about gerunds and infinitives, visit our Study English website You'll find all of the Study English episodes there and plenty of activities (The address is: australianetwork.com/studyenglish) Good Luck with your studies Bye Page of