Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Sadia: Hello, everyone. Thanks for tuning in. This is Sadia.
Keith: Hi, and I’m Keith. “How to make a Good First Impression.” Alright, so Sadia, what are we looking at in this lesson?
Sadia: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to introduce yourself and make new friends.
Keith. Right. This conversation takes place on a Wednesday flight, just after boarding.
Sadia: The conversation is between the main character, Zo, and the person sitting next to him.
Keith: Alright, well let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Michelle: (humming a pop song)
Zo: Excuse me. May I pass you? My seat is next to yours.
Michelle: Oh, sorry! Go ahead, please.
Zo: Hello. How are you? I'm Zo.
Michelle: Hi! Nice to meet you. I'm Michelle.
Zo: I'm sorry. Your name again, please. Slowly.
Michelle: Michelle.
Zo: Michelle.
Michelle: That's it. But please call me Shelly.
Zo: Shelly. Nice to meet you.
Michelle: Nice to meet you too.
Keith: One more time slowly.
Michelle: (humming a pop song)
Zo: Excuse me. May I pass you? My seat is next to yours.
Michelle: Oh, sorry! Go ahead, please.
Zo: Hello. How are you? I'm Zo.
Michelle: Hi! Nice to meet you. I'm Michelle.
Zo: I'm sorry. Your name again, please. Slowly.
Michelle: Michelle.
Zo: Michelle.
Michelle: That's it. But please call me Shelly.
Zo: Shelly. Nice to meet you.
Michelle: Nice to meet you too.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Sadia: Alright, so even though Zo and Michelle are meeting for the first
time, their conversation sounds pretty casual-- it's pretty
informal.
Keith: Yes, that’s right. I think it's a very casual conversation.
Sadia: Yeah, so I’m thinking they’re probably around the same age,
which brings them closer together even though that, for now
they’re complete strangers.
Keith: Definitely. They don’t know each other, but they’re using casual language, probably because they’re close in age.
Sadia: Mm-hmm.
Keith: So notice that Michelle has given Zo, whom
she has never met, a stranger, permission to call her by
her nickname. In some cultures, only family and close friends use nicknames.
Sadia: Right. But in America, for some reason, I’m not really sure why. It's not uncommon for some people to be known only by their nicknames.
Keith: That’s right. Some people, they have a real name, but I don’t know their real name. I just know their nickname.
Sadia: Yeah, exactly, and there are some funny ones too, like Bubba and Jimbo.
Keith: I like them, they’re fun.
Sadia: Ha, ha.
Keith: Fun nicknames.
Sadia: Do you have a nickname?
Keith: Me? Now, but you know what, I always wanted one. I always feel like it would be a lot of fun to have a nickname.
Sadia: Yeah, I agree, I agree.
Keith: But how about yourself? Do you have a nickname?
Sadia: Well, not really, I mean...
Keith: You do have one, but you don’t want to tell us!
Sadia: Well, some family and some friends tried to
experiment with a nickname, but didn’t really stick.
Keith: What does that mean? “To stick”?
Sadia: “To stick” means “to stay” or “to last,” so when I say my nickname never really stuck, or it didn’t stick, that means that, you know, it didn’t last a very long time.
Keith: Well, why? Is it embarrassing? Is that what it was?
Sadia: Let’s just say that I don't think I could have gone through
my adult life being called, "Poochie."
Keith: Poochie?! That’s really cute. I like it a lot, actually.
Sadia: Really? Well maybe I should reconsider!
Keith: Well maybe I should call you Poochie from now own.
Sadia: Oh, boy.
VOCAB LIST
Keith: OK, let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is...
Sadia: seat [natural native speed]
Keith: a place for sitting, a thing on which to sit
Sadia: seat [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Sadia: seat [natural native speed]
Next:"
next [natural native speed]
Keith: immediately following, adjacent, future
next [slowly - broken down by syllable]
next [natural native speed]
Next:"
Sadia: your [natural native speed]
Keith: belonging to you
Sadia: your [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Sadia: your [natural native speed]
Next:"
name [natural native speed]
Keith: word or phrase referring to a person or thing
name [slowly - broken down by syllable]
name [natural native speed]
Next:"
Sadia: slowly [natural native speed]
Keith: without speed or in a slow manner
Sadia: slowly [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Sadia: slowly [natural native speed]
Next:"
Sadia: me [natural native speed]
Keith: myself [direct object]
Sadia: me [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Sadia: me [natural native speed]
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Keith: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Sadia: OK. The first phrase we’ll look at is, “Excuse me.”
Keith: "Excuse me," and this of course is a very, very useful phrase.
Sadia: Mm-hmm.
Keith: It's typically used
when you want to pass someone and when they’re in your way, or when you want to get someone's attention.
Sadia: Right. So for example, I was walking through Bryant Park the
other day. I was exhausted. I was running around, I had done a lot of shopping. And I spotted a woman who was sitting on a bench by herself, so I thought I need to sit down.
Keith: I want to sit down.
Said: I WANT to sit down, so I walked over to her and I said, "Excuse me-- is anyone sitting here?"
Keith: Or, you also could say something else, right?
Sadia: I could’ve also asked, "Excuse me-- do you mind if I sit here?"
Keith: Right, and I think that’s a very good phrase. We’re in New York, and we ride the subway pretty often.
Sadia: Ahh yes.
Keith: But sometimes people take up a lot of space, a lot of room. So if you want to sit, you can say, “Excuse me.”
Sadia: Exactly. “Excuse me” is particularly helpful during rush hour.
Keith: That’s right. In this dialogue, Zo, she says, "Excuse me." He and his new friend Michelle are on a plane-- and probably Michelle is sitting on the outside, and Zo has to go inside. So he says, "Excuse me." So he can sit down.
Sadia: Right. Excuse me.
Keith: OK, so the second phrase that we’re going to take a look at is, "I'm sorry..."
Sadia: So Zo doesn't understand Michelle when she tells him her name, so he asks her to repeat it by saying, "I'm sorry, your name again?"
Keith: It sounds like he's apologizing, though. He’s saying, “I’m sorry, I did something wrong.” Why?
Sadia: Well, he is, really apologizing. He's sort of saying, "I'm sorry to have to ask you to repeat yourself, but could you?"
Keith: Ah, that’s right. It's a polite way of asking someone to repeat themselves.
Sadia: Right. So, "I'm sorry, could you say that again?"
Keith: Or, "I'm sorry, once more please?"
Sadia: Precisely. So, “I’m sorry” is used when you want someone to repeat themselves.

Lesson focus

Sadia: The focus of this lesson is making a request or asking for something using "please."
Keith: In this dialogue, Michelle makes a request of Zo. She says, "Please call me Shelly."
Sadia: That's right. “Please call me Shelly.”
Keith: Making a request or asking for something in English is very, very simple. Say, "please," followed by your request.
Sadia: Instead of saying, “Call me when you get home,” which sounds kind of rude, really.
Keith: Yeah.
Sadia: You can say “Please call me when you get home.”
Keith: Sadia, you’re so nice. Or if your mom says, “Please don't leave your dirty dishes on the table.”
Sadia: Instead of “Don’t leave your dirty dishes on the table,” your mom is nice, and she says, “Please don’t leave your dirty dishes on the table.”
Keith: That’s very, very nice.
Sadia: Or “Please come with me to the doctor.”
Keith: Or you can also say, “Please don't do that.”
Sadia: So "please" turns a command into a polite request.
Keith: Sometimes the teachers are really mean, and they say, “Sit down!”
Sadia: But instead, they could say, “Please sit down.”
Keith: And, "Hand me that book" becomes
Sadia: Please hand me that book.
Keith: And finally, "Stop!" becomes
Sadia: Please stop.
Keith: Sadia, you get all the nice lines. I get all the mean ones.
Keith: Well, "Please" can also be placed at the end of a sentence.
As in, "I'd like two tickets, please."
Sadia: Right or, "Sit down, please."
Keith: Keep studying English, please!
Sadia: Yeah. Keep tuning in, please!
Keith: Exactly. So, making a request is very, very easy--
Sadia: It is. Just use PLEASE!

Outro

Keith: Please. Alright, well, that’s going to do it for this lesson. Thanks for listening.
Sadia: Thanks for listening, Buh-bye.

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