Your English is Getting Too Good!

Dialogue

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Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Lesson focus
INTRODUCTION
Sadia: Hi, everyone. Thanks for tuning in. This is Sadia.
Keith: Hey and I’m Keith. Welcome to Gengo English Lesson 27 - Your English is Getting Too Good!
Sadia: In our last lesson, Lesson 26, you learned how to talk about the past.
Keith: And you also learned about the phrase, "So tell us," the simple past tense of the verb, "to be,"
Sadia: And about simple past tense adjectives.
Keith: In this lesson we will further explore how to talk about the past.
Sadia: This conversation takes place in a restaurant.
Keith: And the conversation is between Zo and Michelle.
Sadia: Let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Michelle: So how was the barbecue yesterday?
Zo: It was great. Really beautiful. We drove to Bear
Mountain! We ate burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches and salad—and we drank Coca-Cola [laughs].
Michelle: [laughs] Did you play badminton?
Zo: Yes, we did! It was great!
Michelle: Wow! [giggles] So American!
Zo: How about you? What did you do yesterday?
Michelle: (sounding regretful) I worked.
Zo: Poor you!
Michelle: [laughs] Your English is too good!
Zo: [laughs]
Waitress: Here you are. Heirloom tomato, fennel, and avocado salad, butternut squash soup, vegetable lasagna, and steamed vegetables.
Michelle: Oh my gosh, this is so good! Who told you about this place?
Zo: It's a secret!
Michelle: Too good!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Sadia: Oh, well this is a cute conversation. Zo tells Michelle all about the barbeque he attended with his homestay parents, right?
Keith: They enjoyed typical American barbeque foods like hamburgers and hot dogs, and played they played classic court games like badminton.
Sadia: That's right. I love badminton. And Zo didn't say, but it's possible that the barbeque was maybe a family or company event.
Keith: In any case, barbeques are very, very popular during the summer season.
Sadia: That’s true. In some neighborhoods in America, the smell of burning charcoal and roasting meat or grilling meat and vegetables is one you can pretty much experience all summer long, from the morning until the night!
Keith: [laughs] Some neighborhoods they are all over the place, but definitely check it out-- Also the word "barbeque" actually refers to the way of cooking meat, AND to the special grill on which the meat is cooked.
Sadia: Ah! How about that?
Keith: Today, however, "barbeque" is commonly used to refer to any outdoor event at which food will be grilled and served.
Sadia: I think barbeques are also sometimes called "cookouts," which is kind of a shortened form of the phrase, "to cook outdoors."
Keith: And also they often feature lots of beer-- and sometimes games outside.
Sadia: I'd say that barbeques are like picnics-- but on a larger scale, maybe, and possibly much more fun!
Keith: Is it because of the beer? Maybe?
Sadia: It might be. We’ll let you guys judge for yourself.
Keith: Yeah, if you’re ever in America during the summer months of June, July, and August, definitely try to go to a barbeque!
Sadia: As Michelle would say, it's very American!
Keith: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
VOCAB LIST
The first word we shall see is:
Sadia: just [natural native speed]
Keith: exactly, only
Sadia: just [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Sadia: just [natural native speed]
Next:"
Sadia: too [natural native speed]
Keith: also; excessively; very
Sadia: too [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Sadia: too [natural native speed]
Next:"
Sadia: to tell [natural native speed]
Keith: to make known, to say
Sadia: to tell [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Sadia: to tell [natural native speed]
Next:"
Sadia: about [natural native speed]
Keith: concerning; with regard to
Sadia: about [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Sadia: about [natural native speed]
Next:"
Sadia: secret [natural native speed]
Keith: something kept from knowledge or view
Sadia: secret [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Sadia: secret [natural native speed]
Next:"
Sadia: barbeque [natural native speed]
Keith: an outdoor social gatheringat which grilled food is
eaten
Sadia: barbeque [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Sadia: barbeque [natural native speed]
Next:"
Sadia: to drive [natural native speed]
Keith: to travel by car
Sadia: to drive [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Sadia: to drive [natural native speed]
Next:"
Sadia: burger [natural native speed]
Keith: short for hamburger; a pattie made of meat
Sadia: burger [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Sadia: burger [natural native speed]
Next:"
Sadia: hot dog [natural native speed]
Keith: American for frankurter; a cooked sausage, usually
served on bread
Sadia: hot dog [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Sadia: hot dog [natural native speed]
Next:"
Sadia: sandwich [natural native speed]
Keith: two slices of bread with a filling in between
Sadia: sandwich [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Sadia: sandwich [natural native speed]
Next:"
Sadia: to play [natural native speed]
Keith: to engage in sport or recreation; to perform
Sadia: to play [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Sadia: to play [natural native speed]
Next:"
Sadia: badminton [natural native speed]
Keith: a court game played with rackets and a special boll that
is hit back and forth over a net
Sadia: badminton [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Sadia: badminton [natural native speed]
Next:"
Sadia: Bear Mountain [natural native speed]
Keith: a mountain in New York's Hudson Highlands
Sadia: Bear Mountain [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Sadia: Bear Mountain [natural native speed]
Next:"
Sadia: to drink [natural native speed]
Keith: to consume liquid or a beverage
Sadia: to drink [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Sadia: to drink [natural native speed]
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Keith: ALright, so let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Sadia: The first phrase we’ll look at is, “So American!” When Zo tells her about the barbeque
he went to the day before, and about the food he ate and the games he played, Michelle says, "So American!"
Keith: That means, it’s very typical of an American."
Sadia: Next up is, “Poor you.”
Keith: When Michelle tells Zo that she worked the day before-- while he was with his host family enjoying a barbeque outside-- Zo says, "Poor you."
Sadia: "Poor you" is an expression of sympathy-- it shows the person you're talking to that you can understand their disappointment or pain.
Keith: "Poor you" is very similar to, "that's too bad." What's up next,Sadia?
Sadia: Next is, “Your English is too good!” Michelle tells Zo that his English is "too good." Usually the adverb "too" implies that something is over-the-top or excessive--
Keith: Right-- like, "too much."
Sadia: But what Michelle means is that she's SHOCKED at just how good Zo's English is!
Keith: Next up is, “Oh my gosh, this is so good!” This phrase is usually used when the speaker is eating something and is surprised by how good the food tastes.
Sadia: The next phrase is, “It's a secret!” Michelle really wants to know how Zo found out about the restaurant he's taken her to--
Keith: But Zo tells her, "It's a secret!"
Sadia: Zo uses this phrase to be coy-- or, shy.
Keith: Telling Michelle that he found out about the place from a taxi driver wouldn't be such a bad thing, but Zo wants to keep an air of, ah, mystery--
Sadia: He wants to keep Michelle wondering and interested in him! He’s smart guy! What’s our last phrase?
Keith: The last phrase is just a review of, “Too good!”
Sadia: Okay. Again, "too good" is an expression of extreme delight. Michelle is really enjoying the food and she tells Zo that the restaurant is "too good."
Keith: She's really enjoying the experience!
Sadia: The focus points of this lesson are a REVIEW OF THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE, including
high-frequency verbs.
Keith: And the INTERROGATIVE PHRASE, "Who told you about...?"
Sadia: Let's get the SIMPLE PAST TENSE out of the way, then shall we?
Keith: I'm sure you all remembered that the simple past tense is used to describe actions that have already been done, finished--
Sadia: Actions that took place in the past. The simple past tense, as you probably know, is generally formed by adding -ed to the simple form of a regular verb.
Keith: For example, the SIMPLE PAST TENSE of work is worked.
Sadia: Right. And the SIMPLE PAST TENSE of talk is talked.
Keith: There are, of course, some exceptions to the rule -
Sadia: There are irregular verbs. Irregular verbs have a variety of simple past tense forms. Let's give some examples of irregular verbs and their simple past tense forms,
Keith: What's the simple past tense of sing?
Sadia: SANG!
Keith: Right And what about Bring.
Sadia: BROUGHT! How about sell?
Keith: SOLD!
Sadia: Good! So those are all irregular verbs in the simple past tense. In the dialogue, Zo tells Michelle about the day he spent with his homestay parents. First he says, "We drove to Bear Mountain!"
Keith: The verb, "drove" is in the simple past tense.
Sadia: Zo also says, "We ATE burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches and salad—and we DRANK Coca-Cola." The verbs, "ate," and "drank" are both irregular verbs in the simple past tense.
Keith: When Zo asks Michelle what she did while he attended the barbeque, she just says, "I
worked."
Sadia: Poor Michelle.
Keith: OK now let's talk a little bit about High-Frequency Verbs.
Sadia: This is easy. High-frequency verbs are verbs that appear often in general conversation or writing.
Keith: Quite a few high-frequency verbs appear in the dialogue.
Sadia: Here’s an example from the dialogue. We drove to Bear Mountain! Drove is actually a HIGH FREQUENCY VERB.
Keith: What about, Yes, we did! Did is, of course, a HIGH FREQUENCY VERB-- it's hard to have a conversation without using some form of the verb, do or did.
Sadia: That’s right and Michelle asks, Who told you about this place? Tell, and the past tense, told, tell is a high frequency verb - and it’s irregular, as you can see!
Keith: What about THE INTERROGATIVE STATEMENT, "WHO TOLD YOU ABOUT THIS PLACE?" Can we talk a little bit about that?
Sadia: I think we have some time to talk about that. So Michelle is delighted by the food and the experience of being at this restaurant and she asks Zo, "Who told you about this place?"
Keith: So she's impressed and surprised that Zo, he’s visiting New York for the first time, he found such a wonderful place, right?
Sadia: She’s shocked. she's also sure that someone told him about it-- that he didn't just find it on his own.
Keith: Are there any other ways of asking, "Who told you about this place?"
Sadia: She could also have asked, "How did you find out about this place?"
Keith: Oh-- and what about, "Where did you read about this place?"
Sadia: And you know what-- Michelle is what we would call "a smart cookie!" If you remember, the taxi driver who took Zo from his hotel to the Altman Building on Zo's second day in New York, that taxi driver told Zo about the restaurant!
Keith: That’s right. Michelle IS a smart cookie!
Sadia: Zo tells Michelle that his source of information about the restaurant is "a secret," but he could have also said, if he were being honest, "A taxi driver told me." Or, "I heard about it
from a taxi driver."
Keith: But he doesn't say that. And why? Because he wants to remain a mystery to Michelle- He wants to be fascinating and exciting! [laughs]
Sadia: You know what, I think Zo's a pretty smart cookie, too!
Keith: That just about does it for this lesson. Thanks for listening.
Sadia: Thanks for listening. Buh-bye.
Keith: Bye.

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Your English is Getting Too Good!

Want to Understand & Master the English Dialogue 100%?

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Lesson focus