Live Lesson Notes

Health
Contents
1. Useful links
2. IELTS Speaking Vocabulary: Health
3. Health Idioms
4. Listening Bingo
5. Discussion: Health and Technology

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Some useful links

My GOLD online course for IELTS Speaking

https://keithspeakingacademy.com/ielts-band7-gold-yt

Live Lesson on Medicine

https://youtube.com/live/XdevoRoD8so

Lesson on Health and Fitness

https://youtube.com/live/ZYIARvkx870

Lesson on Healthy Food

https://keithspeakingacademy.com/how-to-talk-about-food-in-
ielts-speaking/
Synonyms for feeling sick

Follow me on social media

https://www.youtube.com/@EnglishSpeakingSuccess

https://www.facebook.com/keithspeakingacademy

https://www.facebook.com/groups/KeithIELTSMastermind/

https://www.instagram.com/keith_speaking_academy/

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Warm Up

Fill in the gaps with one or two words

1. The doctor recognised my _______ and prescribed some ______

2. If you are feeling off ______, you should go and see the doctor

Answers at bottom of PDF

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IELTS Speaking Vocabulary: HEALTH

Health (n. U.) /helθ/

= the condition of the body and state of being well

• Physical health
• Mental health
• Preventative health (activities to avoid sickness)

To be in ____ health [good, poor, declining, fragile] - adjectives

IÕm in good health, but my grandad is sick and in declining health

Declining (adj.) = going down, getting worse

Fragile (adj.) = Delicate

To _______ your health [boost, promote, improve / harm, damage]

-verbs

Superfoods can boost your health

Ultra-processed foods do not boost your health, they harm your health

Synonyms

Well-being (n. U.)

Wellness (n. U.)
Fitness (n. U.)

DonÕt work so much, your well-being is very important

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Antonyms

A sickness (n. C.)

An ailment (n. C.)
A disease (n. C.)

The older I get, the more ailments I have �㍤

Health and feelings

I feel + adjective

I feel _____[great, energetic, full of beans, on top of the world]

I feel _____ [weak, poorly, lethargic, sluggish, drained, out of sorts, off

colour, under the weather]

She is feeling on top of the world today, on the other hand,

IÕm feeling lethargic, I just donÕt want to get out of bed!

I have never felt better

I am alive and kicking

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IELTS Speaking Idioms: HEALTH

Can you guess these idioms?

Answers at bottom of PDF

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Speaking and Listening: Food and Health

Listening Bingo

https://on.soundcloud.com/wjeTNcdE5bPPCs4Q7

Listen to this conversation about food and health. They are in a coffee
bar. Answer the questions below

1) What Asian food is mentioned?

Answers at bottom of PDF

2) Listen again and tick the box when you hear the exact words. When
you have 3 boxes in a row, type BINGO in the chat!

Feeling blue Off colour Get a biome

Digestion levels Balanced diet Live bacteria
Female foods Healthy recipes Good advice

Answers at bottom of PDF

Full script on next page

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Full Script

Karen: Hey Maria, how are you doing today?

Maria: Hi Karen, I'm good, thanks! But I've been feeling a bit off colour
lately. Do you think I should start eating some superfoods?

Karen: Maybe! But listen, have you heard about the gut microbiome?
They say it has a big impact on how you feel.

Maria: The gut what?

Karen: The gut microbiome! It's all the tiny bacteria living in your
stomach. Apparently, having a healthy mix of these bacteria can help
with digestion, energy levels, even your mood! (=emotional state)
Maria: Wow, I never knew that! So how do I get a healthy gut?

Karen: Well, eating a balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables is
a good start. They have Þbre, which those good bacteria love!

Maria: Interesting. And what about superfoods? Are they good for the
gut too?

Karen: Some might be! Things like berries, yogurt with probiotics, and
even fermented foods like kimchi could be helpful. They all have
different beneÞts.

Maria: Kimchi? Isn't that really spicy?

Karen: It can be! But you don't have to eat just kimchi. There are lots of
other options. Maybe we can research some healthy recipes together
this weekend?

Maria: That sounds great, Karen! Thanks for the advice. Maybe with a
healthier gut, I'll have more energy too!

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Dad Jokes
1)
Why is a doctor always calm?

Answer at bottom of PDF

2)
John: Yesterday, the doctor told me I was colourblind.
Tom: Was that a surprise for you?
John: Yes, the diagnosis came completely out of the purple.

The correct expression is ÔOut of the

blue' = suddenly (adv.). However, the
joke is that because he is colour blind,
he even confuses the colours when
speaking (which of course, is not true).

NOTE: This is meant as a joke, and in now way aims to belittle people who are
colourblind.

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IELTS Speaking Discussion Health & Technology

Before you listen, here are some useful words:

A rash = area of redness on your skin (due to illness or

allergy)

Symptom (n.)= An indicator of a sickness. (Sneezing is a

symptom of a cold)

Diagnosis (n.) = The identiÞcation of a sickness (e.g a

cold or the ßu)

The patient has the symptoms and the doctor gives the
diagnosis

Watch and answer the questions below.

Click to watch

1) What are the 3 areas where technology is impacting our health,

according to the candidate

Answers at bottom of PDF

2) Watch again and note any useful collocations

Full script on next page

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Full Script

So when it comes to health and technology, yeah, I think technology

has had a big impact on our health, generally speaking.

I mean, Þrst of all, let's talk about wearable health trackers.

Nowadays, everybody's trying to do their 10,000 steps and to measure

that, they're wearing smartwatches or these Þtness trackers that can
track how far you've walked, they can measure your heartbeat and give
you more sophisticated statistics, which is great.

And I think that motivates people to do more exercise and stay in

shape (=keep healthy)

The only thing is, I guess people can become a bit obsessed by the
numbers and maybe even competitive if they're sharing it with other
people. And maybe it's become too much of an obsession.

ÑÑ-

The second big area where I think technology has changed our health
and our lives, especially for doctors, is Telehealth, right?

The provision of health services remotely whereby the patient can

contact their doctor or their GP via a video call or even by chat or
sending a picture.

For example, if a patient has a rash on their skin they can send a
picture to the doctor, the doctor can ask about the symptoms, and then
together they can, well, work together and the doctor can give a
diagnosis and maybe even prescribe medicine (=authorise the use of
medicine) directly to the patient.

So this is clearly cutting down on (=to reduce) waiting times which is

a big bonus for all patients, right?

And it helps doctors become more productive and efficient.

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ÑÑ

Now, the one area where possibly, I think doctors would agree that it's
maybe not beneÞcial is the growth well of self-diagnosis.

So I'm talking about people jumping on the Internet, looking at health

websites to Þnd out what's wrong with them if they have an ailment
(=have a sickness) and they try and discover the problem and they
diagnose themselves and then they go to the doctor and say, I think I've
got this, I think I've got that.

Some people even become hypochondriacs (=people who are

abnormally worried about their health). They're obsessed with all the
different sicknesses they have, because they've read about them.

And I think sometimes this doesn't help doctors who, they're the
professionals, they know the situation. And I guess, yes, it can be good
for us to get peace of mind (=relax because you now know something)
on what you've not got by looking on the Internet.

But there's so much misinformation. I think it's a slippery slope

(=something can easily get worse) and a slightly dangerous thing to do
to be trying to self diagnose.

So there we have it. Three different ways that technology is impacting

our health.

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 ANSWERS
Warm Up
Fill in the gaps with one or two words

1. The doctor recognised my _symptoms / illness / pain /_sickness /

problem______ and prescribed some _medicine, medication,
drugs, pills ______

2. If you are feeling off _colour / today_____, you should go and see

the doctor

To feel off = to feel unwell

to feel off colour = to feel unwell

IELTS Speaking Idioms: HEALTH

Can you guess these idioms?

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To be off your game
To feel off your game
= To not feel well enough to perform at your best

IÕm sorry that wasnÕt a good presentation, I just feel off my game today; I
didnÕt sleep well last night

To be as right as rain
= to feel perfectly healthy

He was sick last week, but now heÕs as right as rain and back to work

To be coming down with something

=To start to feel sick

You look very pale today, are you coming down with something?

To feel peaky
= To feel slightly unwell

She said she felt peaky, so she decided to leave work early and go
home and rest

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Speaking and Listening: Food and Health

Listening Bingo

What Asian food is mentioned?

Kimchi

Listen again and make a box when you hear the exact words. When you
have 3 boxes in a row, type BINGO in the chat!

Feeling blue Off colour Get a biome

A healthy gut Balanced diet Live bacteria
Female foods Healthy recipes Good advice

Dad Jokes

Why is a doctor always calm?

Because they have a lot of patients.

1) Patient (s) = sick people in a hospital

2) Patience (adj.) = ability to wait quietly

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IELTS Speaking Discussion Health & Technology

Click to watch

Watch and answer the question below.

1) What are the 3 areas where technology is impacting our health,

according to the candidate

1. Fitness/ health trackers

2. Telehealth
3. Self-diagnosis

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