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IELTS Speaking Lesson about Patience

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Table of Contents

IELTS Speaking vocabulary: Patience

Warm up!  

Fill in th gap with one word  

  1. I was annoyed when someone _____ the queue 
  2. I am a patient person, I rarely _____ out of patience 
  3. At work I am always in a _____ I never have time to stop and think.

See answers

  1. I was annoyed when someone jumped the queue 
  2. I am a patient person, I rarely run out of patience
  3. At work I am always in a rush / hurry I never have time to stop and think.

To wait for someone / something 

I’m waiting for the bus

‘I’m waiting for you’ = I am waiting and I’m a bit angry

If you are not angry it is better to say, 

‘No problem, take your time’

‘No problem, don’t rush’

  • To queue (up)  (UK)
  • To stand in line (USA)
  • To join a queue = to stand at the end of a queue (the correct way)

The 4 following phrases all mean someone enters the middle of a queue (the incorrect way)

  • To jump the queue
  • To cut in line 
  • To cut in front of someone
  • To jump in front of someone 

To be patient (adj.) = to be able to wait calmly = to have patience

A patient (n.) = a sick person (this is the same word with a different meaning)

I am not patient = I am impatient (adj.) 

To stick it out = to continue to the end of an unpleasant situation  

If you are patient, and waiting in a line, then you will probably stick it out.

I’m a patient kind of person 

If you have little time to do something we can say,  

  • To be in a rush
  • To be in a hurry 

To have a short span of attention = to be able to focus only for a short time

Fast pace of life = the quick speed at which changes and events happen

The following are both ways of saying you no longer have any patience.

  • To lose your patience 
  • To run out of patience

To get fidgety = to start continually moving (your hands)

When some people are losing their patience, they get fidgety

To pace up and down  = walking up and down in a nervous/impatient way

I was pacing up and down waiting for you to get home!

People waiting in line

IELTS Speaking topic: Waiting

Tell me a situation where you have to wait.

  • Waiting for an appointment (the doctor’s, the dentist…)
  • At the doctor’s 
  • At the clinic
  • At the hospital
  • In the emergency department in a hospital
  • At the bus stop 
  • At the airport 
  • Waiting for a bus
  • Waiting for a taxi on a rainy day
  • At the restaurant, waiting for a seat/ table
  • In the school dining room
  • Queueing in a shop 
  • Stuck in traffic 
  • Waiting for the right partner (wife, husband…)
  • Waiting for the result of a job interview
  • Waiting for a exam result
  • Waiting for a special day (Christmas) 

Are you good at waiting? Are you patient?

Here are some useful phrases for students who answered this question on my Facebook Page.

My patience was pushed to the limits = I almost lost my patience 

I have ants in my pants = I get fidgety 

I don’t suffer fools gladly = I don’t accept / tolerate stupid people

Good things come to those who wait = If you are patient, you will be rewardedI like to let things run their course = I like to wait for things to happen naturally

Listening task

Listen to someone talk about a time they lost their patience. Try to fill in these gaps with ONE word. 

  1. Trolleys _________ full of stuff 
  2. So I decided to ________ it out and wait 
  3. And I was getting ___________
  4. In this case, my patience was _____________ thin
  5. That was the _________ straw

See answers

  1. Trolleys crammed full of stuff (=stuffed)
  2. So I decided to stick it out and wait 
  3. And I was getting fidgety 
  4. In this case, my patience was wearing thin
  5. That was the final straw (= the final action that ‘broke’ me or made my really angry)

The straw that broke the camel’s back

Listen again and pick out useful phrases or/and collocations

Useful phrases

So I remember this one time 

when I was shopping in a supermarket 

and I was waiting in a queue to pay, 

and I just had a few items in my basket and everybody in front of me had full trolleys, right? 

Trolleys crammed full of stuff (=extremely full) 

  • To cram something in (to a space) = to put something into a restricted space

I crammed my basket full of fruit

My diary is crammed full of appointments

So I was thinking actually about changing queue because, 

just to speed things up (=to make things go more quickly).

 

But then I thought, “Well, knowing Sod’s law, (=if something can go wrong, it will….same as Murphy’s Law)

if I change queue, this one will suddenly speed up. 

So I decided to stick it out and wait. 

 

And the queue was moving slowly and I noticed the cashier was talking to everybody, to every customer. 

 

She was telling her life story (= to talk a lot about yourself) to any Tom, Dick and Harry (= anybody, especially people you don’t know) 

 

And I was getting fidgety, right? 

I was getting quite nervous. 

I was just thinking, 

“Come on, get a move on (= hurry up). We don’t have all day.” 

Then I tried to calm down. 

 

You know, normally I’m quite a laid-back (= calm and relaxed) person, 

but in this case, my patience was wearing thin (= I was becoming impatient)

because I was in a rush to get back home for dinner. 

And then, eventually, it came to my turn, 

and would you believe it, she closed the till. 

 

That was the final straw. 

I was so angry. I lost my patience. 

I just left my trolley and the food there and stormed out (= I left angrily) , never to return. 

I never went back to that supermarket. 

I was so disappointed with the service.

cashier sharing life story

IELTS Speaking: Idioms about patience

  • To be at the end of your tether = to have no patience left or to run out of patience

I’ve asked my daughter to clean her room 3 times this morning, and she still hasn’t done it; I am at the end of my tether.

  • My patience is wearing thin = I am becoming less and less patient 

I have asked you so many times to do this, and now my patience is wearing thin.

  • To lose it = to lose your patience and temper (to get angry)

I am going to lose it if I have to repeat my order to the waitress again 

  • To have the patience of Job = to be very patient 

You need to have the patience of Job when waiting your turn in a government office 

  • Hold your horses! = Wait!

Hold your horses, be patient!

PROVERBS:

  • A watched pot never boils = Waiting for something eagerly seems to take a long time
  • Rome wasn’t built in a day = All things take time to do 
  • Good things come to he who waits = If you wait patiently, you will be rewarded.
IELTS Patience

More Free Lessons​

If you liked this lesson, leave a comment below!

There are more lessons you can follow in the links below too.

WORK in IELTS Speaking. Learn the essential vocabulary for this topic, as well as how to talk about work.

SOCIAL MEDIA in IELTS Speaking. Improve your listening and speaking skills for the topic of social media.

CHILDHOOD in IELTS Speaking Learn different activities children do, toys, changes in children nowadays.

ADVERTISEMENTS in IELTS Speaking. Idioms and vocabulary to learn how to talk about advertisements.

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