Learn the way to form basic questions that start with "who," "what," "when," "where," "why," and "how"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Daniel: Hello, everyone. Daniel here. |
| Chihiro: Chihiro here. Beginner series, season one, lesson twenty-one. “Who are the Professors?” |
| Daniel: Hello, everyone. I’m Daniel, and welcome EnglishClass101.com. |
| Chihiro: With us, you’ll learn to speak English with fun and effective lessons. |
| Daniel: We also provide you with cultural insights and tips you won’t find in a textbook. |
| Chihiro: In this lesson, you will learn how to ask questions |
| Daniel: The conversation takes place in the dorms at Innovative University, IU. |
| Chihiro: The conversation is between Mike and Yuki, two classmates at IU. |
| Daniel: The speakers are friends. |
| Chihiro: Listeners, when was the last time you commented? |
| Daniel: Good question. |
| Chihiro: Be sure to stop by EnglishClass101.com and leave us a comment. |
| Daniel: Or even just say hi. |
| Chihiro: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Yuki: Hey Mike, who are the professors for History 101? |
| Mike: I'm not sure…I haven't taken that class yet. Why do you need to know? |
| Yuki: Well, I heard that one of the professors is really boring, and the other one is interesting. |
| Mike: Hmm, you might want to ask Vicky about that—I think she's taking that class this semester. Hey, you've taken your sciences before. Which class did you take? |
| Yuki: I took Chemistry, but I don't recommend that class. There's only one professor and she's not very dynamic. |
| Mike: I see…well, I don't recommend gymnastics class for your physical education section. |
| Yuki: When did you take that class? |
| Mike: Two semesters ago. It was the only one I could get into. |
| The other interesting-looking classes were all full. |
| Yuki: What kinds of things did you do? |
| Mike: We were supposed to be doing front rolls, back rolls, and cartwheels…but in my case, it was just lots of falling down! |
| Yuki: Actually, that sounds like my kind of thing! Let me take that this semester, and take history some other time! Where is the class? |
| Mike: All the way in the Miller building, so give yourself enough time between classes. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Chihiro: Looks like professor picking time! |
| Daniel: Yes, many students choose their classes according to the professor teaching the class. A popular professor may have a good reputation among students and may be widely recommended, while others may be told to be avoided. |
| Chihiro: Right, these recommendations are very important for students, and some schools even have websites for rankings. |
| Daniel: The dynamic and interesting professors are usually very popular. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Chihiro: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Daniel: professor [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: teacher at a college or university |
| Daniel: professor [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: professor [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| interesting [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: attracting attention |
| interesting [slowly - broken down by syllable] interesting [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| Daniel: semester [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: division of academic year usually lasting from fifteen to eighteen weeks |
| Daniel: semester [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: semester [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| chemistry [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: science about the properties and changes of material things |
| chemistry [slowly - broken down by syllable] chemistry [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| Daniel: to recommend [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: to endorse, to speak well of, to suggest |
| Daniel: to recommend [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: to recommend [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| boring [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: uninteresting, dull |
| boring [slowly - broken down by syllable] boring [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| Daniel: science [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: knowledge or study of the natural world through experiments and observation |
| Daniel: science [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: science [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| dynamic [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: vigorously active, energetic |
| dynamic [slowly - broken down by syllable] dynamic [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| Daniel: gymnastics [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: sport that demonstrates strength, flexibility, and balance |
| Daniel: gymnastics [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Daniel: gymnastics [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| cartwheel [natural native speed] |
| Chihiro: sideways handspring with arms and legs extended cartwheel [slowly - broken down by syllable] cartwheel [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Chihiro: Let’s have 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, “Sounds like my kind of thing.” In the dialogue, Yuki says this to Mike when they are talking about gymnastics class. People use this phrase when they are expressing interest in something. In this case, Yuki is expressing to Mike her interest in gymnastics. Here's another example.. |
| Chihiro: Salsa classes sound like my kind of thing. |
| Daniel: In this case, the speaker is expressing her interest in dancing salsa. It can also be said in the negative, |
| Chihiro: Salsa classes are not my thing. |
| Daniel: Which means that salsa dancing is not something that Chihiro would like to do. |
| Chihiro: The next phrase we'll look at is, “Give yourself enough time.” Mike says this to Yuki when she talks about the class being a little far. This just means to make sure you schedule yourself right, so that you have enough time and you won't be late. Another example of this is... |
| Daniel: Give yourself enough time to get to the airport. |
| Chihiro: Which means that Daniel is advising me to leave early enough so that I don't miss my flight. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Daniel: Now let’s take a look at the grammar point for this lesson. |
| Chihiro: In Beginner Series, Season 1, Lesson 20 we learned about yes/no questions. Yes/no questions ask about an entire thought or statement. However, many times we want to ask about one specific missing piece of information. |
| Daniel: This is when we use Wh-questions. The reason these are called wh-questions is that most of these questions begin with question words that begin with the letters wh, although the word “how” is also used. |
| Chihiro: We place the question word at the beginning of the question. When the statement form of a sentence has an auxiliary verb, for example, “be”/”can”/”may”/”have”, place the auxiliary verb before the subject of the sentence and add a question mark at the end. |
| Daniel: Right, so it’s Question Word, then Auxiliary Verb, then Subject, then Main Verb then object, if needed, and then, question mark. |
| Chihiro: Here's an example, “When will you be ready?” If there is no auxiliary verb, add “do,” ”does,” or ”did” before the subject and use the infinitive or the base form of the word without the word “to”. |
| Daniel: So, it would look like this |
| Chihiro: Good example. Next, when we use “what” followed by a noun, we use the combination as a single question word. Here are some examples, “What time?” “What color?” “What size?” “What kind?” |
| Daniel: Right, and the sentence form of those short questions look like, What + Noun + Auxiliary Verb + Subject + Main Verb + Object, if necessary + Question Mark as in the sentence, “What time is it?” |
| Chihiro: Now, when “how” is followed by an adjective or an adverb, we use the combination as a single question word. Some examples are, “How old?” “How big?” “How far?” “How long?” “How fast?” “How often?” “How well?” |
| Daniel: The structure is in this case, How + Adjective or Adverb + Auxiliary Verb + Subject + Main Verb + Object, if necessary, and + Question Mark. For example, “How old are you?” |
| Chihiro: Now, if you want to ask for descriptions, “what” comes before “be” in the subject, followed by, “like”. So the form is What + Be + Subject + Like + Question Mark, as in, “What is your father like?” |
| Daniel: In questions with questions words, prepositions often come at the end of the sentence instead of with their object. For example, “What are they talking about?” and not, “About what are they talking?” |
| Chihiro: Here’s a tip, listeners. When the question word is the subject, we do not not “do,” “does,” or “did.” For example, “What happened?” and not “What did happen?” See questions, question words, subjects in the grammar link section. |
| Daniel: Pay attention to the difference between, “What is your father like?” and “What does your father like?” The first question asks for a description of your father. The second question asks about your father’s preferences. See also questions, yes/no, in the grammar link section. |
Outro |
| Chihiro: And also be sure you check the PDF for this lesson. That just about does it for today. Testing yourself is one of the most effective ways to learn. |
| Daniel: That’s why we have three types of quizzes. |
| Chihiro: vocabulary, grammar, and content-specific. |
| Daniel: Each quiz targets a specific skill. |
| Chihiro: And together, these quizzes will help you. And together, these quizzes will help you master several fundamental skills. |
| Daniel: You can find them at the learning center at EnglishClass101.com. |
| Chihiro: Bye, everyone. |
| Daniel: Later, guys. |
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