Learn how to form this English structure, including how to form an original noun + noun combination
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Daniel: Hey everybody, Daniel here. |
| Chihiro: Chihiro here. Introducing a Friend. |
| Chihiro: So we have just one more left for you. |
| Daniel: What are we looking at in this lesson? |
| Chihiro: We will see how to introduce a friend and see what things shouldn't be talked about. |
| Daniel: This conversation takes place at a restaurant. |
| Chihiro: The conversation is between Susan, Mike, and Joey. |
| Daniel: And they will all be speaking casually. |
| Chihiro: Okay, let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Joey: Mike? |
| Mike: Hey Joey... |
| Joey: Mike! What are you doing here? |
| Mike: My wife and I thought we'd get a bite to eat. Joey, this is my wife Susan. |
| Susan: Nice to finally meet you, Joey. Mike's told me a lot about you. How’s the practice? |
| Joey: Huh? |
| Mike: Nothing. |
| Joey: Oh, nice to meet you too, Susan. Mike's told me a lot about you too. |
| Susan: Really? Good things I hope! |
| Joey: Ohh, of course! Look at how happy he is now! He was miserable when he was with Michelle... |
| Susan: Who's Michelle? |
| Mike: Nobody. Nobody important. Hey don't the desserts look great? |
| Joe: So Mike told me he picked you up with his good-old hot-coffee-on-the-boyfriend trick. |
| Susan: What? |
| Mike: Um. Do you want to order dessert, honey? |
| Joey: Been using that trick for years. He first used it back in elementary school with Mary Myers. Of course, it wasn't hot coffee, but rather...what was it? Ah! Chocolate milk! That's right. |
| Susan: You spilled coffee on my then-boyfriend and acted like a gentleman! Now I find out you planned it! Is that how you pick up girls? |
| Joey: Now, now, Susan. You can't blame the guy. Look at him. Ugly as sin. Would you have talked to him otherwise? |
| Susan: What? |
| Mike: No, Susan. I didn't do it on purpose, I swear! |
| Joey: There's nothing to be ashamed of, Mike. You ought to be proud of yourself. |
| Susan: You snake! I never want to see you again! |
| Mike: Susan, come back! |
| Joey: Can I order some chicken wings? I'm starving, man. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Chihiro: Oooooo, dramatic ending!! Looks like Mike's little scheme has been unveiled! |
| Daniel: Yeah, Joey is just so....so.... honest... you can't really hate him!! |
| Chihiro: No, he's one of those friends that just don't get it. |
| Daniel: But it's definitely a good example of small talk gone wrong altogether! Small talk between two people should be kept polite, light, and about common topics, right Chihiro? |
| Chihiro: Right, nothing heavy. For example, weather, food, jobs, and other things that aren't too personal are okay to talk about. Topics that should be avoided are politics, religion, age, and such things that might make a person feel uncomfortable. |
| Daniel: Of course these are not solid rules and they can be bent depending on the conversation and the speakers, but generally, if you want to play it safe, follow one of these safe topics. |
| Chihiro: Yeah, you only have one shot at a first impression. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Chihiro: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word is: |
| Daniel: (Person A), this is (Person B) [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: used to introduce one person to another as in 'person A, this is person B' |
| Daniel: (Person A), this is (Person B) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: (Person A), this is (Person B) [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: Next... |
| Daniel: to blame [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: to think or say that something is responsible for a bad happening |
| Daniel: to blame [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: to blame [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: Next... |
| Daniel: miserable [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: unhappy, very discontent |
| Daniel: miserable [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: miserable [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: Next... |
| Daniel: trick [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: action taken to deceive somebody |
| Daniel: trick [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: trick [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: Next... |
| Daniel: to spill [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: to cause something to fall over the edge of a container |
| Daniel: to spill [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: to spill [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: Next... |
| Daniel: gentleman [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: man who treats people in a polite way |
| Daniel: gentleman [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: gentleman [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: Next... |
| Daniel: ashamed [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: feeling guilt and bad about something |
| Daniel: ashamed [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: ashamed [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: Next... |
| Daniel: snake [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: person who tells lies and deceives other people |
| Daniel: snake [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: snake [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: Next... |
| Daniel: dessert [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: sweet food eaten after a meal |
| Daniel: dessert [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: dessert [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: Next... |
| Daniel: starving [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: very hungry |
| Daniel: starving [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: starving [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Chihiro: Let’s take a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Daniel: The first phrase we’ll look at is, “Has told me a lot about you.” |
| Chihiro: This is a phrase used to tell a person you've just met that the other person has mentioned them to you, and they know a little bit about you already. It's a friendly way to lessen the distance between you and the person you meet. |
| Daniel: Right, but don't say it unless your friend really has said something about the other person...otherwise they just might ask questions! |
| Chihiro: Good point, you don't want to lie. If anybody does say this to you though, a modest response to such a phrase could be, “Good things I hope,” as Susan does in the dialogue. |
| Daniel: Or maybe, “Don't believe everything you hear.” |
| Chihiro: Of course, that one's a joke. |
| Daniel: Maybe. Okay, the second phrase we'll look at is, “You can't blame the guy.” This is used to say that it's not their fault or that you can understand the person's decision. Joey uses this to say that Mike shouldn't be at fault for playing the trick on Susan, and that he did it because he's not very attractive...or as Joey put it, “Ugly as sin.” |
| Chihiro: Haha, yeah, nice friend! Here's another example using this phrase, “You can't blame her for being so late, you’re the one that held her back!” This sentence is saying that it wasn't her fault that she was late and that the person who held her back is the one to blame. |
| Daniel: And, let's look at one more today. Let's look at a verb phrase, “pick up.” This means to meet somebody with the intention of having a brief romantic relationship with that person. |
| Chihiro: Joey talks about Mike having a hard time picking up girls, that's why he would use his coffee-spilling trick in order to do so. |
| Daniel: Right, the honest friend Joey. |
| Chihiro: Very honest. Listeners, you might hear this word from native speakers around you once in a while. |
| Daniel: Right, we could continue to talk about pick up encounters, but let's pick up the pace instead and move on to the grammar point. |
| Chihiro: Good call. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Chihiro: Okay, in this lesson, we will look at nouns that are used as adjectives. Nouns can be placed in front of |
| other nouns to talk about a kind of person or thing. The noun acts like an adjective in this case. |
| Daniel: Now, usually the first noun is singular. Noun + noun structures can be used to talk about what things are made of... for example, |
| Chihiro: “Plastic forks.” |
| Daniel: They are also very common in structures where the second noun is made from a verb + “-er.” For example, |
| Chihiro: “The driver” in “taxi driver.” |
| Daniel: The articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are only used for the second noun in the structure. |
| Chihiro: Here are some examples from the dialogue and some general examples, |
| Daniel: “Chocolate milk.” |
| Chihiro: “Chicken wings.” |
| Daniel: “Glass bottle.” |
| Chihiro: “House wife.” |
| Daniel: Those are all examples of common noun + noun adjectives in English. |
| Chihiro: Right, but here comes the catch. Among English speakers, it is also common to create original noun + noun combinations as people speak. This may seem strange to some non-native speakers, but it’s good to be aware of this as it is common in informal speaking. |
| Daniel: Here are examples from the dialogue, |
| Chihiro: “Then-boyfriend.” |
| Daniel: “Good-ole hot coffee on the boyfriend trick.” |
| Chihiro: The word “then” in the first example modifies “boyfriend,” and the “good-ole hot coffee on the boyfriend” modifies the word “trick” in the second example. |
| Daniel: Actually, the second example is not only a noun, but a whole phrase. |
| Chihiro: Right. |
Outro |
| Chihiro: Okay, that just about does it for this lesson. |
| Daniel: Okay, everybody, thanks again and we’ll see you soon. |
| Chihiro: Yes, thanks again for tuning in and take care. |
| REPETITION OF DIALOGUE |
| Joey: Mike? |
| Mike: Hey Joey... |
| Joey: Mike! What are you doing here? |
| Mike: My wife and I thought we'd get a bite to eat. Joey, this is my wife Susan. |
| Susan: Nice to finally meet you, Joey. Mike's told me a lot about you. How’s the practice? |
| Joey: Huh? |
| Mike: Nothing. |
| Joey: Oh, nice to meet you too, Susan. Mike's told me a lot about you too. |
| Susan: Really? Good things I hope! |
| Joey: Ohh, of course! Look at how happy he is now! He was miserable when he was with Michelle... |
| Susan: Who's Michelle? |
| Mike: Nobody. Nobody important. Hey don't the desserts look great? |
| Joe: So Mike told me he picked you up with his good-old hot-coffee-on-the-boyfriend trick. |
| Susan: What? |
| Mike: Um. Do you want to order dessert, honey? |
| Joey: Been using that trick for years. He first used it back in elementary school with Mary Myers. Of course, it wasn't hot coffee, but rather...what was it? Ah! Chocolate milk! That's right. |
| Susan: You spilled coffee on my then-boyfriend and acted like a gentleman! Now I find out you planned it! Is that how |
| you pick up girls? |
| Joey: Now, now, Susan. You can't blame the guy. Look at him. Ugly as sin. Would you have talked to him otherwise? |
| Susan: What? |
| Mike: No, Susan. I didn't do it on purpose, I swear! |
| Joey: There's nothing to be ashamed of, Mike. You ought to be proud of yourself. |
| Susan: You snake! I never want to see you again! |
| Mike: Susan, come back! |
| Joey: Can I order some chicken wings? I'm starving, man. |
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