IELTS Speaking Vocabulary: CHALLENGES

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We do have technology involves like learning new skills.

It can replace jobs as well. That is happening today a lot.

Challenge of jobs, finding and keeping a job, people said.

Losing your job is a challenge.

Being laid off where your company lets you go

because the economy is so bad.

Stress is a big one.

Let me add, finding or losing.

Finding and losing a job. 'Cause you may also lose your job.

Recessions like the economy, right?

A weak economy is a challenge.

Social, well, it's a challenge

'cause we don't have enough money to buy things.

Social media can be a challenge. Addiction or privacy.

Mental health is a big challenge these days.

I think it always has been.

But people talk about it a lot more. Choosing a partner.

Well, finding a partner, nevermind choosing a partner.

Raising children, as you mentioned a lot of you.

Pollution and climate change is also a challenge, right,

in our lives today.

Staying, well related to that, staying healthy

I guess is the other one that we mentioned.

So here, just to give you a flavor of the kind of challenges

of modern life.

Let's move on. Let's get into the vocabulary.

So I'm just gonna introduce some key vocabulary phrases

and con occasions, just to remind you,

I will give you quite a lot of vocabulary

so you have it as a reference.

I don't expect you to learn all of this vocabulary.

It, there's too much, right?

So don't feel you have to know all of these words.

You can just choose some of the most important

for you, right?

Let's begin with the word challenge, which is a ch sound.

Ch, the stress on the ch

or the cha as it says cha, challenge.

This is a cha and this is a jah.

Cha, jah.

Challenge.

If you can say it with me, a challenge.

This means a difficult situation that needs a lot of effort

to do well, right?

For example, finding a job is a challenge,

or finding a job is a real challenge.

Con occasion, we can say a big challenge.

And again, I recommend you just repeat with me.

A big challenge.

A significant challenge.

The accent is on the ni.

A significant challenge.

A real challenge. A new challenge.

An exciting challenge.

Brilliant. Good.

So notice challenge can be positive and negative, right?

A significant challenge. A real challenge.

It's kind of negative 'cause it's too difficult.

But a challenge can be positive.

We can say a, A new challenge. An exciting challenge.

For example, learning a second language

is an exciting challenge.

Learning English is an exciting challenge. I hope.

Maybe not for everybody, but let's hope so. So that's it.

Challenge.

Spot on.

We say it's a challenge to do something.

It's a challenge to, notice the to becomes tah.

It's a challenge to find a job.

It's a challenge to give up smoking.

It's a challenge to stay in shape. Okay?

So that chunk is really important

and you want to try and repeat that chunk so it sticks.

It's a challenge to, it's a challenge to, it's a challenge

to, it's a challenge to wake up in the morning.

It's a challenge to speak English. No, not for me.

It's a challenge to speak French for me. Okay?

It's a really useful chunk, right? Notice the grammar here.

It's a challenge to.

Synonyms of challenge.

So these are, when I say synonym,

a synonym means a similar meaning.

It very rarely has the same meaning.

Normally, synonyms have a different,

slightly different nuance or a different feeling, right?

So a struggle is like a challenge,

but it's slightly makes it feel like a struggle.

That it's really hard, right?

A battle is really, really, really hard to do.

It's even stronger, right? A struggle is like a fight.

A battle is is like a war, Battle of the Roses.

We can say it's a struggle to stay in shape.

So in fact, battle and struggle are idiomatic

because they don't mean a real fight.

It's more idiomatic.

But it's nice to say it's a struggle to in shape. Okay?

Notice it's the same phrase.

It's a challenge to, it's a challenge to,

it's a struggle to.

It's a struggle to find a job.

It's a struggle to give up smoking.

It's a struggle to prepare for IELTS.

What do you think?

What do you find a challenge or a struggle?

Problem solving is a real challenge you may face.

That's true.

Naseem says it's a challenge

to get out from your comfort zone.

Very nice. Like it.

Good.

Keith, the two I need to pronounce like te.

Kristen, good question. You can pronounce like te.

You don't have to, right?

It's possible to say it's a challenge to give up smoking.

We sometimes say that,

but not more natural spoken English we say to, right?

So you can rather than need to.

It's a challenge to speak in public.

Pyone, I agree. I agree entirely.

Let's have a look.

Nicola says it's a struggle to save money.

Yeah.

Especially in the recession

and the times of austerity, right?

Here we go.

It's a, or it's a challenge to let your love go.

Wow. Wow.

Oh, that's hit home. That's hit me very hard.

Paneru, wow. Very, very strong.

Daniela.

It's a struggle to learn English and speak like a native.

Very good example, Monica as well.

It's struggle to stay in shape after menopause.

Yes, that's very, very true.

I'm not laughing, I just, it caught me by surprise.

But it's very, very true. I agree entirely.

At least that's what I'm told. Obviously I don't know.

But I am told.

Just let me help you, Monica.

It's, you say struggle.

Remember, it's a, it's a struggle, right?

It's a struggle to, to do something.

Struggle has verb and noun. Yes, correct, yes.

It's a challenge to keep healthy.

Great Meral, great.

Some really, really good examples there. Nice.

Now we're talking about challenges

and problem solving.

With a problem, we can say a difficulty or an issue.

This is a problem.

I have a problem. I have a difficulty.

I have an issue. Issue, an issue.

I should bring up the thingy for you. The thingy.

The phonetic script, issue.

'Cause it's a strange one.

In fact it is pronounced in different ways, right?

In different languages.

Different languages, different American

English or British English.

We pronounce it differently.

This is the way I would pronounce it.

Issue with a sh, like shop.

She, shop, shu and issue.

That's how as a British person,

we would pronounce it, an issue.

Stress on the ih, issue.

Okay, good.

For a problem that you need to deal with

so you can progress, we can say a hurdle,

an obstacle, a stumbling block, or a setback.

So these are also synonyms.

Okay, let me put it all on one page to make it clearer.

But they're not exactly the same meaning,

they're a similar meaning.

These synonyms are more about

a small problem you need to deal with

so you can make progress.

So you can make progress.

Let's make it problem.

Again, these are, these are meta, these are idiomatic.

Because a hurdle, if you are watching the Olympic games,

you will have seen, right, the hurdle.

Let me show you over here in Google. Google Images.

So these are hurdles. This is 100 meter hurdle race.

Hurdles are things you have to jump over.

So when we talk about a problem is a hurdle,

it's the idea you need to deal with it to make progress,

you need to get over it.

Obstacle, the same, some kind of hurdle.

Stumbling block. To stumble is to fall.

So a stumbling block is something that makes you trip,

makes you fall.

Anything, you know, you're walking in the street

and you hit something, boom, you fall over.

That's the stumbling block.

It's just something makes you fall.

So the idea of a hurdle, an obstacle,

a stumbling block are things that are gonna make you fall.

You have to go over, right?

So they are similar to problems basically. Or a setback.

A setback is something that pushes you back.

So it's even stronger.

So we can say, for example, the biggest hurdle

to learning English is the grammar, right?

Notice this construction, again, the biggest hurdle

to doing something, it's a challenge to,

the biggest hurdle to learning English is the grammar.

The biggest hurdle to practicing

is finding a speaking partner.

The biggest hurdle

to cooking well is finding good

ingredients or finding a good cookbook.

Okay? So again, synonyms that we can use.

(coughing) Excuse me.

Let's see.

Pallvi says, IELTS reading is a real challenge for me? Yes.

When the progress, yeah, when it's a verb,

you stress the second one, Nicola.

Progress.

IELTS reading is a challenge for me.

It's a challenge to, I'm going to UK, right?

This is interesting.

So after it's a challenge to,

you must have a verb, right?

You need to put a verb there.

So let me help you Jannatul, here.

It's a challenge to,

it's a challenge to go to.

It's a challenge to go to the UK for my master's degree.

It's a great example. Just remember to plus the verb.

Yeah.

Hi Phyoe Zaw.

If I pronounce it correctly, the biggest setback

to learning English is the pronunciation.

Brilliant. That is a lovely example.

'Cause you've taken the, this idea, the biggest hurdle,

the biggest setback.

Brilliant.

Love it. Well done.

Julia says, inflation is a stumbling block for me.

Soared up to 40%. Wow.

Seriously, 40%.

Are you in Myanmar Julia?

Again, I'm just helping you here.

I would separate two phrases.

Inflation is a stumbling block for me.

It's soared up to 40% nowadays. Right?

Nice.

Brian says, the biggest setback

to learning Chinese is recognizing the characters.

I agree wholeheartedly.

Pappu says, I don't know English, but I try to learn.

Great Pappu, well done. Keep going.

Let's see, what else have we got?

Anyone else? One more.

Got a nice one here.

The biggest hurdle

to getting visa is convincing the visa officer.

Yes, your interview is crucial, right?

Yeah, very, very good.

As well, Pirasanth, let me just help you.

The biggest hurdle to getting a visa

is convincing the visa officer.

So you just need to add a

and the and you have a perfect sentence.

Very, very nice.

Well done. Excellent.

So we've seen synonyms. Here's another one.

A snag. Now a snag is a really interesting word.

It's more informal,

but a snag is a small problem

in something that is mostly good.

So where you have a situation and everything's great,

but there's a small problem,

just one thing that is a snag.

Okay? A snag.

What a great word. Sounds like a snail.

A snag. I have a snag.

And the small problem is da da da da for example, right?

Let's take learning to drive is quite easy, right?

I mean, yeah, changing gears for me is easy.

Using the accelerator and the brake is easy.

The only snag is parking.

I find parking very difficult. The only snag is parking.

Learning to drive is easy. The only snag is parking.

Learning to speak English is easy.

The only snag is the grammar.

And the pronunciation

and the vocabulary.

Oh, and the fluency.

Oh. (chuckling)

Another example.

He fixed my phone.

The only snag is now the battery is dead. Right?

It's a small problem in a situation

where most things are good.

Okay, great.

So we've got all of these synonyms, a snag.

Okay, moving on.

We talk about facing a challenge

and rising to the challenge.

So to face a challenge is to,

well, right, here's the challenge,

here's the face, right?

It's to look at is, is not, is not to avoid say, no, no,

no, no, no problem.

It's to look at and tackle. To tackle the challenge.

To look at the challenge to face,

to face the challenge.

Okay? You can face a problem, face a hurdle.

Now face a challenge.

You can link, practice this with me.

Face a challenge.

Face a problem.

Face a hurdle.

Face a obstacle.

Face a setback.

Hey, pronunciation is not a challenge for you.

I can see, so to face, for example,

teenagers face many challenges these days.

I have faced a lot of obstacles in my career.

Okay, so to face something.

To face, is it to experience?

Mm. It's more than experience.

It's actually proactively trying to solve.

Yep. So it's similar but it's more than that.

Roro says, we've planned the entire trip,

but the only snag is that our flight got delayed.

Roro Riri, perfect. I like it very, very much.

Yes.

Christian says face challenge.

It makes perfect sense.

My first language says like this as well. Yeah, I think so.

Yes.

Streaming on YouTube is easy these days.

The only snag now is waiting

for a microphone to arrive.

You've bought one, I guess, right?

Lan, to face is to deal with.

Nice. Yes.

I like it.

That's a perfect way to say it.

Perfect. You are a better teacher than me.

This is why I love my students, 'cause you help.

We are learning together.

Metilda, Metildamercy.

I faced many problems in my family life.

Right? Great.

Bessaa says, face the challenge.

Don't put your head in the sand.

That's a lovely expression, right?

So to face is to look at, put your head in the sand is

to ignore and it's a really nice idiom.

Bessaa Brahim, thank you so much for that.

That's great. Okay.

To rise to the challenge is not only

to deal with, but it's more than that.

It's to be willing to try and do it. Okay?

So it's the idea, the challenge is here, you are here

and you can face the challenge.

But if you rise, you are, you are putting in lots

of effort, right?

To rise to the challenge is to get up,

to roll up your sleeves

and to get ready to fight the challenge,

to rise to the challenge.

So it's even more positive than to face.

To rise to the, it, you must have to

and you must have the.

To rise to the challenge.

For example, it's not easy for her to stop smoking,

but I'm sure she will rise to the challenge, right?

She will try and do it.

Excellent, good.

Mayrush says, I have faced a lot of obstacles

to speak fluently.

Great. Although I hope we are helping you today.

Alexander says, I faced a lot of obstacles

to register the land around my house.

Let me guess, Alexander, government bureaucracy, right?

The difference between deal with and cope with.

They are very, very, very similar. Very similar.

Meaning cope with, oh it's,

it's a slightly different feeling.

And I'm not sure how to explain.

Cope with the feeling is that there is more pressure.

If I deal with a problem, there's not a lot

of pressure, there's a problem, (smacking hands)

I can deal with it.

Cope with the feeling is, wow,

this is a big problem.

A lot of pressure. I can't cope.

Right? I can't handle it.

So it's a slightly different feeling.

Mon Mon Aung says I face sleeping problems every night

'cause I have so many assignments.

Right. Excellent.

Good. Sorry.

Excellent English. Terrible problem.

This is a nice one, Anna.

It's not easy to relocate to another country,

but I will rise to the challenge.

Perfect. Nice.

Very, very nice.

Excellent. Good.

So we've got all these synonyms, right?

Of challenge and synonyms of problem.

We've got ways of facing a challenge.

Rising to the challenge.

Let's talk about the solution, right?

The solution is to overcome a challenge.

That means to succeed, to overcome a challenge.

I faced many challenges when I moved here,

but I overcame most of them.

That's true, right?

When I, some of you may know, about six years ago I moved

to Spain and I faced,

mm, I faced some challenges.

One was I for, I had forgot a lot of my Spanish

two was I had forgot a lot of the culture in Spain.

Simple things like kissing on the cheeks,

things like the food, things like paying in the bar

at the end, not at the beginning.

And also making friends.

Moving to a new country, making friends, especially

as you get older is more difficult.

So I faced many challenges,

but I think I overcame most of them.

So to overcame, to solve, right, or succeed.

I think I overcame most of them.

So notice to overcome.

So come, you know, the past came,

I overcame in the past.

If you say a problem, we say to solve a problem.

So to overcome a challenge, to solve a problem,

to find a solution.

We can also say to sort or to fix, right?

In this case to, so to sort a problem. To fix a problem.

For example, my brother is good

at sorting financial problems.

He's good at sorting financial problems.

I can't sort this problem. I can't fix this problem.

I'm trying to think of a problem I couldn't fix.

Yes.

One problem that was very hard

to sort when I came to Spain was my banking credit history.

'Cause I had no history in Spain.

So that was a difficult challenge to, it was a problem.

It was a difficult problem to sort or to fix. Okay.

Ramin, is overcome a challenge suitable for writing?

Yes, absolutely. Yes.

I need to put my life plan and try to rise to the challenge.

Yeah. Yeah.

To make your life plan, I would say.

Layla says, this is very nice, Layla

Having a trustworthy teacher, like dear Keith is one

of the right solutions

to overcome the challenge of learning English.

Very nice. Lovely.

Layla, I'm gonna help you just a little bit

'cause it's a very difficult word.

A very, very difficult word. Trustworthy, right?

Very difficult word, but very, very nice.

Roro says the ability

to overcome challenges is a valuable skill

that fosters personal growth and resilience.

Very nice. I like it very much.

Let me see. Hello Imran.

I can see you there.

Other examples? Cesar, great.

To overcome the challenge of learning English,

you must practice day in, day out.

What a good idiom.

This to practice day in, day out.

It means every day, all the time, right? Very, very good.

Excellent. Good.

Well listen, we are there.

I think we are there.

That's quite a lot of vocabulary, right?

Quite a lot of words, quite a bit of practice.

Very, very nice.

Let me just take a quick,

quick drink if I can.

Where's my jingle? I've lost my jingle.

♪ Bad she be do be do be do be ♪

♪ Bum bum bum ♪

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