Learn how to use the prepositions "considering" and "despite"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: How Are Your American Company's Sales Figures Looking? Eric Here. |
| Becky: Hey I'm Becky. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn the prepositions “considering” and “despite”. The conversation takes place at work. |
| Becky: It's between Rachel and Sean. |
| Eric: The speakers are co-workers, and they will use both formal and informal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Rachel: I'm reviewing the sales figures for this month. |
| Sean: Are they better than last month? |
| Rachel: Despite losing some clients at the start of the month, the figures are up. |
| Sean: That's good, especially considering our rivals started a cheaper plan. |
| Rachel: I hope we can maintain the figures into next month. |
| Sean: Me too. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Rachel: I'm reviewing the sales figures for this month. |
| Sean: Are they better than last month? |
| Rachel: Despite losing some clients at the start of the month, the figures are up. |
| Sean: That's good, especially considering our rivals started a cheaper plan. |
| Rachel: I hope we can maintain the figures into next month. |
| Sean: Me too. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Sounds like good news at Rachel and Sean’s company. |
| Becky: Yes, their sales figures are up. That’s always what a business wants. |
| Eric: How is business in America? |
| Becky: The US has the world’s largest economy. |
| Eric: Wow! The US is also a market leader in many businesses. |
| Becky: Some of the most famous companies in the world, like Apple and Ford, are American. |
| Eric: Becky, do you know what the biggest company in the world is? |
| Becky: Is this a quiz? |
| Eric: No, I don’t know the answer! I was just wondering if you did! |
| Becky: It’s Walmart, actually. Walmart is an American company, but has locations in many countries around the world. |
| Eric: New York City is pretty important to the global economy too, isn’t it? |
| Becky: Yeah, it’s a big financial center and has the two largest stock exchanges in the world. |
| Eric: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Becky: to review [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to double check something for information or errors |
| Becky: to review[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: to review [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: sales [natural native speed] |
| Eric: the activity or business of selling products |
| Becky: sales[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: sales [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: figures [natural native speed] |
| Eric: numbers that relate to performance or sales of a company |
| Becky: figures[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: figures [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: better [natural native speed] |
| Eric: superior, preferable to something else |
| Becky: better[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: better [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: last [natural native speed] |
| Eric: final, with nothing after |
| Becky: last[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: last [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: to lose [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to lack something you once had |
| Becky: to lose[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: to lose [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: up [natural native speed] |
| Eric: move towards a higher place |
| Becky: up[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: up [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: especially [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to highlight one particular thing |
| Becky: especially[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: especially [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: rival [natural native speed] |
| Eric: a person or thing in competition |
| Becky: rival[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: rival [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last... |
| Becky: to maintain [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to keep the same |
| Becky: to maintain[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: to maintain [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Becky: to review |
| Eric: ...meaning "to double check something for information or errors." What can you tell us about this word? |
| Becky: This is a verb, and it follows regular conjugation patterns. |
| Eric: It can also be used as a noun. |
| Becky: Right. “An exam review,” for example. |
| Eric: This means students go over the material to make sure they haven’t forgotten anything and that they understand everything. |
| Becky: There is another use for “review” too. You can use it to give an opinion on a movie, album, product… something like that. |
| Eric: Oh right. When I buy something, I often check the reviews on the website. |
| Becky: I sometimes leave reviews too. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Becky: Sure. For example, you can say, “I'm glad I reviewed my work as it had so many mistakes.” |
| Eric: Which means "I’m glad that I checked my work as it had so many mistakes." Okay, what's the next word? |
| Becky: Better |
| Eric: meaning "superior, preferable to something else." Where does this word come from? |
| Becky: Better is the comparative form of the adjective “good.” |
| Eric: Yes, “good” conjugates in a special way. |
| Becky: It’s used to compare two objects and to say that one is of higher quality than the other. |
| Eric: What if you want to compare more than two objects? |
| Becky: We use the superlative form, “best.” |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using better? |
| Becky: Sure. For example, you can say, “I think this is the better option.” |
| Eric: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Becky: Especially |
| Eric: meaning "to highlight one particular thing." How do we use this word, Becky? |
| Becky: Imagine that a football team has played well all season. |
| Eric: I’m imagining that and wishing it was my team... |
| Becky: And they did really, really well in their last game. We could say “the team has played well all season, especially in the last game.” |
| Eric: We are highlighting how good they were in the last game. |
| Becky: Yes. You can also say “not especially” as an answer if you are asked if something is good and it’s only OK. For example, “Eric, did your team play well last season?” |
| Eric: “Not especially.” |
| Becky: That means the team did OK, but not great. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using especially? |
| Becky: Sure. For example, you can say, “I love all of her albums, but especially the first one.” |
| Eric: ...which means "I love all of her albums, but I think her best one is the first one." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn about the prepositions “considering” and “despite”. There are two prepositions for this lesson. |
| Becky: Let’s jump in and start with the first one. |
| Eric: Good idea! First is “considering.” |
| Becky: You use this to introduce a fact you’re thinking about when you’re giving an opinion. |
| Eric: Often these facts are something bad, right? |
| Becky: Yes. We use it to show how good the result was. |
| Eric: Let’s work through an example. A man has to do some work, but he gets told late and doesn’t have much time to do it. |
| Becky: If the work was good, we could say “His work is very good, considering he had little time.” |
| Eric: We’re highlighting that he didn’t have much time to do it, but the work was good anyway. |
| Becky: Another example is “There wasn’t much traffic considering it was a holiday.” |
| Eric: Or “She’s very active and alert, considering her age.” |
| Becky: You have to be careful when you’re using “considering” though. As the fact is often negative, it can make compliments sound less sincere. |
| Eric: Yes, sometimes it’s best just to say “She’s very active,” instead of bringing her age into it! |
| Becky: Right! Good example. |
| Eric: The next preposition is “despite.” |
| Becky: You use this to say that something is true, even though other things happened that should’ve prevented it. |
| Eric: The meaning is very similar to “even though.” |
| Becky: For example, “everyone passed the exam, despite the error on the test.” |
| Eric: So there was a mistake on the test, it could have caused people to fail, but they didn’t. |
| Becky: Or “He is always happy, despite his illness.” |
| Eric: He’s ill, but he’s still always happy. |
| Becky: Sometimes you can use either “considering” or “despite,” but there are slight differences in meaning. For example, “The traffic was light, considering it was a holiday.” |
| Eric: As it’s a holiday, there are more cars but the traffic was still light. |
| Becky: “The traffic was light, despite it being a holiday.” |
| Eric: Even though the traffic should be worse because it’s a holiday, the traffic was light. |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! |
| Becky: Bye |
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