Learn how to express your opinions and accept invitations, from a dinner conversation
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sadia: Hey, everyone, thanks for tuning in. This is Sadia. |
| Keith: And I’m Keith. “Fitting in and Making Friends - Several Surefire Phrases to Help Your Social Life” |
| Sadia: In our last lesson, Lesson 15, you learned how to talk about likes and dislikes, and how to ask for advice. |
| Keith: You also learned about the verb, "to like," and about the phrase, "to leave to." |
| Sadia: In this lesson you will learn about expressing opinions, asking about things, and accepting invitations. |
| Keith: This conversation takes place on a Friday night, in a restaurant. |
| Sadia: The conversation is between Zo, Ms. Clarke, Zo's colleague Tom, and a restaurant waitress. |
| Keith: OK well let’s listen in to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Waitress: Here you are—one filet mignon, two bleu cheese burgers, Kobe sliders, and Long Island Top Neck clams, and pork belly with coleslaw. |
| Ms. Clarke: Cheers! |
| Colleague #1: Cheers. |
| Zo: Cheers. |
| Ms. Clarke: Let's eat! |
| Colleague #1: Zo, try this! |
| Zo: Okay. What’s this? |
| Colleague #2: Oh—that’s pork belly! It’s good! |
| Colleague #1: Well, what do you think? |
| Zo: I think it's great. It's very delicious! |
| Colleague #1: He likes it! Great! Now try this. |
| Zo: Hmm…. It's not bad. |
| Colleague #1: [laughs] He doesn't like it! |
| Colleague #1: Zo, you're funny! Are you free tomorrow? |
| Zo: Yes. |
| Colleague #1: Tomorrow, we're going to a basketball game! You should come! Let's go together. |
| Zo: Really? |
| Colleague #1: Of course! |
| Zo: Then sure! |
| Colleague #1: We'll meet at Penn Station at 11 a.m. tomorrow. Here's my phone number. |
| Zo: Great! See you tomorrow. |
| Keith: One more time, slowly. |
| Waitress: Here you are—one filet mignon, two bleu cheese burgers, Kobe sliders, and Long Island Top Neck clams, and pork belly with coleslaw. |
| Ms. Clarke: Cheers! |
| Colleague #1: Cheers. |
| Zo: Cheers. |
| Ms. Clarke: Let's eat! |
| Colleague #1: Zo, try this! |
| Zo: Okay. What’s this? |
| Colleague #2: Oh—that’s pork belly! It’s good! |
| Colleague #1: Well, what do you think? |
| Zo: I think it's great. It's very delicious! |
| Colleague #1: He likes it! Great! Now try this. |
| Zo: Hmm…. It's not bad. |
| Colleague #1: [laughs] He doesn't like it! |
| Colleague #1: Zo, you're funny! Are you free tomorrow? |
| Zo: Yes. |
| Colleague #1: Tomorrow, we're going to a basketball game! You should come! Let's go together. |
| Zo: Really? |
| Colleague #1: Of course! |
| Zo: Then sure! |
| Colleague #1: We'll meet at Penn Station at 11 a.m. tomorrow. Here's my phone number. |
| Zo: Great! See you tomorrow. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Keith: This is a fun dialogue. |
| Sadia: Zo and his American colleagues have ordered a really nice spread, a really nice selection of food. So let’s talk about it. First, filet mignon. Filet mignon, I actually this the other day, is a French phrase meaning, "dainty fillet.” I didn’t know this. |
| Keith: OK, well dainty means very soft, delicate piece of meat. I didn’t know that phrase, but I knew that filet mignon is taken from the tenderloin section of a cow, and that means it’s along the spine, the backbone, and that part, it’s the most tender, it’s the most softest part, and of course probably the most expensive. Didn’t they order some other foods as well? |
| Sadia: Yeah, they did. |
| Keith: OK, well let’s talk about it pretty briefly. |
| Sadia: Sadia: Okay, so. Blue cheese burger. Explain. |
| Keith: A blue cheese burger is a hamburger, and it’s with blue cheese. |
| Sadia: Yeah, blue cheese, it smells strong, and it’s got these blue, kind of veiny things running through it, which is actually fungus. |
| Keith: How about Kobe sliders? |
| Sadia: Well, sliders are small hamburgers, and ko-bay, or ko-bee, as you’ll probably hear in America, sliders, are made from Kobe beef. |
| Keith: Kobe beef, and it’s very soft beef |
| Sadia: Very fatty, very tasty, uh, it’s Japanese beef, and I think it’s from, Hyogo Prefecture in Japan. |
| Keith: OK. Next they had Long Island Top Neck Clams. |
| Sadia: Mm-hm. |
| Keith: And these are from Long Island, which is a part of New York State. |
| Sadia: An island kind of east of Manhattan, right? |
| Keith: Yes. |
| Sadia: And finally, the last thing, they order pork belly with cole slaw! Are you a pork fan, Keith? |
| Keith: I do like pork. I do like bellies, so I like pork bellies. |
| Sadia: I’m a little embarrassed to admit this, but I love coleslaw. |
| Keith: Coleslaw is very, very good. For those of our listeners who don’t know, coleslaw is cabbage with mayonnaise. |
| Sadia: Yeah, it’s often served at barbecues, if you’re cooking outside, or a picnic, or something. |
| Keith: Pretty refreshing. |
| Sadia: Alright. So that covers food. Uh, what else is going on here? |
| Keith: Well, lucky for him, Zo's colleagues are going to |
| watch a basketball game. |
| Sadia: Yep. Watching basketball-- whether it’s in an arena, a live game, or on television-- is probably a pretty popular American pastime, I think. |
| Keith: Yeah, maybe not just basketball. You know going to a baseball game... |
| Sadia: True |
| Keith: Going to a football game. Those are all very popular activities in America, and Zo’s pretty lucky because he's visiting America during basketball season, and it sounds like he might have a chance to see an NBA game. (NBA is the National Basketball Association). |
| Sadia: Very lucky guy. And I have to say, whether or not you're a basketball fan, a live game can be really fun to watch! |
| Keith: Yeah, I think if you don’t like sports, but if you go to a game, it’s still fun. |
| Sadia: Yeah, that’s true. |
| Keith: Alright, well let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Sadia: apology [natural native speed] |
| Keith: an admission of a mistake; |
| Sadia: apology [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: apology [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| to keep [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to hold on to; to maintain |
| to keep [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| to keep [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: to wait [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to stay in place |
| Sadia: to wait [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: to wait [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| US [natural native speed] |
| Keith: United States |
| US [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| US [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: busy [natural native speed] |
| Keith: full of activity, engaged in activity, occupied |
| Sadia: busy [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: busy [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| long [natural native speed] |
| Keith: not short; of great length |
| long [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| long [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: ready [natural native speed] |
| Keith: prepared to continue or move on |
| Sadia: ready [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: ready [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Keith: OK, well, Sadia, I’m ready to take a deeper look into some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Sadia: The first one we’ll look at is, "Cheers!" So it’s said just before you take a sip of your first drink at a meal or at an event. |
| Keith: Everyone sort of holds his or her glass in the |
| air and they say-- very loudly-- "Cheers!" You can hear it at parties, or nice dinners, or a lot of places. |
| Sadia: Yeah, yeah, definitely. |
| Keith: Next we have, "Let's eat!" |
| Sadia: That means exactly what it suggests, right? What it implies? |
| Keith: That's right. It is often-- but not always-- said at the |
| start of a meal. |
| Sadia: Next is the phrase, "Try this." It's an imperative, which, if you remember, is |
| a command. And "try this" is often said if someone is |
| eating something that they think is delicious or they’re |
| cooking something that they'd like someone to try. They say, “OK, come here. Try this.” |
| Keith: Next is, "Great." "Great" is a step further than "good." It’s a little better. |
| Sadia: In fact, it means, "very good." |
| Keith: And an easy way to remember it is with this |
| little saying, "Good is good, but GREAT is better!" |
| Sadia: The next phrase is a little different than great. |
| Keith: "It's not bad." |
| Sadia: OK. You use the phrase, "it's not bad" when you neither like |
| nor dislike something. So you have no opinion about something. You don’t like it, but you don’t hate it either. A similar phrase is uh,, "It's okay." |
| Keith: Right, so instead of, “Aw, I really like this,” or “Aw, I really hate this,” it’s, in between, It’s eh, not bad. " You say it when you don't have a strong opinion about something. |
| Sadia: Right. Zo says that the food he tries is "not bad." |
| Keith: The next phrase up is, "Are you free |
| tomorrow?" This has the same meaning as, "Do you |
| have any free time tomorrow?" |
| Sadia: And it’s usually said just before |
| setting a time to meet with someone at a later date or |
| time-- just before you set an appointment. You can say, |
| "Do you have any free time later today?" Or, "Do you |
| have any free time early next week?" |
| Keith: OK, so next we have, "Really?" |
| Sadia: "Really?" has the same meaning as, "Is that |
| so?" or, "Is that true?" |
| Keith: And just like "is that so?" the phrase, "Really?" that can |
| take on a slightly different meaning. It can mean different things, depending on how |
| you say it. |
| Sadia: You can say “Really?” if you’re genuinely |
| Keith: really |
| Sadia and Keith: Surprised. |
| Keith: Or if you don’t believe someone? “Really?” There’s a lot of different ways you can say, “Really.” |
| Sadia: Next is, "Is it okay?" or, "Is it alright?" |
| Keith: Some similar phrases are, "Do you mind?" or "Are you okay with this?" |
| Sadia: These are all phrases that you can use to get the approval, or maybe agreement, from someone. |
| Keith: And next is, "Of course." |
| Sadia: "Of course" has the same meaning as, "Absolutely!" |
| Keith: Or another word, “Sure.” |
| Sadia: All of these phrases are strong ways of saying yes or agreeing. |
| Keith: Can we move to the next phrase? |
| Sadia: Absolutely! |
| Keith: How about, “Of course.” |
| Sadia: Of course! |
| Keith: Are you sure? |
| Sadia: Of course! |
| Keith: OK, well you’ve convinced me, Sadia. The next phrase is, "We'll meet at Penn Station at 11 am," which is what Tom says to Zo. |
| Sadia: "We'll meet at this place, at this time. When can you use this phrase? |
| Keith: You say it right after you plan on meeting with someone or making an appointment. You say this to make sure the person you're speaking to, and the person you’re going to meet later, |
| remembers the plans that you've made. |
| Sadia: If I've made plans to meet you at, around, lunch time, I could say, "We'll meet at Pick a Pita at 230." |
| Keith: Right. So, "We'll meet at," then you say the place, then "at," and then the time. The next phrase is, "See you at, and then the time." |
| Sadia: After making an appointment with someone-- after you set up to meet them at a later date and time. It’s expected that you’ll say, "See you at you know, 10,” or “See you at 11”, or whenever you’ve arranged to meet. |
| Keith: Right. So, Sadia, You want to meet at Pick a Pita at 2:30, so I’ll say, “OK, see you at 2:30.” |
| Sadia: Exactly. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sadia: OK the focus points of this lesson are the verb, "to think," and inviting someone to join you. Let's start with the verb, "to think." |
| Keith: We know that the verb, "to think" means to .... |
| Sadia: Maybe to consider or to wonder. |
| Keith: Yeah, kind of in your head, you’re wondering something. |
| Sadia: And it appears throughout the dialogue, this verb, “to think”; first, when Zo tries the pork belly, his colleagues asks him, "Well, what do you think?" |
| Keith: Yeah-- "What do you think?" |
| Sadia: That’s just another way of asking, "What’s your opinion?" |
| Keith: Or, "Do you like it?" And all of these phrases are interchangeable, that means you can use in place of one another in the same situation. |
| Sadia: They all have the same meaning, so you can use whichever one you prefer. In this case, "Well, what do you think?" also means, "How does [the food] taste?" |
| Keith: Yeah. And Zo uses the verb, "to think" in his response; he says, "I think it's great!" |
| Sadia: Which has the same meaning as, "My opinion is that it's great. |
| Keith: Let's give some examples! |
| Sadia: Okay! I think we should leave for our trip on Friday instead of Wednesday. |
| Keith: I think it looks great! |
| Sadia: I think your work is excellent. Or I think he wants to come with us. |
| Keith: So, the next time that you really want to know someone’s opinion, when you’re dying to know someone's opinion, you just say, |
| Sadia: What do you think? What's next for this lesson, Keith? |
| Keith: Next is inviting someone to join you. |
| Sadia: At the end of the dialogue, Zo's colleague Tom invites Zo to join him and the other colleague at a basketball game. He says, "Tomorrow, we're going to a basketball game! You should come!" |
| Keith: That's right. The phrase, "you should come!" is an informal, friendly way of inviting someone to do something with you. "You should come" is short for, "you should come with me or you should come with us." |
| Sadia: Tom also says, "Let's go together." This phrase “Let’s go together,” EMPHASIZES the invitation-- it makes the invitation a strong one. It shows Zo that Tom's invitation is a very serious one! |
| Keith: Tom and the other colleague really want Zo to come with them, to join them! |
| Sadia: I think you can also say, "Let's go together" when you discover that someone, usually a friend, is going to the same place that you're going, and at the same time. |
| Keith: You're right about that. If you say, "Let's go together" in this case, it means, "We should travel together." |
| Sadia: And both "you should come" and "let's go together" can be said alone-- I mean, they don't have to be said together. |
| Keith: Let's give some examples. |
| Sadia: We're going to have a picnic next Sunday-- you should come! |
| Keith: Are you going to the beach on Friday, too? We should go together! |
| Sadia: The next time you're telling your plans to someone and you want them to come along, use "you should come" or "let's go together." |
| Keith: And, you never know, maybe someone else will actually come with you. |
| Sadia: Mm-hm. |
| Keith: We hope so. |
Outro |
| Keith: Thanks, everyone for listening. |
| Sadia: Thanks for tuning in. We’ll see you next time. Bye-bye. |
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