Learn how to use one of the most powerful words in English or any language: "please"
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| 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. |
Comments
Hide