Learn to talk about your likes and dislikes
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sadia: Hi, everybody. This is Sadia. Thanks for listening in. |
| Keith: Hey and I’m Keith. “Standing Out from the Crowd with English Tricks and Tips” |
| Sadia: In our last lesson, Lesson 14, you learned how to talk about daily activity. |
| Keith: You also learned about sentence order, adverbs of time, and... what else? |
| Sadia: MORE PREPOSITIONS! |
| Keith: In this lesson you’re going to learn how to talk about likes and dislikes, and also how to ask for advice. |
| Sadia: The conversation takes place in a restaurant at about 7pm on a Friday night. |
| Keith: And thing conversation is between Mrs. Clarke, Zo, and Zo's colleague, Tom. Alright, well let’s listen in to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Ms. Clarke: Great job, everyone. This is Zo Viljoen, from South Africa. |
| Ms. Clarke: Zo, please introduce yourself. |
| Zo: Hello, everyone! My name is Zo. I’m from Cape Town, South Africa. I'm a manager at the Alta office in South Africa. And I really like New York. |
| Group: (multiple voices): Nice to meet you. |
| Ms. Clarke: Thank you, Zo. |
| Colleague #1: Zo! Hi! My name is Tom. Nice to meet you! |
| Zo: Same here! |
| Colleague #1: Do you like steak? |
| Zo: No, I don't like it. [Pauses] I love it! |
| Group (multiple voices): [Laughter] |
| Colleague #1: Zo, you're funny. What about Long Island clams? Do you like Long Island clams? |
| Zo: Hmm ... what is it? |
| Colleague #1: Ahh ... Long Island clams are delicious! You'll love it! It's very... Long Island! |
| Zo: [laughs] Okay! What else do you recommend? |
| Colleague #1: Okay, leave it to me! Oh, and to drink? |
| Zo: I'll leave it to you. |
| Colleague #1: Great! Waitress! I like you, Zo! |
| Keith: One more time, slowly. |
| Ms. Clarke: Great job, everyone. This is Zo Viljoen, from South Africa. |
| Ms. Clarke: Zo, please introduce yourself. |
| Zo: Hello, everyone! My name is Zo. I’m from Cape Town, South Africa. I'm a manager at the Alta office in South Africa. And I really like New York. |
| Group: (multiple voices): Nice to meet you. |
| Ms. Clarke: Thank you, Zo. |
| Colleague #1: Zo! Hi! My name is Tom. Nice to meet you! |
| Zo: Same here! |
| Colleague #1: Do you like steak? |
| Zo: No, I don't like it. [Pauses] I love it! |
| Group (multiple voices): [Laughter] |
| Colleague #1: Zo, you're funny. What about Long Island clams? Do you like Long Island clams? |
| Zo: Hmm ... what is it? |
| Colleague #1: Ahh ... Long Island clams are delicious! You'll love it! It's very... Long Island! |
| Zo: [laughs] Okay! What else do you recommend? |
| Colleague #1: Okay, leave it to me! Oh, and to drink? |
| Zo: I'll leave it to you. |
| Colleague #1: Great! Waitress! I like you, Zo! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sadia: Zo and his US colleagues have gotten together for dinner. |
| Keith: Going out to dinner after work is a business practice that’s common after the completion of a big project. After you finish a big project, everyone goes out to dinner. And the closing of an important deal, and also the arrival of a visitor. That’s all reason to go out and have dinner. |
| Sadia: So Zo has arrived all the way from South Africa and his American business associates are eager to share the experience of eating in an American restaurant. |
| Keith: Oh, for sure. And also one of Zo's coworkers encourages Zo to try the Long Island clams-- and these are clams caught off of Long Island, and Long Island is part of New York State. |
| Sadia: So Zo is being exposed to all these different kinds of American foods. You probably noticed that the mood in this dialogue is a little bit more joyful. It’s kind of upbeat and more happy than the moods of the earlier dialogues, I think. |
| Keith: Yeah, I think so too. And the dinner time is a good time for the group to relax and get to know one another. And it’s a time for the people to leave the "work talk" behind and have a good time with their visitor. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Keith: Alright, well let's have a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Sadia: to love [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to have get fondness for someone or something |
| Sadia: to love [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: to love [natural native speed] |
| Keith: Next. |
| funny [natural native speed] |
| Keith: humorous, causing laughter |
| funny [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| funny [natural native speed] |
| Keith: Next. |
| Sadia: what [natural native speed] |
| Keith: used as an interrogative about the identity, nature, or |
| value of something |
| Sadia: what [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: what [natural native speed] |
| Keith: Next. |
| it [natural native speed] |
| Keith: that one |
| it [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| it [natural native speed] |
| Keith: Next. |
| Sadia: you [natural native speed] |
| Keith: the one(s) being spoken to |
| Sadia: you [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: you [natural native speed] |
| Keith: Next. |
| very [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to a high degree, truly |
| very [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| very [natural native speed] |
| Keith: Next. |
| Sadia: else [natural native speed] |
| Keith: in a different way or place; additionally |
| Sadia: else [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: else [natural native speed] |
| Keith: Next. |
| to recommend [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to endorse, to speak well of, to suggest |
| to recommend [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| to recommend [natural native speed] |
| Keith: Next. |
| Sadia: waitress [natural native speed] |
| Keith: female restaurant worker who takes customers' orders |
| and serves the food and drink |
| Sadia: waitress [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: waitress [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Keith: OK, let’s have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Sadia: The first phrase we’ll look at is, “Great job….” |
| Keith: "Great job" this is an encouraging phrase you say when you feel someone has done something well. |
| Sadia: The next phrase is, “Please sit.” |
| Keith: “Please sit.” This polite phrase is used to offer a seat to someone. Next up is, “You're funny.” |
| Sadia: Tom, Zo's colleague, says to Zo, "You're funny." What he means is that he thinks Zo is a |
| humorous, fun-loving guy and that he enjoys Zo's company. |
| Keith: Yeah. they're fast friends, and what that means is that they became friends very quickly. What's next? |
| Sadia: Next is, uh, “What about...?” |
| Keith: . "What about and then a [noun]?" means, "Do you like that [noun] also?" What’s the next phrase? |
| Sadia: The next phrase is, “It's very … and then a place name!” The phrase, “It’s very...” is used to indicate that something is typical of a place. For example, apple pie is very American. Or basketball is very American. What else is very American? |
| Keith: Hot dogs are very American. |
| Sadia: Sure. |
| Keith: What's next? |
| Sadia: Next is the phrase, "Leave it to me." |
| Keith: Oh, that is a nice one. What’s it mean? |
| Sadia: "Leave it to me" means, "I'll take care of it." |
| Keith: Next is, "I'll leave it to you," and that means, "I'll let you take care of it." |
| Sadia: After the food is ordered, the waitress asks, "And to drink?" |
| Keith: Oh, that's right! |
| Sadia: So "And to drink?" is short for, "And what would you like to drink?' The waitress uses this phrase after the food is ordered. She wants to know what drinks the group will be having, so she says, "And to drink?" |
| Keith: OK, and the last word is, "Waitress!" |
| Sadia: "Waitress!" Wow, that's a little... rude, I mean, it’s OK, but it's a little... abrupt. |
| Keith: It’s a really informal way of getting a waiter, or in this case, a waitress’ attention. You just say, “Waitress!” or “Waiter!” |
| Sadia: So maybe to make it polite, you might want to add "excuse me" to the front of the phrase-- so, "Excuse me-- waitress!" |
| Keith: That’s right, so maybe in other cultures you can say just “Waitress,” “Waiter,” but in English it’s a little impolite, so maybe you want to say, “Excuse me!” |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sadia: The focus points of this lesson are the verb, "to like" |
| Keith: And the phrase, "to leave to." |
| Sadia: Let's start with, "to like." |
| Keith: So the verb, "to like" appears all throughout this dialogue. The first time we hear it is when Zo's colleague asks Zo, "Do you like steak?" |
| Sadia: Do you like steak? This is an INTERROGATIVE STATEMENT-- a question-- that uses "like" in the SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE. |
| Keith: "Like" appears again in the response to the question, "Do you like steak?" Zo answers, "No, I don't like it." |
| Sadia: “No, I don’t like it” is a NEGATIVE STATEMENT-- Zo does not like steak. This statement also uses the simple present tense of "like." |
| Keith: But there is a twist, Sadia. Zo says he doesn't like steak-- he "loves it!" And the verb, "to love," means to like very much-- to like something to a high degree or, to really like something. |
| Sadia: "I love it!" Zo says. He’s using the simple present tense of "to love." |
| Keith: The SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE of the verb, "to like" or “to love,” they both mean the same thing almost. |
| Sadia: Sure. |
| Keith: To use it, you can say, “I like basketball.” Or “I love basketball. As you can see, it's easy to express your appreciation for something-- to show that you, LIKE something. |
| Sadia: Indeed! Let's move on to the phrase, "to leave to." As the group of coworkers is placing their food order, Zo asks his colleague, Tom, what he recommends. In response, Tom says, "Leave it to me!" What does this mean, Keith? |
| Keith: The phrase, "Leave it to me!" means, "I'll take care of it!" And when you use this phrase, you’re saying that the person you're speaking to should "leave" the matter in your hands. They shouldn’t worry about it. |
| Sadia: You're telling the person that he or she should allow you to take care of everything. Another phrase similar in meaning to uh, "Leave it to me" is, "Don't worry about it. "Leave it to me" means, "I''ll take care of it." "I'll do all the hard work!" For example, when I go out to dinner with my boyfriend or some other nice person, I can never decide what I want. |
| Keith: I agree. I know this. You always spend two hours thinking about what you should eat for lunch. |
| Sadia: I don't know-- I just get lost in the possibilities, I guess. So, my boyfriend or whomever I’m with usually says, "Leave it to me." Which means, let me worry about it, and it's a relief! |
| Keith: What about the phrase, "I'll leave it to YOU." |
| Sadia: Great question. When he's asked about what he |
| would like to drink, Zo says to, Tom, "I'll |
| leave it to you!" And what Zo means, is "I'll let you decide." |
| Keith: Yeah-- and it can also mean, "I'll let you worry about it." [laughs] |
| Sadia: Exactly! |
| Keith: You can worry. I don’t want to worry. |
| Sadia: You’re passing the burden, passing the, ah, problem, on to someone else! So ah, say, |
| "I'll leave it to you" when you want someone to make a decision for you. |
| Keith: Let's play a game, Sadia. |
| Sadia: Alright. |
| Keith: I'll ask a question, and you respond with either, "leave it to me" or "I'll leave it to you." |
| Sadia: Go! |
| Keith: First one, "How am I gonna get all this work done in time?" |
| Sadia: I'll leave it to you! I'll let you figure that one out! [laughs] |
| Keith: Alright, Sadia. How about this one, "How many people should we invite to the party?" |
| Sadia: Leave it to me! I'll handle the party. |
| [laughs] |
| Keith: I see how it works. You get the fun stuff, and I get the hard stuff. but you want to be responsible for the party! [laughs] |
| Sadia: Well, you know! [laughs]. Now you guys know all about how to show your appreciation for something using the verb, "to like"-- |
| Keith: And, don’t forget about the verb t"to love," almost the same thing. |
| Sadia: Can't forget about that one! |
| Keith: You also learned two really useful phrase, "leave it to me," which means, "I'll take care of it." |
| Sadia: AND "I'll leave it to you," which means, "I'll let YOU take care of it!" |
| Keith: Well that just about does it for this lesson. Thanks for listening. |
| Sadia: Thanks for listening. Bye. |
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