IELTS Energy 1487: Idioms the Examiner Dreams Of
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This is an IELTS Energy Podcast, Episode 1487, Idioms the Examiner Dreams of.

Welcome to the IELTS Energy Podcast from All Ears English, downloaded more than 22 million times with former IELTS examiner Jessica Beck and Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz. If you are stuck with a low score, our insider method will help you get the score you need to unlock your dreams. Get your estimated band score now with our two-minute quiz. Go to allearsenglish.com

Today, we'll teach you five idioms with the word dream in them. We'll give you simple definitions and tell you exactly where you can use them on the IELTS Speaking Test.

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Aubrey, what is your dream day? If you had to describe it. More and more, it's just to be able to like stay home and do nothing. I swear I'm not a lazy person, but I'm just so busy. I have so much going on that that would be a dream to just like stay in bed and watch Netflix.

That sounds amazing. That's amazing, honestly. So that is just a sample of one of the phrases we want you guys to learn today to be able to use on IELTS. Today we have idioms with the word dream and we're going to teach you the meanings and show you how you can use them on the exam.

Yes. But first, we want to share the results of a very fun Spotify poll. This was from episode 1453, Band 9 Part 3 Answers About Cities. And we asked, do you like the city you live in?

78.9%, so almost 80% said yes and 20% said no. That's not bad. No, that's pretty high. That's great. I'm happy so many of you are stoked about where you're living. I know, right? I feel bad for the 20%, but I've been there. There have been times like for a job or whatever reason, you're kind of stuck somewhere you don't love. It happens.

i mean i wasn't stoked to you know grow up in the hometown i grew up in um so i would have answered no if i was asked back then that wasn't your dream to grow up there definitely not definitely not okay guys so let's get into some more idioms here the first one is the american dream now what do you think this means aubry did you see me say die that i know

It's kind of loaded right now with the political climate the way it is. And I have always felt like this is sort of, I guess, America-centric, sort of egotistical. Be like, oh, the American dream. Once upon a time, sure, when people could come from wherever and get land and have all of this opportunity. But even then, the more you learn about history, people would come with these high ideals. And it turns out it wasn't any better than where they were. I know. Yeah.

I think this is useful for you guys in comparing things, like comparing places, comparing times. So for example, I could say, you know, when I was growing up, I think everybody expected to be able to have the American dream. And if you're not watching on YouTube, you can't see me use my quotation fingers. And yes, guys, I am using quotation fingers because you can use this for any country. Right?

Right? Even if you didn't grow up in America, this is an idiom with a meaning. It's not literal, right? So you can use it to describe your country as long as you explain. So again, let me continue with that sample answer real fast. In the past, everybody thought you could attain the American dream, quote unquote.

But I feel like today with the economy so difficult, with jobs so scarce and all of this uncertainty in the world, it is harder for people to own their own home and to have a comfortable life and retire well. So yeah, I would say what we thought in the past is very different than today.

Yeah. Ooh, I love that answer. And it's true. It doesn't necessarily literally mean America, right? This is just an idea of success and being comfortable, like you said, having the house and car. So yeah, that's interesting. That's a great way to use that. And I love this next one. This is so useful to just say something is like a dream. I used this at the top of the episode to say it would be a dream to just stay in bed all day. This, I feel like you could use on almost every part one answer.

No, totally. Think about how many part one questions ask you guys, do you enjoy this? Do you like this? Right? You can use this phrase for any of those. Like, Aubrey, what is your favorite dessert? No.

My dream is just to bathe in tiramisu and just lean over and take a bite. I love every dessert, but I'm kind of hooked on tiramisu right now. Tiramisu is one of my favorites. I love tiramisu. There's this Italian restaurant that we go to sometimes and their tiramisu is like a

dream. So guys, notice how I separated the words there, how I pronounced that like a dream. That's a really sort of natural way to express that. Yeah. Or you could, if you're asked about restaurants, my dream is to have a taco shop in walking distance to my house, right? Whatever you're asked about, instead of saying I would like, you can instead say like my dream would be, or it would be like a dream if, and then say whatever would be awesome.

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All right, so making a compound noun with the word dream, you could use it for anything that would be ideal, right? Dream house, dream meal, dream birthday. But dream house, I think, is the most common.

Do you ever say dream house, Aubrey? I don't really, but it's funny. I heard a couple of people talking about this the other day. They were like, oh, this huge house would be my dream house. And I was like, really? That's a lot to clean. Do you need that kind of space? I feel like any more of these giant mansions are so unrealistic. And these ideas sometimes people have of a dream house are a little unrealistic and like, why? Really? No, it's a terrible idea. Yeah.

Right? Yeah. So dream house or dream home, maybe you could easily use this in part one when you're asked to describe where you live, right? You could say, well,

It's not exactly my dream house, but you know, it's comfortable for now. Nice. Yes. And this can be used for so many things. Like you said, meal, birthday, desk, chair, couch. My dream couch is a giant fluffy one that I just get swallowed by. Nice. Nice. All right. Next phrase. We have two more for you guys today. Pipe dreams. What's a pipe dream? Hmm.

This is like something unrealistic. If someone's saying something that is unlikely to happen, you'd be like, that's kind of a pipe dream. And what you mean is that's very unrealistic. Yeah, right. Like if your kid, for example, is not very athletic.

okay this is terrible but it could happen okay so say for example what if your child is not very athletic right but they um want to be in the nba someday like they're planning on it you could right yeah you could be like oh sorry that's kind of a pipe dream kiddo let's focus on reading and math let's get really good at science a little bit yeah so this

this is great right if you're asked uh questions about the future you could say some total like unrealistic hope and say but i realize that's kind of a pipe dream yeah this may be a pipe dream but i one day i plan to be a famous musician why not go for broke who knows who knows all right now the last one guys is super fun beyond my wildest dreams and very similar to um the phrase like a dream

This, guys, you can use anything when you're talking about something that you really, really loved or was really, really good, which happens a lot in part one and part two. Absolutely, right? A birthday party that someone threw for you. It was beyond my wildest dreams. You just mean it was amazing. Then you're going to share all the details about what was so great about it. Exactly, exactly. And even if it's not true, even if the party was boring, use this phrase. Break it up.

Exactly. All right, guys. Remember that if you're listening to us on Spotify, there is a new poll up for you with this episode. And we're curious to hear your answers. So make sure you answer that. Yes. Awesome. Thanks, Jessica. This is super fun. Thanks, Aubrey. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Thanks for listening to IELTS Energy. Hit subscribe now and don't forget to find your estimated band score at allearsenglish.com slash myscore.