Dialogue - English

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Vocabulary

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to grab (American) to take suddenly, to seize
to work to perform a job
busy full of activity, engaged in activity, occupied
to meet to come together
either one and the other of two, one or the other of two
sure having no doubt about something
lunch afternoon meal that comes after breakfast and before dinner
week unit of seven days

Lesson Notes

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Grammar

The Focus of This Lesson Is Reviewing How to Form the Simple Present Tense.
"Wednesday works for me."

Let's review some basics and go over the simple present tense. We use the simple present tense to talk about things that are true all the time or true now and not expected to change soon. Also, we use this tense to talk about things that happen often. We often use the simple present tense with frequency words such as "always," "often," "never," and so on.

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Regular verbs in the simple present tense follow the following patterns. Let's look at the verb "to stop."

For Example:

Construction

"English"

First person singular

"I stop"

Second person singular

"you stop"

Third person singular*

"he stops"

First person plural

"we stop"

Third person plural

"they stop"

*Conjugation for the third person singular changes depending on the verb:

  1. Most verbs: infinitive (dictionary) form + "-s"
  2. Verbs that end in "-s," "-sh," "-x," or "-ch": infinitive form + "-es"
  3. Verbs that end in a vowel + "-y": infinitive form + "s"
  4. Verbs that end in a consonant + "-y": change the "-y" to "-ies"

Exceptions:

  1. "go" becomes "goes"
  2. "do" becomes "does"
  3. "have" becomes "has"

Examples from This Dialogue

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  1. "I have some time this week."
  2. "Wednesday works for me."
  3. "Can we meet at 12?"

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Cultural Insights

Do You Have Time for a Quick Lunch Break?

Lunch breaks for people who work are usually quick and casual. For this reason, restaurants in business districts who cater to this crowd are very quick with their service. People usually finish their meal in about an hour and then they go back to work. Fast foods are also a popular choice for many, since people can just grab their lunch and go.

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Lesson Transcript

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INTRODUCTION
Chihiro: Hi everyone, Chihiro here.
Daniel: Daniel here. Lower Intermediate series, season 1, lesson 1 โ€“ Making an Appointment โ€“ Part 1.
Chihiro: Hi everyone, Iโ€™m Chihiro, and welcome to EnglishClass101.com.
Daniel: With us, youโ€™ll learn to speak English with fun and effective lessons.
Chihiro: We also provide you with cultural insights and tips you wonโ€™t find in a textbook.
Daniel: In this lesson, you will learn how to arrange a friendly meeting.
Chihiro: This conversation takes place on the telephone
Daniel: The conversation is between two friends, Joey and Mike.
Chihiro: The speakers will be speaking casually
Daniel: Letโ€™s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Joey: Hello.
Mike: Hey, Joey. This is Mike.
Joey: Hey, Mike. How's it going? Haven't seen you in a while.
Mike: Yeah, I've been busy with work. But I have some time this week. Do you want to grab lunch either Wednesday or Thursday?
Joey: Sure. Wednesday works for me.
Mike: Sounds good. Can we meet at twelve-thirty?
Joey: How about twelve-fifteen?
Mike: Sure.
Joey: Okay. See you then.
Mike: See ya.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Chihiro: Mmm, sounds like they're going to have a typical lunch break... a fast one!
Daniel: Yup, lunch break for people who work is usually quick and casual. For this reason, restaurants in business districts who cater to this crowd are very quick with their service.
Chihiro: People are usually finished in more or less than an hour and they go back to work. Fast foods are also a popular choice for many, since they can just grab their lunch and go.
VOCAB LIST
Daniel: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
Whatโ€™s first?
Chihiro: to grab [natural native speed]
Daniel: to take suddenly, to seize
Chihiro: to grab [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Chihiro: to grab [natural native speed]
Next we have:
Chihiro to work [natural native speed]
Daniel: to perform a job
Chihiro to work [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Chihiro to work [natural native speed]
The next word is:
Chihiro: busy [natural native speed]
Daniel: full of activity, engaged in activity, occupied
Chihiro: busy [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Chihiro: busy [natural native speed]
And next we have:
Chihiro to meet [natural native speed]
Daniel: to come together
Chihiro to meet [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Chihiro to meet [natural native speed]
The next word is:
Chihiro: either [natural native speed]
Daniel: one and the other of two, one or the other of two
Chihiro: either [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Chihiro: either [natural native speed]
Next we have:
Chihiro sure [natural native speed]
Daniel: having no doubt about something
Chihiro sure [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Chihiro sure [natural native speed]
The next word is:
Chihiro: lunch [natural native speed]
Daniel: afternoon meal that comes after breakfast and before
dinner
Chihiro: lunch [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Chihiro: lunch [natural native speed]
And the last word is:
Chihiro week [natural native speed]
Daniel: unit of seven days
Chihiro week [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Chihiro week [natural native speed]
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Daniel: Letโ€™s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Chihiro: Letโ€™s look at the way Mike mentions who he is over the phone. Notice that instead of saying, I'm Mike or my name is Mike, he says โ€œthis is Mike.โ€
Daniel: Right. This is the phrase used when stating who you are over the phone. The two former phrases are used when meeting somebody face to face for the first time. In this case, Mike could have said โ€œit's Mikeโ€ as well.
Chihiro: The next phrase we'll look at is, โ€œto grab lunchโ€. This is a common and casual way to say eat lunch. When people grab lunch, it means to eat casually and quickly, as opposed to sitting in a fancy restaurant and taking time.
Daniel: Right, so if I say, Chihiro, let's grab lunch.
Chihiro: Then I know we're probably not going to wine and dine together. Ok, let's take a look at the grammar point for this lesson.

Lesson focus
Daniel: Let's review some basics and go over the simple present tense. The simple present tense is used to talk about things that are true all the time or true now and not expected to change soon. Also, it is used to talk about things that happen often. We often use the simple present tense with frequency words such as "always," "often," "never," and so on.
Chihiro: Right. Regular verbs in the simple present tense follow the following patterns. We'll use the verb, "to stop" as an example. In the first person singular...
Daniel: I stop
Chihiro: Second person singular,
Daniel: You stop
Chihiro: Third person singular
Daniel: He stops
Chihiro: First person plural
Daniel: We stop
Chihiro: And the third person plural
Daniel: They stop
Chihiro: Remember that the conjugation for the third person singular changes depending on the verb. For most verbs you just add an โ€œsโ€ to the infinitive or dictionary form as in the example. For verbs that end in โ€œsโ€, โ€œshโ€, โ€œxโ€, โ€œchโ€, add โ€œesโ€ to the infinitive form. For example,
Daniel: โ€œShe missesโ€, โ€œhe washesโ€, โ€œit mixesโ€, and โ€œhe teachesโ€ all have โ€œesโ€ added to them
Chihiro: With verbs that end in a vowel followed by a โ€œyโ€ simply follow the regular rule, but for the ones that end in consonant followed by a โ€œyโ€, change the โ€œyโ€ to โ€œiesโ€. For example...
Daniel: He buys is spelt b-u-y-s, but he copies is spelt c-o-p-i-e-s
Chihiro: And as always, there are exceptions.
Daniel: That's right. Remember that the verb โ€œgoโ€ becomes โ€œgoesโ€, โ€œdoโ€ becomes โ€œdoesโ€, and โ€œhaveโ€ becomes โ€œhasโ€
Chihiro: That's g-o-e-s, d-o-e-s, and h-a-s
Daniel: Here are some examples from the dialog...
Chihiro: I have some time this week
Daniel: Wednesday works for me
Chihiro: Can we meet at 12?
Daniel: These are all in the present tense. Remember to check the lesson notes in the PDF.

Outro
Daniel: That just about does it for today. But before we go, we want to tell you about a way to improve your pronunciation drastically.
Chihiro: The voice recording tool!
Daniel: Yes, the voice recording tool in the Premium Learning Center.
Chihiro: Record your voice with the click of a button and then play it back just as easily.
Daniel: So you record your voice and then listen to it...
Chihiro: Compare it to the native speakerโ€™s and adjust your pronunciation.
Daniel: This will help you improve your pronunciation fast. See you soon!
Chihiro: Bye for now.
REPETITION OF DIALOGUE
Joey: Hello.
Mike: Hey, Joey. This is Mike.
Joey: Hey, Mike. How's it going? Haven't seen you in a while.
Mike: Yeah, I've been busy with work. But I have some time this week. Do you want to grab lunch either Wednesday or Thursday?
Joey: Sure. Wednesday works for me.
Mike: Sounds good. Can we meet at twelve-thirty?
Joey: How about twelve-fifteen?
Mike: Sure.
Joey: Okay. See you then.
Mike: See ya.
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