Learn how to discuss and assess your ability
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Talking About Your Sporting Prowess in English. David Here. |
| Kellie: Hello. I'm Kellie. |
| David: In this lesson, youโll learn how you discuss and assess your own ability. The conversation takes place at the gym. |
| Kellie: The speakers are friends. |
| David: So they will use informal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Phil: This gym has a squash court too. Fancy a game? |
| Katrina: Oh, I can't play squash. |
| Phil: What!? |
| Katrina: I'm really bad at it. I always miss the ball. |
| Phil: That doesn't matter. You can still try, right? |
| Katrina: There's a swimming pool here, isn't there? I'm good at swimming. Let's go swimming! |
| Phil: Ah, I can't swim! |
| Katrina: That's okay, I can teach you! |
| David: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Phil: This gym has a squash court too. Fancy a game? |
| Katrina: Oh, I can't play squash. |
| Phil: What!? |
| Katrina: I'm really bad at it. I always miss the ball. |
| Phil: That doesn't matter. You can still try, right? |
| Katrina: There's a swimming pool here, isn't there? I'm good at swimming. Let's go swimming! |
| Phil: Ah, I can't swim! |
| Katrina: That's okay, I can teach you! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: Do you go to the gym, Kellie? |
| Kellie: Yeah, I exercise three times a week. Itโs becoming increasingly popular in the UK. |
| David: Are there many gyms around? |
| Kellie: Yeah, and more and more are opening each year. Most cities and large towns will have a few to choose from and they often open 24 hours a day, making them convenient no matter what your work schedule is. |
| David: I like how most gyms these days have both equipment that you can use freely and also classes and instructors. |
| Kellie: Thatโs great, isnโt it? You can do your own thing or listen to the experts. But you donโt have to join a gym to get fit. |
| David: Oh? What other options are there? |
| Kellie: Well, you can get out there and go walking or running, but a lot of social clubs and pubs also have sports teams. |
| David: Pubs have sports teams? Isnโt that a little contradictory? |
| Kellie: A little, but itโs usually football teams and involves drinks afterwards, win or lose. |
| David: There is a big fitness and diet culture in the UK too, isnโt there? |
| Kellie: Yeah, itโs easy to find any healthy foods or diet supplements you may want. |
| David: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| David: Letโs take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kellie: gym [natural native speed] |
| David: a place equipped with machines and other tools for exercising |
| Kellie: gym[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: gym [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: squash court [natural native speed] |
| David: an indoor area that is used to play squash |
| Kellie: squash court[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: squash court [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: fancy [natural native speed] |
| David: to like or want something |
| Kellie: fancy[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: fancy [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: to miss [natural native speed] |
| David: to fail to attend, perform, or reach something |
| Kellie: to miss[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: to miss [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: to matter [natural native speed] |
| David: to be of importance |
| Kellie: to matter[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: to matter [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: swimming pool [natural native speed] |
| David: a man-made large container of water that is used for people to swim in |
| Kellie: swimming pool[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: swimming pool [natural native speed] |
| David: And last we have.. |
| Kellie: to teach [natural native speed] |
| David: to impart knowledge or skill |
| Kellie: to teach[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: to teach [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| David: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kellie: fancy |
| David: meaning "want" |
| David: I know about using fancy as an adjective, but not as a verb. |
| Kellie: Itโs a very informal word, but youโll hear it a lot because itโs very casual. It gives the impression of being spontaneous and not planned. |
| David: How do we use it? |
| Kellie: In place of โwantโ. If you want to ask somebody to go for a drink with you, you can say โfancy a drink?โ. |
| David: That does sound casual! |
| Kellie: Yeah, thereโs no pressure or expectation. So even if youโve planned something but you donโt want to sound too eager, or make people think they have to go, then you can use fancy instead of want. |
| David: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Kellie: Sure. For example, you can say.. โDo you fancy going to London next week?โ |
| David: ..which means "Do you want to go to London next week?" Okay, what's the next word or phrase? |
| Kellie: doesn't matter |
| David: meaning "it isnโt of importance" |
| Kellie: โMatterโ itself means โof importanceโ, and โdoesnโtโ makes it negative. |
| David: So it means that something isnโt important. |
| Kellie: Thatโs right. Itโs a really common way to say that something isnโt important. We would use it when something bad or disappointing has happened, but we want people to know that itโs okay and it hasnโt caused trouble. |
| David: But, the true meaning of this depends on the tone of voice used. |
| Kellie: Thatโs right. If I say [light] โdoesnโt matterโ, then it really is of no importance and all is fine. But if I say [darker] โdoesnโt matterโ, then it definitely sounds like it does matter! |
| David: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Kellie: Sure. For example, you can say.. โI lost my purse but it doesn't matter as there was no money in there.โ |
| David: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: In this lesson, you'll learn how to discuss and assess our own ability. |
| David: This sounds like a big topic! |
| Kellie: It is! And in order to learn how to do this, we need to go back to our old friends, the modal verbs. |
| David: It feels like modal verbs are the third host of this series! |
| Kellie: Theyโre important! Just to recap, modal verbs are words such as โcould,โ โwould,โ โmightโ and so on. To describe ability, we need to use the modal verb โcanโ. Itโs quite simple. Start with the subject youโre speaking about, and often this is a pronoun, then itโs โcanโ and finally the ability. |
| David: Letโs hear an example. |
| Kellie: โI can play piano.โ The subject is โIโ, then โcanโ, then the ability - โplay the piano.โ What can you do, David? |
| David: I can snowboard. |
| Kellie: Wow, cool! I canโt snowboard. |
| David: Oh, so thatโs the negative form. |
| Kellie: Thatโs right. Just add โnotโ, to make either โcannotโ or the more informal โcanโtโ. So, what canโt you do? |
| David: I canโt cook. |
| Kellie: But youโre able to eat right? Of course! We can also use โbe able toโ in place of โcanโ. So, โI am able to play pianoโ and โhe is able to snowboardโ. โCanโ is more frequently used though. |
| David: Katrina and Phil spoke about their ability in the dialogue. Katrina said that she canโt play squash, and Phil that he canโt swim. |
| Kellie: Thatโs right. Hey David, you said that you can snowboard, right? How often do you snowboard? |
| David: I occasionally snowboard. I snowboard twice a year. |
| Kellie: Okay. When David answered my question, he used some adverbs of frequency, so letโs talk about those. Itโs not enough sometimes just to say that you do something, you need to say how often you do it too! Going snowboarding every weekend is very different to just twice a year, right? |
| David: Itโd be a lot more expensive for one! |
| Kellie: Exactly. So we can use adverbs of definite frequency to say exactly how often. These are words such as weekly, once, twice, every day... |
| David: I study English every day. |
| Kellie: Yeah, thatโs it! Iโm very glad to hear that too! Then there are adverbs of indefinite frequency. These arenโt exact words, they just give a general idea of how often. These are words like โusually,โ โoftenโ and โsometimes.โ |
| David: I usually study English every day. |
| Kellie: In this case, David doesnโt study every day as there will be occasional days where he doesnโt. He studies most days, but maybe he will miss a day if heโs busy. |
| David: How about โI rarely study Englishโ? |
| Kellie: Well, the sentence is correct, but it means that most of the time you donโt study English. So I hope none of our listeners copy that sentence! |
| David: I hope so too! |
Outro |
| David: Okay, thatโs all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and weโll see you next time! Bye! |
| Kellie: Bye. |
7 Comments
HideHow good are you at sports?
Hello Aryan,
SO glad you enjoyed our lesson! Itโs great youโre having so much success.
If you ever have any questions, or would like some tips please let us know.
Kindly,
Eva
Team EnglishhClass101.com
HELLO
I really like this lesson. It really help me to understand modals in such a short period.
๐๐๐๐๐
Hi Janusz
You're welcome!
Good luck with your English learning, and let us know if you have any questions. We'll be happy to help you out ;)
Cristiane
Team Englishclass101.com
Hi Kellie,
Thank you for good advice. It's very helpful for me :)
With best wishes
Janusz
Hi Janusz,
"I tray go cycling or swimming" > "I try to go cycling or swimming"
"but itโs quite expensive sport and require much time. Isnโt it?" > "but itโs quite an expensive sport and requires much time. Doesn't it?"
Kellie
Team EnglishClass101.com
Hi,
Thanks for the lesson. It's very useful. I usually jog in the morning. I do it almost every day of week, but not at the weekend, then I tray go cycling or swimming. Jogging in the morning is fun for me because it always gives me a good mood for all day. Occasionally I go to the mountains. I love it, but it's quite expensive sport and require much time. Isn't it? I would be grateful if you could correct mistakes in my comment :)
Best regards
Janusz