Learn how to talk in English about your hopes and wishes for the future in a casual setting
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Jonathan: Hi everyone! Jonathan here. |
| Dede: And I’m Dede! American Date Night. In this lesson, you will learn how to talk about your hopes and wishes for the future in a casual setting. |
| Jonathan: This conversation takes place at Sheila and Dave’s apartment, between Sheila and Dave. |
| Dede: They are both preparing for dates later in the evening and talking in their typical informal and relaxed manner. |
| Jonathan: Let's listen to the conversation! |
| DIALOGUE |
| Dave: Wow, you’re all dolled up! Do you have a date tonight too? |
| Sheila: I don’t know… I met this cute guy from the World Bank who came in to brief us for next month’s hearing. He gave me his card and asked if I wanted to get a drink sometime. I figured why not since you’re going out with that cop tonight. |
| Dave: Woooo… Sounds fun. I hope you have a good time! |
| Sheila: Thanks, me too! I really hope that he turns out to be a nice guy. My last few dates have been duds. I wish I hadn’t gone out with them at all… |
| Dave: Yeah, I know, you showed me their pictures. |
| Sheila: Oh shut up! You can be such a jerk sometimes… |
| Dave: Relax. I’m only kidding. But seriously, I wish you all the best of luck with this one. At least he has a good job. |
| Sheila: Haha… I hope you have a good time with Isabel too. I’ve never seen you like this before! You seem head over heels for this girl. |
| Dave: I am! There’s just something I can’t put my finger on with her… |
| Sheila: I know what you mean. Good luck! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Dede: Date night… So, our listeners might be thinking... is this how all Americans get ready? |
| Jonathan: Because the United States is such a diverse country, it is easy to make overgeneralizations about its citizens. With this warning, it is interesting to see what people in the United States value in terms of beauty. |
| Dede: They value… hamburgers, right? |
| Jonathan: Uhhh… Not quite… Isn’t it is well known that Americans often strive to be thin? |
| Dede: But, it doesn’t seem like they’ve been very successful… |
| Jonathan: True, but in other ways it may surprise you that there are big differences in what is considered beautiful when in the United States and other countries even in Europe. |
| Dede: Like what? |
| Jonathan: Well, I think that Americans put a big emphasis on clean, white, and straight teeth, much more so than in many other places. |
| Dede: Hmmm… |
| Jonathan: Similarly, while body hair may be more groomed in the United States, make-up, when compared with many countries, tends to be lighter in general. I think the overall goal is to look beautiful, but appear like you did not have to try to do so. |
| Dede: For girls, right? |
| Jonathan: Well, I think this applies to both men and women. Women generally try for subtle and understated make-up application and men can often spend a great length of time trying to perfect a “just got out of bed” hairstyle. |
| Dede: Why don’t they just get out of bed? |
| Jonathan: I’m not quite sure… That’s what I do! |
| Dede: Hahaha…. That explains it… |
| Jonathan: Ready to move forward into Vocab? |
| Dede: Absolutely. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Dede: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Jonathan: dolled up [natural native speed] |
| Dede: to have put a lot of effort into your appearance, to be well-groomed and dressed |
| Jonathan: dolled up [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: dolled up [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Jonathan: the World Bank [natural native speed] |
| Dede: an international governmental organization that works on many international financial issues |
| Jonathan: the World Bank [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: the World Bank [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Jonathan: to brief [natural native speed] |
| Dede: to quickly prepare by communicating essential information and answering questions in a meeting |
| Jonathan: to brief [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: to brief [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Jonathan: dud [natural native speed] |
| Dede: a failure, an unfortunate event |
| Jonathan: dud [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: dud [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Jonathan: jerk [natural native speed] |
| Dede: a mean and nasty person |
| Jonathan: jerk [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: jerk [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Jonathan: to kid [natural native speed] |
| Dede: to make a joke or to poke fun |
| Jonathan: to kid [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: to kid [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Jonathan: to shut up [natural native speed] |
| Dede: to stop talking (usually rude) |
| Jonathan: to shut up [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: to shut up [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Jonathan: heel [natural native speed] |
| Dede: the back and bottom part of the foot |
| Jonathan: heel [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: heel [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Jonathan: to put one’s finger on [natural native speed] |
| Dede: to touch, to feel, to understand, to realize |
| Jonathan: to put (my) finger on [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: to put (my) finger on [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Dede: That’s it for the vocab for this lesson. Let's take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Jonathan: OK, can you tell us what the first is? |
| Dede: "head over heels" |
| Jonathan: A sense of giddiness felt when falling in love. As we learned from the vocab section, the heel is the back and bottom part of the foot. In the dialogue, Sheila said “You seem head over heels for this girl!” “Head over heels” is a common expression for the sense of giddiness, or tumbling feeling when you are in love. |
| Dede: Ah... So I am head over heels in love with Chinese food. |
| Jonathan: (Laughs) You could say that, but we usually use it for when we are deeply and helplessly in love with people; it gives us a dizzy or light-headed feeling to see that person. You can also be use it in a more casual way when talking about things but it’s less common. |
| Dede: Okay, what’s the next phrase? |
| Jonathan: “There’s something I can’t put my finger on with her…” |
| Dede: As we learned, this phrase means to understand or realize something concretely. |
| Jonathan: When people say “someone has something they can’t put their finger on,” it means that they have some hard to identify quality that makes them appealing but that it is not necessarily very clear why or how. |
| Dede: Hmm… EnglishClass101.com really just has something I can’t put my finger on… |
| Jonathan: I know what you mean! It’s definitely the best way to learn English, but I can’t put my finger on why… |
| Dede: Wait! I know what it is! |
| Jonathan: What’s that? |
| Dede: It’s fun! |
| Jonathan: Well, speaking of fun, let’s discuss the grammar! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Dede: The focus of this lesson is using “hope” vs. “wish”. |
| Jonathan: Hope and wish are two words that share some similarities, but are easily confused. |
| Dede: In the present tense, we use “hope” to express desires about future events that are uncertain. |
| Jonathan: Whereas we use “wish” in the present tense with hypothetical situations and usually use the subjunctive mood. |
| Dede: In general, “hope” is used for when we have reasons to believe they will occur where as “wish” is for situations that we want something to occur but do not expect it. |
| Jonathan: Right. Sheila uses both words when she says - "Thanks, me too! I really hope that he turns out to be a nice guy. My last few dates have been duds. I wish I hadn’t gone out with them at all…" |
| Dede: Let’s look at some more examples of using "hope" and "wish" so you can get a clearer understanding of the difference. |
| Jonathan: First let’s look at one with "wish". |
| Dede: "I’m lonely, I wish I had a dog to keep me company." |
| Jonathan: I’m sorry to hear that! Even though Dede might want a dog, she doesn’t expect to get one any time soon, that’s why she used “wish”. Now let’s hear one with “hope”. |
| Dede: "They hope the new iPhone will be released soon." |
| Jonathan: They believe that the iPhone may be released soon, that’s why they use “hope” |
| Dede: The meaning of “wish” changes when we use it with a past tense verb rather than the subjunctive mood though. |
| Jonathan: We can use it to show regret that a situation happened the way it did and express a desire that it had happened differently. |
| Dede: Yeah… Like I wish I had asked for another co-host. |
| Jonathan: Ouch! And I wish that you were nicer. |
| Dede: See, I used “wish” with a past tense verb to express regret at my action, just like Sheila did in the dialogue. |
| Jonathan: And I used it in the subjunctive mood. I don’t expect Dede to become nicer, but I wish she were. |
| Dede: The last way we can use "hope" and "wish" is for greetings and on special occasions like holidays or birthdays. |
| Jonathan: We can use them both for the same meaning but they have slightly different constructions. |
| Dede: With “hope” we use the phrase “I hope you have a” followed by a holiday or greeting. |
| Jonathan: With “wish” we say “I wish you a” followed by a holiday or greeting. |
| Dede: Well, Jonathan, you’re having a birthday soon, so I hope you have a happy birthday! |
| Jonathan: Thanks! And I wish you a Happy New Years! |
| Dede: New Years isn’t for months! |
| Jonathan: I still hope you have a happy one! |
| Dede: Haha, thanks. |
Outro |
| Jonathan: Well listeners, it looks like we’ve run out of time. |
| Dede: We here at EnglishClass101.com hope you have a great day! |
| Jonathan: Come back soon for the next lesson! |
| Dede: We wish you the best! |
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