Transcript: “Listening Time” Episode 25

Welcome to the Listening Time podcast. I'm Conner from polyglossa.com and
you're listening to Episode 25 of the Listening Time podcast. If this is your first time
listening, welcome! I'm glad you found this podcast. This is designed for English
learners who are trying to improve their listening skills. So, the way that the podcast
works is that I choose one or two different topics each episode, and I talk about these
topics in a natural way, using natural words and expressions. And I don't read any script.
I just speak as the words come to my mind, so I speak very naturally, but I speak a little
bit more slowly and a little bit more clearly than the average native speaker speaks. In
this way, you're able to understand me more easily than you can understand the
average native speaker. Hopefully, after listening to many episodes of this podcast
multiple times, you'll be able to understand me very well. And then eventually, you'll be
able to move on to podcasts made for English speakers.
And of course, the transcript is available for each episode. You can access it in
the Details part of the episode. I recommend that you listen to each episode multiple
times. For example, maybe the first time without the transcript, and then the second
time with the transcript, to see all those words and phrases you missed the first time,
and then maybe one more time without the transcript again to see if you can understand
those words the third time around. So, that's just one type of method you can use when
listening to this podcast, but in general, it should be a good resource for you to help you
improve your listening comprehension in English.
So today, I'm going to talk about personality. This should be an interesting topic. I
hope you like it. Before we start, also, remember to give this podcast a like, a review, or
a rating if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, and of course, share this podcast with
anyone who might find it useful. Share it with your friends or your family members who
are also learning English. Also, remember to sign up for our $1 Listening Practice
Seminars at www.polyglossa.com if you want more listening practice. Alright, let's get
started.
Okay so first of all, let's define personality. What is personality? Well, someone's
personality is the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual's
distinctive character. Okay? So in other words, it is all the things that make you, you.
Right, all of those qualities, all of those characteristics that are particular to you and your
character. That is your personality. So of course, we all have unique personalities. No
two people are exactly the same, right. We all have differences. They might be minor
differences or they might be big differences, but of course, everyone has differences in
their personality. And of course, this also means that we might prefer to be around
certain people because we like their distinct personality, or we might not like being
around certain people because we don't like their personality.
So, certain personalities go well with each other, and certain personalities clash.
In English, when we use the word "clash", we're saying that two things don't combine
well. They don't go well together. For example, I could say to someone, "the color of
your shirt and the color of your pants clash". What I'm saying is, these two colors don't
match well, they don't combine well. Right. They don't look good together, they clash.
We also like to use the phrase "culture clash" when we're talking about two different
cultures that might not go well together. There might be some conflicts between people
because of their cultural differences. This is referred to as "culture clash".
So, returning back to the topic, certain personalities clash with each other. This
means that not everyone will get along well. When we use the phrase "get along", we're
talking about how people interact with each other in a positive or a negative way. For
example, if I get along well with my sister-in- law, this means that we are good together,
we have fun, we don't fight, we agree on a lot of things, we get along well. But if I don't
get along well with someone, this means that we fight or we argue, etc. So, certain
personalities go well with other types of personalities and certain personalities clash, or
don't get along well with other personalities.
So, some people think that our personality is shaped by our genetics, is shaped
by just natural forces. People might think that a baby already has most of his or her
personality in the early stages of their life. Other people might think that personality is
something that we develop over the years of our life, and we're not born 100% with a
specific type of personality, but it develops over time. I'm kind of in the middle. I think
that personality has a lot to do with our genetics, but it also has a lot to do with how
we're raised. Right. We use the word "raise" in English to talk about parents bringing up
their children. So for example, I would say "I grew up in a small family", but I would say,
"my parents raised me well". Right. So I grow up, but my parents raise me. So, I think
that the way that parents raise their children can also play a big role in helping the
child's personality develop.
So, I don't know exactly what the percentage is, but I think that both nature and
nurture play a role in developing a personality. In English we use the phrase "nature and
nurture" or "nature vs. nurture" to talk about two different ideas. The idea of nature
means that we are born a certain way, right. It is natural for us to have a certain
personality because we were born with that personality, that's just how we were made.
And when we say "nurture", we're talking about parents raising children. So if I say, "the
parent nurtured her young", I'm talking about a parent raising her child, and giving the
child what he needs, and providing for the child, and giving the child love, etc. So, that's
what we mean when we say "nature vs. nurture".
So, let's talk about some personality traits. Okay. So, one of the big distinctions
between personalities is extroversion versus introversion. So, some people are
extroverts, and some people are introverts. An extrovert is someone who loves to
socialize and they feed off of social situations. When we say that someone or something
"feeds off of" something else, we're saying that this person or thing gets energy or life
from that other thing. So, an extrovert feeds off of social situations. They get energy and
life from these situations. They love these types of environments. These types of
situations are very natural for extroverts. They like being in social situations. They like
talking and interacting a lot.
However, other people are introverts. An introvert is someone who... maybe they
like talking, maybe they don't, but the key is that they don't feed off of these social
situations, these social interactions. They don't necessarily thrive in these situations. In
English, when we use the word "thrive", we're saying that someone does really well in a
certain situation. So, if I say that I thrive in group settings, this means that I do really
well in group settings. I'm really good in this type of scenario. So, introverts don't thrive
in social settings. They might be good speakers, and they might not have trouble talking
to other people, and they might actually like socializing, but usually afterwards, they feel
like they need to be alone, right. After being in a social setting for a while, they might
say, "Okay, I just want to go home and be by myself for a while". Right. They actually
like being alone. They like being in silence or by themselves, but an extrovert on the
other hand, always wants to have those types of social situations. Right. They don't
need a ton of alone time. So, this is one of the big differences between people's
personalities.
I would say that I'm an introvert, but I'm an introvert who actually likes talking and
socializing. So, I like being around other people, and I like talking to other people, and of
course I'm a teacher, so I like teaching other people, but at the end of the day, after
socializing for a long time, I tend to feel exhausted. I tend to feel mentally drained. In
English, when we say the word "drained", we're saying that you feel like you have no
more energy left. If I say "I'm drained", I'm saying that I have no more energy left, right. I
used all my energy. I'm drained. So after social situations, I tend to feel drained, and I
want to be alone for a little while, but then later on, I like to return and go back to social
settings again. So, this is why I would say that I'm an introvert, but I'm an introvert who
actually likes talking.
And so, another big distinction between personalities is the type A vs. type B
personality. If you've never heard of this before, what this refers to is... type A refers to
people who are very organized, they're very manic, right. They stress out about many
things. Their brain is constantly running, and they're constantly planning things for the
future. They're organizing their day really well. They have more anxiety about things, but
they're also very conscientious people... versus type B personalities. If you have a type
B personality, this means that you're more easygoing, you're more laid back, right.
When we say "laid back", we're saying that you're not too stressed out or too anxious
about things. You're more relaxed, right. Type B personalities oftentimes don't plan
things, or just take things day by day without a very concrete plan, and they might not
be as goal-oriented as Type A personalities, but they're more relaxed.
So, each type of personality, type A and type B, has its advantages and its
negatives. Right. I'm a type A personality. I am very manic, right. I'm an anxious person.
And so this is a negative thing, in my opinion. I don't like having anxiety. I don't like that
type of feeling, but the positive part about being a type A person is that you accomplish
a lot of things and you're very goal oriented, and you're very organized, and you can
plan things very well. So this is the positive part. And in terms of type B personalities,
the positive is that these people are very relaxed. They don't have as much stress.
They're probably healthier, mentally speaking, but the negative is that they probably
have a tougher time achieving goals because they don't plan out their day or their goals
very well. Or they just might not accomplish the things that they would accomplish if
they were a type A personality. So, I'm speaking in general terms, of course, but these
are some of the advantages and disadvantages of each type of personality.
Another distinction between personalities is that some people are open to new
things, and some people are more closed to new things. So, if you're open to new
things, you're probably excited to try new food and go to different places and do
different activities. But if you're more closed to new things, you might feel more
comfortable with your routine, with the same food that you normally eat. You're more
comfortable not trying new hobbies or activities all the time. So, of course, this is
another distinction between people's personalities. And there are positives and
negatives associated with each type, of course. I would say that I'm somewhere in the
middle. I'm open to a lot of new things, but with some other things, some other aspects
of life, I'm very closed. So for me, it just depends on what subject we're talking about,
really. Sometimes I'm very open, sometimes I'm not.
Another difference between personalities is that some people are very
independent and some people prefer to be in groups or prefer a more collective
community. So, people who are independent, they're usually the type of people who
spend more time alone. They might try new things on their own or try to accomplish
things without other people's help. They might do more difficult tasks that other people
might not do because they're independent, they don't want to rely on other people. In
English, when we say the word "rely", we're saying depend. "Rely" and "depend" have
the same meaning. So if I say "I rely on my parents", I'm saying that I depend on my
parents. So, people who are independent don't rely on other people, so they tend to do
difficult things alone without other people's help. Of course, this type of personality has
positives and negatives, right. The positives are that these people don't have to depend
on other people and they can probably start things and finish things on their own and
accomplish many things, and they can do new things, but the negative is that they might
not have the same type of community, or they might not have as many people to
depend on.
And then people who are more group-oriented, these people probably don't want
to try a ton of new things or difficult things on their own. Right. They want to stay with
the group and do the things that their group is doing. And so, this type of personality
also has positives and negatives. The positives are that these people probably have
good relationships with other people, they probably have a good circle of friends or
family members who they can rely on and who they can work with. So, that's great. But
the negative might be that these types of people always need to rely on other people in
order to do things or they might not be able to accomplish certain tasks on their own.
So, of course, again, I'm speaking generally, but these are some of the positives and
negatives that I can think of when I think about these personality types.
And then one more distinction between personalities is that some people are
very analytical and methodical, and they have that type of brain, and some people are
more artistic and creative. Of course, some people have a mix of both, but some people
fall on one or the other end of this spectrum. So in English, when we say the word
"spectrum", we're talking about a range of options. So when we're talking about politics,
we usually use the phrase "the left-right spectrum", right, "He falls in the middle of the
spectrum, politically". This means that he's not on the left and he's not on the right. He's
more in the middle of that range. So, some people are on one side or the other side of
this spectrum: either analytical or creative.
I think that I'm more analytical. I'm not a super artistic person, as I've mentioned
in previous episodes, but I have some creativity in me. I would consider myself creative,
but not very artistic. But I would definitely consider myself analytical and methodical. So,
that's me. And then lastly, I just wanted to mention the idea that opposites attract. So
when we say, "opposites attract", we're saying that people who have different
personality types, people who have... maybe even opposite personalities, oftentimes
are attracted to each other. So, in some cases, people might get married to other people
who are very different from them. In my case, I married a woman who's very different
from me. And so, I believe that opposites can definitely attract. She and I have very
different personalities, but we go well together. We combine well together as a couple.
Alright, well, I'll stop there for today. Hopefully this episode was interesting for
you, and hopefully it was good practice for your listening comprehension. Remember
that you have the transcript available in the Details part of the episode. And, of course,
remember to sign up for our $1 Listening Practice Seminars at polyglossa.com and
share this podcast with anyone else who might find it useful, and help this podcast grow.
Okay, thank you for listening to this episode and I hope you'll come back for Episode 26
of the Listening Time podcast.

*IMPORTANT: This episode was recorded a while ago, and I don’t use the Polyglossa
website anymore. Now, you can access my Listening Practice Seminars by becoming a
member at www.patreon.com/listeningtime