Good day everyone and welcome back to the IELTS Plus English podcast where today we're going to talk all about the [Music] internet. I think it's a somewhat easy topic today, the internet, because it's so relatable, but as you know, it does come up in the IELTS exam. We certainly see questions about the internet, social media, um, e-commerce, all of these things come up. Now, I have covered a lot of these topics separately. So, today we'll really focus on the internet and websites. Uh, so yeah, I'm quite looking forward to this and I think we'll we'll keep this episode pretty simple. We're a little bit longer episode last week and I I know I have a lot to talk about next week.

So today we'll keep it simple. Now as always I tell you what this list of language is tough tougher than usual because there's a lot of there's a lot of things related to hacking and you know spam. So we got spam, cyber security, fishing, malicious. These words are tough, but if you can get comfortable with them, you can use them in other subjects such as social media.

And of course, they are great topic specific vocabulary. And as I always tell you, this is available in the IELTS Plus total speaking textbook which is on www.britplus.net.

And I will give you a quick student question and it's one that I'm genuinely curious about.

Simply describe your favorite website. Describe your favorite website.

Um just tell me about it. Why do you spend time there? What do you do on there? Um this is a question that will come up later today that I will have to cover. So recommend your favorite website to me. Uh and let's get straight into part one. Question one. What do you use the internet for? I use the internet for uh a number of things. Of course, browsing, reading the news, social media, e-commerce. I I I go on e-commerce platforms a lot.

Emails. Um, a big part of my business and and my morning routine is going through my emails. Um, checking for spam and malicious content, which by the way is quite tricky nowadays. The these hackers and and the the people that create this spam have various methods for hooking you. But, uh, yeah, that's a big part of my morning routine. Okay, next question. Do you think you spend too much time on the internet? It I I would say no. I honestly I spend a lot of my time working. I do use the internet a lot. Of course I do. Um I use a lot of platforms related to AI nowadays. Um well that that have AI. So I use the the internet so much. But in my free time, I'm in the gym. I I read books. I I do try to do activities that keep me off the internet. So, on the whole, my balance is reasonable. Oh, well, there you go. Part one is done. Nice and easy. So, we'll we'll go to part two. Two minutes are on the clock. Now, today's part two question is, describe a website that you visit often. There you go. There's the student question today.

So, of course, there's a number I could talk about, but uh let's talk about one that perhaps you don't know or perhaps you're not so familiar with. So, uh 2 minutes are on the clock and my time starts now. I'd like to tell you about reddit.com. Reddit.com. Uh I I first came across Reddit maybe 12 or 13 years ago. Um and I think I came across it big through a hobby that that my hobby perhaps I searched in Google and one of the forums on Reddit popped up. I came onto Reddit and this was at the time that the the website was exploding in popularity. It's one of the biggest websites in the world, most popular. And um at that time I I started surfing through other forums and the main page and I realized that this is a great website with lots of content. Um of course lots of spam and and and malicious content as well, but uh certainly worth spending time on. So let me tell you a little more about uh Reddit. the the as I said it's basically a collection of forums and people share images, videos, v various things.

There's a lot of discussion and people gravitate to the forums that they enjoy.

So for me that might have been at that time when I first came across it exercise, cooking, um book recommendations, things like that which is still what I use today. Um, as I said, there are a lot of there is a lot of malicious content on there. There's certainly a lot of trolls. That's kind of an issue that when you want to talk about something you care about and then you get someone make a nasty comment just because they're a troll that but I suppose that's inevitable with any internet website.

For me personally, it's such a useful resource because for cooking, for example, I can find some great recipes from people. There you go. Time's up. Um, okay. I'm happy with that. Very typical case where I got to the opinion section of my structure and the time cutout, which I'm perfectly fine with.

Um, in the exam you might be asked to you might be able to finish your sentence and sometimes they will ask you a follow-up question which kind of feels like this in between of part two and part three but it absolutely happens.

I've I've had the feedback from students. So be ready for that. And I I'll I'll just mention this briefly and I I've I know I've done it before, but of course in this podcast we're we're drilling these questions and and you can go on the internet, you can find all these questions, which is great, and you can prepare yourself as much as possible.

But as was the case for my student recently, you know, he got a couple of questions he was expecting and some topic areas he was comfortable with, but then the the examiner just kept asking follow-up questions and follow-up questions and it it felt like a very natural conversation you'd have with your friend in the coffee shop, which which is a good thing in a way. you could feel a bit more comfortable. But on the other hand, it's if you keep getting follow-ups, it's hard to give such a structured answer. So, be mentally ready for that. Um, and perhaps find ways to practice with practice practice partners or your teacher to ensure that you are prepared for follow-up questions. Let's move to part three. And the first question is, how has the internet affected the way people work? Well, of course, I mean, we're talking about a technology that came out decades ago, so it's affected, you know, had a huge effect on the way people communicate.

um you're now able to surf the internet anywhere or use the internet anywhere, send emails. Um so we have this this new concept I guess called a digital nomad. A digital nomad is someone who can work from anywhere and they move frequently. Maybe they they spend a month in Thailand, a month in Vietnam, a month in Korea, but they are a because of the internet, they are able to run their business without any issue. Um, so of course you've got to be careful running your business online with things like cyber security, but uh the internet has opened up a lot of options for people to work remotely. Next question. How has the internet influenced the way we shop? Well, it's it's a somewhat similar question to the or similar answer to the previous answer. Um, but I I suppose what we can talk about is the ease of shopping and therefore issues that have come up with shopping addiction and and things like that. It's so easy to go shopping on on these platforms now. For me, you know, I just go on my my phone and I open an app using the internet, of course, and I just press a few buttons and it's it arrives the next day. That's wonderful, but uh problematic because it it means that definitely I buy more.

There are because of the internet there are very few hurdles to any activity such as shopping and working as we discussed and I think that yeah life gets more convenient but but that can lead to other issues like I mentioned. Okay, not not a great answer there. I think I've got to be a bit more structured. So let's see how we do in the last question.

Do you think the internet is making people more isolated? I think that uh I mean the internet allows us things like social media um and I talked about e-commerce and things like that. Let's talk about social media first. Yes, you are able from your house, you are able to connect with anyone in the world. You can look at people's lives. You can show your life. But perhaps that means you don't need to connect with people in person as much as you used to. Um certainly in South Korea and I think it's the case in England as well there we talk about the loneliness epidemic where more and more people including the younger generation. It's not it's not really uh one generation.

is the younger, the older, they're spending less time with each other and more time alone. And I think that that's a a good proof that the internet is is causing people to become less sociable in person. Okay. Um I I was happy with that. But just notice sometimes I I say to you during the podcast, I say, "Ah, that's not a great answer. I'm not so happy with that." because sometimes I I answer and it's just not a not a great structure and and logic running through it. I'm just adding ideas. That can be fine, by the way. But whenever you feel like you're getting a little bit lazy with the structure, just bring yourself back to like I did there, direct answer, one or two details, and then a specific example.

And that will just get you back on track and it will nice logical answer, lots of depth, a variety of language. So just be self-aware like I am in the podcast. I try to be I try to make comments about how I feel about the previous answer. So just be self-aware and always try to bring yourself back to the structure. And that is everything I'll talk about today. We've done the internet. Let's meet next Monday to talk about time. I mentioned earlier um I I took a look at this topic in advance like okay time is coming up definitely that's going to be a longer episode and there's going to be lots of things to talk about. So have a lovely week. Enjoy the spring weather if it is spring. I know I have quite a lot of listeners in Brazil and Argentina, which I suppose it will be fall for you, but here, as you can see, I'm wearing my polo shirt. It's getting warmer. Spring is here. The flowers are blooming. So, wherever you are in the world, have a lovely week, and I'll see you next week to talk about time.

[Music] [Applause] [Music]