Welcome back to Teacher Collective! The podcast that’s all about preparing you for the Cambridge Advanced exam. I’m Roger Bright.

And I’m Laura Sharp! And, uhm, have we got an interesting vocab topic for you today, perfect for Part 1 of the speaking exam… we’re talking about technology!

That’s right! And before we dive in, just a quick reminder about our special offer. If you want to do a fast-track crash course to get you totally prepared for the CAE, you can sign up and have a free trial class with one of our expert teachers.

Honestly, it’s a brilliant way to see how we can help. Just fill out the ‘GET A FREE Trial CLASS’ form on our website. The link’s in the show notes! Now, Roger, let’s get into this.

Let’s! So, we have a great list of phrases, and I think we should start with my favourite topic: why my Pixel 9 is better than your iPhone 16. The AI features on Android are genuinely cutting-edge technology. In other words, they are extremely new and advanced.

[Laughter] Oh, here we go! Look, the new iPhone is beautiful. The design, the materials… it’s a complete, state-of-the-art technology ecosystem. And by state-of-the-art, I mean it’s the most modern, sophisticated tech you can get.

[Laughter]But the new AI on the Pixel is a real game-changer! You know, it’s something that completely changes how we do things. The things it can do feel like a quantum leap forward—and by that, I mean a huge, significant improvement.

I’ll give you that, some of the AI editing is impressive. But is it really user-friendly? Is it actually easy for people to learn and use? The brilliant thing about the iPhone is that it just works.

I find my Pixel super easy to use! And the call-screening feature is such a handy gadget—a really useful little tool for avoiding spam. But okay, stepping away from phones… these recent technological advances, all these new developments, are impacting everything.

Totally. Some of them feel like a scientific breakthrough, like a really important new discovery. Look at modern household appliances—you know, the machines we use at home like fridges and washing machines. So many are ‘smart’ now.

True. But it all comes back to big data, these huge sets of information that companies collect about us. It makes you think about the power of the social media giants—the really big, powerful companies like Meta or Google.

And everything being connected is great until the system goes down, when the whole network just stops working.

Don’t even talk about it! It’s the worst. It’s almost as bad as when my own laptop is playing up—when it’s just not working correctly for some reason.

[Chuckle] Or when it goes completely on the blink in the middle of an important meeting, meaning it’s totally broken! That’s when you wish you had a computer whizzkid living next door—someone who is just brilliant with tech. A real IT expert on call!

Okay, that’s a great overview. Now, let’s put this into practice. In the exam, you might get a question like this. Laura, I’ll be the examiner first. «What are the pros and cons of the internet?»

Uhm, well, the biggest pro is obviously the instant access to information. It’s incredible. A con, for me, is reliability. It’s so frustrating when your connection is slow or your computer is playing up. And on a bigger scale, the whole issue with big data and privacy is a massive consideration.

How did I do? Did you hear some of the target language? Okay, my turn to be the examiner! Roger, «Do you think that modern technology has changed the world for the better or the worse?»

Oh, for the better, definitely. On the whole. We’ve seen a quantum leap forward in so many areas, from entertainment to medicine. But I think the downside is our dependence on it. We expect everything to be perfectly user-friendly and we get so lost when the system goes down. It shows how fragile things can be.

[really enthusiastic] So true! And listeners, that is how you can naturally drop some of this fantastic vocabulary into your answers. Now, your work isn’t over, because the most important part is what you do next.

[Excited]You absolutely have to go and check out the show notes. We’ve put the entire vocabulary list there for you with a description of each phrase. And, as always, you’ll find the link to our special Quizlet exercise—it is honestly the best way to practise and memorise this language. Plus, a full transcript of today’s show is there too. A fantastic tip is to take these questions and practise answering them with ChatGPT. Then, ask it for feedback and error correction—it’s like having a personal practice partner! And of course, if you want to practise with a real, live expert, don’t forget to click the link for that free trial online lesson. Just send us a request, and we’ll get you all booked in. See you next time!