Learn to talk about your surroundings and where you are
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Sadia: Hi, everyone, thanks for tuning in. This is Sadia. |
| Keith: Hey, and I’m Keith. “Tame Talking on the Big, Bad Telephone in English with These Tips” |
| Sadia: In our last lesson, Lesson 16, you learned how to express your opinions, how to ask about things, and how to accept an invitation. |
| Keith: And you also learned about the verb, "to think," and about inviting someone to join you. |
| Sadia: In this lesson you will learn how to find the person you're looking for. |
| Keith: This conversation, Zo, he’s on the street, and he’s on the phone. |
| Sadia: And the conversation is between Zo and his colleague, Tom. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| (Zo calls colleague #1) |
| Colleague #1: Hello. This is Tom. |
| Zo: Good morning, it's Zo. |
| Colleague #1: Zo, where are you? |
| Zo: I don't know. |
| Colleague #1: We don't see you. |
| Zo: Yes, and I don't see you! [laughs] Where are you? |
| Colleague #1: We're in front of Madison Square Garden. |
| Zo: Hm... I think I'm somewhere near there. |
| Colleague #1: Hm…. Okay, what do you see? What buildings, signs or landmarks? |
| Zo: I see Macy's, the department store. And an Old Navy store. There's an AT&T store. |
| Colleague #1: Oh! I know where you are. Wait there. We'll come to you. |
| Zo: Thank you...and so sorry! |
| Colleague #1: No problem! Don't move! [laughs] |
| Colleague #1: There you are! Ready? |
| Zo: I am! Sorry about that! |
| Keith: One more time, slowly. |
| (Zo calls colleague #1) |
| Colleague #1: Hello. This is Tom. |
| Zo: Good morning, it's Zo. |
| Colleague #1: Zo, where are you? |
| Zo: I don't know. |
| Colleague #1: We don't see you. |
| Zo: Yes, and I don't see you! [laughs] Where are you? |
| Colleague #1: We're in front of Madison Square Garden. |
| Zo: Hm... I think I'm somewhere near there. |
| Colleague #1: Hm…. Okay, what do you see? What buildings, signs or landmarks? |
| Zo: I see Macy's, the department store. And an Old Navy store. There's an AT&T store. |
| Colleague #1: Oh! I know where you are. Wait there. We'll come to you. |
| Zo: Thank you...and so sorry! |
| Colleague #1: No problem! Don't move! [laughs] |
| Colleague #1: There you are! Ready? |
| Zo: I am! Sorry about that! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| SADIA: Uh-oh. It seems that Zo has gotten a little bit lost! This game that Zo and his colleagues will be going to will be held at Madison Square Garden. The group of people, they didn't travel |
| together, so Zo must find his way to Madison Square Garden (which is sometimes called, "The |
| Garden") on his own. He has to find his own way. But let’s talk more about this Madison Square Garden, which, to be honest, I know next to nothing about. even though I walk past-- actually, above-- it every day! [laughs] |
| KEITH: Well, people say it's "the World's most famous arena." |
| SADIA: Yeah? Isn't it home to the New York Rangers hockey team and, uh, the Knicks |
| Keith: Right, they’re part of the NBA The national basketball league. And also to the WNBA, which is the women’s basketball league, and they’re home to the New York Liberty, the team name. |
| Sadia: OK I have a question-- Madison Square Garden. Madison Square Park is, like, on Madison Avenue and, like, 26th Street, right? But Madison Square Avenue is at, where is it? On 7th Avenue between 31st and 33rd. Blocks and blocks away. |
| Keith: OK, so Madison Square Garden is not close to Madison Square Park. That’s OK. What happened is the Garden was originally located at |
| Madison Avenue and 26th Street, but afterwards it moved to where it is now-- 7th Avenue (between 31st street and 33rd Street), It’s right above Pennsylvania Station, or sometimes we say, “Penn Station,” And that happened in 1968. |
| Sadia: Ah, interesting. Doesn't it hold something like 09,000 people? |
| Keith: Yeah, I think so. And, of course, it's also a place where there’s lots of musical performances and a lot of special events all year. |
| Sadia: I know, I know. One day I'll get in there! |
| Keith: We hope so, Sadia. Alright, well let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Sadia: we [natural native speed] |
| Keith: I and the others in a group that includes me |
| Sadia: we [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: we [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| at [natural native speed] |
| Keith: shows presence or happening in, on or near |
| at [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| at [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: a [natural native speed] |
| Keith: indefinite article |
| Sadia: a [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: a [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| building [natural native speed] |
| Keith: a roofed and walled structure made for permanent use |
| building [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| building [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: landmark [natural native speed] |
| Keith: an easily located or easily recognized place |
| Sadia: landmark [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: landmark [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| big [natural native speed] |
| Keith: large; not small |
| big [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| big [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: sign [natural native speed] |
| Keith: a display of a message or name |
| Sadia: sign [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: sign [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| place [natural native speed] |
| Keith: location, room, or space |
| place [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| place [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:" |
| go [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to move on a course; to proceed |
| go [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| go [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Keith: Alright, well let’s take a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Sadia: The first phrase we’ll look at is, "Hello. This is Tom." Tom answers his cell phone |
| using this phrase. But usually people answer the phone just by saying, "Hello." |
| Keith: Maybe if you’re in an office or maybe at home where there’s a lot of people that can pick up the phone, you might say, “Hello, this is Keith.” What's next? |
| Sadia: Next is, "Where are you?" |
| Keith: Tom asks Zo, "Where are you?" The two were supposed to have been meeting at that time, but Tom and his colleague didn't see Zo from where they were standing. |
| Sadia: Right and they didn’t see him and they were probably wondering why. So "Where are you?" means, "What place are you standing in or at right now?" |
| Keith: That brings us to our next phrase, and that’s, "We're in front of Madison Square Garden." |
| Sadia: This phrase includes the implied verb, "located." So it’s not said; it’s suggested. They say, “We’re in front of Madison Square Garden, which means, "We are located at Madison Square Garden." |
| Keith: Or it can also mean, "We are now standing at or in Madison Square Garden." |
| Sadia: The next phrase is, "What buildings, signs or landmarks?" |
| Keith: Tom is trying to imagine or understand where |
| Zo is. He asks Zo what he sees, then he says, "What buildings, signs or landmarks?" |
| Sadia: And this phrase also includes an implied verb.The phrase is short for, "What buildings, signs, or landmarks do you see?" |
| Keith: What about, "I know that place." |
| Sadia: "I know that place" means, "I know the place you're talking about." |
| Keith: OK, next we have, "Please wait there." |
| Sadia: This is another easy one. "Please wait there" means, "Stay where you are," |
| Keith: Or maybe Tom says jokingly, "Don't move!" [laughs] |
| Sadia: [laughs] What about, "We'll go to you." |
| Keith: And what's that mean? |
| Sadia: The phrase, "We'll come to you" means just that– Tom and Zo's other colleague will go to the place where Zo is waiting and pick him up. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sadia: The focus points of this lesson are the verb, "to know," and... |
| Keith: negative statements. |
| Sadia: Let's go ahead and start with the verb, "to know." “To know” means to be aware of, to understand, or to recognize. |
| Keith: In this dialogue, Zo first uses it when Tom, his colleague, asks Zo where he is. Zo says, “I don’t know.” |
| Sadia: This is a negative statement. We’ll talk a little bit more about negative statements in a little bit. |
| Keith: The second time the verb, “to know” appears is after Zo describes the place where he is standing. |
| Sadia: Tom recognizes the landmarks that Zo mentions and he says, “Oh! I know where you are!” |
| Tom is familiar with Zo’s location—he KNOWS about the places Zo mentions. Ah, why don’t we review the forms of the verb, "to know." Start with the singular. |
| Keith: Alright. I know, you know, he or she KNOWS. |
| Sadia: Now plural. |
| Keith: We know, you know, they know. Don’t forget about that pesky, annoying “s” in the 3rd person singular-- he or she KNOWS. Let's give some sample sentences that include the verb, “to know” |
| Sadia: I KNOW when your birthday is. |
| Keith: He KNOWS I’m not a fan. |
| Sadia: We KNOW how to dance. Let's move on to negative statements. |
| Keith: We’ve talked about negative statements before, but it's always good to review, right? |
| Sadia: Let's do that. So, you make affirmative statements when you want to say, “yes,” or when you want to agree with someone. Use NEGATIVE STATEMENTS when you want to say, “no,” or when you want to disagree with someone or something, or show that something is not true or |
| not correct. |
| Keith: “Don’t,” which is short for, “do not,” is an easy way to negate something— |
| Sadia: In the dialogue, Tom asks Zo, “Where are you?” And Zo responds by saying, “I DON'T know.” |
| Keith: Zo DOES NOT know where he is. And this statement uses a simple formula - |
| Sadia: Subject + DON’T + Verb. I + DON'T + know. I don’t know. |
| Keith: Then Tom says to Zo, “We don’t see you.” |
| Sadia: We + don’t + see + you. |
| Keith: Subject + DON’T + Verb + Object. |
| Sadia: And in response, Zo says, “And I don’t see you!” |
| [laughs] Which, I + DON’T + see + you. |
| Keith: And the formula is subject + DON’T + verb + object. |
| Sadia: Let's go over the forms of "don't." For singular, we've got |
| Keith: I don't, you don't, and he or she DOESN'T. |
| Sadia: And for plural, |
| Keith: We don't, you don't, and they don't. |
| Sadia: Right. And again, watch out for the 3rd person singular. He or she DOESN'T. |
| Keith: “Don’t” can also be used to make a negative imperative. And what does “imperative” mean? |
| Sadia: An imperative is a command. |
| Keith: When you’re telling someone to not do something, a negative command. |
| Sadia: So at the end of the dialogue, Tom tells Zo, “Don’t move!” and this means, “Stay where you are.” |
| Keith: The formula for this is really, really simple. You can make a negative imperative like this - |
| DON’T + simple present tense |
| Sadia: Don’t shout. |
| Keith: Or, Don’t run. |
| Sadia: Don’t sit. You can make your imperatives more polite by adding, “please," Right? |
| Keith: You can say, don’t shout OR if you want to be a little nicer, “Don’t shout, please.” |
| Sadia: Or “Please don’t shout.” Or “Please don’t run” OR “Don’t run, please.” |
| Keith: Now you KNOW a little bit more about the verb, “to know." |
| Sadia: And you know all about negative statements! |
| Keith: Don’t forget it! |
Outro |
| Sadia: That’s all for today, thanks for listening. |
| Keith: OK. Bye-bye. |
| Sadia: Bye. |
Comments
Hide