Neil Hello. You’re listening to Real Easy English from BBC Learning English. I’m Neil.
Georgie And I’m Georgie. In this podcast, we talk in easy English about a different topic each week to help improve your English skills.
Neil If you want to read a long, you can visit our website: bbclearningenglish.com.
Georgie Hi, Neil.
Neil Hi, Georgie, how are you?
Georgie I’m pretty good, thanks. How are you?
Neil I’m very well thank you.
Georgie What are we talking about today, Neil?
Neil Today we’re talking about social media and how much we use it.
Georgie Well, I use social media all the time, so I have lots of things to say.
Neil Great! OK, Georgie, so you said you use social media a lot. Why do you like it?
Georgie Well, the reason I like it is actually the reason I dislike it as well. I use it when I’m bored. It’s… it can be very entertaining, especially TikTok, for example, yeah, the videos I watch are very fun and entertaining. I like that about it, but it’s also something I hate because it can be very addictive and you can waste a lot of time watching TikTok videos.
Neil, do you watch TikTok videos?
Neil I try not to, to be honest, because I’m too old.
Georgie You’re never too old for TikTok videos!
Neil But I always think I’m using it too much. Do you think you use social media too much, Georgie?
Georgie I think definitely I use social media too much!
Neil OK, Georgie, you used the word definitely. Tell us more about definitely.
Georgie Yes, well definitely means that something is certainly the case. If you definitely do something there is no doubt that you did it. You certainly did it.
Neil Yeah. So what do you use social media for? You said you watch videos, but anything else?
Georgie The main reason I think is to stay in touch with my friends. This was definitely true when I lived in Spain. It was a good way for me to see what my friends in England were doing. I also posted things myself, so it was a way to show everyone else what I was doing as well.
Neil, what do you use social media for?
Neil Well, I like messaging apps, mainly, and group chats, so that I can catch up with friends who live far away that I can’t actually see in person.
Georgie Yes, I also use it for that. Neil, you just used the verb catch up with. Can you explain that a bit more, please?
Neil Yeah. So, if you catch up with someone it means you speak to them, you contact them and you find out what they’ve been doing in their life. Find out what activities or what changes in their lives have happened.
Georgie Yeah, when you catch up with someone, it brings you up to date with their life and what they’ve been doing since you last saw them.
Neil So, Georgie, you said you think you use your phone too much for social media. Do you have any plans to use your phone less?
Georgie I would love to use my phone less. But if I’m being realistic, I think I will probably continue using my phone in the same way. It’s just too difficult to reduce the screen time, it’s so addictive. But maybe in the future, I will put those limits that your phone can put to help me reduce my screen time.
Neil Georgie, you used words like maybe and probably and we use these when we’re not sure or not certain if we are going to do something.
Georgie Yes. So maybe I will use my phone less, maybe I will continue using my phone in the same way. Probably, I will continue using my phone in the same way.
Neil Well, Georgie, it sounds like you use your phone a lot. Maybe you should have a break or just relax a bit!
Georgie Yes, Neil. I think you’re right. Let’s quickly recap the words and phrases we learned during the conversation.
Neil We had maybe which we use to talk about something that is not certain.
Georgie** Probably**, which means most likely.
Neil** Definitely**, which we use to say something is certain.
Georgie And catch up with - talking to someone you haven’t seen for a long time.
Neil Thanks for listening to Real Easy English. Remember, you can find more programmes to help you with your English at bbclearningenglish.com.
Next time, we’ll talk about journeys and how we get to work.
Georgie See you, then. Bye.
Neil Bye!