Learn how to socialize in a casual situation
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Having a Good Time at a British Party. David Here. |
| Kellie: Hello. I'm Kellie. |
| David: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to socialise in a casual setting and follow conversations. The conversation takes place at Daniel’s flat. |
| Kellie: The speakers are neighbours. |
| David: So they will use informal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Daniel: How long have you lived here, Katrina? |
| Katrina: About a month. |
| Daniel: A month? Wow, so you're new to the area too! |
| Katrina: Yeah, I start at the university next month. |
| Daniel: What are you studying? |
| Katrina: I'm studying history. |
| Daniel: Oh, I'm studying history too! |
| Katrina: Really? Cool! |
| David: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Daniel: How long have you lived here, Katrina? |
| Katrina: About a month. |
| Daniel: A month? Wow, so you're new to the area too! |
| Katrina: Yeah, I start at the university next month. |
| Daniel: What are you studying? |
| Katrina: I'm studying history. |
| Daniel: Oh, I'm studying history too! |
| Katrina: Really? Cool! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: In this lesson, it was party time! |
| Kellie: Yeah, it was! This party was a housewarming party, but there doesn’t need to be an actual reason for a party. Sometimes, people just party because they want to party! |
| David: Sounds like a good enough reason to me! I like house parties, like this one. It’s easier than hiring somewhere. |
| Kellie: And it’s obviously cheaper! You can have a lot of variety in house parties too. |
| David: Oh yeah, they’re not all loud music and large groups of people. |
| Kellie: No, sometimes house parties are just a few friends getting together for home cooking. |
| David: Sounds good! |
| Kellie: With parties, especially house parties, it’s important to know if it is a BYOB party. |
| David: BYOB? |
| Kellie: Bring your own bottle. It means that you should bring your own alcohol or even food to the party. The host will usually tell you this, or write it on the invitation so make sure you check. |
| David: I guess it’d be pretty embarrassing to come empty-handed |
| Kellie: It would be! Parties are great places to meet new people and network, so you don’t want your first impression to be as the person who didn’t bring anything! |
| David: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| David: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kellie: month [natural native speed] |
| David: any one of the twelve parts into which the year is divided |
| Kellie: month[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: month [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: wow [natural native speed] |
| David: exclamation of surprise |
| Kellie: wow[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: wow [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: area [natural native speed] |
| David: section |
| Kellie: area[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: area [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: next [natural native speed] |
| David: immediately following, adjacent, future |
| Kellie: next[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: next [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: to study [natural native speed] |
| David: to spend time and attention to learn something |
| Kellie: to study[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: to study [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: history [natural native speed] |
| David: the record of everything that has happened to a group of people |
| Kellie: history[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: history [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: really [natural native speed] |
| David: truly, very |
| Kellie: really[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: really [natural native speed] |
| David: And last.. |
| Kellie: cool [natural native speed] |
| David: used to show admiration and approval |
| Kellie: cool[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: cool [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| David: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kellie: next month |
| David: meaning "the following period of around 30 days" |
| Kellie: The year is split into 12 periods of between 28 to 31 days. |
| David: January, February, March… those 12. |
| Kellie: Yes. Next means adjacent, so “next month” means the following of those 12 periods. So if it is the 1st of January, the next month begins on the 1st of February. |
| David: And if it is the 31st of January? |
| Kellie: The next month still starts on the 1st of February! We can also use this pattern for other time periods, such as “next year” or “next week”. |
| David: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Kellie: Sure. For example, you can say.. I plan on going on holiday next month. |
| David: ..which means "I plan on going on holiday in the next of the 12 periods". Okay, what's the next word? |
| Kellie: cool |
| David: meaning "impressive" or “good” |
| David: “Cool” has so many uses in English. Of course, it is used for temperatures that are between warm and cold. |
| Kellie: Yep, but it is also an interjection that you can use to show that you are impressed by something, or like what you have heard. |
| David: We use it in conversations a lot, right? |
| Kellie: Yeah, it’s an informal term and casual term. It’s often used as a reply to something that somebody says to you. |
| David: Yeah, I like to use it all the time. |
| Kellie: You do? Cool! |
| David: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Kellie: Sure. For example, you can say.. “You have a black belt in karate? Cool!” |
| David: .. which means "You have a black belt in karate? That’s great!" Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: In this lesson, you'll learn about socialising in a casual setting and following conversations. |
| David: In the dialogue, it sounded like Katrina was having fun at the party. |
| Kellie: Yeah, she was doing well at having a natural sounding conversation. We spoke about these briefly in the key vocab section, but interjections are really useful in conversations. |
| David: Interjections like “cool”? |
| Kellie: Yes. They help us show our feelings and thoughts in a quick way. Some interjections, like “ah” or “um” aren’t really words. We can divide the interjections into two categories - mild interjections and strong interjections. |
| David: What are mild interjections? |
| Kellie: These are interjections that are part of the sentence, although they’re usually separated by a comma in written English. In spoken English, they just sound like part of the sentence. |
| David: Oh, like this? |
| Kellie: Yes. The “Oh” at the start of that sentence would be a mild interjection. It just sounded like part of the sentence, right? |
| David: As did your “right” at the end there. |
| Kellie: I think most native speakers don’t even really recognise that they are saying these type of interjections as they just flow so naturally. The other type of interjection are strong interjections and they are more forceful. They can be standalone sentences and have an exclamation mark in written English. |
| David: Wow! They are different! |
| Kellie: “Wow” is a great example of one. As is “ssh”, to make people quiet and “yuck” when you think something is disgusting. |
| David: Something else we can use in conversations is the present continuous tense. |
| Kellie: Yeah, this is a great tense for giving information about ourselves. In the dialogue, Daniel said “I am studying history.” |
| David: But he wasn’t… he was at the party. |
| Kellie: He didn’t mean that he was studying history right at that exact moment, but he meant it in a more general sense. His current job, as such, is as a student studying history. So even though he wasn’t physically studying history at that second, he was still a student. |
| David: So you can use this tense to talk about ongoing events in your life, even it they aren’t happening right at that moment. |
| Kellie: Yep. I’m sat here recording this podcast with you, David, but I’m also training for a marathon. |
| David: Are you? Wow! I am training for a marathon, too. |
| Kellie: Ah, the word “too” was in the dialogue also. When it’s at the end of a sentence, it means “also”. |
| David: Like we spoke about just - you are training for a marathon and I am also training for a marathon. |
| Kellie: Yeah, it’s good to talk about shared experiences so if anyone ever says anything that is the same for you, then make sure to say so using “too”. |
| David: You can just add it to the end of the sentence. |
| Kellie: Yes, it’s that easy. Let’s give one more example. I like chocolate. |
| David: I like chocolate too! |
Outro |
| David: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Kellie: Bye. |
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