Talking about school 📚 📕 ✏️ Real Easy English (YouTube Video Transcript)

(00:00:00) Your YouTube transcript will appear here (00:00:01) Hello. This is Real Easy English, the podcast (00:00:06) where we have conversations in easy  English to help you learn. I’m Beth. (00:00:11) And I'm Neil. Remember, you can find all the (00:00:15) vocabulary for this episode and  a text version on our website: (00:00:20) BBC Learning English dot com. (00:00:28) How are you today, Neil? (00:00:29) I'm very well, thank you, Beth. How are you? (00:00:32) I'm good, thank you. (00:00:34) What is the topic of our conversation today? (00:00:37) Well, today, Beth, we're talking about schools. (00:00:41) We'll talk about our favourite subjects and what qualifications we have. (00:00:47) OK, Neil. First, can you explain the word qualifications? (00:00:52) Yes, a 'qualification' (00:00:54) is 'an official record that you have successfully done an exam (00:00:58) 'or training for something'. (00:01:00) So, for example, you can receive a qualification in speaking English, (00:01:06) if you pass a certain exam. (00:01:08) OK, great. So, Neil, what qualifications did you do at school? (00:01:14) Well, I took all of the normal exams we do in the UK, GCSEs and then A-levels. (00:01:22) These are school exams. (00:01:24) And then university degrees. How about you? (00:01:28) Yeah, I am the same. (00:01:29) I went to school in the UK and did all the same exams probably that you did. (00:01:36) Did you like school? (00:01:38) Yes, I did like school. (00:01:41) I think I just liked being with my friends, (00:01:44) and I thought most subjects were quite interesting. (00:01:48) Yeah, I think I'm the same. (00:01:50) What were your favourite subjects, Beth? (00:01:53) I really liked English, (00:01:55) which sounds quite predictable, because now English is part of my job. (00:02:03) But I also quite liked textiles, (00:02:07) which was a subject all about how to make clothes, (00:02:11) and I made a hat. So it was quite a practical subject, and I enjoyed that. (00:02:18) Do you still wear the hat? (00:02:20) I do not. It was not a good hat. (00:02:25) What was your favourite subject? (00:02:27) I also liked English, but I think my favourite subject was history. (00:02:32) Hm, OK. What about your least favourite subject? (00:02:36) That's easy! Maths. I hate maths. (00:02:39) — You still hate maths? — I still hate maths! (00:02:43) So, in this conversation about school, (00:02:47) we used words like 'quite', 'very' and 'really'. (00:02:53) 'Quite good' means 'a little bit good'. (00:02:57) 'Very good' and 'really good' mean 'a lot'. (00:03:01) So, for example, Neil, I quite like history, but you really like history. (00:03:09) You liked it a lot at school, whereas I liked it a bit. (00:03:13) So, did you not like maths because you weren't very good at it? (00:03:19) Erm, yes, I think. I was really bad at maths, (00:03:24) and I didn't like it because I found it very hard. (00:03:29) How about you? (00:03:31) Erm, I quite liked maths. (00:03:33) I don't think there was a subject that I didn't really like. (00:03:38) So, Beth, it sounds like you were good at everything at school and worked hard. (00:03:43) So, do you think you were a nerd? (00:03:47) Well, a 'nerd' is 'an informal word for somebody who is very good at school'. (00:03:54) So, was I a nerd? Well, I did enjoy school, and I worked hard. (00:04:01) And one time my friend and I asked our teacher (00:04:04) why we hadn't been given full marks for a presentation (00:04:09) and then she said, "Oh, I'll just give you full marks". (00:04:12) I think that was probably quite a nerdy thing to do, so maybe! (00:04:16) Mm, that's very nerdy, Beth! (00:04:25) Let's look at the vocabulary we learned during the conversation. (00:04:30) We had 'qualification', 'a record that you have completed an exam or a course'. (00:04:38) We had 'quite'. This usually means 'a little'. (00:04:42) 'Very' and 'really' are both used to mean 'a lot'. (00:04:47) So, for example, I'm very good at maths. (00:04:51) And 'nerd', which is an informal word for 'someone who is good at school'. (00:04:57) — Like you, Beth. — Thanks! (00:05:10) Why not try some of our dramas and stories? Visit BBC Learning English dot com. (00:05:16) Bye for now. (00:05:17) Goodbye.