Learn about the future real conditional tense and how to use it
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Jonathan: Hi everyone! Jonathan here. |
| Dede: And I’m Dede! Hitting the Dusty American Campaign Trail. |
| Jonathan: In this lesson, we’ll hear a conversation over the phone。You’ll learn about the Future Real Conditional and how to use it. |
| Dede: This conversation takes place between Dave and Sheila. Dave just got some very exciting news and is calling Sheila to tell her about it. |
| Jonathan: Dave is very excited, and since they are friends, they’ll be speaking very casually. |
| Dede: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Dave: Hey Sheila, big news! |
| Sheila: What's up? |
| Dave: I just got a call from Oregon. My district is fairly conservative, but there is this very popular moderate Democratic businessman. He is going to try and unseat the incumbent Representative in the Fall. |
| Sheila: OK… So what does that have to do with you? |
| Dave: He called me up today and asked if I wanted to be his campaign manager. |
| Sheila: What? Are you serious? Are you going to do it? |
| Dave: I don't know... If he wins, I will get to work in his office. But if he loses, I will be completely unemployed. |
| Sheila: Yeah, but that seems like such a great opportunity. |
| Dave: It is. If I do it, it will look great on my resume too. Anyhow, I have to get going. |
| Sheila: OK, when you get home, we will talk about this more. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Dede: So Dave is going to move back to Oregon to work on a campaign? |
| Jonathan: Campaigns are big events in the United States. Unlike parliamentary systems, people vote for individual candidates rather than just parties. |
| Dede: So what does that mean? |
| Jonathan: Well, it means that if a candidate is well-liked and popular, he or she can win in a district that maybe does not share his or her political views strongly. |
| Dede: Oh, so it’s about personality? |
| Jonathan: A big part is, and it’s also about a lot of money. Campaigns spend millions of dollars organizing events, buying advertising time, calling voters, sending out information, and generally trying to “sell” their candidate to voters. The most effective campaigns start with appealing politicians, but they try and emphasize the candidate’s strengths and minimize his or her weaknesses. |
| Dede: Sounds more like advertising and marketing than politics! |
| Jonathan: In a lot of ways, it is! |
| Dede: Weird… |
| Jonathan: Anyhow, let’s take a listen to the vocab for this lesson! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Dede: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Jonathan: district [natural native speed] |
| Dede: an administrative division of an area |
| Jonathan: district [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: district [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Jonathan: conservative [natural native speed] |
| Dede: on the right of the political spectrum, favors less government and traditional morals |
| Jonathan: conservative [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: conservative [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Jonathan: moderate [natural native speed] |
| Dede: not extreme, towards the center |
| Jonathan: moderate [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: moderate [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Jonathan: incumbent [natural native speed] |
| Dede: currently serving, previously elected |
| Jonathan: incumbent [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: incumbent [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Jonathan: campaign [natural native speed] |
| Dede: an effort to get elected to office by making speeches, meeting voters, and delivering a message about why the public should support you |
| Jonathan: campaign [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: campaign [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Jonathan: unemployed [natural native speed] |
| Dede: not working, without a job |
| Jonathan: unemployed [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: unemployed [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Jonathan: opportunity [natural native speed] |
| Dede: a chance; a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something |
| Jonathan: opportunity [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: opportunity [natural native speed] |
| Next is: |
| Jonathan: résumé [natural native speed] |
| Dede: a document detailing a person's professional experience |
| Jonathan: résumé [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: résumé [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 words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Jonathan: Alright. The first phrase we have is… |
| Dede: "Incumbent", which means "currently serving" or "previously elected". |
| Jonathan: In the dialogue, Dave said “He is going to try and unseat the incumbent Representative in the Fall.” Incumbent Representatives have a very high chance of getting re-elected. This means that it is quite difficult to unseat, or defeat, an incumbent. This can change, however, when there are large waves of popular sentiment against one side, like when Obama was elected president or again in 2010 when the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives. |
| Dede: So… Are you the Incumbent Host of Upper Intermediate Season 1? |
| Jonathan: I guess! Though I don’t think I was ever elected… |
| Dede: But, it is true that you are hard to get rid of! |
| Jonathan: (Laughs) Okay, let’s take a look at the next word. |
| Dede: "Campaign", which is "an effort to get elected to political office". |
| Jonathan: Dave said “He called me up today and asked if I wanted to be his campaign manager.” Every campaign needs a campaign manager. This individual is responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the campaign such as the candidate’s schedule, ballot registration, media appearances, advertisements, and any aspect of his campaign. It is extremely important for any candidate to have a strong campaign manager in order to be effective. |
| Dede: OK. So when I am trying to get elected, I think you should be my campaign manager! |
| Jonathan: Well, I’m honored, I’m not sure how good I will be though. |
| Dede: Just try your best, you’ll do great! |
| Jonathan: OK, well as your campaign manager, I think we should do the grammar! |
| Dede: Yes, sir! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Dede: The focus of this lesson is the Future Real Conditional. |
| Jonathan: Sheila and Dave are talking about the job offer Dave got. |
| Dede: Dave says “I don't know... If he wins, I will get to work in his office. But if he loses, I will be completely unemployed.” |
| Jonathan: Yeah, Dave has a big decision to make. If he accepts this job and his candidate wins, he will be rewarded with a great long-term job and good experience. |
| Dede: But if his candidate loses, then he will be unemployed and have nothing to show for it. |
| Jonathan: When we talk about future possibilities, it is very useful to use the Future Real Conditional tense. |
| Dede: This tense is a bit misleading because we can use it to talk about hypothetical situations rather than concrete “real” events. |
| Jonathan: To use this tense, we use an “If/when” statement with a verb in simple present tense to indicate the condition. |
| Dede: After the condition, we make a simple future statement with the action that is the result. |
| Jonathan: I think it’s easier to understand with some examples though, can you think of one for our listeners? |
| Dede: Uhm… "If I eat dinner out tonight, I will not make dinner at home." |
| Jonathan: What about one with “when”? |
| Dede: "When they return to the United States, they will fly through London." |
| Jonathan: Great! We can also reverse the order and put the result in front of the condition. Can you show us some more examples? |
| Dede: Sure! For “when”, "I will go home when the boss leaves the office." |
| Jonathan: And “if”? |
| Dede: "He won’t get on the train if it is too crowded." |
| Jonathan: It’s important to remember the difference between “if” and “when” in these instances. |
| Dede: When we use “if”, we are talking more about an uncertain future. |
| Jonathan: “When”, on the other hand, is for when we are certain about the future and are just giving a reference of the time when you will do the action. |
| Dede: Can we see some examples from the dialogue and see when they are talking about hypothetical situations and when they are certain about the future? |
| Jonathan: Sounds like a great idea.Dave said "If he wins, I will get to work in his office." (hypothetical) |
| Dede: Since he uses "if", it must be hypothetical! |
| Jonathan: Great! What about this one…Dave said "But if he loses, I will be completely unemployed." (hypothetical) |
| Dede: Again, I think this is hypothetical… |
| Jonathan: Yup! You’re on a roll… One more.Sheila said "OK, when you get home, we will talk about this more." (certain) |
| Dede: This one is certain, because she used “when”. |
| Jonathan: 100% correct! |
| Dede: Thank you! I’m just trying to finish up quickly! When I finish this recording, I will go home. |
| Jonathan: I agree! |
Outro |
| Dede: So let’s wrap it up? |
| Jonathan: Sounds good, Well folks, that’s all for this lesson. Remember, if you listen to EnglishClass101.com everyday, you will become fluent in English in no time! Hope to see you next lesson! |
| Dede: Bye for now! |
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