Learn how to use the prepositions "regarding" and "concerning"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Changing Your American Insurance Plan. Eric Here. |
| Becky: Hey I'm Becky. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn the prepositions “concerning” and “regarding.” The conversation takes place at work. |
| Becky: It's between a female customer and Sean. |
| Eric: The speakers are strangers, so they will use formal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Sean: Hello, Kennedy's insurance, how may I be of assistance to you? |
| customer: I have a question concerning my new insurance plan. |
| Sean: What is your question regarding? |
| customer: It's about my payment dates. Can I change the date? |
| Sean: Of course. Do you want to continue weekly payments or monthly payments? |
| customer: Can I change to monthly payments? |
| Sean: We will send you a letter regarding this change through the mail. Have a nice day! |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Sean: Hello, Kennedy's insurance, how may I be of assistance to you? |
| customer: I have a question concerning my new insurance plan. |
| Sean: What is your question regarding? |
| customer: It's about my payment dates. Can I change the date? |
| Sean: Of course. Do you want to continue weekly payments or monthly payments? |
| customer: Can I change to monthly payments? |
| Sean: We will send you a letter regarding this change through the mail. Have a nice day! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: In this conversation, we got to see Sean at work. |
| Becky: Yes, it seems that he has a customer service job for an insurance company. |
| Eric: Customer service… What is that like in the US? |
| Becky: It’s very important. If you work in customer service, you’re expected to be polite and cheerful at all times. |
| Eric: I think the US has an international reputation for cheerful customer service. |
| Becky: Really? That’s good to hear. Customer service is tough work. |
| Eric: Yeah, I guess that being helpful and happy all of the time despite external factors must be tough. |
| Becky: Yeah, and many customer service positions aren't well paid. |
| Eric: Right, we spoke in an earlier lesson about restaurant staff being underpaid and relying on tips. |
| Becky: You should also tip other people that work in customer service, such as taxi drivers and bellboys at hotels. |
| Eric: Wow, service with a smile is expensive. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Becky: insurance [natural native speed] |
| Eric: agreement where a person makes payments to a company, for a promise that the company will pay money in the case of injury or incident agreed upon |
| Becky: insurance[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: insurance [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: assistance [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to help somebody by sharing work or doing work for them |
| Becky: assistance[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: assistance [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: question [natural native speed] |
| Eric: a sentence worded to ask for information |
| Becky: question[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: question [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: payment [natural native speed] |
| Eric: money that is owed to cover a bill or service |
| Becky: payment[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: payment [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: date [natural native speed] |
| Eric: a day in the calendar |
| Becky: date[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: date [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: weekly [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to occur once every seven days |
| Becky: weekly[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: weekly [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: monthly [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to occur once every month |
| Becky: monthly[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: monthly [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last... |
| Becky: mail [natural native speed] |
| Eric: material sent by air, land, or sea using the postal system |
| Becky: mail[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: mail [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Becky: question |
| Eric: ...meaning "a sentence worded to ask for information." What can you tell us about this word? |
| Becky: It’s easy to make and identify question sentences in English. |
| Eric: What should we look out for? |
| Becky: Question words - these are “what”, “where”, “when”, “who”, “how” and “why.” |
| Eric: Also in writing, you’ll see a question mark. |
| Becky: When speaking, sometimes questions don’t have question words. You can tell these by the rising intonation at the end. For example, “You going home?” |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using the word question? |
| Becky: Sure. For example, you can say, “Can I ask you a question?” |
| Eric: ...which means "Can I ask you something to find out some information?" And this sentence is a question! |
| Becky: Right! Did you hear the rising intonation? |
| Eric: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Becky: Date |
| Eric: meaning "a day in the calendar." What can you tell us about this word? |
| Becky: A “date” is a specific day, usually identified by month and day. |
| Eric: Here’s a common question you might ask if you don’t know what day it is: “What’s today’s date?” |
| Becky: You can also use the word “date” in a completely different way. |
| Eric: Ah, as in, a romantic night out with a partner. |
| Becky: Yes. “I have a date tonight,” for example. |
| Eric: Can you give us another example using this word? |
| Becky: Sure. For example, you can say, “What was the date last Tuesday?” |
| Eric: Which means "What month and day was it last Tuesday?" Okay, what's the next word? |
| Becky: Weekly |
| Eric: meaning "to occur once every seven days." Where does this word come from? |
| Becky: This comes from the word “week,” and means that something happens once a week. |
| Eric: We can also say “monthly” for once a month. |
| Becky: Or “yearly” for once a year. |
| Eric: If something happens twice in a seven day period... |
| Becky: You’d say “twice a week.” You can also say “twice weekly.” |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using weekly? |
| Becky: Sure. For example, you can say, “I pay my rent weekly.” |
| Eric: Which means "I pay my rent every seven days." That’s not very common in the States, is it Becky? |
| Becky: Nope. We usually pay monthly. |
| Eric: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn about the prepositions “concerning” and “regarding.” These two prepositions are a little different from the ones we’ve discussed so far. |
| Becky: That’s right. These have nothing to do with time or position. |
| Eric: Well, let’s find out more about them! First up is “concerning.” |
| Becky: When you use it as a preposition, the meaning of “concerning” is very similar to “about.” |
| Eric: You use it to highlight the topic you want to talk about, or ask a question about it. |
| Becky: It’s more formal than “about,” though. |
| Eric: That’s why Sean used it in the conversation. |
| Becky: Yes, it’s more polite and professional. “About” isn’t an impolite word at all, but in formal English “concerning” sounds better. |
| Eric: Let’s hear some examples. |
| Becky: “I had a phone call from school concerning my son.” |
| Eric: The school called me, as they wanted to talk about my son. The son was the topic. |
| Becky: “All reports concerning cheating are dealt with by the principal.” |
| Eric: Any reports of students cheating go to the principal. Here, it’s being used to say what the topic of the report is. Let’s move onto “regarding.” |
| Becky: “Regarding” is very similar to “concerning” and “about.” |
| Eric: Most of the time, you can use it in the same situation as “concerning.” |
| Becky: It’s also formal English. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example? |
| Becky: “I have many problems regarding your proposal.” |
| Eric: I have problems, and the topic of my problems is your proposal. |
| Becky: One big difference and something to be aware of, is that “concerning” can also be an adjective. |
| Eric: Yes, it means the same as “worrying.” |
| Becky: “This is a concerning situation,” for example. “Regarding” is not an adjective and in this case, it cannot be used to replace “concerning.” |
| Eric: Also, you can say “with regards to” or “in regards to” instead of “regarding.” |
| Becky: But you can’t say “with concerns to” or “in concerns to.” |
| Eric: Make sure to keep this in mind! |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! |
| Becky: Bye! |
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