IELTS Band 9 - Most Enthusiastic Test — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Good afternoon. My name is Eli House.
2. 0:03Can you please tell me your full name?
3. 0:05>> Yes, my name is Daria Maria Marcu, but
4. 0:07you can call me Daria.
5. 0:08>> Okay, Daria. In this first part, I'd
6. 0:09like to ask you some questions about
7. 0:11yourself. Let's talk about where you
8. 0:13live. Do you live in a large city or a
9. 0:16small town or a village?
10. 0:18>> I live in the second largest city in
11. 0:20Romania called Cluj.
12. 0:22>> Have you lived there for your entire
13. 0:23life?
14. 0:24>> Actually, yes. I know it's quite
15. 0:26surprising because there are a lot of
16. 0:27people coming from different cities
17. 0:29here, but I've been living here since I
18. 0:31was born.
19. 0:32>> And would you like to continue living
20. 0:33here in the future?
21. 0:35>> Oh, this is an interesting question. I
22. 0:37think yes. I really like the atmosphere.
23. 0:40Everybody is so nice and friendly and we
24. 0:42have a lot of nature, which I absolutely
25. 0:44adore. But there's also this idea of
26. 0:48wanting to go out outside of Romania and
27. 0:52trying to experience different cultures.
28. 0:54So, I'm not quite sure yet, but I'm
29. 0:56inclining towards yes more.
30. 0:58>> Let's move on. Let's talk about
31. 0:59happiness. What made you happy when you
32. 1:02were younger?
33. 1:03>> Oh, I think toys. I was the type of kid
34. 1:07that absolutely loved anything that had
35. 1:10to do with imagination. So, I really
36. 1:12like making up scenarios, and toys were
37. 1:15the one
38. 1:17friend that could help me do this. So, I
39. 1:19think toys, dolls mostly.
40. 1:21>> Is there anything that has made you feel
41. 1:23particularly happy lately?
42. 1:26>> Lately, I think I would say books. I
43. 1:29really enjoy reading, any sort of
44. 1:32reading, and books just have this
45. 1:34tendency of making me feel at ease. And
46. 1:38this way, kind of I get to feel very
47. 1:40serene and happy while I'm reading.
48. 1:44>> Do you think happiness is important?
49. 1:46>> Yes, I think it is. This is why I think
50. 1:49all of us strive towards having a happy
51. 1:52life and living our dreams and try and
52. 1:55make the most out of our time here. So,
53. 1:57I do think we put a lot of importance of
54. 2:00on happiness, but it's quite subjective
55. 2:02on how we imagine it should look like.
56. 2:06>> Do you think that buying new products is
57. 2:09a good way to get more happiness?
58. 2:12>> In my opinion, not necessarily. I think
59. 2:14that material stuff does not always
60. 2:19result in inner happiness. It's just a
61. 2:21moment, a flicker of pleasure, but it's
62. 2:25very fugitive, so I would say no.
63. 2:28>> And let's move on. Let's talk about art.
64. 2:30Do you like art?
65. 2:32>> I absolutely love it. I go into art
66. 2:35museums any single chance I get. I think
67. 2:38that art is one of the most beautiful
68. 2:40ways of expression.
69. 2:42>> Mhm. Would you want to be an artist
70. 2:44yourself?
71. 2:45>> Yes, I would love to. I love painting
72. 2:49and drawing, so any chance I get, I also
73. 2:52do that. But, I think it's a very, very
74. 2:55difficult career to follow, so I respect
75. 2:57any artist that is able to make their
76. 3:01living out of this.
77. 3:02>> Do you feel more inclined towards modern
78. 3:05art or more traditional art?
79. 3:08>> I think I would say maybe a combination,
80. 3:10even though I do like traditional art
81. 3:12more, especially the Renaissance period,
82. 3:15but modern art also has its
83. 3:17um peculiarities and beautiful aspects
84. 3:20of it.
85. 3:21>> We're going to move on to part two, and
86. 3:23in this part I'm going to give you a
87. 3:24topic, and I'd like you to talk about it
88. 3:26for 1 to 2 minutes. All right, remember
89. 3:28you have 1 to 2 minutes for this, so
90. 3:30don't worry if I stop you. I'll tell you
91. 3:32when the time is up. Can you start
92. 3:34speaking now, please?
93. 3:35>> Yes, I would like to tell you about my
94. 3:38big dream of studying abroad,
95. 3:41specifically with the Erasmus
96. 3:43scholarship. And this was a dream I had
97. 3:46since I was in high school, and now in
98. 3:49my second year of college, I got to live
99. 3:52this amazing opportunity.
100. 3:55I had to go to Paris to start my studies
101. 3:59in September, and I was absolutely
102. 4:03overwhelmed with fear because I was
103. 4:06alone for the first time in my life.
104. 4:09I've never lived on my own, and it was
105. 4:11something that was very daunting. But, I
106. 4:14had a lot of outside help, especially
107. 4:17from my family and also my teachers in
108. 4:20my home university as well as the
109. 4:23university I was studying in Paris.
110. 4:25And they were able to guide me through
111. 4:27the difficult parts of this transition,
112. 4:30and of course of learning how to live
113. 4:33there because it was a completely new
114. 4:35culture, a completely new language,
115. 4:37which I loved, but it was still a
116. 4:39different level of complexity that I did
117. 4:42not
118. 4:44live before.
119. 4:45And um
120. 4:47day by day, it was a success that kind
121. 4:50of built day by day because it wasn't an
122. 4:52overnight transformation or transition
123. 4:55that I was able to make. I had my
124. 4:57moments, I had my ups and downs, but
125. 5:00I think I succeeded because I never
126. 5:03really gave up and gave into fear. And I
127. 5:06know it might be a bit um
128. 5:08it might be a bit weird to say that I
129. 5:10would I feared being there and living my
130. 5:12dream because it was after all something
131. 5:14that I wanted to do, but it was just
132. 5:17such an intense experience that
133. 5:20sometimes joy turned into fear. However,
134. 5:23I do think that resilience was the one
135. 5:26key of my succeeding in doing this, and
136. 5:30also
137. 5:31>> Thank you. Would you like to relive this
138. 5:34experience?
139. 5:35>> Ooh,
140. 5:36that's a bit complicated because it was
141. 5:38very, very scary, not going to lie, but
142. 5:42I think yes, I would say yes because
143. 5:44overall it was a very important moment
144. 5:47of building my character.
145. 5:49>> We've been talking about something that
146. 5:51you did that you succeeded in and I'd
147. 5:52like to discuss with you one or two more
148. 5:54general questions related to this. Let's
149. 5:57first of all consider succeeding in
150. 5:59life. What do you Well, you mentioned
151. 6:02resilience in your part two um long
152. 6:05term. What other characteristics or
153. 6:07qualities do you think are important in
154. 6:09succeeding in life?
155. 6:11>> I think it depends a lot on how you
156. 6:14perceive succeeding in life to be, but
157. 6:17as an overall perspective, I think it's
158. 6:21very important to be hard working, but
159. 6:25not in a selfless way in the sense that
160. 6:28you're going to lose yourself in your
161. 6:29work. Rather, you work towards something
162. 6:32that you love, so you always do it with
163. 6:34intense passion. I think this is
164. 6:36something that's very, very important to
165. 6:38be dedicated to whatever you're striving
166. 6:40towards.
167. 6:41>> And do you think that these
168. 6:43characteristics and qualities are things
169. 6:46that parents should teach their
170. 6:48children?
171. 6:48>> Oh, yes. And not only parents, but
172. 6:51they're the first adults that are really
173. 6:53the mentors of a child. So, yes, I do
174. 6:56think that not necessarily to drown
175. 6:59their children in these lessons, but
176. 7:01rather try and make them understand why
177. 7:03they're important, so they themselves
178. 7:05can choose being this certain person
179. 7:08that is going to achieve all these goals
180. 7:10in their lives.
181. 7:11>> Some people worry that if parents put
182. 7:13too much pressure on their children to
183. 7:16succeed in life, it can actually have
184. 7:18the opposite effect. What do you think?
185. 7:20>> Mhm. I I actually agree because I think
186. 7:23this um
187. 7:25interfamiliar
188. 7:26pressure is sometimes very, very
189. 7:30negative and it can push the kid in the
190. 7:33very in the wrong direction, in the
191. 7:35opposite direction of what he actually
192. 7:37or she actually wants. So, I think that
193. 7:39just And
194. 7:41directioning towards beneficial aspects
195. 7:45is way way better than forceful
196. 7:49forcefully inputting your opinion or
197. 7:51your perspective on the child.
198. 7:54>> Now, let's move on. Let's talk about
199. 7:56traveling and living abroad. So, you
200. 7:58mentioned that you've lived abroad. What
201. 8:00do you think are some good tips and
202. 8:02advice for when it comes to someone's
203. 8:04first time living abroad?
204. 8:06>> To be open-minded because no matter how
205. 8:09long you may have in that moment, it's
206. 8:11going to look completely different and
207. 8:13the culture itself is going to be
208. 8:15different. It's not going to be anything
209. 8:18like you've seen before in movies or on
210. 8:21social media. So, be open-minded to new
211. 8:23experiences and also very respectful
212. 8:26towards the culture that you're getting
213. 8:29immersed into because it's a it's a way
214. 8:31of showing that you do belong in a way
215. 8:34there, that you respect their
216. 8:35traditions, their ways of being.
217. 8:38>> Some people recommend doing research,
218. 8:40for example, online research or reading
219. 8:43in books about the country before you go
220. 8:45to live there. What do you think about
221. 8:47that?
222. 8:47>> I do think at a certain level it is
223. 8:50important to be knowledgeable before
224. 8:53arriving there, but not in your
225. 8:56detriment in the sense that you arrive
226. 8:58there and you think that you already
227. 8:59know everything because as I said
228. 9:02before, I think that you only learn
229. 9:04while you're there. You can learn the
230. 9:06theory before, but their lives and how
231. 9:10they really are every day,
232. 9:13it's only going to be apparent when you
233. 9:16arrive there and you get to be with all
234. 9:18these people every single day.
235. 9:20>> Some people believe that nowadays
236. 9:23younger generations are less willing to
237. 9:25take on these kind of adventures, for
238. 9:28example, living in a foreign country or
239. 9:31even traveling to an unknown place. They
240. 9:34say it's because nowadays we're able to
241. 9:36order a coffee when we want it, we're
242. 9:38able to buy any product we want online,
243. 9:41and so we're less comfortable with the
244. 9:43unknown. What do you think about that?
245. 9:46>> I agree to a certain extent. I think
246. 9:49that for me this was also an eye-opening
247. 9:53moment of my life because I've met so
248. 9:56many amazing young adults that have also
249. 10:00embarked in this journey alongside me,
250. 10:02and I know from experience very very
251. 10:06numerous people that are willing to go
252. 10:08outside their borders and outside their
253. 10:11comfort zones as well in order to get
254. 10:15this desired character development.
255. 10:18I do however agree with the fact that we
256. 10:20are very uncomfortable with the unknown.
257. 10:23However, I do not think that this is
258. 10:24stopping young generations. I see young
259. 10:26generations as very resilient
260. 10:28generations, very brave, courageous
261. 10:31people that want to experience maybe
262. 10:34more and have more chances than their
263. 10:36parents had before.
264. 10:38>> Okay, thank you very much. That is the
265. 10:39end of the speaking test.
266. 10:41>> Thank you.
267. 10:42>> Phenomenal speaking test. You know it.
268. 10:44You got band nine in speaking before. In
269. 10:47fact, can you break down your IELTS
270. 10:49score for me?
271. 10:50>> Yes. So in speaking and listening I got
272. 10:54a nine, in reading an 8.5, and in
273. 10:57writing an eight.
274. 10:58>> Okay, that is a dream score for so many
275. 11:01people. Can you tell me a bit about your
276. 11:04IELTS preparation?
277. 11:05>> Yes. So I am more of an autonomous
278. 11:09autonomous learner, so I like to learn
279. 11:11on my own. This is why I didn't
280. 11:13necessarily sign up for any classes in
281. 11:16my college or anything like that. I
282. 11:19liked to learn online, and I came across
283. 11:22your videos, and this is the one source
284. 11:26of knowledge I really relied on, and
285. 11:29this is how I used to prepare as well as
286. 11:33from different course books and course
287. 11:36texts that I really enjoyed and I just
288. 11:38did them on my own.
289. 11:40>> It's interesting cuz a language is a
290. 11:42communicative cooperative thing, but you
291. 11:45you found that you were able to reach
292. 11:48such a high level of English through
293. 11:50primarily self-study.
294. 11:52>> Yes, so I've been studying English for a
295. 11:55bit by now and I have this amazing
296. 11:59amazing project that is a book club, an
297. 12:02international book club and this way we
298. 12:06meet online with international
299. 12:08participants and we talk every month and
300. 12:10this is an amazing exercise to really
301. 12:12get my communication flowing. So, maybe
302. 12:16I'm not necessarily at the beginner
303. 12:18level, I'm not experienced either. But
304. 12:21I'm not at the beginner level and that
305. 12:23helped me
306. 12:24have more flexibility in how I chose to
307. 12:27study.
308. 12:28>> Did you find that that was a nice way
309. 12:30for you to learn high levels of
310. 12:32communication in English because you
311. 12:34were talking about something that you
312. 12:35were so passionate about?
313. 12:37>> Yes, and it's also the environment
314. 12:40that's so friendly and you feel very
315. 12:43free to make any mistake that you don't
316. 12:47think about what am I going to say next,
317. 12:49how am I going to use this tense in
318. 12:50English. It's just you're talking very
319. 12:52freely and this creates a sort of
320. 12:55continuous flow of the language that
321. 12:57native people you hear native people
322. 12:59use.
323. 13:01And um I would suggest anybody if they
324. 13:03can join any sort of English speaking
325. 13:07club that they should, especially if
326. 13:09they have any interest that this club
327. 13:12discusses.
328. 13:13>> That was really the sensation that I got
329. 13:15from doing this test with you. I felt
330. 13:17that I was talking to a friend rather
331. 13:20than a candidate. I felt that you really
332. 13:23wanted to engage in all the questions
333. 13:25and you were primarily interested in
334. 13:27working out your ideas based on these
335. 13:30different questions and based on these
336. 13:31different themes. And so it made it a
337. 13:33very enjoyable experience for me.
338. 13:36>> Yes, I also felt exactly the same. And I
339. 13:39think this is the best mindset you could
340. 13:41have going into the exam is that you're
341. 13:44going to have a conversation with
342. 13:45somebody that is not really there
343. 13:48necessarily to examine you so you don't
344. 13:50get this
345. 13:51sensation of stress of being nervous or
346. 13:54anything. It's more like you're having a
347. 13:55conversation about topics that are usual
348. 13:59or everyday and then you just go deeper
349. 14:02into whatever knowledge you've already
350. 14:04acquired so it's not that you need
351. 14:06anything new. You already have
352. 14:08everything that you can work with.
353. 14:10>> That's right. In fact, you're one of the
354. 14:11first people I think I've ever examined
355. 14:15that hasn't immediately told me how
356. 14:16nervous you were feeling in the exam
357. 14:19afterwards. And you're also one of the
358. 14:21few people who speaking to before the
359. 14:24exam and speaking to during the exam was
360. 14:27exactly the same.
361. 14:29>> Oh, I like that. Thank you.
362. 14:32>> So if people want to get in contact with
363. 14:35you, find out more about you, are you
364. 14:36happy for that to happen?
365. 14:38>> Yes, of course. I also have an
366. 14:40educational platform. I try to share my
367. 14:43love especially for reading and
368. 14:46I have an Instagram. It's called
369. 14:48sincerely_daria.sincerely.
370. 14:51And
371. 14:52that is the platform I use and also the
372. 14:56book club that you're going to find
373. 14:58there and you're more than welcome to
374. 14:59get in touch however you want.
375. 15:02>> Daria, thank you very much for coming
376. 15:03and doing the speaking test.
377. 15:04>> Thank you.