M: Do you like to challenge yourself?

R: Well, when I was getting started out in work and at the gym, I used to love a challenge, but now I'm quite content to just coast through life most of the time. I feel like I've made a huge amount of personal and professional progress, so I don't need to go above and beyond all the time now.

M: What subject do you think is the most challenging at school?

R: In my case, it was mathematics, which is ironic, because the only A grade I've ever been given in my life was for that subject. I don't think it was maths itself that was the issue. It was just the way it was taught and the conditions it was taught in that put me off and made me see it as a chore.

M: Do you like to live a life that has a lot of challenges?

R: I certainly used to when I was younger and had more energy and wanted to get a lot done, but now I have a rather well balanced existence. My only real challenges come from organizing my time around my various work commitments and goals. So I wouldn't say it's overly challenging. If anything, it's a pretty easy life.

M: How do you usually deal with challenges in daily life?

R: Well, I won't lie, I often like to have a little bit of a rant to myself or my friends to express my annoyance
whenever I'm faced with something challenging, and then I just get down to business and deal with it. So usually, when a problem comes in, I'll sigh and make a snide remark, and then I'll start on the solution to overcome the issue or challenge. That's just my process.

M: Right, dear listener, what about you? Do you enjoy challenges? No, not so much? And there is a verb, to challenge. So we can challenge ourselves. So not to be like all lazy and do nothing, but to do new stuff, like, yay, I'm gonna learn how to speak Chinese. I'm gonna climb mountains and swim under ice, in icy waters. And you can say I used to love a challenge, but not anymore. So in the past, I loved challenges, but now, not so much. I'm quite content with what I have now. I'm quite glad with what I have now. Coast through life, Rory. Coast. Coast is like, like the ocean. Ocean coast?

R: Well, it can be, but also, if you're coasting, it just means that you're going by just on inertia or the energy that you built up beforehand without making any effort yourself.

M: So to coast is to move down a hill or a slope without making any effort.

R: Yeah. So the situation is carrying you, rather than anything you do.

M: And you can say that I feel like I've made a huge amount of personal and professional progress. I've made some progress, so I think I don't want any more challenges in my life. I don't need to go above and beyond all the time. So I don't need to challenge myself all the time to do something like crazy all the time, to do something new. So go above and beyond. It's an idiom which means to do more or better than would usually be expected of someone. For example, you go to work and your colleagues go above and beyond. So they do their work super well, so they do more than is expected of them. Or usually in sport. So I play football and my teammates go above and beyond. Rory, could you give us another example with this, go above and beyond?

R: Well, people frequently go above and beyond at their work just by working longer hours, because that's more than is expected of them.

M: Subjects at school. Maybe mathematics was the most challenging, the most difficult, the most dreadful ever, or biology or literature, dear listener. So here, it depends on you. Or chemistry, or just say any subject you want. Just feel free to lie, but careful mathematics or maths. Maths was really difficult, I struggled with maths, it was difficult for me. Or maths was the issue. And maybe the way biology was taught was the issue, was the problem, so the way literature was taught, or the teacher was the issue. Aad it put me off. Like... I kind of, I started disliking it. So it put me off.

R: And that would be good. If you're put off something, then you don't want to do it. So that can be... That can also be a response to a challenge.

M: Yeah, I started disliking it. I was discouraged from liking it, like the way biology was taught put me off. So it was difficult, I struggled with it. I live a life full of challenges. Or maybe you don't, dear listener. Do you? No? If you had many challenges in the past, you can say I used to have many challenges, but now I don't usually go above and beyond all the time. You can also say that when I was younger, I had more energy and faced many challenges, but now not so much. I have a rather well balanced existence. Existence? Like life. And Rory, what do you mean by well balanced?

R: Not too many challenges.

M: Like a good balance between work and life, challenges and like not doing anything.

R: And then we have the real challenges. So if something is a real challenge, that's like a proper challenge for you. Other things might not seem to be challenges.

M: You can say my real challenges come from doing something. My real challenges come from learning English, or come from organizing my time or planning my time or working hard. Or my only challenges come from organizing my time around my commitments. My commitments? Like my activities, my duties, something that I do every day. Like a commitment is a promise or a decision, and could be kind of activities. Something like you should deal with. Like work commitments, family commitments, something that you do, or you can also say, like, my real challenges come from my work goals. So I have like aims, goals, targets at work, but I can't say it's overly challenging. So if something is overly challenging, it's like, too challenging. Oh, it's really hard, really difficult. And that's a good one. Like overly, very. Like, I'm an overly optimistic person, for example. Like, very optimistic. And you can say, like, ooh, I have a pretty easy life. Yay. No challenges. Easy peasy. We deal with challenges. Rory, what else? What other verbs do we have?

R: Address challenges. What else? Overcome them as well.

M: Oh, yeah.

R: Or face up to challenges.

M: Yeah. Face up to challenges. If you deal with challenges successfully, you can say, overcome challenges. If you have a rant. To have a bit of a rant.

R: That just means that you complain about something in a very intense way.

M: And to rent means to kind of complain, like rant about the government, like... Usually in an angry way. Like, hey, I don't like the government, like this. And the word renting is also when people start speaking or writing or shouting in an angry, uncontrolled way. And sometimes Rory complains about challenges in his life. So sometimes I have a bit of a rant about challenges. I express my annoyance to my friends. So I say that I am annoyed, and then I just get down to business. When you get down to business, you do things, what's a snide remark?

R: Oh, it's just an aside remark. You don't make it to anyone in particular, and no one's really supposed to hear it. So it's more like something you say to yourself.

M: A snide remark contains some unpleasant criticism that is not clearly stated. And we usually make snide remarks. For example, Rory? Could you, could you give us an example?

R: Um, well, no, because it's, it's not supposed to be something that people can hear. But, um, usually if, if someone says something silly and you're just thinking that doesn't make any sense, then you might say that out loud. You might just say, oh, that's a silly thing to say. And then move on.

M: And I'll start on the solution to overcome the issue. So I kind of, I complain, but then I'll start working out the solution to overcome my challenges. Yeah, maybe, dear listener, you just will tell the examiner that, hey, examiner, this IELTS exam is quite a challenge, you know? And it's been a challenge for like five years I've been preparing to take the test. So give me band nine. And I'll go. Yeah, band nine now.

R: I'm not so sure the examiner would be too pleased to hear that.

M: No?

R: Well, you can't just say I've been preparing for five years, so I need a band nine.

M: Why not? You know? Like, tell the examiner that you are an ambitious person, like you want band nine. Right, dear listener, thank you very much for listening, and we'll go back to in our next episode! Okay? Bye!

R: Bye!

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