Learn about using adverb clauses to express conditions and cause and effect
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Braden: Jealousy Rears its Ugly Head in the US |
| Braden: In this lesson, you’ll learn about Adverb clauses to express conditions and cause-and-effect and Nonverbal communication. |
| Barbara: This conversation takes place in the afternoon behind the customer service desk. |
| Braden: And it’s between Mitch and June. |
| Barbara: The speakers are co-workers, but Mitch is a bit strange, so June will be speaking professionally and Mitch will be speaking casually. |
| Braden: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Mitch: Have you seen the new assistant manager? |
| June: Mitch, I was in the meeting with you. Of course I've seen her. |
| Mitch: I think she's so attractive. |
| June: Yeah? I guess you could be right, if you like the overbearing, military-trained, I-could-fire-you-at-any-second attitude she's got going on. |
| Mitch: Really? I think she's just trying to be nice. |
| June: You have an odd definition of nice. In case you didn't notice, she practically threatened to fire the entire staff. |
| Mitch: When I spoke to her in private, she was very kind and quite gentle. |
| June: Odd. That's what Cody said. In my interview, she seemed almost threatened by me. I felt like I was defending my very existence instead of just my employment. |
| Mitch: She was very sweet. She gave me a hug and sat next to me in the interview room. She has the greatest laugh. |
| June: Whether she has a great laugh or not, I wonder if she's trying to butter up all you men? |
| Mitch: Uh oh!...I smell jealousy! |
| June: Who? Me? No! |
| Mitch: Oh, June, unless you admit you're jealous and react differently, working with her is going to be very difficult. |
| June: I am so not jealous of our new military-trained assistant manager. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Braden: So, we wanted to talk a little bit about Nonverbal communication. |
| Barbara: Nonverbal communication is a category of communication where information is exchanged, or communicated, between parties without using words. This includes body language, posture, facial expressions, eye contact, and the many other factors. As you can imagine, it is a very large topic. |
| Braden: Studies have shown that up to 75 percent of human interaction consists of nonverbal communication. Like verbal communication, nonverbal communication varies by region, country, language, history, and culture. As second language learners, the challenge becomes interpreting the nonverbal communication of English correctly. |
| Barbara: One aspect of nonverbal communication is what Americans call their “bubble.” The term “bubble” refers to the area of space around the person. The size of this “bubble” varies by culture. |
| Braden: For an American, the personal “bubble” extends to about three feet around individual. For somebody from England, the “bubble extends to about 3 1/2. For somebody from Latin America, the personal space is around 1 1/2 to 2 feet. |
| Barbara: In practice, people from Latin America tend to stand closer to Americans than most Americans are comfortable with. To compensate, Americans will often back away slightly to maintain the three-foot distance. |
| Braden: So the tip is that if someone seems to be constantly readjusting the space between themselves and you, be aware that they probably do not feel comfortable with you being so close. |
| Barbara: It has nothing to do with you personally, it's that they have grown up and been taught that certain distances need to be maintained and they feel uncomfortable when those distances are not maintained. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Braden: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is: |
| Barbara: jealous [natural native speed] |
| Braden: feeling of envy toward someone or their achievements |
| Barbara: jealous [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: jealous [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| admit [natural native speed] |
| Braden: confess to be true, typically with reluctance |
| admit [slowly - broken down by syllable] admit [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: easier [natural native speed] |
| Braden: achieved without great effort |
| Barbara: easier [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: easier [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| much [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a large amount |
| much [slowly - broken down by syllable] much [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: react [natural native speed] |
| Braden: respond or behave in a particular way in response to something |
| Barbara: react [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: react [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| overbearing [natural native speed] |
| Braden: unpleasantly or arrogantly domineering |
| overbearing [slowly - broken down by syllable] overbearing [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: attitude [natural native speed] |
| Braden: way of thinking and feeling about a thing |
| Barbara: attitude [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: attitude [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Braden: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Barbara: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase "Who? Me? No." |
| Braden: this is a comical phrase. In older television media, this particular phrase would frequently be used with exaggerated pronunciation and facial expressions. You can still be used today, However, its use must be carefully chosen as it can seem cliché. |
| Braden: Could you break this down? |
| Barbara: Who? Me? No. (slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Barbara: Who? Me? No. (fast) |
| Braden: Perfect! What’s next? |
| Barbara: Our next phrase is to "butter up." |
| Braden: the phrase“To butter up” brings a number of mental images to a native English speaker’s mind. the general idea is to ingratiate Someone for some particular reason. |
| Barbara: most frequently, a person is “ Buttered up” in preparation for some negative event. in the case of the dialogue, Sarah is “buttering up” the male employees for something unpleasant. Judging by her previous comments, someone is probably going to be fired. |
| Braden: Could you break this down? |
| Barbara: butter up (slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Barbara: butter up (fast) |
| Braden: Excellent! Let’s take a look at the grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Braden: Barbara, what’s the focus of this lesson? |
| Barbara: The focus of this lesson is adverb clauses to express conditions and cause and effect, Part 1 |
| Braden: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase... |
| Barbara: unless you admit you’re jealous and react differently, working with her is going to be very difficult. |
| Braden: To start things off, we’re going to look at the phrases In case (that), in the event (that) |
| Barbara: These types of clauses are often called "if clauses" in English grammar books and follow conditional sentence patterns. First, a quick rule about punctuation. |
| Braden: When an adverb clause begins the sentence, use a comma to separate the two clauses. |
| Barbara: For example, “If she comes(comma) we will have some dinner. “ |
| Braden: When the adverb clause finishes the sentence there is no need for a comma. |
| Barbara: For example, “She would have invited me if she had known.” |
| Braden: "In case" and "in the event" have the same basic meaning as "if" and function much the same way. However, there is an added feeling that you expect the condition won't happen. Both are used primarily for future events. |
| Barbara: To get an idea of how this works, compare “f you need me, I'll be at Sarah's.” With “In case you need me, I'll be at Sarah's.” or “I'll be studying upstairs in the event he calls.” |
| Braden: Now let’s look at the phrase only if. "Only if" means "only in the case that something happens - and only if". This form basically means the same as "if". However, it requires that the condition be met for the result to happen. |
| Barbara: This construction is common among parents and bosses. For example, “We'll give you a bicycle only if you do well on your exam.” |
| Braden: Note that when "only if" begins the sentence you need to invert the main clause. For example, “Only if we sell 100 packages today will you get your raise.” |
| Barbara: Now let’s take a look at “since.” "Since" has the same basic meaning as "because." However, "since" is usually preferred when showing the relationship in sequences or progressive events or to refer to a period of time, while "because" implies any cause or reason. |
| Braden: For example, “Since he loves music so much, he decided to go to a conservatory.” or “They had to leave early since their plane left at seven thirty.” |
| Barbara: "Since" tends to be used in more informal spoken English. |
| Braden: Now let’s take a look at unless. |
| Barbara: "Unless" expresses the idea of "if not". For example, “Unless she hurries up, we won't arrive in time.” or “We won't go unless he arrives soon.” |
| Braden: Remember, "Unless" is only used in the first conditional. For example, “Unless she hurries up, we won't arrive in time.” means the same thing as “If she doesn't hurry up, we won't arrive in time.” |
| Barbara: Let’s finish things up by talking about wether or not. |
| Braden: "Whether or not" expresses the idea that neither of the conditions will change the result. |
| Barbara: For example, “They won't be able to come whether or not they have enough money.” and “They won't be able to come whether they have enough money or not.” |
| Braden: Notice the possibility of inversion (Whether they have money or not) with "whether or not." |
| Barbara: Whether they have money or not, they won't be able to come. |
Outro |
| Braden: That just about does it for today. Thanks for listening. |
| Barbara: See you later! |
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