Learn advanced English in this IELTs course episode of The Aussie English Podcast where Kel and I talk about cultural differences between Brazil and Australia.

AE 503 – IELTs Course: Lesson 1 – Cultural differences

G’day, guys! How’s it going? Pete here, obviously.

Today, I have something new for you, something new for you. So, I chat to you guys a while ago via email and also to all the users of the Aussie English Classroom about what to do after episode 500 and I got mixed feedback. Some of you were sort of happy with the expression episodes and wanting to keep doing them the way they are, others of you wanted something different and you wanted things relating to IELTS and real-world situations and real conversations and break down of vocab and expressions that can be used in those kinds of situations. So, for the last few weeks, Kel and I have been getting together every now and then to record videos, as you’re about to find out, on different topics, right? So, we can discuss them, we can talk about different vocab that we would use in different situations, how to use different expressions. So, so far, we’ve done this episode. This is the very first episode on cultural differences where I sit down with Kel and we chat about the cultural differences between Brazil and Australia.

The other episode that we have done is on family where we talk about our families and we talk about how we can describe our families, the different members in our family, all that sort of stuff in English. So, this episode is going to be free. I’m going to put this up on YouTube, I’m going to put this up on the podcast, the whole thing will be up there for you, guys, to use. However, with the episodes after this there’s going to be two portions to it.

There’s going to be the initial discussion video and podcast episode that will just be me and Kel having a chat about whatever it is, whatever the topic is: family, culture, politics, ordering coffee, whatever those situations are, but then there’ll be a second part to each of those episodes where Kel and I continue the conversation and go through the different vocab and expressions that are used in the first video, ok? And discuss how to use that, what kind of situations, how not to use it all of that sort of stuff. We’re going to deep dive into all the vocab and expressions and hopefully give you tricks and tips specifically for IELTS, PTE and the Cambridge exams, right? And obviously it’s going to be applicable to English in general. You’ll be able to use everything that you learn in these episodes anywhere. But I wanted to be able to give you guys some more resources to help you prepare for IELTS and just to prepare for any of those situations where you’re going to be talking about more complex topics. So, this is the very first one, guys, I’m open to feedback. I would love to hear what you guys think. I would love to hear if you have any suggestions, if you have any topics that you would love us to cover as we’ve only done three episodes so far and we’re thinking about the future ones, but anyway that’s enough for the intro. I’ll let you see it. I’ll let you hear it and then afterwards will finish up and yeah, let’s do it, let’s just get into it, guys.

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Pete: G’day, guys! Welcome to this episode of Aussie English and I’m going to be chatting about cultural differences so, I brought along my beautiful fiancee here. Thanks for coming along, Kel. And we were having a chat the other day about differences with regards to culture and I wanted to just have a natural conversation with you. Kel’s like have to organize this, we have to go through it. She’s very pragmatic, she’s very organised andI’m always like ahhh we’ll work it out!

Kel: It’s mainly because English is your first language and I had have other things they need to say so…

Pete: I always forget that, I need to remember, but you do well, but it’s good to have you on the spot where you have to sort of improvise and you’re not prepared.

Kel: Let’s see how it goes!

Pete: Alright so, the first thing we’re talking about so, we’re getting married in about a month and we’ll do some episodes of marriage and some other things related to that in the future but Kel and I were talking about how we need to refer to each other’s parents and that also got us onto talking about how we refer to our own parents in our different cultures and I thought it was an interesting conversation and I liked… I liked what we were talking about so, I thought we could do a video on it and so do you want to start with, I guess, your first experiences here with regard to maybe what you thought of how I referred to my parents and your thoughts when we got engaged?

Pete: You were like… what do I call your parents?

Kel: Because you… most of the times you called them by their names like yeah Jo or Ian.

Pete: Yeah. So, my parents names are Jo and Ian.

Kel: And for me that’s really weird. At first I thought you were joking, you know, he was teasing or something, but because we living now with them for a four a short period it happens everyday and I’m like… that’s really weird. So, I think we wanted to buy them something. I don’t remember what it was, but I was like okay so how do I call your parents? And he was.. Ian and Jo?

Pete: Yeah, use their first names, Kel.

Kel: I’m like… there’s no way I’ll call your mum Jo… she’s not my mate! She’s your mum! There’s no way I can do that, that’s so disrespectful! You can do it. She may is to you doing it, but I feel uncomfortable so, I decided to call them Mum and Dad. but that’s even worse because it’s just awkward, I’m not.. she’s not my mum either. That’s so confusing, but for me it’s like in Brazil you call like my dad sir, like senhor, and my mum madam, senhora.

Pete: Yeah So, you would use senhor/senhora which is effectively literally translated as sir and madam, which in Australia you would never call your parents sir and madam because that’s such a… That’s such a respectful sort of like I would call the King of England. I would call the King of England Your Highness if there were a king of England or Your Highness if it was a woman, but maybe for example the princes, Prince Harry and Prince Charles and the other son was that Prince William, them I would call, at least on my side was made aware of a different phrase that I need to use which may be your Highness I would call them, they’re the kind of people I would call sir as a baseline that is where I would begin with, okay, maybe I need to refer to these people as sir and so, if I were to you sir or madam with my parents as an Australian, and this would probably apply to all Australians, they would be very freaked out, they would be like what on earth?!

Pete: Because I think to an Australian culture it’s very… we don’t like big distances.

Kel: I get that.

Pete: Between, you know, the upper class and the lower class, between positions it’s always… the emphasis is on becoming close with people. So, even your boss at work you may have a really good relationship with him. He might just say you know call me my name, you never get to call him sir or madam and that would be very uncommon in Australia. Usually, it would be maybe Mr. Something, or Mrs. something, but even then that’s a bit too formal in Australia at least we would…. almost always when you’re in a position of power, you want to be… don’t look at me like that I’m a friend, I’m a friend, I’m a friend!

Pete: So, that was what happened with my parents where I said to Kel, in Australia, if you’re getting married to someone or you’re someone’s girlfriend, you’re someone’s partner, whatever it is you would most likely use that person’s first name unless they’re related to you, if they’re related to you may have a different thing, you know, like I might call my uncles and aunts, uncle Paul or auntie Ingrid, you know, but even then now I would probably just use their first names because we’re the same age. When I was a little kid I would call them Uncle Paul or auntie Ingrid, but it wasn’t that big a deal.

Pete: So, and that’s Australian, there may be slight differences in Britain. There may be a bit more, they’re a bit more class base here, but here in with my family they’re very… It’s I guess we’re all equal. We don’t see each other as like I’m the older one. You need to respect me, at least with my immediate family, my parents and my sister. So, what is it like him in Brazil?

Kel: I think for me, personally, it’s a funny one because my parents are not…. they’re fairly young, like my mum had me when she was 20 so, growing up I wouldn’t see her as this old woman at all and I wouldn’t refer to her as madam, but I would never call her by her first name. That’s not, you know, not ok?

Pete: What would her reaction have been if you had?

Kel: She would be like what are you doing? Are you crazy? and would slap me or something, it’s just not polite. But I understand what you mean. The same with my dad, like my parents got divorced and I wouldn’t spend as much time with him, but I would never call him by his first name. That’s not, that’s not okay. But I think because my parents are a bit young I feel weird calling them like sir and madam.

Pete: Because that gap in age isn’t so accentuated.

Kel: But always mom and dad and my grandmother definitely madam.

Pete: Really?

Kel: Yeah. There’s no… there’s no… and you have to like, can I have your hand? you have to like…

Pete: What? You have to kiss your grandmother’s hand? What is she? The Pope?

Kel: No! She’s my grandmother, that’s it! Every day! like when you go and see her, for example, and visit her you have to do that, if you don’t… I mean… if you are a little child, your parents have to deal with that.

Pete: You don’t know any better, you don’t know any better!

Kel: But I’m 30 so, If I get there and I don’t do it she’ll be like ” oh, you’re all different!’, you know what I mean? And I’m sure for a lot of people it’s the same, there might be families in Brazil where you call, you know, people call their parents by their first name. It may be changing, but.

Pete: It’s very uncommon.

Kel: It is very uncommon. Most people would say senhora or senhor.

Pete: That is so strange! For me that’s the kind of thing I remember talking to one of my students about this who is Brazilian and I was like that reminds me of the movie The Sound of Music where that, I think is an Australian guy or something, the captain or whatever his name is, and has all these children of different ages and they all refer to him as sir. And I remember watching that as a kid and just being like… that is so weird! Because it’s almost like… it’s almost like he’s their boss or he… it’s almost like he owns them. you know. like we just don’t have that kind of formality and I think to the weird thing is in Australian culture that I remember as one anecdote working in a restaurant and an elderly man came in and he would have been in his 60s maybe 70s and I called him sir and he got angry at me, and he was just like don’t call me that my name is Robert.

Kel: Really?

Pete: That was my… as a waiter, in Australian culture you might do it as a waiter or waitress if you… if the person is relatively old and you don’t want to call them Mr or Mrs, well you don’t know their namea so you probably call them sir or madam, if you do that sometimes they’ll be okay with it, but generally I think most people say don’t, don’t do that. I’m I’m just a normal person as well, don’t treat me like I’m up here, please. My name is Geoff, that makes me uncomfortable.

Kel: But it makes me uncomfortable. For example, with your parents, it’s so weird for me to listen to myself calling them Hi, Ian! It feels that I’m disrespecting them in a way or like just being too informal. I don’t know.

Pete: I think, I guess, that’s one piece of advice would be if you’re coming to Australia or any English-speaking country don’t just assume one way or the other. Talk to people, talk to the people you’re speaking with too, because I’m sure I’m sure you could have sat down with my parents when you first met them and you say I just… I’m a bit confused about how I need to refer to you to be politically correct or to be polite. What language do I need to use? And that is when they would probably say just just call me Jo, just call me Ian and that’s, you know, from then on you just call them Jo or just call them Ian.

Kel: Yeah, your mum sent us a postcard from Britain and she wrote something like, you know, PS: Mum and Dad Oh, Ian and Jo, whatever! It was just so funny because she knows I feel uncomfortable. But it’s the same, when I have to talk to them yeah like now I’m using your dad’s computer and I’m always like… ahh I don’t know how to ask, it’s just so… because we see, I think in Brazil we sell our parents like this really authoritarian, I don’t know, we just… they have the power and someone’s parents is even worse, if we were living with my parents I’m sure I would feel more… obviously I’ll call them sir and madam,.

Pete: And I would feel more like okay, I will call them sir and madam or whatever you suggest, cause i don’t know them.

Kel: But to ask for things I would be much more comfortable, but because they’re your parents. I just feel that.. you know, an extra level of power, it’s just the way we’re raised.

Pete: Funny thing with our relationship too I’m trying to push Kel constantly to talk to them herself because she comes up to me, she’s talking Portuguese so, that they don’t understand it and she’ll be like can you please ask them this thing? Can you ask them if I can use this? And I’ll be like just ask them, Kel, just go. Kelly wants to know if she can use this and you’ll be like noooo.

Kel: But one thing is because I feel weird calling them by their names and I feel silly calling them sir and madam, I never know how to start a conversation. It’s always like… hey you! I’m getting better…

Pete: My basic thing would be call them…. call them their names. And if you’re worried about it ask them how can I refer to you?

Kel: Yeah, yeah, they’re very, they’re very open and you know.

Pete: But the conservative side of Australia is sort of similar to Brazil, I think, because my grandparents, my mother’s parents, are very conservative and growing up I always had to call them nana and grandpa. That was it.

Pete: There was never sir or madam, but if I were to use their first name they would have probably punish me one way or another or seen it as offensive or that they need to teach me to be polite because that was how they were brought up in the 1930s and 40s was like, the conservative nature that you’re sort of talking about I think was how Australia, 80 plus years ago, but nowadays it’s getting more and more and more informal.

Kel: Maybe Brazil will change, I don’t know. either. But while I was living there, and I remember, as a child my friends would never talk to my parents as, you know, by their first name. It was just something that you wouldn’t do. And yeah, I don’t know, maybe it is changing, I have no idea, but being a child that was definitely more strict.

Pete: I think for us too, the smaller the child-like at school you would refer to your teachers as Mr. or Mrs. and then the name of the person. So, in Australia you would never say teacher! you know, unless you didn’t know their name, you might be able to.

Kel: We say that!

Pete: I know, the Portuguese say Professor which is a teacher.

Pete: But here you would say Mr. or Mrs. And then like name, Mr. Black, Mrs. White, whatever. And so, sometimes if you met friends parents you might refer to them as, for instance, my best friend as a kid, Luke Parncutt, I would call his dad Mr. Parncutt or his mum Mrs. Parncutt when I was a kid, when I was very small, but again I think as the relationship develop they get to a point where they don’t like being called that because it makes them feel uncomfortable.

Kel: They feel old or something.

Pete: So, they just say just call me my first name.

Kel: Yeah.

Pete: And another example was we were in the street the other day and I I bumped into my primary school teacher from when I was in Grade five and Grade 6, so I would have been 11 years old 12 years old and I was like Kel, you’ve gotta meet Mrs. Curew? and I yelled out Mrs. Curew, Mrs. Curew, ? , which was her name when I was at primary school and I … to be honest, I never even actually knew her first name.

Pete: And she turned around and she was just like Oh Peter! I’ve seen her through the years and she’s like you know my name is Lou! Call me Lou! don’t call me Mrs. Curew no one calls me that because she hasn’t been a primary school teacher for 20 years.

Kel: And she looks really modern and, you know, she doesn’t look like someone who would call like madam or miss I guess it reminds people of their age, I don’t know.

Pete: But that’s an example too I came across my teacher who when I was in primary school I would have called Mrs. and Mr. because that’s you know teaching students respect, but then as soon as you leave school and you come into contact with those people again quite often they’re like just me my first name because they feel uncomfortable and I think I’d be the same, anytime I’ve had students, teaching English, quite often they like they call me sir or mister or teacher and I’m just like just call me Peter, I’m your teacher but I’m also I want to be your friend, I don’t want to be… I don’t want you to consider me here and you’re this lowly person who’s below me you, where on an equal playing field as people, we’re both people, but I want to be obviously I’m the one that’s helping you.

Kel: Yeah.

Pete: So, that was it with regards to names of people. What was the other cultural thing we wanted to talk about?

Kel: Politeness, I guess?

Pete: Politness? In asking questions and speaking with people?

Kel: Yeah. So, I think we were saying that Brazilians are much more direct. So, in Portuguese you can say… if you are having dinner with people just like… me dá o sal! Like Pass me the salt.

Pete: Give me the salt. Which is very direct in English.

Kel: Which is not rude! Obviously, it depends on the people you are with, but in general I would say, it doesn’t sound rude if you say me passa o sal, give me the salt. But in English, I’ve done it and I’ve seen people doing it and it’s always like you go to a coffee shop or something like give me a coffee! Wow! that’s not okay! Just very strong, I guess.

Pete: That was interesting when you’re talking about that because I guess it’s probably better from my standpoint going into Portuguese because I’m going to formulate my sentences in probably overly polite phrases, you’re going to probably think are weird, but you’re not going to be offended by. Whereas if you speak directly translate into English you have the chance of offending people with abruptness.

Kel: You know, I was telling you that my teacher in Townsville he asked me Do you prefer being called Sonia or Raquel? I have, you know, two names. And my English at the time was very limited, and I just said whatever, but in my my what I wanted to say was either one, I don’t mind, but I just said whatever.

Pete: Because that was the vocabulary you had.

Kel: Because in Portuguese I’d say tanto faz and it wouldn’t…

Pete: Which means whatever.

Kel: Which mean whatever but it wouldn’t sound rude or anything and, you know, a few months later when I finally could express myself better he was like there was rude, I know you didn’t mean to be rude, but yeah…

Pete: Explaining that one though, whatever can be used when someone asks you a question and you don’t care about the answer or you don’t care about …like Pete, do you want to go to the beach or do you want to go to the mountains? If I were to say ah whatever that’s like, wow you don’t care, you’re not interested and you’re trying to like finish the conversation and get out and be like… whatever, I don’t care, whatever. And so I mean that the good thing is if you make those kinds of mistakes as a non-native speaker, people quite often aren’t going to assume you’re being rude, they’ll assume ah ok, they don’t mean that, but that’s what, you know, that’s the message they’re trying to convey, but that’s not what they… they’re not doing in a rude way. But some of the interesting things you pointed out were those short phrases when asking for something. So, for instance give me the salt, I mean that’s not necessarily a question, but it’s a short phrase in English we… politeness, because we don’t really have like tenses that you can change or pronouns, like a polite version of you or anything like that and using sir and madam is kind of out of the question, we tend to add words to sentences and use longer sentences.

Kel: And that’s what I learned, if you want to be polite in English, make your sentences long. So, can I please have…and that a joke in school, like we would say this is so pointless! Why do I have to spend five seconds just asking for their freaking salt! But it makes sense to understand the culture you like I can’t be so direct.

Pete: And we don’t we don’t have polite tenses which show that politeness in other ways. So, we have to add other words to the sentences so, a few really good ones would be can I. And then, you know, use an inversion for the question. Can I please have? Using please in all these sentences, can I please have this? or I would like to have this, please? If it’s a question or a statement just use please, would like, can I. And then there were some other ones like Do you mind if I…?

Kel: Yes.

Pete: Even though that sounds so long, do you mind if I have a coffee? Do you mind if I get a biscuit? Do you mind if I buy a sandwich? Do you mind if I…? Is like a way of saying does it bother you if I do this thing? So it’s kind of this polite way and saying I will do this thing, you know, or can I do this thing.

Kel: And I’ve seen people say oh like just Brazilians are rude or like people judging other cultures, just saying oh those people are rude, but I really think it’s much more… has much to do with cultural differences, like Chinese people for example they tend to be quite direct as well. So, as I foreigner, I see as you just have to adapt to your own like behavior and language and when you come to live in Australia, for example, you need to know that, you know, people don’t talk like that and if you want to sound polite… people, if you don’t, people English isn’t my your language, but you know, I always wanted to be…. to blend in and to be, you know, like a native I would say, so.

Pete: And people appreciate that effort because I can tell the difference between someone who’s made the effort to get to a higher level and someone who’s just using basic English to get by. And again, it’s not that I don’t…. It’s not that I’m prejudiced towards one or the other, but I can tell that if you’re using slang words, if you’re using that kind of language do you mind if I get? Can I have this please? I can tell, ok, this person really takes English seriously and is trying to become a part of the culture a bit more. The same with if I was going to Brazil I could get by on what I know, but I would be trying to dive deeper and get a better sense of it and try and blend in and try and fit in try and move more native.

Kel: It’s funny because…it’s weird, Brazilians tend to be more direct and more physical and closer to people, but as I was telling you the other day like we struggle to say no to things and to people like… if I’m visiting you and your parents cooked something that I don’t like.

Pete: Yeah, this is a really funny conversation when we did this.

Kel: I would never say oh no, thank you, I don’t like that, or like I’m not hungry. I would have to eat because that’s politeness for us. If you have an allergy, obviously, you’re not going to put yourself in danger, but most of the times, you just don’t say no because if it sounds rude.

Pete: Your example was like if I came to your house and your dad was cooking dinner, he wouldn’t necessarily check with me what I need, what I want or anything about me, he does what he does and it’s my job as that guest to conform and to be like okay all this food is amazing, I’m not going to be like well I don’t eat that, this is gross. No, I’m not going to have that. It’s my job to be the one thanking the other person and it was funny because Kel was like yeah, that makes sense, doesn’t it?

Pete: And I’m like yeah, yeah, but in Australia it would probably be the complete opposite where the host takes it upon themselves to feel like they’re a bad host, unless they’re saying to you what don’t you eat? What would you like? What don’t you like? Like you’re coming to my house, you’re my guess. I need to take care of you. What can I do to make your experience here better? So, I said you know if we go to my grandmother’s for Christmas or something, Nana would say something like what does Kel eat? Does she not eat anything? This is what we’re going to have, is she going to be okay with that? She’s going to be incredibly worried about you having a good time. And it’s funny because both make kind of sense.

Kel: Exactly.

Pete: When you look at each one of them, but that’s a cultural difference too. So, don’t be afraid, if you’re coming to Australia and you’re allergic to something or you don’t like something, you know, to at least feel like you could have that conversation with someone if they’re cooking dinner for you, you know. Obviously you’re deathly allergic to things like oysters or something, say something, but don’t feel like you have to eat everything on your plate and that that’s going to be rude.

Kel: And I see that with your mum, like usually when she goes shopping and she’s always like… she knows that like a certain type of biscuits. I would never say I wanted a specific type of biscuit, but she always asks me Would you like the biscuit? I’m like yeah. It’s not that I wouldn’t eat the ones she likes, but she wants to make sure I have something that I really like, whereas for me, my grandmother for example she would buy whatever she wanted and you would have to feel that that’s it. I would try to find something I like just you know between the things she got, not the opposite.

Pete: Maybe that’s related too that distance, though, with regards to like she’s up here you’re here and you need to fit in with her, whereas for us it’s more we always want to make the little guy, the guy below us feel comfortable. As opposed to making ourselves out to be more important or putting emphasis on that sort of difference in importance.

Kel: I’m sure people have different experiences, but like my family and my friends’ families that’s what I would, you know, be used to as a child. I don’t know if it’s changing, but hopefully because it’s quite stressful to be like I don’t eat this thing, but I have to… I remember visiting my aunt once, like Brazilians will know Jucara or Acai, you know Acai?

Pete: These are different sort of, what would you call it? Acai is like… it’s it’s kind of a grain or something.

Kel: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kel: So, it’s very, very popular in Brazil, especially in the North. And my aunt made this huge like, you know, shake with it. I hate it. I can’t stand, I can’t even stand the smell of it. I drank the whole thing because I would never say no, thank you.

Pete: Kel is way too familiar with me, though, because I make things all the time and she’s like: I don’t eat that!

Kel: But it’s funny, I was telling you this yesterday, like I’m quite picky with food I would say.

Pete: You are.

Kel: I have…absolutely…. I can’t stand cooked food, like even meat.

Pete: Not necessarily uncooked, but undercooked and in not…so she’ll have a steak that is well done and I’ll have one that’s you know well, medium rare to well done, medium done.

Pete: And Pete would make this like massive stir fry with vegetables and chicken and I would be thinking of what if the chickens not fully cooked? I wouldn’t say anything because I was, you know, embarrassed and we had just met what I was like.

Pete: Please, don’t get food poisoning!

Kel: When I started cooking you saw like I get the fat out of the chicken.

Pete: She cooks the crap out of the food. KEL, this is charcoal. This isn’t meat, Kel!

Kel: That’s how you make sure it’s ok.

Pete: Anything else you think about cultural differences wise? Things that you should be aware of?

Kel: Just because I’ve seen so many Brazilians friends doing that again and it kind of becomes a joke, when you go out with Brazilians that they will rude or anything, but just make sure you know, like don’t be so direct with people, especially in restaurants and always say, and that’s another thing, like please and thank you are two very important things.

Pete: You can’t overuse them, you can’t use them too much. Use please and thank you as much as possible. And if someone else feels like you’re doing it too often, they’ll say look you don’t have to say please, it’s ok.

Kel: It’s funny, I remembered one thing. It got me to a point where I was so worried about being polite because I didn’t know, what if I’m extremely rude with people? That I was saying thank you very much indeed to some people, and someone just came to me and said just say ta!

Pete: Ta is another way of saying thank you informally in Australian English

Pete: Yeah, yeah.

Kel: That’s a bit too much, but now I’m much better.

Pete: I think yeah so, those are the biggest things that if you come to Australia and you’re worried about it, first and foremost, don’t let it get in your head, don’t get stuck in your head and not use your English because you’re afraid of being rude. Worst case scenario what you’ve said is rude if a native speaker says it, but you’re not a native speaker, right? And so, the persons is…. usually, if they’re, you know, intelligent at all and compassionate and empathetic they’re gonna understand you didn’t mean that, they’re going to give you the benefit of the doubt.

Kel: Absolutely.

Pete: And if you if in doubt, just ask, ask what is it? What’s the appropriate thing to say in this thing? I want to say thank you, but is this too much? Is this not polite enough? What can I do? If you meet someone and you’re not sure about how to address them say Can I call you Mr or Mrs? Can I use your first name? Do I use your second name or call you sir? Just ask people and that good thing is that you have to use your English. You have to be communicating with people. So, if in doubt, communicate. If in doubt, communicate.

Kel: That’s it.

Pete: Awesome. We have a guest here. This is Max. So, yeah, guys! Thanks for watching the video. See you next time!

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Alright, guys! Thank you for sticking with me. I really hope you enjoy this episode. I hope you enjoy the fact that I get to chat to Kel, she’s a little nervous about talking on camera especially in English because it’s her second language, but I think it’s perfect to be honest. Obviously, I’m a native speaker. She’s not a native speaker, but what she brings to the table, what she brings with regards to experience to this event, to this situation is that she’s learned English as a foreign language, she’s gone through the IELTS exam, at least twice now and I think she scored on the most recent one an average of seven, seven and a half, or eight. I can’t remember exactly but it was around that. And yeah, I’m not too worried about her being perfect. She’s constantly like oh my God I’m going to make mistakes. That’s the whole point, right? The whole point is that she is there as an English learner to have a chat with me and bring all of that kind of stuff to the table. Her experience, her knowledge as an English learner. So, I hope you enjoy this episode. As I said at the start, I would love to hear what you think. I would love to hear if you have any positive or negative criticisms so, please leave it in a comment. Send me an e-mail. Send me a message on Facebook, however you want to get in contact with me if you have some feedback. And if not, I guess I’ll see you next week. And I guess I should mention I still want to keep doing the expression episodes!

I’m just not sure on if I’ll be able to do one of each of these each week or if I’ll have to go back and forth between the two. So, we’ll just see how much time I have. I’ll do my best, but again your feedback is really welcome. Let me know what you think. I’m always here trying to improve and to better help you, guys, get from intermediate and advanced English beyond, right? So, anyway thanks for joining me, guys, I’ll chat to you soon! Bye!

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