Learn to talk about your surroundings and where you are
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| 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
HideDo you ever talk on the phone in English?
Hello Ali,
I'm thrilled to see your enthusiasm and curiosity! Regarding your question, it would be helpful if you could provide me with more details about the context in which Zo mentioned these landmarks. That way, I can give you a more accurate response. 👍
In your message, there are a couple of corrections to be made:
1. "Who knows the landmarks which Zo’s mentioned?"
Correction: "Who knows the landmarks that Zo mentioned?"
Reason: We use "that" instead of "which" in defining relative clauses. Also, there's no need for an apostrophe in "Zo's" in this context.
2. "Good days,"
Correction: "Good day," or "Have a good day,"
Reason: The phrase "Good days" is not commonly used in English. Instead, we say "Good day" as a polite greeting or farewell during any time of the day.
Keep practicing and don't hesitate to ask if you have more questions! 😄
Thank you!
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Hello,
Who knows the landmarks which Zo's mentioned?
Good days,
Ali
Hello Latif,
Great question! Both "what buildings" and "which buildings" are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 👍👍
1. "What buildings" is used when you are asking about the type or kind of buildings. For example, "What buildings are common in New York?"
2. "Which buildings" is used when you are choosing from a specific group of buildings. For example, "Which buildings are we going to visit on the field trip?"
So, the choice between "what" and "which" depends on the context of your question.
Keep up the good work! Your curiosity is a great asset in language learning. 😎😄
Thank you!
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
What buildings or which buildings.
Which correct?
Hello Nikita,
I hope you're doing well! I'm glad to see you're putting in the effort to practice your English. 😄
Let's look at your work together:
Here are some corrections:
1. "how weekend is going?" should be "how is your weekend going?" This is because in English, the verb 'is' usually comes before the subject in questions.
2. "Yes,I talked once time." should be "Yes, I talked one time." or "Yes, I spoke once." In English, we say 'one time' instead of 'once time'.
3. "We discussed about my job offer in NY." should be "We discussed my job offer in NY." In English, we don't use 'about' after 'discussed'.
4. "There was Work&Travel Exchange Program." should be "It was a Work & Travel Exchange Program." We use 'it' to refer to the program.
5. "I couldn’t speak English because I had A1 level." should be "I couldn’t speak English well because my level was A1." This sentence is more clear and concise.
6. "Unfortunately, There USA visa wasn’t given to me." should be "Unfortunately, the USA visa wasn’t granted to me." We use 'the' before 'USA visa' and 'granted' is a more appropriate verb to use in this context.
Remember, practice makes perfect. Keep working on your English and you'll see improvement! 👍
Thank you!
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Hello everybody, how weekend is going?😄
Here is my home task:
Yes,I talked once time. It was an incoming call from USA. We discussed about my job offer in NY. There was Work&Travel Exchange Program.
I couldn't speak English because I had A1 level.
And it was 4 a.m. in the morning. Unfortunately, There USA visa wasn't given to me.
Hello Marcel,
Thank you for sharing your experience with us! It's wonderful to hear that you were able to successfully communicate in English over the phone, and resolve your issue. That's a significant achievement! 😄😄😄
Regarding your message, it's well-written and clear. Just a couple of minor corrections to make it even better:
1. "Yes, I have spoken in English on the phone with a service provider." - This sentence is correct, but it could be improved by saying "Yes, I have communicated in English on the phone with a service provider." The word "communicated" is a bit more formal and precise.
2. "Of course, neither of us was a native English speaker." - This sentence is also correct, but to make it more natural, you could say "Of course, neither of us were native English speakers." Using "were" instead of "was" is more common in this context.
3. "We understood each other and together we resolved the problem." - This sentence is perfect! You've used the past tense correctly and your message is clear.
4. "Great lesson.Thank you!" - Just remember to add a space after the period before starting a new sentence. So it should be "Great lesson. Thank you!"
Keep up the great work, Marcel! Your English is improving and you should be proud of your progress.
Thank you!
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Hi,
Yes, I have spoken in English on the phone with a service provider. Of course, neither of us was a native English speaker. We understood each other and together we resolved the problem.
Great lesson.Thank you!
Regards!
Hello Masoud,
I hope we can help you to achieve your English language goals!! 😄😄
Feel free to shoot through any questions you have throughout your studies.
Many thanks,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
so, don't stop teaching please
Hello Raul,
Thank you for joining us! 😄
We have a great team of teachers here at EnglishClass101.com and we are happy to help you with your learning needs.
If you would like further assistance or if you're still having problems understanding this lesson I suggest contacting your teacher through the 'MyTeacher' feature on our site. Your personal teacher will be more than happy to assist you!👍
Most kindly,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Thanks interestin topic
Raul
Hello Tran,
Thanks so much for taking the time to introduce yourself! Welcome from Vietnam!
It's always great to hear from our students so please continue to write to us.
Feel free to shoot through any questions you have throughout your studies.
Cheers,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
I'm Tran Gia Lac, and i from viet nam 😇😇😇
i like lesson👍👍😄😄😄😄😄😄
Hello Kirver,
Thanks for taking the time to post. 👍
Please feel free to ask us any questions you have throughout your studies.
Sincerely,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
😄
Hello Robson,
A big thank you for your post and the feedback!
Please feel free to ask us any questions you have throughout your studies.
Sincerely,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
So nice lesson.
Hi there Gustavo,
Thank you for writing to us again and for the positive feedback!
We have so many lessons and a lot of support for you here during your studies and are constantly updating the lessons on our site so please stay tuned! 👍
Feel free to ask us any questions that come up.
Sincerely,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
good lesson 👍