S06 - 8 Priorities

Native English speakers answer questions about priorities.

This episode is about priorities and has a fantastic mix of adverbs, spelling, idioms, pronunciation, collocations, common mistakes, connectors and a fancy grammatical structure that we haven’t looked at before. All of that, along with the usual variety of accents from around the world. 

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Music: Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5050-wholesome
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Thanks to all of the contributors, including Paddy, Mike, Melissa, Lori, Jay, Carla Jayne, Annie and Mary Alice. 

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Transcript

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Hello and welcome to the Real Exam English podcast. This episode is about priorities and has a fantastic mix of adverbs, spelling, idioms, pronunciation, collocations, common mistakes, connectors and a fancy grammatical structure that we haven’t looked at before. All of that, along with the usual variety of accents from around the world. 

Transcripts for this episode can be found at realexamenglish.com

So, let’s go with the first question: 

Do you think society generally prioritizes economic growth over environmental protection?

Yes. I think society would rather have environmental protection, have a smaller carbon footprint, all of those things, do things sustainable.

Yet, we continue to buy things on Amazon or I buy things so I can have it instantaneously.

And that is more economic growth than environmental protection.

So I would say society says they're prioritize environmental protection but the actions actually prioritize economic growth or comfort.

How true that is! She got some environmental vocabulary into the answer with the smaller carbon footprint and do things sustainable. To be grammatically correct, though, this should be do things sustainably, but in the United States, where this speaker is from, they don’t always use adverbs where they should. So it is very common to hear phrases like this, do things sustainable, or maybe you talk so loud, instead of you talk so loudly, or you play good, instead of you play well.

Ok, as an English learner and especially if you are in an exam make sure to use your adverbs correctly, because examiners will pick up on it. She did actually have a very nice adverb, used correctly, later on, she said I can get things instantaneously, meaning right away. Lovely word, despite being tricky to pronounce, instantaneously.

I also liked her use of yet. She said we like to do things sustainably. Yet, we continue to buy thing on Amazon. So yet here has the same meaning as despite that. Another example of using yet this way is the service is quite bad in that restaurant. Yet, I keep going back, their burgers are just so good. The burgers are really expensive, yet I still buy two every time I go there. 

How have your personal priorities changed over the last five years? 

I have found that since the pandemic in particular, I have decided that there are certain things that I'm no longer waiting for and that it has given me something to really think about that there are there are things that are not worth waiting for and there are many other things that I would prefer to do. So I no longer worry myself about little things. 

Do you think the media and advertising industries influence what people see as important in life? 

Absolutely. That's their job and I feel like there has been a definite trend that we've seen over the past 10 to 15 years that has gone from seeing what is considered luxury to moving along even further to what feels true, what feels honest, what feels authentic. So I do feel that yes, while the media and advertising industries are still extremely influential, that we are seeing more and more of authenticity nowadays. So we are more inclined to work with, work with the truth, work with what is real. 

A couple of lovely answers from the UK there. In the first answer she said I no longer worry myself about little things. The use of myself here is interesting, as you could just say I no longer worry about little things. But by including myself, I no longer worry myself about little things it implies she was inflicting worry upon herself, like constantly thinking about these problems. And now she no longer does that, so good for her.  

Then in the second answer I loved the way she repeated the word what for dramatic effect. What she said was it has gone from seeing what is considered luxury to what feels true, what feels honest, what feels authentic. This is known as anaphora, when you repeat the word or phrase at the start of a sentence and is used for dramatic effect or to create emphasis. This kind of rhetorical device is the kind of thing you could use to show off in a C2 English exam, either in the speaking part or while writing an article for examples. 

She even has another mini example later on too, she says we are more inclined to work with the truth, work with what is real. Very nice. So you guys feel free to use that in exams, use it in English class, use it with friends, use it wherever.

How have your personal priorities changed over the last five years?

Massively. I'm 32 now, so my priorities five years ago were probably a lot about getting drunk and partying and not really giving too much of an F on what's going on in life. And now that I'm in my 30s, it's more the house, the wife, the kids, the settle down. And I don't drink anymore. I don't even smoke anymore. So I've given up everything. So my priorities have massively changed my health. I go to the gym. So I used to be a party animal and now I'm a lot more calm and collective. If anything, I'm quite boring nowadays, if I'm going to be honest with you.

Alright we had another great example of anaphora here. He said it’s about the house, the wife, the kids, the settle down. To settle down is a handy phrasal verb for any of you in your late twenties or thirties, I guess that’s when most people settle down, and it means to live a stable life, buying a house, living with a partner, maybe even have kids, that kind of thing. So before settling down this speaker said he didn’t give too much of an F on what’s going on in life. So the F here stands for fuck. So, to not give a fuck about something is to not care at all about it. Like, I don’t give a fuck about my exams. It’s quite a rude expression so if you want to make it softer you can do as the speaker did and say I don’t give an F about it, and then you can say it in front of your granny even and it’ll be fine. 

He mentioned that he was a party animal, which is someone who loves partying, all the time going out clubbing and drinking, late nights, that kind of stuff. Then he compared it to today and he said, if anything, I’m quite boring nowadays, if I’m going to be honest with you. If anything is used to introduce something that is the opposite of what you think or are expecting. For instance, the sleeping tablets didn’t help me fall asleep. If anything, they kept me awake. Or some people say that the referee favoured our team. That’s rubbish, if anything, I’d say he gave more decisions against us. 

And then when he said if I’m going to be honest with you, this is just an alternative way of saying to be honest, or honestly, but it’s a bit trickier to pronounce, if I’m going to be honest with you. You gotta say it fast or don’t say it at all, if I’m going to be honest with you.

Well, I am going to be honest with you to tell you that numerous people have got in touch with me to say how useful they find the real exam English application for learning English. A lot of people supplement their English classes with the app and find it beneficial for practicing writing and speaking as well as picking up new phrasal verbs, idioms and topical vocabulary. If you would like to check it out then you can get a one week trial for free and you can find the link in the shownotes.

How do cultural backgrounds influence what people consider important in life?

It's what you were raised with. So you, when you're raised a particular way, you believe that everyone is that way. You don't know another worldview. You don't know another opinion. You don't, this is the way it is. This is life. You know, a kid who's not allowed out of the house except with their parent doesn't realize that he could go out of, Timmy can't go out of the house without his mom or dad because children don't go outside without their mom or dad until he experiences it and he sees it. And he's like, oh, wait, I can leave the house? Like, you can voice your opinion as a child and not be berated and be heard. That's something that's possible. You can live in a house that does not have violence. But you don't know that until you leave it. Oh, prime example. I didn't know you can live in a world where you don't hear gunshots and police sirens every day. I live in the Bronx. That's just my life. I don't know a world where you can leave your wallet on a table and walk away and come back and it's still there until I left it. I didn't know you didn't have to commute an hour and a half to work every day into the city. until I moved to Phoenix and I drove 10 minutes. I'm like, oh my God, this is great. This is amazing. There's a whole world out there. There's so many different things. I think I lost the plot on the question there, but...

I like that. I think I lost the plot on the question there. That’s a useful one for when you forget the question you were asked or feel you are not answering the original question so relevantly. I think I lost the plot on the question there. 

Another super useful piece of language she used was when giving an example, she said, Oh, prime example. A prime example is a really good example of something. For instance, students of English often make the same mistakes over and over again. Prime example, they say people is, and even if you correct them the next time, they say people is again. Oh my god, if I was given a euro for every time I heard people is, I’d be a rich man!

Funnily enough, this speaker did say something kind of incorrectly, that I’m sure most of you guys wouldn’t say and that was there’s so many things, not there are so many things. This is something that I get asked about every now and again in class. It’s very common for English speakers to say there’s with plural nouns, like there’s loads of people at the party or there’s five taxis waiting. Why does this happen. Well, mainly because it’s just easier to say. There’s five people is easier to say than there’re five people. But you gotta be careful, you have to contract there is to there’s. If you say there is five taxis outside it sounds wrong but if you say there’s five taxis outside, it’s alright. Also, this usage is not appropriate in formal writings. In spoken English this isn’t picked up as an error but in formal writings it is. So writing an essay for example, you should say there are numerous reasons…blablabla.

This speaker also had a couple of lovely verbs. She said you can voice your opinion as a child and not be berated. To voice your opinion is a lovely collocation and means to express your opinion openly without fear or hesitation. Like the politician encouraged the public to voice their opinion about the new proposals. Or in a healthy democracy the citizens can voice their opinion freely and not be berated, as she said. To berate means to criticize or speak to someone in an angry manner. Like, the football manager was berated by the supporters for losing the match. Or the teacher berated the students for their poor behaviour.

Are you good at managing your priorities? Why or why not?

Yes, I am very good at managing priorities. Part of that is my inherent nature of creating structure where none exists. And when you get to create the structure, you get to prioritize what gets put first. I also ran a classroom of 20 little kindergarteners, and so there were definitely priorities there. You know, be kind, be safe, and then kind of moving on down. Also, as a mom of very athletic children, I had to prioritize and all the scheduling, get them out the door, make sure that at 7 in the morning before they get on the bus, they have everything they need until 8 o'clock at night. So organization and prioritization go hand in hand.

And when it comes to global issues, what single problem should the international community prioritize?

The environment. I really really am concerned about the environment. And I think there are ways to support countries to make wise environmental choices. And I think incentivizing rather than penalizing is the way to go.

We have some key language for speaking about priorities here. First of all, she said organization and prioritization go hand in hand, meaning they are closely linked or interconnected. Then she said incentivizing rather than penalizing is the way to go. Ok incentivizing is giving incentives or encouraging people in a positive way to do things. And on the contrary, penalizing them is giving them a penalty or punishing them for doing, or not doing something. Just a note regarding the spelling of all of these words with the Z sound, organization, prioritization, incentivizing and penalizing. The Z can be spelt with either a Z or an S. In America they spell them with a Z and everywhere else with an S. If writing, just choose either way and be consistent.

I also like this word inherent that the speaker used here, it is her inherent nature to create structure when none exists. If something is inherent then it is a natural, innate quality in that person or thing. Like making mistakes is an inherent part of learning English. Or when it comes to mountain climbing, risk is an inherent factor.

Do you think society generally prioritises economic growth over environmental protection?

100%, I would say, without a doubt. You look at, drill, baby, drill and burn, baby, burn over in America at the moment. You know, COP 25 or whatever it was, complete farce, all the Paris agreement all been ripped up. When the rubber hit the road and it was getting to the point where actions were going to cost money or cost, you know, growth would be the sacrifice. All the targets went out the window pretty much.

Yeah, and I think we've seen that in Ireland even in recent days or recent weeks with the realisation, I suppose they always knew, but the realisation coming to the fore that, we're going to miss our environmental targets, it could be fines and penalties as a result, but they were partly missed because of the need to grow, to grow the economy for development, for be it data centres or whatever.

And that is…that is the driver, I think, in any functioning economy, is growth. And growth isn't going to be stalled to make the grass greener or to make the trees grow higher. You know, it's money talks. And I think that's the way the world always will be, I think, for the foreseeable future anyway.

Really nice start by the first speaker. He said 100%, I would say, without a doubt. Very emphatic, and much nicer than just I agree. He said that the Climate Change Conference COP25 was a complete farce, meaning it was a load of rubbish or a sham in other words. Another example would be, we paid 100 euros each for dinner last night, but the food was cold when it came out and they forgot to give us our dessert, it was a complete farce. He also said the Paris Agreement had been ripped up, meaning it had been totally abandoned or disregarded. Then he had a couple of top idioms, when the rubber hit the road all the targets went out the window. When the rubber hit the road refers to the moment when the actions actually have to be carried out, it kind of is the same as the moment of truth or when things get serious. A good example would be I had been practicing my tennis serve for weeks, but when the rubber hit the road during my match yesterday, it all fell to pieces and I kept on hitting double faults. Then the targets went out the window. We had this idiom recently in another episode, meaning they were ignored or abandoned. 

The second speaker had this idiom that money talks, meaning money is the deciding factor or the biggest influence.  He also had two nice phrases with the word fore. The first one was, the realisation coming to the fore. When something comes to the fore, it becomes prominent or noticeable to the public. Like, healthy living has really come to the fore in recent years. Or extreme weather events have come to the fore in the last decade.  The other fore phrase was for the foreseeable future, which is the future based on the facts we know now. Like, I’ll be living in London for the foreseeable future, or she’ll stay in that job for the foreseeable future. 

Alright guys, that’s all for today. Thank you very much for listening and for all of the messages you send on social media, Spotify, or by email, they are greatly appreciated, thanks very much and keep them coming!

All the best till next time,

Trevor