Hello and welcome to the Real Exam English podcast, this episode is about marijuana. More specifically, this is a monologue about whether marijuana should be legalised. In many English speaking exams you have to do a monologue, sometimes you can choose the topic yourself, like in Trinity exams, other times they give you a card and you just have to start speaking, like in a Cambridge C2 exam and then there are other exams where you get a few minutes to prepare the monologue based on some text they give you, like in Escuela Oficial de Idiomas exams in Spain.
Regardless of the exam type, you should try to speak fluently about the topic in a well organized and clear way. Obviously, you should be aiming to get some nice vocabulary and grammar in there too, especially if you have some time to prepare the task. The topics can sometimes be a bit random, so coming up with fancy language can be tricky, but if you do have time to prepare then do a brainstorm and jot down any words or expressions that might be useful and also make a note of any advanced grammar you may want to use, like a cleft sentence “what I….is”, or an inversion “rarely do I…..”. Keep these notes short and simple, not full sentences.
Above all, though, in my view, this is the part of the exam to really show off your discourse management, that is how you organise your speech, can you speak in detail about a topic, giving examples or counterpoints, are you using a range of cohesive devices, are you speaking fluently and of course, with good, clear pronunciation.
So, having said all that, here is my monologue about the legalisation of marijuana. Listen out for the organisation so you can get an idea of how to do it.
Whether marijuana should be legalised is a hotly debated topic nowadays, and one that often divides public opinion. There are those that are staunchly against any form of relaxation of the laws around legalisation whereas there are others that are completely in favour of the decriminalisation of weed, and in fact, other stronger drugs too.
To my mind, it’s not a black and white issue. On the one hand, there are clear benefits to be had in terms of the medicinal use of marijuana. It’s extremely effective in dealing with a wide variety of conditions and illnesses, from chronic pain and muscle spasms to epilepsy and Alzheimer’s; and it seems obvious that this should be encouraged and put to good use. On the other hand, however, there is the issue of psychosis potentially being triggered by smoking marijuana. This, apparently, is largely down to the increased strength of the drugs available nowadays and is unquestionably a cause for concern. What could be done, perhaps, is to educate the users about this risk and at the same time, further studies could be undertaken to pinpoint the cause of this reaction and figure out ways to alleviate it. By the same token, the pro-weed lobby may well cite this very example in their case for legalisation, claiming that were there to be more controls of the product then these superstrong strains could be prohibited.
Another factor to take into consideration is the freedom of choice. If you want to smoke and damage your own health, then go for it, it’s up to you. Personally, I’m sitting on the fence with this one; while I agree that you should be able to do as you please with your own body, when the state has to pick up the bill for your healthcare at a later date then it’s not so clearcut. Maybe that’s why a country like the US, which doesn’t have public health care, has no problem legalising marijuana, if you harm yourself then you gotta pay to get yourself treated.
In fact, that leads me to my next point, which is the economic element. Evidently, if you legalise something, then you can tax it and it can be a big money-earner for the state. On top of that, numerous jobs are created, as can be seen in the US. Not only are there farmers and distributors but also cake makers, paraphernalia sellers and so on, all of whom contribute to the economic development of the country.
One last factor to bear in mind is pleasure. Since time immemorial people have been getting high, so it is bound to make you feel good. Some people claim they get more creative when they smoke weed, there are others who are more relaxed and yet others whose senses are heightened, so they get a greater appreciation for music, art, or just simply crisps and ice-cream, the famous munchies. So, for that reason, I would find it hard to deny these people their pleasures, especially in this overstressed modern world in which we live. It should come with a caveat, however. Obviously, they shouldn´t be allowed to drive cars or use heavy machinery while high and of course, youngsters should be restricted from using this potentially harmful narcotic.
So, all in all, it’s a multifaceted issue and ultimately it likely comes down to your personal preference and viewpoints but to my mind, it probably should be legal, provided there are some strict restrictions attached.
Alright, hopefully you could follow that druggy monologue ok. The transcript can be found on the podcast page of Real Exam English website, realexamenglish.com.
I´ve highlighted the connectors and useful language chunks you can use for your own monologues or speeches in the future. This is really something you need to practice and find your own kind of formula that works best for you.
Well, let me know what you think of this episode on Spotify, or social media, and I’ll see you next time for some more Real Exam English.
All the best
Trevor
