IELTS Energy 1463: Surprisingly High-Scoring IELTS Vocabulary
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This is an IELTS Energy Podcast, Episode 1463, Surprisingly High-Scoring IELTS Vocabulary.

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

forward slash my score. Would you be surprised to learn that you have to talk about surprises on IELTS Speaking? Well, this actually comes up a lot on the exam. Today, you'll learn four phrases to introduce feelings of surprise that the examiner will love.

I have a question for you. Does knowing your English level like B1 or B2 matter? The answer, my friends, is yes. You need to know where you are to get to where you're going. So take our free 10 question quiz and find out your English level immediately with tips on getting to the next level. Go to allearsenglish.com slash fluency score now. That's

Aubrey, when was the last time you were surprised? I was surprised when my daughter put a mannequin in the back of my car. She put it in my bed, she put it in the back of my car, and it always gives me a jump scare. I posted about this on social media. If you guys don't follow us on social media, you missed it.

Definitely. Yes, guys. All Ears English is all over social media, right? Instagram, TikTok. I think those are the two best places to find us. You have to find this post. It's from January 8th. I know you're hearing this after, but guys, you have to go back. Go to our Instagram. Find Aubrey's post from January 8th. It's so creepy. There's just this mannequin head in a bed. That was surprising.

So why did I ask you about that, Aubrey? We are sharing surprising vocabulary today. These are four great phrases for if ever on IELTS Speaking you're talking about being surprised or something turning out to be different than you expected, you want to use interesting vocab for this to boost those scores.

You know, a secondary benefit of this, and I really love that we always point this out, but a secondary benefit of these phrases is that when you express surprise, when you express something where emotion is so intricate to the phrase itself, to the idea itself, you're more likely to have great pronunciation, right?

Absolutely. It actually would be strange to say this in a monotone like bore, but because you're sharing about something surprising, it is going to push you to more naturally use that interesting intonation. Good point. 100%. 100%. Yeah. I'm sure we'll pretend in a minute when we give you sample answers with the amazing vocabulary, we'll show you what it sounds like without great pronunciation. And you'll see. You'll see how weird that is.

Okay. So we actually want to tell you about a poll that we did not that long ago. Aubrey? Yeah. We're going to share the results from one of our Spotify polls. Thank you, everyone who answers these polls. It's really fun for us to see the results. This question was, have you found an exercise routine that you love? In episode 1449, we shared vocabulary for speaking parts one and two about exercise, exercise routines. So what were the results of that poll, Jessica?

this is awesome. So those of you that said yes, 75%. So 75% of listeners that answered the poll have found an exercise routine that they love and no was only 25%. Of course. I'm not surprised about that. Because I think a lot of you guys listening you are, you're you're busy adults who are determined and focused, right? You're preparing for IELTS, you still have jobs and families. So I'm not

surprised that you guys are controlling your time that well to where you can say, yes, like I do have an exercise routine that I love. Yes. And even the 25% of you that said, no, I have solidarity there. I'm going to assume it's just because you're still trying out all of the things, waiting to find the perfect fit because it's a journey, right? It's a journey.

You know, a lot of you that are like really busy that 25%, maybe it's like, yeah, you exercise a few times a week, but you wouldn't say it's a routine. Because like you said, you're trying different stuff, or maybe it's one day this week, three days the next week. So you wouldn't say it's a routine. For sure. Nice. Well, thank you everyone for filling out our Spotify polls and stay to the end. We have another fun one for today's episode. It's really fun for us to hear from you, right? We want to know your answers to these fun questions.

And guys, if you're listening on Spotify, every single episode we do has a poll. So it's just another fun way to interact with us. Absolutely. All right. Let's share today's question that inspired today's surprising vocabulary. This was from, I'm not sure how to pronounce the name. It was on YouTube. Benastabaiajar?

So if that's you, I apologize if I said it incorrectly. They said, hello, Aubrey and Jessica. I'm an English teacher and I've been an avid fan of your IELTS podcast for several years now. First of all, that's amazing. I love that English teachers are also enjoying the podcast. Maybe not even prepping for IELTS, just realizing like this is great vocab and we're fun. Yeah, we are fun. There's that.

All right. So what idiom did she ask about? She said, I would like to ask about the idiom, lo and behold. I came across a video a few days ago where someone used that idiom when she caught someone red-handed. I tried searching the meaning of that idiom, but I would like to know more scenarios where we could appropriately use it. Thanks in advance. Such a fun question. I don't

I don't know if I would call this an idiom. I think because she was unsure about the phrase, she's like, "It must be an idiom." But it's more of, I would say, an interjection, right? Where you're like,

Like saying that is not an idiom, right? Exactly. Yeah. All four of the phrases sort of expressions we're going to share today are more like interjections, but they are perfect for IELTS speaking because if you do share something surprising, it makes sense. It's very native and natural to interject something to show that you were surprised.

And I think these interjections also qualify as transition phrases, you know, because they're introducing a surprising event. Like they are, they're literally, these phrases are transitioning from something normal. And then you have this transition phrase to introduce a surprising consequence or feature.

Yes, interesting for sure. And this listener did use an idiom when they said, I heard this while someone was talking about someone being caught red-handed. That's a great idiom. It means someone's caught doing something that they shouldn't be doing, right? And you would say, like, lo and behold, I caught them red-handed cheating or sleeping on the job, something they shouldn't be doing.

I'll give you an example. This was years ago. And I told James and his friend to go to sleep at like 10 because it was a sleepover. They were younger. You know, I was like, you guys got to go to sleep at 10. We have to wake up earlier, whatever. Anyway, 11 o'clock rolls around and I opened the door to James room and they're both like on their like screens. Right. I caught them red handed.

And you could have been like, lo and behold, no one listens to my bedtime rules. Lo and behold.

I got mad and it never happened again. Okay. All right, let's get into it. So first, lo and behold, right? This is simply to introduce something surprising or sarcastically something that is not surprising, right? Okay, so let's use this in an example. If the part one question were, what do you enjoy doing with friends? What could you say?

I might say, "I love a super chill meetup, like going for a coffee. Actually, just yesterday, I had plans with my friend Mark, who is usually late. However, lo and behold, he got there right on time."

I love this so much. I think this is the easiest way to remember how to use this, guys. Great example, Aubrey, because this is actually a contrast phrase when you think about it. Like you just you introduced a normal behavior and then you're contrasting that with something that goes against that normal behavior. So I think that's probably the easiest way to remember how to use this. Yes. And I

Here, students use the word actually over and over and over. That's an easy word to repeat because you don't have a lot of other ways to say that. So today's phrases are going to be great to contrast with new, interesting, varied vocabulary and avoid repeating the word actually.

so many times. Nice. Nice. All right. So the next phrase here is, would you believe it? So it's a rhetorical question, right? A rhetorical question is when it's a question form for sure. Would you believe it? But

you don't expect an answer. Okay, it's just a statement of surprise. So Aubrey, if you had a part two question, describe something you love about your town. Just give us like a short answer to that. How would you use that? Yeah, like a sentence from the two minutes of your part two could be like, I've always been bummed there aren't more parks in my neighborhood. But would you believe it? They're building one right around the corner.

Oh, I love it. That was so good. On this podcast, we are all about your IELTS score. What the examiner is looking for in speaking and writing, what tricks to watch out for in listening and reading, and what strategies you need for all four sections. We want you to get the score you need on IELTS and be done with this exam.

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all ears, english.com/myscore. All right. So we have two more phrases for you guys, and then we will announce today's poll. The next phrase, and I use this one a lot turns out, and it's always with that intonation, right? Turns out notice we don't say it turns out. So this introduces a surprising consequence. We don't say the it, we just say

Turns out. All right. So if the part three question were, do you think advertisements affect what people buy? How would you use that phrase? I might say, I never thought I was susceptible to ads. I usually ignore them. However, lately I find myself buying random stuff I see advertised on TikTok. So turns out I am a huge sucker for ads on social media. Yeah.

I love that. Just, I'm a huge sucker for. This is a great phrase, guys. It is informal. And you may be like, why is that in a part three answer? Remember that the speaking test as a whole is your spoken communication ability, right? And a feature of spoken English is we are more informal. So even in a part three answer, this is appropriate.

Yeah. And this was, you know, part of my part three answer, because where the question is asking, do advertisements affect what people buy? I wouldn't want to just say for me, I would want to answer that question for people in general to share, like, do I think ads affect others as well? And then I could share this as a personal example about myself.

And it's really the mixture of vocab, the range that the examiner's looking for. So you started that answer with great vocab. I never thought I was susceptible to ads. That's a band nine word, right? But again, speaking is spontaneous. Speaking is more informal. So we're going to mix that academic vocab with this awesome informal vocab. Absolutely. And if you find yourself in this...

box where you're feeling like I can only use formal vocab on part three and only informal on part one, it's going to be very difficult to have your answers come sort of more naturally using all the vocab you've learned because you're limiting yourself. So instead, use what makes sense for the sentence.

I mean, even go listen to a TED talk, right? Like that is a formal situation. They are giving a formal speech in a public speaking situation. They are still going to use slang and idioms. Absolutely. Okay, let's dive to the next one here. To my surprise.

This is fun. It's again, it's just showing that you're surprised about something. So it could be anywhere on the speaking exam. And it's a great linking phrase transitioning in that you're going to say something you're surprised about. So Jessica, on part one, if you were asked, do you think books make good presence? What might you say?

Well, this is tough. I mean, personally speaking, I would, yes, I think books make good presents. And honestly, I kind of assume everyone loves books just because I do. But last Christmas, I got a book about gardening for my friend Annie because she does indeed love to garden.

But to my surprise, she was kind of nonplussed about the gift. Oh, Bobber, I love the word nonplussed, right? And that's kind of the worst when you give someone a gift and you're excited about it. This happened a few times to me on Christmas morning that I was excited for them to get it and they clearly were like, wah, wah.

happened to me too. And like, James is so cute. Like he tries to hide it because he doesn't want to make me feel bad. But I'm like, dude, it's okay if you don't like this, we can try to like something you like happen to keep the receipt. Yeah, I know. Okay, I want you to have something you like it's fine. Okay, guys. So

I hope you wrote down those phrases. If not, just listen again, maybe on 1.5 speed, right? So you get to that vocab and write those phrases down. Aubrey, what is today's Spotify poll? All right. We want to know, do people often...

often surprise you. So this might be a practical joke someone's playing on you or just like my friend Mark who was on time for coffee, right? Are you often surprised by people? Yes or no? I love that question. I do wish there was a spot in like the Spotify poll for longer answers because like you can just answer yes or no, but I want an explanation. I want the details. Yes. And if so, how and why and when and tell me everything. Tell me everything.

Okay, guys. You know what? Tell us your story. Support at allearsenglish.com. Tell us a time when people surprised you. I would love to get enough answers from all of you wonderful listeners that we can share them in a whole episode. That would be amazing. That would be really fun. Yes. Send us an email. Thanks, Jessica. This was really fun. I'm excited for you guys to use this surprisingly awesome vocabulary. Oh, nice. All right, Aubrey. I'll see you next time. 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.