INTRODUCTION |
Chihiro: Hi everyone, Chihiro here. |
Daniel: Daniel here. Opening a Conversation: Part 2 |
Chihiro: What’s on your mind today, Daniel? |
Daniel: Well, in this lesson, you will learn how to make small talk. |
Chihiro: This conversation takes place in an office. |
Daniel: The conversation is between Mike and his boss. |
Chihiro: The conversation is semi formal. |
Daniel: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
DIALOGUE |
Mike: Hello, Mr. Smith. |
Boss: Hey there, Mike. How are you? |
Mike: I'm fine. How are you? |
Boss: I'm good. Did you have a good weekend? |
Mike: Yes, I did. My wife and I went to the beach. |
Boss: Sounds great. How is Susan, by the way? |
Mike: She's doing well. |
Boss: Tell her I said hi. |
Mike: I will, thank you. |
POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
Chihiro: What these two are doing is having small talk. Small talk is a light conversation about unimportant things… which doesn't mean that the conversation is unimportant itself. |
Daniel: Right. People have small talk with one another for the sake of communication. The topics of small talks are usually the same most of the time. It can be anything from weekend activities to current news to traffic or weather. So how has your day been so far, Chihiro? |
Chihiro: Not bad at all Daniel, busy morning and a busier afternoon, so a typical day. Yourself? |
Daniel: Not bad, went to the gym, and got my Starbucks. |
VOCAB LIST |
Daniel: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
The first word we shall see is: |
Chihiro: beach [natural native speed] |
Daniel: area close to the ocean covered in sand or small rocks |
Chihiro: beach [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Chihiro: beach [natural native speed] |
Daniel: Next. |
Chihiro: wife [natural native speed] |
Daniel: the female partner of a married couple |
Chihiro: wife [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Chihiro: wife [natural native speed] |
Daniel: Next. |
Chihiro: weekend [natural native speed] |
Daniel: Saturday and Sunday |
Chihiro: weekend [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Chihiro: weekend [natural native speed] |
Daniel: Next. |
Chihiro: to tell [natural native speed] |
Daniel: to make known, to say |
Chihiro: to tell [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Chihiro: to tell [natural native speed] |
Daniel: Next. |
Chihiro: by the way [natural native speed] |
Daniel: phrase to change the topic |
Chihiro: by the way [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Chihiro: by the way [natural native speed] |
Daniel: Next. |
Chihiro: doing well [natural native speed] |
Daniel: phrase meaning to be fine |
Chihiro: doing well [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Chihiro: doing well [natural native speed] |
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
Daniel: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
Chihiro: The first phrase we’ll look at is - Did you have a good weekend? This is a common question that can be asked on Mondays. It's used to start a friendly conversation with someone and doesn't necessarily require a detailed answer, although the conversation may continue. It can be used among colleagues and friends. How was your weekend, Daniel? |
Daniel: Relaxing, thanks for asking. Now, the second phrase we'll look at is - by the way. This phrase is used when the speaker wants to change the topic of the conversation. It can be used at the end of a sentence as in the dialog, or it can be used at the beginning, as in, by the way Chihiro, when is our next day off again? |
Chihiro: I don't remember but hopefully soon. By the way, it's time to talk about the grammar point for this lesson. |
Lesson focus
|
Daniel: Let's review the simple past in this lesson by using some examples from the dialog and some general ones. First, let's take a look at this sentence by Mike, |
Chihiro: Yes, I did. |
Daniel: He uses the simple past because he is talking about his weekend that has finished. Likewise, in this next sentence, |
Chihiro: My wife and I went to the beach. |
Daniel: He continues using the simple past when he mentions his weekend activity, because it's an action that has been completed. |
Chihiro: Notice that both of these verbs are irregular in the past tense. Now, here are some more general examples of both regular and irregular past tense verbs. |
Daniel: I worked hard until midnight. Work is a regular verb, therefore it's spelt w-o-r-k-e-d. |
Chihiro: She replied to my email very quickly. Reply follows the rule where the consonant plus y ending changes to ied and therefore is spelt r-e-p-l-i-e-d. |
Daniel: He planned the perfect crime. The n in plan doubles and is spelt p-l-a-n-n-e-d. |
Chihiro: She ate the juicy apple. The ate is an irregular verb and is the past of eat |
Daniel: And last but not least, in the sentence, I drove the car home, drove is the past of drive and is also irregular. |
Chihiro: Ok, sounds good. Don't forget to look at the PDF for the lesson notes to this lesson. |
Outro
|
Chihiro: That just about does it for today. |
Daniel: Ok! See you later! |
Chihiro: Bye for now! |
REPETITION OF DIALOGUE |
Mike: Hello, Mr. Smith. |
Boss: Hey there, Mike. How are you? |
Mike: I'm fine. How are you? |
Boss: I'm good. Did you have a good weekend? |
Mike: Yes, I did. My wife and I went to the beach. |
Boss: Sounds great. How is Susan, by the way? |
Mike: She's doing well. |
Boss: Tell her I said hi. |
Mike: I will, thank you. |
100 Comments
HideHello Silvio,
That's such great news!
Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences with us.
Please feel free to ask us any questions you have here or direct to your teacher in the ‘MyTeacher’ feature.
Cheers,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Hi, everybody!
Thank's for this lesson.
I have made an effort to study English every day, until this be part of my day.
Cheers!
Hello Raul,
Thanks for your feedback. ❤️️
If you would like further assistance, I suggest upgrading to our ‘Premium Plus’ membership to get personal instructions from one of our English teachers through our ‘MyTeacher’ feature! www.englishclass101.com/myteacher
Until next time,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
lessons are good but i just wished that we could get some exercise sheets to practice the garmmar and the vocabulary learned in these lessons.
Hello Maureangelo,
Thank you for getting in touch with us. It's great to have you on board!
Here are some tips/corrections for you to consider:
- Remember to use capital letters at the beginning of your sentences
- Instead of saying "thank you for giving to me the opportunity..." say "thank you for giving me the opportunity..." (word order)
- The word "opportunity" was misspelt
- Remember to use capital letters for proper nouns e.g. 'English'
If you ever have any other questions throughout your studies, please feel free to ask us along the way.
Sincerely,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
hi everyone from ENGLISH CLASS 101, thank you for giving to me the oporttunity to be with you learning english that it´s an idiom that I love so much.
Thanks
Maureangelo( sorry my mistakes)
Hello Isabel,
Thank you for joining us and for the lovely feedback!
We wish you all the success in your studies and thank you again.
Regards,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Easy lesson. Thanks
Hello Suresh,
Thank you for posting!
In relation to you question - they are very similar, yes. 😄
Please let us know if you ever have any questions throughout your studies, we would be happy to assist.
Until next time,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Hi Have a query.
I see three responses as below for the same kind of query. Are all them conveying the same message?
How are you?
I'm fine.
How are you?
I'm good.
How is Susan,
She's doing well.