Learn how to use reported speech
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Intro |
|---|
| Barbara: Good evening! |
| Braden: Braden here. This American Salesman Should be Reported! In this lesson, you’ll learn about Reported speech expansion and Transportation companies. |
| Barbara: This conversation takes place in the evening, at the transportation company’s office. |
| Braden: And it’s between Sarah and the transportation salesman. |
| Barbara: Sarah and the transportation salesman have been a negotiation for a while, and Sarah is getting tired. |
| Braden: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
| Sarah: I apologize sir, but I see it differently. |
| Transportation salesman: Well Ms., up to a point, I agree with you but as I was saying if I rent out six vans to you for that price I'm going to be paying you to take my vans. |
| Sarah: I'm sure it may seem that way at first glance. However, we will not be using any of your drivers and the university already pays for the insurance. The gasoline is also part of our budget, and we'll pay for that. |
| Transportation salesman: Hmm. That is a bit different. And you said it's next month? |
| Sarah: Yes. The first week of March. That's about three weeks away now. |
| Transportation salesman: So, you do mean that you're only going to be renting the vehicles themselves. You don't need any kind of assistance to transport your delegates? |
| Sarah: Yes, that's true. And, just so we're clear, we're going to need them starting at 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning until Saturday morning at 10. |
| Transportation salesman: I'm going to have to charge for all of Saturday. |
| Sarah: The last company I spoke with said they charge in 6-hour intervals. So as long as we had them returned by noon, we wouldn't have to pay the entire Saturday. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Braden: So, we wanted to talk a little bit about Transportation companies |
| Barbara: Transportation is defined as the movement of objects from one location to another. A transportation company is an organization that specializes in transportation. |
| Braden: In the dialog, the transportation company with whom Sarah is negotiating seems to be misunderstanding the services that Sarah is requesting. |
| Barbara: In the United States, most transportation companies are “full-service” which means that within their field of transportation, they provide all the services necessary for the execution of the contract. |
| Braden: In this case, the transportation company provides not only the vehicle but also the driver, the gasoline, and the insurance. |
| Barbara: Sarah, because she is on a limited budget, she's negotiating for the lowest price possible. However, there is some confusion as to what services Sarah is negotiating, and there is disagreement. |
| Braden: One Sarah clarifies that all they really need are the vehicles and that all the other necessary parts of transportation are being taken care of by the University, the transportation manager realizes that the prices being offered are in fact reasonable. |
| Vocabulary and Phrases |
| Braden: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Barbara: apologize [natural native speed] |
| Braden: express regret for something that one has done wrong |
| Barbara: apologies [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: apologize [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Barbara: transportation [natural native speed] |
| Braden: process of being transported |
| Barbara: transportation [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: transportation [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Barbara: differently [natural native speed] |
| Braden: not the same as another or each other |
| Barbara: differently [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: differently [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Barbara: point [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a critical or decisive position |
| Barbara: point [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: point [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Barbara: van [natural native speed] |
| Braden: vehicle use to transport multiple passengers |
| Barbara: van [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: van [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Barbara: clear [natural native speed] |
| Braden: easy to perceive, understand or interpret |
| Barbara: clear [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: clear [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Barbara: glance [natural native speed] |
| Braden: take a brief or hurried look |
| Barbara: glance [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: glance [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Barbara: insurance [natural native speed] |
| Braden: agreement where a person makes payments to a company, in the promise that the company will pay money in the case of injury or thing agreed upon |
| Barbara: insurance [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: insurance [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Barbara: vehicles [natural native speed] |
| Braden: things used for transporting people or goods, esp. a car, truck, or cart |
| Barbara: vehicles [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: vehicles [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Braden: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Barbara: In the dialogue, we heard phrases that demonstrated Disagreeing |
| Braden: Specifically, Sarah said, “I apologize sir, but I see it differently.” |
| Barbara: This is a very direct phrase, and we can guess from the politeness that Sarah has shown in previous dialogs that she is a bit irritated with this man. |
| Braden: Soon after that, the man says, “Well Ms., up to a point, I agree with you but...” He probably noticed her irritation and agreed with her in order to soften things a bit. The “up to a point” refers to a certain point or position in her explanation. |
| Barbara: Another phrase that’s used to show disagreement is, “(I'm afraid) I can't agree.” This is a polite phrase. However, it is direct. Notice how a negated positive is used (I can’t agree.) instead of a direct negative. (I disagree.) This is a softer way of expressing disagreement, or failure to agree. |
| Braden: Could you break this down for us? |
| Barbara: I apologize sir, but I see it differently. (slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Barbara: I apologize sir, but I see it differently. (fast) |
| Braden: Next, we’ll look at phrases that demonstrate Asking for Verification. The transportation salesman said, “And you said it’s next month?” |
| Barbara: Usually when you ask for verification you state the information you want to be verified and then ask them if what you said is correct. |
| Braden: It’s a common technique to rephrase or reform the information when you ask for verification. This helps you and the listener be certain that you understood correctly. |
| Barbara: Another way to ask for verification is with the phrase, “Do you mean that...?” Here the request for verification comes before the information to be verified. |
| Braden: Could you break this down? |
| Barbara: Do you mean that...? (slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Barbara: Do you mean that...? (fast) |
| Braden: Perfect! Let’s take a look at the grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
| Barbara: The focus of this lesson is Reported speech expansion |
| Braden: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase |
| Barbara: And you said it’s next month? |
| Braden: As a quick review, reported speech requires a past tense called the past simple, the past perfect, the perfect past, or the simple past. |
| Barbara: When using reported speech, most students originally learn to use "said" and, "told." |
| Braden: For example, “John told me he was going to stay late at work.” or “Peter said he wanted to visit his parents that weekend.” |
| Barbara: These forms are perfectly correct for reporting what others have said. |
| Braden: However, there are a number of other reporting verbs which can more accurately describe the situation. |
| Barbara: These verbs take a variety of structures. In this lesson, we’ll go through several of these reporting verbs in various categories based on sentence structure. |
| Braden: Be aware that a number of verbs can take more than one form. |
| Barbara: We have built the table and placed it in the PDF with 28 verbs that can be used in recorded speech. |
| Braden: However, in the interest of time we'll only look at 9 of the most common verbs. |
| Barbara: First, “To invite.” Sample sentence “They invited all their friends to attend the presentation.” |
| Braden: Second, “to offer.” Sample sentence, “She offered to give him a lift to work.” |
| Barbara: Third, “to agree.” Sample Sentence, “She agreed (that) we needed to reconsider our plans.” |
| Braden: Fourth, “to deny.” Sample Sentence, “He denied having anything to do with her.” |
| Barbara: Fifth, “to blame.” Sample sentence “She blamed her husband for missing the train.” |
| Braden: Sixth, to apologize for” Sample Sentence “He apologized for being late.” |
| Barbara: Seventh, To encourage” Sample sentence “Dustin encouraged me to find a new job.” |
| Braden: Eighth, To deny.” Sample sentence “Alex denied that he had tried to leave early.” |
| Barbara: Ninth, to suggest.” Sample sentence “Ian suggested studying early in the morning. |
Outro |
| Braden: That just about does it for today. |
| Braden: Thanks for listening! |
| Barbara: See you later! |
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