Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Eric: Getting Invited to a Thanksgiving Dinner in the United States. Eric Here.
Becky: Hey I'm Becky.
Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn the prepositions “on” and “off”. The conversation takes place at home.
Becky: It's between Kate and Sean.
Eric: The speakers are friends, so they will use informal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Sean: Hey Kate, thanks for inviting me to your Thanksgiving dinner.
Kate: Thanks for coming early to help me. Can you put the cranberry sauce on the table?
Sean: Should I leave those candles on the table?
Kate: Can you take them off the table?
Sean: Sure. I'll switch the TV off, too.
Kate: No, leave the TV on. I want to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Sean: Hey Kate, thanks for inviting me to your Thanksgiving dinner.
Kate: Thanks for coming early to help me. Can you put the cranberry sauce on the table?
Sean: Should I leave those candles on the table?
Kate: Can you take them off the table?
Sean: Sure. I'll switch the TV off, too.
Kate: No, leave the TV on. I want to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Eric: Oh, Thanksgiving dinner! That’s an important date on the calendar for any American.
Becky: It is. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November every year.
Eric: So the date always changes, but it’s always a Thursday.
Becky: The first Thanksgiving is said to have been celebrated by the Pilgrims in the 17th century as part of a harvest celebration.
Eric: What is a 21st century Thanksgiving like?
Becky: It’s an important family day.
Eric: Yes, families gather together to give thanks.
Becky: And eat lots of food.
Eric: And sometimes argue.
Becky: Families do that sometimes! There is a traditional Thanksgiving meal that is centered around turkey and all of the trimmings.
Eric: There’s so much food… I like Thanksgiving because I love to watch the football games that day.
Becky: Yeah? I like watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade!
Eric: Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is...
Becky: to invite [natural native speed]
Eric: to ask someone to attend
Becky: to invite[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Becky: to invite [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have...
Becky: dinner [natural native speed]
Eric: the final meal of the day, the meal after lunch
Becky: dinner[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Becky: dinner [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have...
Becky: sauce [natural native speed]
Eric: a liquid served with food to add flavor or moisture
Becky: sauce[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Becky: sauce [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have...
Becky: candle [natural native speed]
Eric: an object made of wax with a wick in the middle that can be lit to provide light
Becky: candle[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Becky: candle [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have...
Becky: to switch [natural native speed]
Eric: to change, to shift
Becky: to switch[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Becky: to switch [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have...
Becky: table [natural native speed]
Eric: an item of furniture with a flat surface that objects can be placed upon
Becky: table[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Becky: table [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have….
Becky: TV [natural native speed]
Eric: an appliance that can receive broadcast signals
Becky: TV[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Becky: TV [natural native speed]
Eric: And last...
Becky: parade [natural native speed]
Eric: a moving line of people and displays called floats in celebration of a holiday or other important event
Becky: parade[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Becky: parade [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: to invite
Eric: ...meaning "to ask someone to attend." What can you tell us about this word?
Becky: This is a verb that you can use to politely ask someone to attend a party or event.
Eric: If you’re being polite and formal, you might give people a card or letter with the details.
Becky: Yes, this is called an “invite” or an “invitation.”
Eric: If someone comes but hasn’t been invited, you can say that they are “an uninvited guest.”
Becky: In fact, you can use that in any situation when someone you don’t want arrives.
Eric: Can you give us an example using the verb invite?
Becky: Sure. For example, you can say, “Have you been invited to the office party?”
Eric: Which means "Have you been asked to come to the office party?"
Eric: Okay, what's the next word?
Becky: To switch
Eric: meaning "to change, to shift." What can you tell us about this word?
Becky: This is a verb that conjugates in a regular way.
Eric: When do you use it?
Becky: You often use it when talking about electrical objects. To “switch on” and to “switch off.”
Eric: Can you give us an example using this word?
Becky: Sure. For example, you can say, “Switch off the lights before you leave the room.”
Eric: Which means "Turn off the lights before you leave the room." Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn about the prepositions “on” and “off”. The two prepositions in this lesson are quite closely linked, so let’s look at them in detail.
Becky: Yeah. We’ve looked at the preposition “on” a couple of times.
Eric: Yes, in lesson one in relation to time, and in lesson two in relation to place and position.
Becky: This time, we’ll look at it again for position.
Eric: So how do you use it for position?
Becky: You use it for surfaces. It is often teamed with verbs such as “to put.”
Eric: Can you give us an example?
Becky: Sure. “I put it on the desk.”
Eric: Where did you put it? Look at the desk!
Becky: “The clock is on the wall.”
Eric: Where is the clock? Look at the wall!
Becky: Another example is “I can’t go to bed yet, because my dog is sleeping on my bed.”
Eric: On top of the bed, is the dog.
Becky: Yeah, we don’t want to disturb the dog! Like the expression says, let sleeping dogs lie.
Eric: What does that mean?
Becky: It means don’t start trouble; let things stay the way they are.
Eric: Okay, the next preposition is “off.”
Becky: “Off” is also a preposition of position. It’s used to say that an object has moved away or down from something.
Eric: It’s often used with verbs like “to fall” or “to take.”
Becky: It has the opposite meaning to “on” sometimes. As in, “I put the pen on the table.” or “I took the pen off the table.”
Eric: They are opposite actions. Okay, let’s hear some examples for “off.”
Becky: “I fell off the ladder.”
Eric: I was on the ladder, but I fell.
Becky: “You should pick up your dog and take him off the bed.”
Eric: Ah, earlier you said you couldn’t go to bed because the dog was on the bed.
Becky: Yes, a solution is to pick up the dog and take him off.
Eric: So I guess you shouldn’t let all sleeping dogs lie.

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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