Hi Saskia, it's Chris.

We are back, as you said, with part two, which is your one to two minute speaking section.

And today's video is about pride or being proud of somebody who's been successful.

So, put your thinking hat on.

We are about to start.

Okay, Saskia, so we're here back with part two.

This question is, you've got a minute to prepare.

Would you like to read the question to the other students?

Okay.

Describe a moment when you have been proud of a friend's success.

You should say how you know your friend, what this achievement was, why you felt so proud, and explain how your friend felt about this.

On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the hardest, what do you think about this question?

Do you think it's a hard one?

I'd say it's about a seven.

It is quite tricky.

Okie doke.

So, you've got one minute to prepare your answer.

Write down some thoughts and ideas now.

In this type of question, obviously, you have to think about a friend.

Think about things like exams, jobs.

It could be something that they won, maybe.

Maybe they're proud of something they won.

Usually, when we talk about pride, it's about things that you have worked hard for.

So, you could think about a friend who studied hard or been working towards an exam.

Those would be great ideas for you to think about.

Could be about, again, jobs.

Maybe a friend has got a promotion in a job.

These are all really worthwhile ideas.

As Saskia said, this is probably a mid-range question.

It's not too hard because I think one of the great things about this is that, because it's a friend, you could make it about real life, and also, you could, if you wanted to, invent something if you can't think of anything.

So, I would say, if you're struggling, invent something.

Make sure that you speak as much as possible.

Saskia has about three seconds left.

That's done, Saskia.

Put your pencil down.

Have you got some good ideas there?

I think so.

Great.

So, you're two minutes.

You have up to two minutes to start now.

Well, a friend that I'm really proud of would be my younger brother.

And yes, I know there's a difference between friend and sibling, but I do consider my brother to be one of my best friends.

And why I'm so proud of him is, and what his achievement was, was that he did exceptionally well in his exams, and he graduated high school at a 92% average, and then got into one of the best universities in Australia.

And I'm really, really proud of him because I watched how hard he worked, and I was there to help him whenever he needed me.

But it wasn't even that.

It was the fact that I watched him mature and grow into such an independent, confident young man.

And as a big sister, I couldn't be more happy for him.

And honestly, sometimes it just brings tears to my eyes when I watch him, and I'm just like,

I can't believe that you're the same kid who used to just wipe your snot on my knees because you thought that was funny.

It wasn't funny, but you know, just to see him become just such an individual who's able to go out in the world and knows what he wants to do, and he's able to go out and make a difference,

I think that just means a lot to me, you know?

And we are siblings, we're very similar, but we're also very different.

And I'm also proud that he became himself, an individual person exempt from who I am, or who our family are, or any pressures from my parents, or extended family, or just even cultural and social pressures.

He was able to move to Australia, assimilate, and do extremely well once he got to uni as well.

Thanks, Saskia.

That was one minute and 54 seconds.

Now, I did notice that about the one minute and 20, one minute and 30 mark, you were struggling a little bit for ideas.

Would you agree?

I was, yes.

This was a very tricky question.

Yeah, and you did exactly the right thing, which was to go back and kind of tell the story in a slightly different way.

I think you did a great job there with the fluency and coherence.

Let's think about some of the ideas that you brought up and the language that you used.

So, the word sibling.

This word, surprisingly, is probably in the mid-range to the upper intermediate language level.

What does sibling mean?

A brother or a sister.

Yeah, so it's brother or sister.

It's the collective noun for brothers and sisters.

So, do you have any siblings is what you could ask somebody.

You used a collocation with the word well, and you said exceptionally well, exceptionally well, which is a great collocation.

I liked the fact that you emphasized your language using tone and pitch.

When you said, I'm really, really proud of him, could you try that again?

I'm really, really proud of him.

Yeah, and you emphasized using this kind of tone of your language, the inflection of your language, which was great.

You watched him mature, and you said, as a big sister, I couldn't be more proud.

Complexity of language there, which is fantastic.

Ooh, here's some good language, which is, it brings tears to my eyes.

What does that mean?

It means it makes me really emotional to see how much he's grown.

Yeah, you can say, it brings tears to my eyes.

The film brought tears to my eyes, and it's really important to note that the word bring, the past is brought, you've got to really consider that.

Now, Saskia, I've got a word for you, which you might find difficult to explain nicely.

So, you said, I can't believe he's the same brother who wiped his snot on my knee.

I know, as I said that, I was like, oh, I'm going to have to explain this.

How do I do that?

First of all, what is snot?

How do you describe snot without calling it snot?

It's mucus.

It is mucus that comes from your nose.

So, when you have a cold, or if you've got the flu, your nose starts to run, is that right?

It does.

And so, as kids, we tend not to be as sophisticated.

And what happens, we have these really runny noses, and kids think it's funny to put snot on other people.

Is that right?

Yes, he would have been about five at the time.

So, I don't think I can really call him out for it.

I did notice, and I might have misheard you, a small mistake with one of your prepositions.

Now, you may agree with me or not, and we can go back and listen again.

I think you said, to go out of the world, rather than say, to go out into the world.

Yes, I might have just gotten caught up.

Think you corrected yourself.

And what is really important for students to notice here, that it is absolutely acceptable, it is normal to make slips.

A slip is a small mistake at a band nine, because we, as native speakers, very often make mistakes.

So, when she said, to go out of the world, and then later corrected and said, go out into the world, that would be an example of self-correction, and still, she would get a band nine, even though it's not perfect.

And you also said, he is exempt from who, kind of from my family or from my parents.

I'm not sure that the word exempt would fit here, but that would, again, be an example of a minor slip in language.

And finally, the word assimilate.

Please tell our readers and our watchers what assimilate means.

It means, especially when it comes to changing environments or, you know, moving to a different country, to be able to blend in seamlessly with a new culture.

What excellent language, to blend in seamlessly.

Seamlessly is wonderful language there.

So, to assimilate and to blend in seamlessly are fantastic ways to talk about how you and your brother have kind of adapted to a new culture, a new environment, a new country.

Saskia, as usual, you are phenomenal.

Great answer there, band nine.

I think students can learn so much from this type of answer.

Lots of complexity, lots of high-level language.

Big pat on the back to you.

Are you gonna come back and do a few more?

I think I will be.

Thanks for joining us today.

Take care to you all, bye-bye.