aubrey we are here with um an inspirational message for our students and three idioms this
is such a packed awesome show today i know i love idioms so much i love sharing them on social media
talking about them on the podcast they're so fun and i know you guys out there you know you need
idiomatic language for the speaking exam and this is a great place to learn it because we
share in context how you can use it on the test sample sentences this is the best place to learn
an idiom so funnily enough vocabulary and idioms for describing numbers and amounts or plans this
category of vocabulary guys is necessary for ielts of course um because you need to
talk about amounts and frequency all the time on speaking and then of course ielts task one right
academic describing those numbers and task two um so this vocabulary guys
you need to have for ielts but also surprisingly you're gonna need it afterwards as well especially
if you have to use english at work and we know a lot of you guys are taking ielts
because you want to move to another country you want to study this in english you want
to immigrate and start working so guys you will probably need to use these at work in the future
yes all of these idioms we use all the time at work and you're surprised surprisingly how
informal we are we use idioms and phrasal verbs all the time at work so guys if you do work in
english or you might someday be sure to check out our quiz to find out your business english
level it's at ballers english dot com slash work quiz and we also provide free resources
there at your level so definitely check that out yeah guys you might as well because a lot of the
stuff in there will also help you on ielts all right english is english at the end of the day
so all right let's get into this what is the first idiom we use at work and on ielts yes ballpark
or in the ballpark this comes from baseball softball i was just at my daughter's softball game
last night and the ballpark is the whole field the bases the outfield the whole the whole area is the
ballpark which is gigantic so when we use this idiom in the ballpark we're talking about really
broad range right just close if you're in the ballpark you are not talking about exact numbers
we're talking about estimates and just trying to get close exactly exactly um last night i had a
zoo meeting because i'm on the hoa board and we're discussing like roof repairs and stuff like that
and so we're talking to this consultant this construction consultant and i'm just like
okay do you have a ballpark number as to what the emergency fund is or something like that so like
guys i'm just showing you that we do actually use this all the time when we're discussing
business but like aubry said on ielts we can also use it right i think this is a great word for
ielts speaking if you don't know exactly something like um when was the last time you went to
a museum and you're like oh my gosh i don't know ballpark guess maybe six years ago
so just use it as an adjective like a ballpark guess ballpark number it's like roughly or
approximately or like i'm guessing but this is close yes exactly or after you say something you
say that's definitely not exact but it's in the ballpark i love it that one would be so easy to
add on to your answers guys and remember this is something we're recommending for
speaking i wouldn't use this in writing task one it's a little too informal yep exactly right there
are much higher level less common words that you can use that mean the same thing right totally
yeah okay let's go to the next one this is a really interesting phrase that we use in business
move the needle which means to make progress on something say okay guys we need to move
the needle on this project let's get some stuff done and definitely also use for useful for ielts
if ever you're talking about studies studying for ielts work anytime you need to make progress right
i've really been needing to move the needle on my vocabulary so i'm adding vocab to my notebook
totally or um i need to move the needle on my aisle score i need to move the needle on
increasing my ielts band score um and on let's see so could we use this in writing you know ballpark
and move the needle would be perfectly fine for general training letters i would say and move the
needle i would say is appropriate for task two um problem solution essays remember including
idiomatic language that is also formal enough is a great way to prove you deserve a seven or higher
for vocab because the examiner does look for idiomatic language interesting language that is
still formal in your writing task two essays so i would say this is appropriate for problem solution
essays what do you think yeah i could see an example sentence like in order to move the needle
on this governments must institute educational courses something like that you're saying in
order to make progress on this issue governments need to do this and instead of make progress
especially if you've already used that in your essay this is a great paraphrase totally totally
um all right one more idiom for you guys play it by ear so this is only appropriate for informal
general training letters and task one um but it is more than appropriate for any time on the speaking
test this is an awesome idiom that i think we use quite often do you use this i actually just used
it today i was texting a friend we're supposed to go to this market together and i wasn't sure
exactly what time we'd be able to leave so i said i'll text you and we'll just play it by ear
means we're going to wait until we have more details and then we'll make a decision
yeah or like um we can't make plans right now because i don't know exactly so closer to the
time we'll figure it out you know like just we'll figure it out later right that's all it means
so if you're asked about movies right there's a speaking part one topic uh movies in cinema
uh what do you like seeing when you go to the cinema for example you could say
you know what honestly i pretty much will watch any movie what i like to do is just play it by
ear and just choose one when i get there because i just like watching movies nice this will be so
useful for travel too because yeah and you have to be flexible you have to play it by ear when you're
traveling so task two task one if you talked about if you're describing a vacation you took or any
kind of travel and you say we always have to play it by ear because you never know when something's
going to come up yeah that's a good point in um ielts speaking part two when you're asked about
events experiences plans stuff like that this is so useful right um because hopefully guys
you don't plan every little thing and you do play it by ear or act spontaneously sometimes if you do
you just end up frustrated right if you're trying to i'm a friend that when we travel she's trying
to you know schedule every minute out and then she gets frustrated when stuff comes up and it doesn't
go according to plan like you just gotta play it by ear totally i know um i am in the middle
of planning a two-week road trip for james and i this summer and you know me aubry i love lists i
love planning i love organizing i just love all of these things and so like i have to plan on playing
it by ear like i literally have to like add to my itinerary play it by ear so i remind myself just
to like do whatever comes up or like leave some empty days totally leave some space to be flexible
to play it by ear otherwise it's difficult for everyone around you if you're stressed out and
things aren't going to plan you have to be like that but also at the same time like
i feel stressed if i don't have enough planned like that stresses me out if it's just wide open
because i'm like what are we gonna do what are we gonna do what's gonna happen so i had you have to
have half half okay guys um if you don't want to play it by ear you want to know what your business
english fluency score is and remember this quiz these free resources guys this will help you on
ielts as well take a free english quiz why not go to all yours english dot com slash work quiz
and get started all right aubry this is fun i love talking vocab i know right i'll see you next time
you