Small Talk

Many people believe small talk is very boring and not personable. Although that is true, there are many places where small talk is very important. In the western culture, strangers talk to other strangers frequently. On the other hand, small talk is not so common in the eastern culture. Because strangers are friendly to one another in the western culture, small talk is very important to master in regards to learning English. One other place small talk is important is in an interview. That is why this session will be important to learn. The best way to learn small talk is to provide many examples. So this lesson will be taught using an example format. Small talk involves many different topics. We will have several sessions on small talk once we have covered other subjects such as sports, jobs, school, etc. But for now, we will go through the basics of small talk conversation. To initiate small talk, we can use what we have learned from our previous several sessions: One: "Hi Bill, how are you doing?" Two: "I'm doing great. How are you doing?" One: "I'm doing well myself." Wasn't that simple? If you studied the material in prior sessions, this should be real easy for you. Now that we have initiated the small talk, it's your responsibility to keep the conversation going. In order to do so, you can talk about anything that is not too personal. Let's first ask what the other person has been doing lately. One: "What have you been up to lately?" Two: "Well, I just started to work at the bank so I'm pretty busy learning everything." You can elaborate on what you have learned to keep the conversation alive. In this example, you are going to ask more questions about school and work. One: "Does that mean you already finished school? I thought you had 1 more semester left." Two: "I took summer courses, so I finished one semester early." One: "It's great that you got a job. I'm really happy for you." Two: "Thanks." As you can now tell, the conversation is getting old. You have a choice of ending the conversation, or changing the topic. Let's practice ending the conversation. One: "We should get together for lunch sometime." Two: "Yeah, that would be great." One: "I'll call you sometime."

Two: "Ok. I'll see you later." One: "Alright. See ya."

Small Talk - Two Example Dialogs

In this conversation, we initiated the conversation and talked about the other person. However, sometimes you will not have anything to talk about. In order to keep the conversation alive, you should think about topics such as the weather. One: "Hi Mary." Two: "Oh, hi." One: "How are you doing?" Two: "I'm doing alright. How about you?" One: "Not too bad. The weather is great isn't it?" Two: "Yes. It's absolutely beautiful today." One: "I wish it was like this more frequently." Two: "Me too." One: "So where are you going now?" Two: "I'm going to meet a friend of mine at the department store." One: "Going to do a little shopping?" Two: "Yeah, I have to buy some presents for my parents." One: "What's the occasion?" Two: "It's their anniversary." One: "That's great. Well, you better get going. You don't want to be late." Two: "I'll see you next time." One: "Sure. Bye." This example is when you run into someone. This is an easy type of small talk because when you run out of things to say, you can always say bye. There are times when you don't have that option. Let's practice a situation where you cannot leave, such as an interview. I go into depth about interview communication in a different section. For now, I am going to emphasize the small talk portion of an interview. There are times when you will not have an opportunity for small talk, but in other cases, you might have to talk about general things. Them: "Hi. My name is Josh. It's a pleasure to meet you." You: "Hi Josh. I'm glad to be here." Them: "Did you have any problems finding this place." You: "I didn't have any problems. I found directions on the internet so it was pretty easy to find. However, the traffic was not that great." Them: "Traffic is never good around here." You: "I agree. It would be great if there was a train or a subway line that went through here." Them: "That would be so great. I would definitely take the train if they had it." You: "Trains are great because you can read a book or get a little rest instead of having to fight the traffic." Them: "Very true. Well, let me begin by telling you about our company..." This is a good example of small talk. It shows that you are easy to speak with, and most importantly, you found a small connection even though it was about a small topic such as the traffic problem. In this type of situation, don't feel that you have to constantly talk. If it is not relevant to the topic, it might be better not to say anything. But if you can add on to the topic, it's a good thing. The person who is giving the interview has the control, and that person will direct the small talk to the interview when the time is right. In my example above, I made a

small transition from the traffic and started the interview process. If you are interested about interview, please go to the Interview Section. You may now move on to the practice session.

Movies - Asking Friend

In this section we will work on the planning aspect of watching a movie. In other Movie sections, we will cover discussing a movie, types of movies, etc. Since this is the first Movie section, let me take a quick minute to explain how to find out movie times and how to pay for tickets in America. It's very similar and simple. First, you need to find out what time a show is playing. In most cases, this is done by checking the internet. Usually, you type in the zip code and all the theatres in that area will display all the movies and movie times for that week. After you have chosen the movie to see, you need to buy the ticket. There are some places you can buy on-line, but it isn't that popular yet. You can go to the theatre before the movie starts and buy it at the theatre. The only thing you need to know how to say is the movie name and the movie time. Here is a quick example. Let's say you are watching the Titanic at 3:00. You walk up to the counter and say, 'Titanic. Three o'clock.' Wasn't that easy? Finally, big block buster movies usually sell out of tickets very quickly. So if you want to see it on opening day, it is wise to go to the theatre right when it opens and buy the tickets in advance. Before you watch a movie, you need to plan ahead with friends. Either you are asking a friend to watch a movie, or you are answering. In either case, we will cover it here. The following questions and statements are used when asking a friend to watch a movie. "Hey John, do you want to (wanna) go see a movie tonight?" "I'm going to watch Terminator 2. Do you wanna join?" "Let's go see The Matrix tomorrow." "What time should we meet at the theatre?" "Let's watch a movie after dinner." "The Titanic is coming out this Friday. Let's go see it." If there are not enough details, a response can be in a question form. Here are a couple of examples. "Who is all going?" "Who are you watching it with?" "Where are you watching it?" "What time are you watching the movie?"

Normal answers: "That sounds great." "I always wanted to see that. Let's go." "Let's meet at the theatre at four o'clock." "Sure. Do you wanna eat lunch together before the movie?" "I've already seen that movie. What else is playing?" "I can't. I have to work that night." "That movie sounds scary. I don't like horror movies." "I really don't like the actors. I'm going to pass."

Movies - Asking Friend

In this section we will work on the planning aspect of watching a movie. In other Movie sections, we will cover discussing a movie, types of movies, etc. Since this is the first Movie section, let me take a quick minute to explain how to find out movie times and how to pay for tickets in America. It's very similar and simple. First, you need to find out what time a show is playing. In most cases, this is done by checking the internet. Usually, you type in the zip code and all the theatres in that area will display all the movies and movie times for that week. After you have chosen the movie to see, you need to buy the ticket. There are some places you can buy on-line, but it isn't that popular yet. You can go to the theatre before the movie starts and buy it at the theatre. The only thing you need to know how to say is the movie name and the movie time. Here is a quick example. Let's say you are watching the Titanic at 3:00. You walk up to the counter and say, 'Titanic. Three o'clock.' Wasn't that easy? Finally, big block buster movies usually sell out of tickets very quickly. So if you want to see it on opening day, it is wise to go to the theatre right when it opens and buy the tickets in advance. Before you watch a movie, you need to plan ahead with friends. Either you are asking a friend to watch a movie, or you are answering. In either case, we will cover it here. The following questions and statements are used when asking a friend to watch a movie. "Hey John, do you want to (wanna) go see a movie tonight?" "I'm going to watch Terminator 2. Do you wanna join?" "Let's go see The Matrix tomorrow." "What time should we meet at the theatre?" "Let's watch a movie after dinner."

"The Titanic is coming out this Friday. Let's go see it." If there are not enough details, a response can be in a question form. Here are a couple of examples. "Who is all going?" "Who are you watching it with?" "Where are you watching it?" "What time are you watching the movie?" Normal answers: "That sounds great." "I always wanted to see that. Let's go." "Let's meet at the theatre at four o'clock." "Sure. Do you wanna eat lunch together before the movie?" "I've already seen that movie. What else is playing?" "I can't. I have to work that night." "That movie sounds scary. I don't like horror movies." "I really don't like the actors. I'm going to pass."

Movies - Example Conversation

Let's look at a couple of example conversations before going to the practice section. Person A: "Hey John, I'm going to see The Matrix with Peter and Brad. Do you wanna come?" Person B: "When are you guys going?" Person A: "We're going to see the eight O'clock showing." Person B: "That would be great. Where are you guys meeting?" Person A: "We're meeting at the theatre at seven thirty." Person B: "Great. I'll meet you guys there." Person A: "Hey Jill." Person B: "What's up Mike?" Person A: "I was wondering if you have any plans for tomorrow night." Person B: "Umm... I don't think I have anything special for tomorrow. Why?" Person A: "Do you want to see The Titanic with me?" Person B: "I wanted to see that. Yeah. Let's go." Person A: "What time is good for you?" Person B: "How about seven thirty." Person A: "Sure. I'll meet you at the theatre at seven.

Movies - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "I hear Batman is supposed to be good. Do you want to go see it tomorrow?" B: "I have to eat dinner with my family tomorrow." A: "We can watch the late show. I think it starts at nine forty five." B: "That would be great." A: "What time can you be at the theatre by?" B: "I can be there by 9:15." A: "Ok. I'll meet you there." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "What are you doing tomorrow?" B: "Nothing really." A: "Let's watch a movie or something." B: "What's on these days?" A: "I think they're playing Lord of the Rings" B: "That sounds pretty good. Let's watch that." A: "Where should we meet?" B: "How about at the subway entrance." A: "Aright. I'll meet you there at one o'clock." 3 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Steve, what are you doing these days?" B: "Just working. The same as usual." A: "Have you seen Shiri?" B: "No. I haven't seen that yet." A: "Let's go watch it tomorrow. It's a weekend and you should take a break." B: "Well, to think of it, that sounds great." A: "I'll give you a call tomorrow about noon and let you know the time." B: "Ok. I'll see you tomorrow." A: "See you." 4 Listen All | Person A | Person B

A: "What should we do this Saturday?" B: "Rocky six is suppose to come out this Friday." A: "Yeah, but I don't know if it is going to be any good." B: "The only reason I want to see it is because I have seen the previous five." A: "True. Ok. Let's see it this Saturday." B: "How about we hook up for lunch at 12:00, and then go see the movie afterwards." A: "Sounds like a plan. Let's meet in front of Tower Records at 12:00."

Movies Types - Action and Drama

In the next three movie sections, we are going to learn about different movie types. Afterwards, we will cover having discussions about movies that you recently saw. But for now, let's work on movie types. There are many different types of movies. You probably know them all in your language, but let's learn what they are in English. Also, we will learn how to say a couple of sentences related to a movie type. If you disagree with a sentence, feel free to change some words around so they fit what you want to say. Although there are many categories, we will learn the most basic 10 types of movies. Action Drama Comedy Romantic comedy Horror Science fiction Suspense (Thriller) Western Commentary / Non-Fiction Action: Movies with lots of fighting, shooting, exploding, etc. "What kind of movie do you like?" "I like action movies because they are fast paced." "Action movies are my favorite." "I like all the action movies with a lot of guns." "I like fight scenes that are choreographed." Drama: Everyone knows drama. Like Titanic and Schindler's List "What type of movies do you like?" "I like all sorts of drama."

"I like movies that play with my emotion." "Drama movies are great because they are the most realistic." "The sad drama movies that make me cry."
/Audio /Audio /Audio /Audio

Movie Types - Comedy and Horror

Comedy: Funny movies with many jokes or actors acting in a funny way. "I love all types of comedy because I love to laugh." "Comedy is my favorite because it is very entertaining to me." "I like comedy that makes fun of political things." "Comedy is so hilarious that I always enjoy watching them." Romantic Comedy: Funny movies with a strong romantic theme. Opposite to action because usually guys like action and the ladies like Romantic comedies. "Many people view romantic comedy movies as chick-flicks." Chick = girl Flick = movie Chick-Flick = a girly type of movie; a movie a girl will like; 'take your girlfriend to' type of movie... or something like that. "Romantic comedy is funny movies that involve a lot of romance." "I love all the story lines of romantic comedy movies." Horror: Scary movies that will give you nightmares for 3 months. "When I was a little kid, I couldn't sleep because of horror movies." "Horror movies are not scary anymore." "I have yet to see a movie that really scares me." "I hate horror movies because I cannot sleep." "I always have nightmares after watching horror movies so I try to avoid them."

Movie Types - Comedy and Horror

Comedy: Funny movies with many jokes or actors acting in a funny way. "I love all types of comedy because I love to laugh." "Comedy is my favorite because it is very entertaining to me."

"I like comedy that makes fun of political things." "Comedy is so hilarious that I always enjoy watching them." Romantic Comedy: Funny movies with a strong romantic theme. Opposite to action because usually guys like action and the ladies like Romantic comedies. "Many people view romantic comedy movies as chick-flicks." Chick = girl Flick = movie Chick-Flick = a girly type of movie; a movie a girl will like; 'take your girlfriend to' type of movie... or something like that. "Romantic comedy is funny movies that involve a lot of romance." "I love all the story lines of romantic comedy movies." Horror: Scary movies that will give you nightmares for 3 months. "When I was a little kid, I couldn't sleep because of horror movies." "Horror movies are not scary anymore." "I have yet to see a movie that really scares me." "I hate horror movies because I cannot sleep." "I always have nightmares after watching horror movies so I try to avoid them."

Movie Types - Other Types

Science Fiction: Futuristic movies like star wars, star trek, theme of time travel, superhuman powers, etc. "Many science fiction movies are about the future." "The success of a science fiction movie is usually dependent on how much they spend on special effects." "After watching a science fiction movie such as star wars, I always wish I lived in the future." "Gene Rodenberry and George Lucas are two great people in the Science Fiction world." Suspense (Thriller): A movie that intentionally keeps you in a heightened state. "I am always on the edge of my seat when I watch suspenseful movies." "I can't stand to watch suspenseful movies because my stomach always gets upset." "The suspense just kills me." "It's so exciting to watch a suspense movie."

Western: Old time cowboy movies "Western movies are not so popular anymore." "Client Eastwood was a popular western actor." "Western movies show a little bit about the United States during the early years." "After watching The Last Samurai, I always hoped an Asian country will make a movie called The Last Cowboy." Commentary / Non-Fiction: Educational and true. "Commentaries and non-fiction films are usually educational." "Non-profit organizations usually create commentaries supported by the government." "Popular non-fiction films are about chimpanzees and gorillas" "Sometimes non-fiction films are sad because of the hidden truth that is revealed."

Movie Types - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "What type of movies do you like?" B: "I like comedies. How about you?" A: "I like action." B: "Action is fun too." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "What type of movies do you like?" B: "I like all sorts of movies, primarily drama and science fiction." A: "That's an interesting combination. How about western movies?" B: "Western and horror are the two types of movies I don't care for." A: "Why don't you like horror? They're entertaining." B: "Some are entertaining, but I find most of them stupid and childish. For example, I don't understand why a person always goes into the house alone when something is suspicious." A: "Ha ha. I know what you mean. But it's just a movie. They need for the characters to do that." 3 Listen All | Person A | Person B

A: "Hey, you wanna see a movie tomorrow?" B: "Sounds like a good plan. What do you want to see?" A: "How about Legally Blonde." B: "Ah, my girlfriend wanted to see that movie. I have to take her later so I don't want to watch it ahead of time. How about The Cube?" A: "Isn't that a scary movie?" B: "How scary can it be? Come on, it'll be fun." A: "Ok. I'll give it a try." B: "That's the spirit. I'll see you tomorrow after class." A: "Ok. See you tomorrow."

Movie Discussion - General Statements

In this movie section, we are going to have discussions about movies that we already saw. This is useful because whenever we come out of a movie theatre, we always ask our friends what we thought about the movie. Sometimes, it's a simple answer such as, 'It was alright.' But sometimes, a good discussion can arise from a great movie. Let's get started... Every time I finish watching a movie, I either ask someone, or someone asks me, "What did you think about the movie?" For the most part, the answer is a simple one line sentence: "It was alright." "It could have been better." "It was pretty good." "I liked it." "It was entertaining." "It was so stupid I almost fell asleep." "Lame" "Boring" "Too unrealistic" I can go on for a long time describing movies. I have listed a few so you get an idea how to answer simple movie questions. Besides simple one line answers, there are a few reasons we need to say other things. It is because either we didn't understand something, want to describe a scene we liked, want to describe a scene that was stupid, or simply go on and on about how great the movie was.

Movie Discussion - Describing a Movie

Didn't understand: "Do you remember the scene when Mary walked into the dining room? Why was she

carrying a knife? She didn't use it and the cameras focused on it." "I can't understand why she betrayed him. The whole movie concentrated on her trust and loyalty. It just doesn't make sense." Good Scene: "I love the scene when Russell Crowe showed his face to the emperor after the first gladiator fight." "What did you think about the last fight scene between Neo and Agent Smith in the rain?" "The courtroom scene between Jodie Foster and Richard Gere was absolutely amazing." Great Movie: "That was such a cool movie. It was the best movie I've seen in a long time." "Anytime I see a great movie I tend to look at my watch often. That's because I don't want the movie to end." "The movie was great. I liked everything about it. I'm definitely going to buy the dvd." Situational questions: "What would you have done? Would you have taken the million dollars and give up your wife for a night?" "Would you choose money and fame, or family and stability?" Some movies are known to be 'based on a true story.' These types of movies are very interesting because they actually happened. The only reason they are not considered to be a non-fiction movie is because the director or writer will add some scenes that didn't happen, or change some facts around so the movie is more appealing to the masses. A conversation can start from movies such as Schindler's List. When coming out of a theatre, I heard a couple talk briefly about this. "What did you think about the movie?" "I thought it was great. It was very powerful." "How much of it do you think was true?" "I learned about Germany and World War II in one of my classes, and this movie showed everything I learned from class." "Wow. It's amazing that these things have happened in our history."

Movie Discussion - Example Dialog

As of this writing, the latest movie I saw was The Last Samurai. After the movie, I had a meal with a couple of people. We had a good discussion due to this movie. It is difficult to

specifically teach what you will need to know about movie conversations because every movie will require different words and sentences. The only thing I can do here is to give ideas and couple of examples about movie conversations. So this is not really going to be a practice section, but a chance to hear a real conversation from a movie. You can click on each individual sentence, or you can click on the link provided below to hear a real life conversation. Listen to the conversation A: "Did you like the movie?" B: "It was better than I thought." C: "I liked it." A: "The movie didn't have many cheesy or stupid scenes." B: "Yeah. I'm glad that they didn't have any love scenes. Sometimes a love scene destroys a good movie." C: "I thought the scene where the girl was washing her hair and Tom Cruise came to say good bye was stupid. Why did they have that there? It didn't make sense." B: "I agree. They didn't need that scene." A: "I don't see the harm in that scene. They didn't do anything or show anything. What's the big deal?" C: "When you are talking about good movies versus great movies, each and every scene counts." A: "That's true." B: "But besides those one or two scenes, the movie was great." A: "I liked everything about it. I really liked the samurai that was beating up Cruise in the beginning of the movie. The guy second in command. He was cool too." B: "Every movie has a guy like him. They try to make him awesome even though they don't say much." C: "I don't understand why Tom Cruise went back to that village. If he was the only survivor, wouldn't that make everyone suspicious about where his loyalty lies?" A: "It was clear in the movie that he loved the place and the samurais. Clearly everyone knows that he isn't a traitor. I would have done the same thing in his position." B: "I think so too." C: "But isn't it suspicious that he is the only survivor." A: "Well, all the samurais were looking for a death in battle. Cruise wasn't." C: "But only the boss received the satisfaction of being killed with the sword. Nobody else did." A: "True." B: "What are we going to order?" C: "I am going to have a chicken burger because of the Mad Cow disease." A: "Me too." B: "I'm just having a soup and salad."

Favorite - What's your Favorite

The word favorite is used a lot in spoken English. It is very common to talk about your favorite things with your friends or acquaintances. Topics can range from favorite movies, favorite TV shows, favorite food, favorite cars, etc. Since there are so many favorite things in the world, you should pay close attention to this lesson. Asking questions is the most common way to use the word favorite: "Who is your favorite singer?" "Who is your favorite person?" "Who is your favorite athlete?" "Who was your favorite ex-girlfriend?" "Who was your favorite elementary teacher?" Are you following me? It's very easy. Just change the word at the end and you can make dozens of sentences. "What is your favorite show?" "What is your favorite movie?" "What is your favorite dessert?" "What is your favorite program?" "What is your favorite class?" "What is your favorite game?" "What was the title of your favorite song?" "What was the name of your favorite sit-com?" We used 'who' and 'what' in our sentences. It's possible to use 'where', 'how', and 'when', but the most common is 'what' and 'who'. I'll provide a couple of sentences for the other words. "Where is your favorite vacation spot?" "When is your favorite time of day?" "How is your favorite noodles cooked?" It's not common, because even though it is grammatically incorrect, you can ask the same question with 'what' "What is your favorite vacation spot?" "What is your favorite time of day?"

Nobody is really going to notice and it's not a big deal. After this lesson is over, I suggest practicing with 'what' and 'who', but don't bother with the others. It's not as important.

Favorite - Answering Questions

To answer these types of questions, it is very easy. All you have to do is change 'your' to 'my', repeat the last portion of the question and add your answer. We'll practice a couple of times. "What is your favorite show?" "My favorite show is Smurfs." "What is your favorite movie?" "My favorite movie is Matrix." "What is your favorite dessert?" "My favorite dessert is cheesecake." "Who is your favorite singer?" "My favorite singer is Josh Groban." "Who is your favorite athlete?" "My favorite athlete is Tiger Woods." "Who was your favorite elementary teacher?" "My favorite elementary teacher was Mrs. Smouse." Different ways to ask about favorite things You don't necessarily have to use the word favorite. Favorite basically means what you like the most. So, you can ask favorite questions without the word favorite. "What do you like to eat the most?" "My favorite food is ice cream." "What is a childhood memory that stands out?" "My favorite childhood memory is a time I went fishing with my dad." "Which professor do you like the most?" "My favorite professor is Professor Kim." Likewise, you can answer questions without using the word favorite. "What is your favorite baseball team?" "I like Seattle Mariners the most." "What is your favorite type of food?" "I love Italian food... especially pasta. They are so good." "Who is your favorite music group?"

"I really enjoy listening to Depeche Mode."

Favorite - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "What are you doing tomorrow?" B: "I'm going to stay home and watch the video." A: "What are you going to watch?" B: "I rented Last of the Mohican. Have you seen it?" A: "That was one of my favorite movies. You will not be disappointed." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "What's your favorite food?" B: "I like Chinese food the most." A: "Have you been to the Chinese restaurant on 44th street." B: "No I haven't. Is it any good?" A: "It's my favorite Chinese restaurant. I believe you will like it." B: "That sounds great. Let's go." 3 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Jack. How were your classes this semester?" B: "They were not too bad. I really dig/liked my poli-science class." A: "Would you consider it your favorite class?" B: "I don't know if I would call it my favorite, but it ranks up there." A: "What class was your favorite then?" B: "I took a business communication class last year and it was terrific." A: "I never took that yet. If that was your favorite, I think I will check it out."

Hobby - Questions and Answers

Hobbies are a hot topic anytime. Similar to favorite things, hobbies are favorite things that you do. This is a small section so let's get started.

Questions you can ask: "What are your hobbies?" "What do you do in your spare time?" "What do you like to do?" "What do you like to do for fun?" "If you had extra time, what would you do with it?" There is not much else you can say. Remember that we can create many different sentences, but we want to use what is most common in spoken English. So we need to stay with the most common words. Answering questions: "My hobbies consist of golfing, reading novels, and watching movies." "I like to play computer games in my free time." "If I'm not working, then I'm busy chatting with people on the Internet." "During my spare time, I like to cook." "I like to read magazines." "In the summer I play golf, and in the winter, I go skiing." "I love every type of sports." Making statements: "I need to find a hobby. I have nothing to do all day." "Maybe you wouldn't be so lonely if you had a hobby." "Hobbies are great because it allows you to do what you enjoy." "Although I have many hobbies, I wish I had more time to do more." "I love to go snowboarding. It's exhilarating." "I would go skiing more often, but it takes such a long time to go up to the mountains." "I wish golfing wasn't so expensive. I would golf almost everyday if I could afford it."

Hobby - Various Q&A

"If you had all the money in the world, what would you do?" "I would probably find some hobbies and join an organization that works for a good cause." "You just stay home most of the week. Don't you ever get bored?" "A lot of my hobbies are things I do by myself such as oil painting, sculpting, and drawing. So actually, I have a lot to do with not enough time." "I'm so bored. I have nothing to do." "Maybe you should start thinking about some hobbies."

"Is studying considered a hobby?" "Studying is usually associated with school and work, so it's not usually considered a hobby. But if it's not for these purposes, then I guess it can be a hobby. That's just my opinion though." "What do you do in your spare time?" "I do a lot of writing, so I write every chance I get." Like many topics in English, a conversation will go towards the content of the conversation. So let's review with longer dialogs in practice.

Hobby - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Bob. Whatcha you doing?" B: "I'm at home painting." A: "I didn't know you paint. What type of painting is it?" B: "I enjoy oil painting. I learned it in one of my extra classes in college." A: "That sounds so interesting. I wish I learned a hobby." B: "Hobbies are never too late to learn. They offer a variety of classes at the local community college. You should look into it." A: "I think I will. Thanks for the info." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Joanne. What are you up to?" B: "I'm just watching some television." A: "I'm so bored. I don't know what I'm going to do today and it is only ten in the morning." B: "Me too. Do you think we are boring people?" A: "I don't think we are boring. It's just that we don't have any hobbies." B: "That's right. What do you think we should do as a hobby?" A: "That all depends on what you like to do. For example, I like to doodle on the notepad, so I'm thinking about doing some real drawings." B: "I like to play the piano for fun." A: "Yeah. That can be a good hobby." B: "Hobbies are great. I'm going to make a list of all the things I like to do." A: "That's a great idea. I'm going to do the same."

Exercise - Questions
There are various types of exercise. Some people might think walking is exercise, and some other people will think weight lifting is exercise. In the next couple of lessons, we will take a closer look at various types of exercise. Exercising can be done in many different ways. Here is a small list to get us started: Walking Jogging Running Sports Aerobics Rowing (boat) Commuting to work Etc. Here are some questions. "Do you exercise at all?" "Do you work out?" "What type of exercising do you do?" "Where is a good place to exercise?" "Why don't you exercise?" "Where do you usually jog?" "How long do you take a walk for?" "How often do you jog?" "Where do you do aerobics?" "How long do you usually run for everyday?"

Exercise - Walking Jogging and More

Walking: "Every morning right when I get up, I like to take a thirty minute walk." "I like to take walks with my dog." "Golf is a healthy sport because of all the walking it requires." "I heard from some doctors that walking is the healthiest form of exercise." "There's a trail by my house that is a perfect 20 minute walk." "We usually go to a nearby lake and walk around it." Jogging: "Every night, I go to an elementary school across from my house and jog a few laps around

the playground." "I go jogging in the morning when the air is still fresh." "Some people find jogging stressful, but I find it as a way to relieve some of my stress." "It feels so good after jogging for half an hour." "I usually jog on a treadmill because it's convenient." Sports: We will have another more comprehensive lesson on sports in a different lesson. "I usually play a lot of basketball" "I get enough exercise from soccer." "I like to play sports because it is a good form of exercise and allows me to have fun all at the same time." "Although bowling is a sport, I don't consider it a form of exercise." "I play volleyball a couple hours a day." "I practice baseball with my school team everyday." "I'm in my high school's track and field team. I'm a long distance runner." "I don't play soccer because it requires too much running." "Running constantly is a hard thing to do." Others: "Aerobics is an excellent form of exercise." "I use a video at home to do my aerobic sessions." "I like to do aerobics because it targets specific areas." "I get my exercise from rowing. I'm on the junior varsity crew team." "I ride my bicycle to work every day." "I take the stairs because it gives me a little bit of a work out." "I go to the local park and ride my rollerblades."

Exercise - US Culture
Having lived in the United States and Korea, I realized one big thing immediately. In Korea, I have to do a lot of walking. When I went to school or to work, I had to leave my house, walk to the bus stop or the subway which takes about 10-15 minutes, get off at my destination, and walk the rest of the way, which is another 15 minutes. Total time walking is about 25 minutes. This translates to 50 minutes a day round trip, and about 3-4 kilometers everyday. I didn't even know it, but I was exercising. In America, everyone has a car. While going to work here, I literally walk about 7 minutes a day. That's a total distance of 300 meters. The reason is because I only have to walk to my car. I drive to work, and then I walk from the parking lot to my office. So, I realized I was gaining weight without having changed anything except the walking I wasn't doing.

I suppose that is why in America there is a big hype about exercising and losing weight. If you don't want to, you don't have to walk anywhere or exercise at all. In Korea, walking is part of the daily routine. So although you don't need to know this lesson as much as other lessons, it will still help when talking to foreigners about this subject. Let's continue with the lesson by doing the practice. In the next exercise lesson, we will learn about speaking English in relation to working out in the gym.

Exercise - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Michael. Where are you going?" B: "No where special. I was just taking a walk." A: "What for?" B: "To get a little exercise. I'm so out of shape." A: "Hey, I play basketball with a bunch of friends twice a week. It's great exercise and it's fun too. Why don't you come out and play with us?" B: "That sounds great. Give me a call next time you guys play." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "All I do all day is work and watch TV. I really should start thinking about my health." B: "I never thought about that, but you're right. What do you think we should do?" A: "For starters, we should start doing more outdoor activities. That way we'll get some exercise." B: "I was thinking about taking tennis lessons. I always have an hour to spare in the afternoon. What do you think about that?" A: "That's not a bad idea. How much is it?" B: "I heard it is only about one hundred twenty dollars a month for 8 lessons." A: "Playing tennis twice a week will be a good start. Count me in."

Exercise Gym - Lifting Weights

Popular types of exercising are conducted in the gym or health club. When I refer to a gym, I am implying a health club. Two common types of exercising in the gym are working out / lifting weights, or using machines such as treadmills, bicycle machines, step machines, etc. It's common for guys to get together and talk about lifting weights. Likewise, girls get together and discuss the best methods to lose weight. In this lesson, we are going to lay the ground work on talking about exercising in the gym. Lifting weights Professional weight lifters are called body builders. But since the number of body builders are not significant, we are going to concentrate more on regular weight lifting. I don't lift weights, but when I see a friend who is noticeably bigger due to lifting weights, these are the types of things I say. "Have you been lifting?" You do not need to say lifting weights. When you say lifting, it's understood that you are talking about weights. "You got big man." "How long have you been lifting?" Other terminologies for lifting weights are: Pumping Iron Pressing Iron Pressing Weights Working Out Weight Training Hitting the Gym

Exercise Gym - Questions and Answers

Here are some questions you can ask. "Where do you work out?" "What club do you work out at?" "When do you usually work out?" "How often do you work out?" "How many hours do you work out in a day?" To ask how they work out or what their routine is, you can ask:

"When you bench, how many reps and sets do you do?" Reps are repetition. In weight lifting terminology, this means how many times they lift in one set. "Do you do low reps with heavy weights, or many reps with light weight." "How many sets do you do when you work out your arms?" If you are the person being asked these questions, here are ways you can answer: "I work out at 24 Hour Fitness" "I work out at Bally's" "I work out at Samsung Health Club" "I started lifting weights about 2 years ago." "I have been lifting weights for about 2 years now." "I just started 9 months ago." "I usually work out 2 hours a day 4 times a week." "I work out everyday for an hour." "I go to the gym 3 times a week." "I go in every other day." "I can bench press 220 pounds." "I squat 400 pounds." "I curl 90 pounds." "I'm trying to gain bulk so I'm doing low reps with heavy weights." "I'm trying to get ripped, so I'm doing a lot of repetitions." Ripped means to get lines to show up in the muscles. It's called ripped because when you rip a piece of paper, you see a line in the paper where the tear is. So a person is ripped when you can see lines on his body due to muscles.

Exercise Gym - Other Methods

Other ways to work out in a health club Many people lift weights in the health club, but many people also go to lose weight using machines such as the treadmill and bicycle machines. Here are some things you can say in a conversation if you fall into this category.

"When I go to the health club, I usually spend 30 minutes on the treadmill, 20 minutes on the bicycle, and finally 10 minutes on the step master." "There is no place to run in the city, so I have to do my running on the treadmill." "It always rains around here so I like to exercise in the gym." "I usually use the treadmill, but I try to work on the nautilus machines at least twice a week." "My wife exercises four times a week." "My husband can't last 10 minutes on the step machine."

Exercise Gym - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "What do you do besides work and watching TV?" B: "When I have some time, I like to exercise." A: "Do you go jogging or do you go to a health club?" B: "I joined Samsung Health Club a couple of months ago." A: "How do you exercise?" B: "I usually spend 30 minutes on the bicycle for the cardio, and then I lift weight for about 45 minutes." A: "How often do you go?" B: "I want to go four times a week, but I'm too lazy. Last week, I only went to workout once." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Jimmy. Let's go workout later today." B: "Sure. What time do you want to go?" A: "How about at 3:30." B: "That sounds good. Today we work on Legs and forearm." A: "Hey. I just played basketball earlier, so my legs are a little sore. Let's work out on arms and stomach today." B: "I'm on a weekly schedule. You're messing everything up." A: "C'mon. We're only switching two days. You can do legs on Friday." B: "Aright. I'll meet you at the gym at 3:30 then." 3 Listen All | Person A | Person B

A: "Damn Scott. You got big." B: "Yeah, I've been working out a lot." A: "How long have you been lifting weights?" B: "For a year and a half." A: "Yeah. Last time I saw you, it was like 2 years ago." B: "Has it been that long?" A: "How often do you go to the gym?" B: "I usually go every other day for about 3 hours." A: "That's a lot." B: "Yeah, I used to work out for an hour a day 4 times a week, and I saw no results. This is what you have to do to get noticeable results." A: "I don't think I have the discipline for that." B: "Just think of it as a hobby. Then it's actually fun."

Intro and General Things Review

This review section is going to incorporate every lesson we had so far. We are not learning anything new here, but the sentences and topics will be selected randomly from previous lessons. If you feel you have done poorly after the first grouping of questions, please stop and go through the lessons you failed to answer. The only way you will completely master English is through persistence, hard work, and repetition. You are judging yourself, so be honest. The rule of thumb is that if you cannot answer a question relatively quickly, you need more practice.

General Things Review - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "How are you doing?" B: "I'm doing great." A: "What movies have you seen lately?" B: "I saw Forrest Gump the other day." A: "What type of movie is that?" B: "The movie type is drama." A: "I can't believe you are watching movies. The weather is great. You should be outside."

B: "I hate the hot weather. I'd rather stay indoors with the air conditioner." A: "What else do you like to do besides watching movies?" B: "I like to play computer games, read books, go shopping, and play pool." A: "Out of those what is your favorite?" B: "My favorite is to play computer games." A: "What is your favorite computer game?" B: "My favorite is Diablo. It used to be Star Craft, but it is getting a little old." A: "If you like to play so much, when do you ever exercise?" B: "Although I hate to exercise, I go jogging at least twice a week." A: "That's pretty good. By the way, what are you doing next Saturday?" B: "I am going to go to the bookstore." A: "I am having a party Saturday night at my house. If you have time, you should come." B: "That sounds like fun." A: "Great. I'll see you on Saturday." B: "Ok. See you later." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hello?" B: "Hi Steve. This is Mike. What are you doing?" A: "Oh, hi. I was just watching TV." B: "There's nothing to watch right now." A: "I know. I was watching a re-run. I have nothing to do and I was bored." B: "Me too. Let's get together and do something." A: "I'd like to, but I have to meet my parents in an hour for dinner. How about tomorrow?" B: "Yeah. Let's plan something tomorrow." A: "Did you hear the weather forecast for tomorrow?" B: "I think it is going to be the same as today. Clear and sunny." A: "That's great. We can do something outdoors then." B: "Are there any special events going on tomorrow?" A: "Yeah. I think there's a live outdoor concert by the river tomorrow." B: "Oh yeah. I heard about that too. Let's go check it out." A: "Do you know what time it starts?" B: "It starts at one PM." A: "Let's meet for lunch at eleven thirty and afterwards, we can head over there." B: "Perfect. I'll see you in front of the apartment at eleven thirty." 3 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Steve. Is that you?" B: "Yeah. What's going on?" A: "Not much. What a surprise to see you here." B: "Yeah. It's been a couple of months since I saw you." A: "What have you been up to?" B: "I just started working out." A: "Really? Where do you work out at?" B: "I joined the Samsung Health Club last month." A: "What do you mostly do during your workout?" B: "I concentrate mostly on my legs, chest, arms and stomach."

A: "I should start exercising more." B: "It's hard work while exercising, but it is a great feeling when I get done." A: "I have a running machine at home. I used to use it, but I already got sick of it." B: "Exercising at home is hard. The environment is not suited for exercising." A: "If I want to exercise, I will need to join a gym." B: "I have a couple of guest passes. You want to check out my health club." A: "That's a good idea. Let's go over the weekend." B: "Great. I'll call you Saturday morning." A: "Aright. I'll talk to you later." B: "Ok. Bye." 4 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "The weather is terrible." B: "Yeah. It's been raining a lot these days." A: "I have been watching a lot of videos at home because of the constant rain." B: "Have you heard when it's supposed to get better?" A: "I saw the weather report, and it's going to rain for the next eight days." B: "That sucks so much. What are we going to do?" A: "I'm getting pretty bored. We should do something despite the rain." B: "I'm with you. What do you have in mind?" A: "I haven't been to the Mall in a long time. Let's go there." B: "That sounds good. They have a movie theatre there, so if we get bored, we can watch a movie." A: "Great. I'll stop by your place now." B: "Ok. Don't forget to bring your umbrella. The rain can start up again anytime."

Smoking - Non Smoking Areas

Smoking and non-smoking areas Currently in America, many states are banning indoor public smoking. That means no smoking in bars, restaurants, or any other place that is deemed public. California is an example of a state that implemented this rule. But there are still places where smoking is permitted. Here are some questions you might find useful. "Is this a non-smoking establishment?" "Do you have a smoking section here?" "Is smoking allowed?" "Where is the smoking section?" "Is there a designated smoking area?" At a bar or a smoking place, if you need an ashtray, you can say,

"Can I have an ashtray?" If you have one and you need another one, simply say, "Can I have another ashtray?" If you are smoking in an area that is a non-smoking area, you might hear people say the following... if you are a non-smoker, then you can learn this to say to others that are smoking in a non-smoking area. "This is a non-smoking area." "There's no smoking in this area." "This is a non smoking establishment." "There's no smoking in the airport." "Smoking is only allowed in the bar area." "You cannot smoke here. Can you please go to the bar or outside to smoke?" Responding to these can be done with a simple, "I'm terribly sorry. I'll take this to the smoking area." "Sorry. I didn't know I was in a no smoking area. I'll move right away." The easiest way is just to apologize and leave immediately with a, 'sorry.'

Smoking - Quitting and General Statements

If you are in a hotel getting a room, the clerk might ask you, "Would you like a smoking room or a non-smoking room?" If you hate the smell of smoke and they do not ask, you can verify what type of room it is by asking, "Can you make sure it's a non-smoking room?" "Is this going to be a non-smoking room?" While smoking, you will sometimes talk about smoking. If that's the case, you can ask these types of questions. "How long have you been smoking?" "Have you been smoking long?" "Have you ever tried to quit smoking?" Comments you can say while smoking with someone "Smoking is so bad, but it feels so good."

"I've been smoking for 10 years." "I tried to quit a couple of times. It's really hard." I heard some comments from some people justifying cigarette smoking "There was a 90 year old man who smokes one pack a day and drinks one bottle of Soju a day and he is very healthy. He's been doing it for over 60 years." "I only smoke when I'm with friends." "I only smoke when I'm drinking." "I can quit anytime I want. There is just no need to right now." "The best way to quit is cold turkey." Cold turkey is a terminology used to completely stop without any help with things such as nicotine gum or nicotine patches. "There are a lot of aids to help you stop smoking. I heard hypnosis is pretty good." "I quit for 3 months last year. I used the patch to help stop the cravings."

Smoking - Asking for Light and Hate Smoking

When you don't have a lighter or matches, do not ask for fire. That is a common mistake. Instead, ask for a light. "Do you have a light?" "Can I borrow your lighter?" "Can I use your matches?" If you catch someone smoking, like your kid or your significant other, you can say, "Have you been smoking?" "Is that smoke I smell?" "Who taught you how to smoke?" "Where did you get those cigarettes?" "I saw you smoking yesterday." "You smoke don't you?" Finally, for people who do not like smoking, here is a section on communicating your disgust with smoking. "I hate smoking. It smells so bad and hurts my throat." "I don't like that club because it smells like smoke in there."

"It is way too smoky in the bar." "It's a little stuffy with smoke in here. I'm going outside to get some fresh air." "Have you ever kissed a smoker? You can taste the smoke. It's disgusting." "I get a headache when I'm around smoke." Second hand smoke is a term used for non-smokers breathing the smoke from smokers. So if you are a non-smoker and you are in a bar, the air you are breathing is basically second hand smoke. "I heard that second hand smoke is just as bad for you as smoking." "Second hand smoke can give you health problems too." "Children who grow up breathing second hand smoke have greater health risks growing up." "I don't mind second hand smoke. I got used to it over the years."

Smoking - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Bobby. What's going on?" B: "Just taking a smoke break." A: "I forgot my cigarette today. Do you have another one?" B: "Sure. Here you go." A: "Thanks." B: "I didn't know you smoked." A: "Really? I've been smoking for over a year now." B: "Oh. You're new to smoking still. I've been smoking for 7 years." A: "You ever tired to quit?" B: "Many times. I'm really addicted. It's harder to stop than you think." A: "Yeah. I tried to quit last month, and I thought it was going to be easy, but it turns out that I'm still smoking." B: "I highly recommend you quit soon. The longer you smoke, the harder it becomes to quit." A: "I think you're right. Aright. Gotta go to class. Thanks for the cigarette. I'll talk to you later." B: "No problem. I'll talk to you later." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Jane. How are you doing?" B: "Hi Jack. I'm doing great."

A: "I hope you haven't been waiting too long." B: "No. I just got here a few minutes ago." A: "Do you know if smoking is allowed here?" B: "I think this is a no-smoking place. Do you want to go somewhere else?" A: "That's alright. I don't need to smoke." B: "Why don't you quit?" A: "I never thought about it. All my friends smoke, and we hang out a lot." B: "So do you smoke by yourself?" A: "When I started I didn't, but after a few months I started smoking at home. Usually when I'm bored." B: "Do you smoke cause you're bored?" A: "Yeah. It helps to kill the time. I also think it's out of habit. I'm so used to having a cigarette every now and then." B: "How much do you smoke in a day?" A: "I smoke about a half pack a day." B: "Well, I think you should quit. You know it's bad for you?" A: "I always knew it was bad, but I never thought about it." B: "You better start thinking about it now. You might not feel the difference now, but after 10 years of smoking, you might feel it and then it will be too late." A: "That's a good point. I'll try to quit." B: "Good. And if you need any support, I'll always be here for you." A: "Thanks."

Drinking - Terminologies
Many countries have drinking rules such as using two hands to receive drinks, never allowing your drinking friend to pour their own drinks, never leaving a glass empty too long, and so on. But in America, there isn't that many rules you need to know. I'll cover as much as I can and soon enough, you shouldn't have any problems talking while drinking in America. (I do not know the drinking etiquettes of other English speaking countries such as England, so learn about drinking rules before going there) In a Bar There are a few terminologies you have to learn. Tap - Beer in a glass that is from a large container Well - Same as Tap. Different wording Pint - This is 16 fluid ounces. This roughly translates to 500cc. Bottles - Bottles of beer Pitchers - Same as Tap, but put in a pitcher Mixed Drinks - Special Drinks like a mixture of Vodka and Orange Juice. They have names for these such as Fuzzy Navel, Rum and Coke, Buttery Nipple, Gin and tonic, and so on. Wine - Red or white. Bottle or glass Shots - Hard alcohol in small shot glass On the Rocks - Hard alcohol in a bigger glass with ice

Straight Up - Used when ordering a hard alcohol. Specifying that you do not want ice Double - Two shots in a bigger glass Round - Used in groups when ordering together. Bottoms up - One shot. Drink everything in your glass Cheers - Word used before hitting glasses together before drinking Champagne - Carbonated wine used in special occasions such as weddings. Toast - A person usually makes a speech at a special occasion with glasses raised before all taking a drink together. Usually with champagne

Drinking - Ordering Drinks

I'll cover ordering drinks in a restaurant in the 'Restaurant' section. For now, I'll limit this session to ordering drinks in a bar, and drinking with friends. When you are in a bar, you can either go up to the counter or wait for a server to come by. If you go to the counter, you order what you want by saying the drink name and the quantity. "I'll take 4 bottles of Corona." "I'll take a pitcher of Red Hook." "Give me 3 shots of Crowne." "I'll have one Jack and Coke." After you get the drink, the bartender will usually say, "That will be $12.50." If you pay with cash, then you should receive change. Make sure to tip once in a while. However, if you pay with a card, they will usually ask if you want to leave it open. Leaving it open means to keep the credit card open so if you order more drinks, you will get one bill instead of having to use the credit card multiple times. You will hear something like this. "Do you want to keep it open?" If you want to keep the credit card open before they ask you, you can say this. "Can you keep it open?" If you have a credit card open, then any more drinks you order will go on your credit card. When you are done for the night, you can simply tell them that you are ready for your bill. "Can I get my bill?"

If the bartender has your credit card, then you can go up to the counter and say the same thing, or say, "I would like to close my tab."

Drinking - Ordering at a Table

If you are sitting at a table in a bar, a server will come up and ask you what you want. They can ask in multiple ways, but the most common are the following. "What can I get you guys?" "What can I get you?" "What would you like today?" "What will it be?" "What do you guys want today?" Other things you can ask is if there are any specials. "Are there any specials today?" If they do, they will probably tell you the drink and the price that is on special. Here is an example. "All our margaritas are $2.50, and well drinks are $2.00." "Every Monday we have pitchers for $5.00." If you are having pints or shots or some other drink, and you want to get one more for everyone, you can say to the server that you want one more round. "Can we get one more round?" They will respond by saying, 'Same thing?' or 'Four Coronas again?' When you are sitting with your friends to drink, mostly you just talk and drink. But if somebody is getting low on a drink, you can offer to buy another one. Another situation is if someone buys you a drink, you want to say that you will buy the next round. Here are some examples. "I'm going to get another drink. Do you want one?" "Let me buy you a drink." "Thanks. I'll get the next round."

Drinking - General Things

When you are all standing in front of the bar to buy a beer, sometimes one person will pay. Usually everyone reaches for their money, but one person who wants to pay says, "It's alright, I got this one."

Another popular saying is when you meet a good friend and you want to buy them a drink. "Hey, let me buy you a drink. What do you want?" When you do cheers, you can either say cheers, or dedicate the next gulp to something. You first lift up your glass and say, "This is to good times. Cheers." "For the end of our junior year." "To success." Basically anything you want to drink for. Among friends, you can recommend shots. At a bar, mostly people drink beer and mixed drinks. However, between drinks someone can recommend having a shot altogether. "Hey, let's all do a shot." "Shot time." "Let's get 4 shots of Jack." Asking questions about how well someone drinks "How much can you drink?" "How many beers does it take to get you buzzed?" "Depending on the day, but mostly it will take 4 beers before I start to get buzzed." "I usually have about 6 drinks when I go out." Also, when someone can't drink that much, people usually use the term light weight. You should also know how to ask if a person is ok to drive. If they look drunk, then you should take away their keys. However, if they are ok, you can usually ask them if they are capable of driving. "Are you ok to drive?" "Are you going to be able to drive?" "You sure you can drive?" Before moving on to the Interactive Practice section for drinking, listen to a conversation with a couple of friends in a bar. Listen to the Conversation A: "Hey wassup. What are you guys drinking?"

B: "We're having pitchers." C: "Dude, you're going to need a glass." A: "Excuse me?" S: "Yeah." A: "Can I get a glass?" S: "Sure." A: "Have you guys been drinking long?" C: "Not really. This is only our second pitcher." B: "You better start catching up." A: "When I get my glass, I will." B: "You ok with shots right?" A: "Yeah." B: "What do you usually have?" C: "He always has the same thing. Crowne." A: "Exactly." B: "That's good stuff." C: "You finally got your glass. Hey Cheers. To good friends."

Drinking - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Do you drink much?" B: "Depending on what you consider a lot." A: "How frequently do you drink?" B: "Couple times a week. How about you?" A: "Only when I go out. I'm not a big drinker." B: "How much can you drink?" A: "I usually only have 2 beers." B: "You're a light weight." A: "How much can you drink?" B: "I'm usually drinking all night long. At least 10 drinks." A: "Don't you spend a lot of money then?" B: "No. We usually go to places that have specials. Dante's over on the Ave has $5.00 pitchers on Mondays. So for ten, fifteen bucks, I can get a lot of drinks." A: "That's true." B: "If you don't like beer, have you tried mixed drinks? Some of them are pretty good." A: "I like beer, it's just that I get a headache when I drink more than 3." B: "You just have to build up a tolerance. I used to be like that. But your body gets used to

it." A: "It'll take awhile, but I'm working on it." B: "Hey let's go out tomorrow night. The Ram Bar and Grill is having a special on pitchers." A: "Aright."

Health - Family
If you are young and pretty healthy, then you do not need to say many different things. What we have covered so far is a good starting point in health discussions. For the next section, I am going to go into good and bad health of older people such as parents or grandparents. If a person is very old and does not have any sickness, then the usual comment is to mention how healthy that person is. "My grandfather can't move that much because of leg pains. But besides that, he is very healthy." "She's quite healthy for her age." "My mother always complains about some pain, but the doctor can never find any wrong with her." "My grandmother is in a nursing home. She's pretty healthy but can't walk that well." Often times we ask about the health of a new born baby. Here are some sentences you can say. "I just had my baby." "Oh really? Is the baby healthy?" "He's a healthy little boy." "I'm so blessed with healthy children." "I'm so happy that my children are all healthy." "I wish I was rich, but I can't complain. I have a job, my children are healthy, and most of all, we are all happy." Although it is fortunate to have healthy relatives, we are sometimes in a situation where health is a problem in the family. "My uncle died from stomach cancer. The doctors say it is mostly hereditary but I think it was due to all the spicy food he ate." "My father is very unhealthy. He says it is because he didn't take care of his body when he was young." "My sister is always sick. I'm really concerned about her health." "My brother is tired all the time. I think he is unhealthy."

Health - Family
If you are young and pretty healthy, then you do not need to say many different things. What we have covered so far is a good starting point in health discussions. For the next section, I am going to go into good and bad health of older people such as parents or grandparents. If a person is very old and does not have any sickness, then the usual comment is to mention how healthy that person is. "My grandfather can't move that much because of leg pains. But besides that, he is very healthy." "She's quite healthy for her age." "My mother always complains about some pain, but the doctor can never find any wrong with her." "My grandmother is in a nursing home. She's pretty healthy but can't walk that well." Often times we ask about the health of a new born baby. Here are some sentences you can say. "I just had my baby." "Oh really? Is the baby healthy?" "He's a healthy little boy." "I'm so blessed with healthy children." "I'm so happy that my children are all healthy." "I wish I was rich, but I can't complain. I have a job, my children are healthy, and most of all, we are all happy." Although it is fortunate to have healthy relatives, we are sometimes in a situation where health is a problem in the family. "My uncle died from stomach cancer. The doctors say it is mostly hereditary but I think it was due to all the spicy food he ate." "My father is very unhealthy. He says it is because he didn't take care of his body when he was young." "My sister is always sick. I'm really concerned about her health." "My brother is tired all the time. I think he is unhealthy."

Health - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of

Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hi Mike. What have you been up to?" B: "Not much. I started exercising." A: "Trying to get in shape?" B: "Yeah, and I need to start improving my health." A: "Me too. What are you doing besides exercising?" B: "That's about all." A: "I think if you eat better, it will help tremendously." B: "Sleep is good too. I heard people who sleep an average of eight hours a day have less health problems." A: "Looks like there are a lot of things to do to stay healthy." B: "True. But I think it is worth it. When you get old, you want to be healthy and active." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Did your wife give birth yet?" B: "Yeah. She's a healthy beautiful girl." A: "Congratulations. How is your wife doing?" B: "She is tired, but getting a lot of rest now." A: "That's good to hear." B: "I'm just glad there were no complications." A: "If your wife and baby are both happy, what more can you ask for?" B: "It's been a week, and I haven't slept that well." A: "That's normal for anyone with a newborn." B: "Yeah, but it's so hard. I have to work, and then go home and take care of my wife and the baby. I'm going to get sick at this rate." A: "You'll get used to it. After everything stabilizes, you can regain your health." B: "That's true. I should make sure my wife and baby stay healthy during this time." 3 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "I haven't seen your father in like 5 years. How is he doing?" B: "He's not doing too well." A: "Why? What's wrong?" B: "About a year ago, he started feeling weak all the time." A: "Is it due to old age or is he sick." B: "Maybe a little of both. The doctor's can't point out anything specifically. I think it is because he didn't take care of himself during his youth." A: "That makes sense. It's important to take care of your health early in life." B: "That's what my father tells me almost everyday." A: "Well, I hope he starts feeling better. Say hi to him for me." B: "Thanks. I'll let him know."

Body Parts
I'm not going to talk about every body part in this lesson. For information concerning detailed body parts, I would suggest a book that is solely covering body parts. Instead, we are going to cover various types of conversations and sentences most commonly used in standard English communication. Let's first list the different body parts I will cover in this lesson: Arm, Forearm, Elbow, Wrist, Hand, Finger, Knuckles Leg, Calf, Thigh, Knee, Ankle, Toes Head, Ear, Mouth, Nose, Eyes Neck, Chest, Stomach, Back, Groin, Butt, Shoulder The arm area Here is a list of sentences most commonly used "My arm hurts" Remember you can change the word of arm to any of the other body parts. "My wrist is sore." "I sprained my wrist while I was playing tennis." Sprain is to hurt the ligaments of a joint. It is different than breaking a bone. Breaking a bone is hurting the bone itself, and sprain is hurting the tissue that connects the bone. "I can't bend my elbow that well." "Your fingers are so long." "My fingers are short and stubby." "I like to crack my knuckles." "My grandmother has arthritis so she can't move her hands well." "I got a flu shot on my arm yesterday." "I hate people who don't wash their hands after going to the bathroom." "I broke my finger when I fell down the stairs."

Body Parts - Leg and Head Area

The leg area "I went jogging yesterday so my legs are all sore." "Your legs will be very sore after you go skiing." "I hate it when I get cramps." "I usually get cramps on my calf." "I banged my toe against the coffee table." "These shoes hurt my feet a lot." "I got a bruise on my thigh after he gave me a charley horse." Charley horse is most widely used to describe as stiffness or a muscle ache of the upper leg after being hit. So if I hit someone in the thigh, then that is called giving someone a Charley horse. "I banged my knee against the door and it hurts." "I got this scar on my knee when I was little." "Twisting your knee is so painful." "I broke my ankle playing volleyball." "My ankle was swollen after I sprained it." "I like shoes that support my ankles." The head area "My ears are so cold." "My nose turns red when I'm cold." "I always get a runny nose during the winter time." "I get a runny nose during allergy season." "Your whole face is turning red." "I usually turn red when I drink alcohol." "Don't pick your nose." "My eyes are itchy." "I have a cold sore on my lips." "I have a canker sore in my mouth." "I hit my head on the desk after picking up a pen." "How did you get a black eye?" "What happened to your face?" "How did you get that cut on your cheek?" "Did you have acne problems when you were young?" Acne is another terminology for pimples. "I used to get a lot of pimples when I was young."

"My mouth always waters when I smell steak." "I got my ear pierced yesterday."

Body Parts - Body Area

The body area "I got a whiplash after the car accident." "My father hurt his neck when he turned his head too quickly before sneezing." "He has a big Adam's apple." Adam's apple is the bump in the neck most common among guys. "I've been getting chest pain recently." "When I get asthma, it feels like someone is pressing on my chest and squeezing my lungs." Asthma is a respiratory disease that makes it difficult to breath "He bumped me on my shoulder as he was walking by." "I feel like a big load has been taken off my shoulder." "He has broad shoulders." "Many girls like guys with broad shoulders." "I want to get rid of the fat on my stomach." "I have a beer belly." Beer belly is a terminology used to describe a stomach that sticks out from excessive beer drinking. "I get a stomach ache if I eat spicy food." "I have an upset stomach." "My stomach hurts." "You must be hungry. I can hear your stomach rumble." "I want a six pack." Six pack is a terminology used to describe a flat stomach with six or eight lines showing the muscle lines. You can also use washboard, "His stomach is like a washboard." "He hit me in the groin." Groin is the area between the legs. It can also mean the crotch area, but crotch is more specific to the personal area, where groin can mean the general vicinity.

Vicinity means area "I pulled my groin when I was doing sprints." Sprint is running as fast as you can. "She has such a big butt." "Her butt is so flat though." "If you go snowboarding, your butt will hurt the next day."

Body Parts - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Sarah. Why are you limping?" B: "Oh. Hi Matt. I went snowboarding yesterday and my whole body aches." A: "Was it your first time?" B: "Yeah. And I never want to go again." A: "I remember the first time I went. My back was sore, I couldn't sit down because it hurt my butt, and my legs would cramp if I walked too fast." B: "That's exactly how I feel now." A: "It's only like that the first couple of times." B: "Ha. There won't be a next time." A: "You gotta give it a chance. It's fun after awhile." B: "I'll think about it after I start feeling better. Right now, I don't even want to hear the word snowboarding." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Ahhchooo!" B: "You've been sneezing a lot lately. Are you sick or something?" A: "No. Every spring time around April, I'm stricken with allergies." B: "I never have seasonal allergies." A: "Consider yourself lucky." B: "What are all the symptoms?" A: "Well, as you just saw, I sneeze a lot. Also, my nose becomes very runny, my throat sometimes itches, and my eyes start to water." B: "That doesn't sound good." A: "No it's not. So you don't have any type of allergies?" B: "Well, I have a severe allergic reaction to alcohol. It runs in the family."

A: "Everyone to some extent is allergic to alcohol." B: "I get it pretty bad. My whole face turns red, including my ears. My eyes become bloodshot, and I start to itch all over my body." A: "That's pretty bad." B: "But that doesn't stop me from drinking. Hahaha."

Dieting
Everyone who wants to lose weight has to go on a diet. Since most of the people are somewhat overweight, this becomes a hot topic to talk about. Although both men and women go on diets, I will primarily focus this towards the women population as it is more of a discussion topic for them. When you see someone and notice a weight change, you usually want to mention that they look better or that they lost weight. "Have you lost weight?" "You look better, did you lose weight?" "Have you been dieting?" "Wow. You look so good." Another time dieting discussion starts is during meals. When a person is trying to eat less, people question why and a conversation about dieting begins. "Is that all you're going to eat?" "Why aren't you eating anything?" "Did you already eat?" "Are you on a diet or something?" "Are you not hungry?" And then the person will usually respond by saying: "I'm trying to lose some weight." "I started to diet so I am watching what I eat." "I want to lose some weight before I take family pictures next month." "I'm on a diet." Some people look so skinny and they still say they are going to go on a diet. Here are some comments you can say. "You do not need to go on a diet." "You look great now. Why do you want to go on a diet?" "Yeah right. Like you have to lose weight."

Remember that it is ok to talk about dieting with friends, but if you are among people you do not know too well, make sure there isn't somebody who is overweight already. You don't want to talk about dieting in front of these people because they might be self conscious about their weight.

Dieting - Questions
Now that we have covered some basic sentences, let's work on sentences that will help in a discussion. First let's cover some questions about dieting. "How long have you been on a diet?" "What type of diet are you on?" "Have you lost a lot of weight?" "How much weight have you lost so far?" "How many pounds do you want to lose?" Remember that most countries use the kilogram system, but the United States uses the pound system. Don't ask me why, it's just the way it is. Here are some ways to answer these types of questions. "I've been on a diet for 2 months now." "I'm just watching my calorie intake and doing a little bit of exercise." "I lost 6 pounds so far." "My goal is to lose 10 pounds." "I want to be 105 pounds." Currently, the Atkins diet is very popular. Atkins diet is a low carbohydrate diet that causes the body to burn fat. Don't quote me on this though. If you want to learn more about Atkins diet, you can find a lot of information over the Internet. For now, I'll share with you some sentences that you might hear Americans say about Atkins. "I'm on the Atkins diet." "After three days on the Atkins diet, all I think about is bread and rice." "I lost 15 pounds in 4 weeks due to the Atkins diet." "I could never go on the Atkins diet. I love carbs too much." Carbs is the short form of carbohydrate. You might hear people say, low carb diet in the place of Atkins.

Dieting - Specific Areas

Another common area about dieting is describing the exact area of where you want to lose weight. For some people, they want to lose weight on the arms or the legs, or even on the cheeks. Here are some things you may say. "I am going on a diet until I get skinny legs." "I've been on a diet for 3 months now and I can't get rid of the fat under my arms." "I hate my love handles. I can't seem to get rid of them." Love handles are the fat on the side of the stomach. "I want to lose weight on my cheeks." "What is the best way to lose weight on the thighs?" "How do you get rid of the fat on the cheeks?" "I can't seem to lose my gut. I'm pretty skinny everywhere but my gut is a big problem." Gut is the lower part of the stomach. Many people have some fat on the gut. Other general sentences "I am way too undisciplined to go on a diet." "I like to eat too much. I wouldn't survive a day on a diet." "If I can eat ice cream then I don't have a problem with a diet." "A good diet is a combination of eating well and exercising." "Many people think dieting is all about eating less." "I think exercising is more important than eating less." "The best way to naturally lose weight is to eat five times a day but smaller amounts." Talking about other people "She used to be so fat in high school. I can't believe how skinny she is now. I wonder what kind of diet she went on." "She's been on a diet for 6 months and still looks the same. She has to be cheating." "My sister has always been skinny, but after she gave birth, she had to go on a diet." Let's put all this together and practice with a conversation.

Dieting - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hi Barbara. Have you lost weight?" B: "Hi Julie. Yeah. I've been on a diet for a couple of months now." A: "Wow. You look great." B: "Thanks for noticing." A: "What type of diet were you on?" B: "I joined a health club and my trainer gave me tips on eating. With a combination of eating better and exercising, I managed to lose 15 pounds in 2 months." A: "That's amazing. What tips did your trainer give you?" B: "Mostly on how to exercise, but the best advice I got was changing my eating habits. Instead of eating 3 times a day, she told me to eat 5 times a day." A: "That doesn't make sense. If you eat more, than how do you lose weight?" B: "Actually, I'm eating the same amount. I eat 5 smaller meals a day. Basically, it naturally speeds up the metabolism and helps to burn fat at a faster rate." A: "That makes sense. I'm going to try that." B: "You don't need to lose weight." A: "I have a little gut I have been trying to get rid of." B: "Ah... but remember to incorporate a little exercise into your diet." A: "Thanks for the advice." B: "No problem." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Can you believe her? She is not even a hundred pounds and she is going off on how she wants to go on a diet." B: "Tell me about it. If I was as small as her, I wouldn't think about going on a diet." A: "Me too. But what are we going to do? I have been on 4 different diets and I can't seem to lose weight." B: "That's because you don't exercise. If you were more active, you wouldn't have a dieting problem." A: "What do you know? You are over weight too." B: "I'm not on a diet though." A: "I know. But I don't have someone to diet with. If we help each other and motivate each other, then I think we can lose some weight." B: "I like ice cream too much though." A: "C'mon. You'll feel better and look better and as a reward you can eat a little bit of ice cream here and there." B: "It does sound appealing." A: "It's a great idea. I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier. Going on a diet with a friend to back you up is a great way to succeed." B: "Okay. I'm in. Let's do it."

A: "Great. I'll get our plan started right away." B: "Can we start tomorrow though?"

Dating
There are several aspects of dating that are important so we will dedicate a couple of lessons on dating. There are two sections of dating. It comprises of the time period of trying to get a date, and then the time during the date. It is also important to point out the differences from the male and female perspectives. In this first lesson on dating, we will cover getting a date from both gender perspectives. In the United States, both genders can ask each other for a date. Just like in any culture, it isn't normal to ask a complete stranger for a date. Usually, you have to start a conversation and get to know each other a little bit before asking for a date. In the beginning, it's normal to engage in small talk. During small talk, you should then find something that you have in common. The longer you talk, the greater the chance that you will get a date. It is all up to how you feel if you want to ask or not. In this lesson, I will cover some sentences you should know so you can succeed in getting a date. Before we continue though, I would like to mention that blind dates are not common. For example, in Korea, So-geh-ting is a very popular way to get dates. This is in essence a blind date. It is not so common in the United States, so no need to cover it here. During the conversation, throwing out compliments is a good thing to do. Most people will be flattered by them. But remember not to make them too cheesy. Compliments to a guy "Do you work out at all? You have a nice build." "What kind of cologne is that? I like the smell of it." "I like the sound of your voice. It's soothing listening to it." Compliments to a girl "Your eyes stand out a lot. Do you get many compliments on them?" "Does it take you long to style your hair? It looks very good." "I bet you get hit on a lot." The term 'hit on' means to be approached by the opposite sex. So somebody who gets hit on a lot means to have many people approaching them. Compliments to either gender "It's very comfortable talking to you." "I feel like I can be myself when I'm talking to you." "You seem so intelligent. I like that." As you can see, these types of compliments are not too aggressive. They are implying good things, but are not a burden to hear. For example, imagine you are talking to a stranger. If they say, "You're so beautiful." It will more likely scare you away. You will probably think that person is a little crazy. But if someone is talking to you and says a small compliment,

then it is very welcomed. So keep that in mind when throwing out compliments.

Dating - Follow Up and Flirting

If the conversation goes well, and you feel that you have a strong connection, feel free to ask for a date. There are a couple of ways to do so. You can either ask for a phone number, or you can ask to go out by meeting somewhere. When you the conversation is about to end, make sure to bring up the subject of a date. "It was so great talking to you. I would love to get together and chat some more. Would you care to have dinner with me sometime?" "If you don't have anything planned for Saturday, I would like to take you to dinner." "We should talk some more later. Can I get your number?" There are many ways and if you are sincere, then you shouldn't have a problem. If you feel you are not sure, or you are scared, then you can leave your phone number and hope that the other person calls. "I enjoyed talking to you. Let me give you my number. I would love to hear from you." "Give me a call anytime you want to just chat." Flirting The previous section was more for people who usually start up a conversation before asking a person on a date. There are other types of meeting people. There is a terminology called flirting that is popular. Flirting basically means to make gestures or movements or comments that are a little sexual in nature. So if you move your body in a certain way, or you rub the other persons arm slightly, or talk about slightly sexual things, then that is considered flirting. Flirting is all dependent on both sides. It is hard for only one person to do the flirting. If that is the case, then the other person usually finds a quick exit out. Here are some things people might say while flirting. "Hey sexy. I can't believe I didn't notice you earlier" "How come you didn't ask me to dance yet?" "You have nice legs." "I can tell you workout. You have a nice body." "You want to feel my muscles?"

Dating - Follow Up and Flirting

If the conversation goes well, and you feel that you have a strong connection, feel free to ask for a date. There are a couple of ways to do so. You can either ask for a phone number, or you can ask to go out by meeting somewhere. When you the conversation is about to end, make sure to bring up the subject of a date.

"It was so great talking to you. I would love to get together and chat some more. Would you care to have dinner with me sometime?" "If you don't have anything planned for Saturday, I would like to take you to dinner." "We should talk some more later. Can I get your number?" There are many ways and if you are sincere, then you shouldn't have a problem. If you feel you are not sure, or you are scared, then you can leave your phone number and hope that the other person calls. "I enjoyed talking to you. Let me give you my number. I would love to hear from you." "Give me a call anytime you want to just chat." Flirting The previous section was more for people who usually start up a conversation before asking a person on a date. There are other types of meeting people. There is a terminology called flirting that is popular. Flirting basically means to make gestures or movements or comments that are a little sexual in nature. So if you move your body in a certain way, or you rub the other persons arm slightly, or talk about slightly sexual things, then that is considered flirting. Flirting is all dependent on both sides. It is hard for only one person to do the flirting. If that is the case, then the other person usually finds a quick exit out. Here are some things people might say while flirting. "Hey sexy. I can't believe I didn't notice you earlier" "How come you didn't ask me to dance yet?" "You have nice legs." "I can tell you workout. You have a nice body." "You want to feel my muscles?"

Dating Part - Asking for a Date

In the previous section, we covered talking to someone before getting a date. In the next section we are going to work on some sentences you need to say during the date. As I said previously, there isn't really another dating language. Most of it is regular conversation such as small talk, movies, hobbies, school, and work topics. Let's start where we left off. By now, you should have a phone number. It is your responsibility to call and get a date. Even though you got a phone number doesn't guarantee a date. You have to convince the person to actually show up. Here is what you should say. On the phone Them: "Hello" You: "Hi. Is Janet there?" Them: "This is Janet." You: "Hi Janet. This is Mike. I met you at the party last Saturday night."

Them: "Oh. Hi Mike." You: "Did you enjoy the party?" Them: "I had a great time. How about you?" You: "The next morning was tough, but it was real fun, especially meeting you." Them: "It was great meeting you too." You: "Can I take you out to dinner followed by a movie or some other thing?" Them: "Well, I am a little busy with school and all." You: "A couple hours shouldn't hurt too much. I'll make sure you have a good time. If you want, we can talk about your school. Maybe I can help you on some topics you are unsure about." Them: "Ok. Sounds good. I'm free this Friday after 6:00. How does that sound to you?" You: "That sounds good. Do you want to meet somewhere or would you like for me to pick you up?" Them: "If you don't mind Italian, I'll meet you at Olive Garden at 6:30 on Friday." You: "Sounds great. I'll see you then." Let's analyze this small conversation real quick. First, Mike didn't assume that Janet remembered him. He reminded Janet where and when they met. It isn't a good idea to put someone on the spot right. Next, Mike asked if Janet had a good time. This is a small talk question to break the ice. Afterwards, Mike gave a small compliment by saying, '... it was real fun, especially meeting you.' So Mike is giving an indication that he is interested in Janet. Next, Mike asks for dinner. Janet's response is important to learn from. She knows Mike has interest in her, but she is not too sure. When Mike asks for dinner, she is hesitant. We see this when she says, 'I am a little busy with school and all.' Everyone is busy, and Mike knows that this is an excuse of not going out. There are many things that Mike can do now. 1. Mike can put pressure on her without any substance like, 'Come on. Let's just go out.' Or he can not even let her completely answer by saying, 'I'll meet you at Olive Garden at 7:00.' 2. Mike can be a coward and say, 'Ok. Well, if you decide to change your mind, give me a call.' 3. Or Mike can persuade Janet by appealing to her interests. The number 1 choice doesn't work because putting pressure on someone is not good. She might not come, or start with a bad impression. Number 2 choice will result in Janet never calling back. The answer Mike gave is a great answer. He is promising that she will have a good time, and also understanding her school interest and promising to talk about her school. From Janet's perspective, Mike has good manners not pressuring too much, and

understanding her interest by talking about her schooling.

Dating - On the Date

When you finally see Janet at the restaurant or another dating place, you should say something right when you see her. Here are a few examples "I'm glad you showed up." "You look great." "Hi Janet. It's good seeing you again." During the date, you have to make sure the person stays interested. This is primarily done by talking about subjects the other person wants to talk about. In this case, Janet is concentrating on school. Here are some things to say "What subject do you find difficult?" "What classes are giving you a hard time?" "Do you like multiple choice questions or short answer questions?" "Do you like writing essays?" "What subjects interest you the most?" After you find out more information on her interest, then you can say more things about it. "When I was in college, I had a hard time with my writing assignments. I guess my high school didn't prepare me enough. So I went to the writing center located next to the library, and they helped me tremendously." "I found psychology to be pretty easy, but I always made stupid mistakes with the multiple choice questions. So I got a study guide for it and it helped me to get the minor details out of the way." "I really like history too. I enjoy learning about what happened and how we got to the state we are in now." "You don't like calculus? I was a math major. If you would like, I can help you out with your homework. I'm sure after a couple of lessons, you will think it is easy." So helping out with homework is another way to get another date. Although it will be more geared towards school work, you can take the opportunity to impress the other person.

Dating - On the Date

When you finally see Janet at the restaurant or another dating place, you should say something right when you see her. Here are a few examples "I'm glad you showed up." "You look great."

"Hi Janet. It's good seeing you again." During the date, you have to make sure the person stays interested. This is primarily done by talking about subjects the other person wants to talk about. In this case, Janet is concentrating on school. Here are some things to say "What subject do you find difficult?" "What classes are giving you a hard time?" "Do you like multiple choice questions or short answer questions?" "Do you like writing essays?" "What subjects interest you the most?" After you find out more information on her interest, then you can say more things about it. "When I was in college, I had a hard time with my writing assignments. I guess my high school didn't prepare me enough. So I went to the writing center located next to the library, and they helped me tremendously." "I found psychology to be pretty easy, but I always made stupid mistakes with the multiple choice questions. So I got a study guide for it and it helped me to get the minor details out of the way." "I really like history too. I enjoy learning about what happened and how we got to the state we are in now." "You don't like calculus? I was a math major. If you would like, I can help you out with your homework. I'm sure after a couple of lessons, you will think it is easy." So helping out with homework is another way to get another date. Although it will be more geared towards school work, you can take the opportunity to impress the other person.

Engagement
Engagement is the time period spent before getting married. In this lesson, we will learn about English when asking someone to marry and the terminologies when becoming engaged. When a friend has been together with a boyfriend or girlfriend a long time, they usually ask when they are going to get married, or when they are going to get engaged. "When are you going to get married?" "When are you going to tie the knot?" "When are you going to settle down?" "When are you going to propose to her?" "When are you going to ask her to marry you?" "When do you think he is going to propose?" After the big question is asked, then the two people are engaged.

"We got engaged last week." "I got engaged about a month ago." "We're going to have a short engagement." "Our engagement is for about 6 months." "We had an engagement party at a restaurant with both families." "We really didn't have a formal engagement dinner." You can get creative in the ways to ask your significant other to marry you, but the most general way is to simply say, "Will you marry me?" These four words cannot be replaced really. Mostly, it is how you ask it and in what situation. When two people are engaged, then they are not boyfriend and girlfriend, instead, they refer to each other as fianc. "This is my fiance." "She is my fiance." "He is my fianc." "Where is your fianc?" "I want to meet your fianc."

Engagement - Proposing
Other common type of questions regarding pre-marriage is how a person proposes. Here are some examples: "How are you going to propose to her?" "How do you think he will propose to you?" I'll list a few answers I heard from other people. "I'm going to take her to dinner and I'm going to put the ring on top of the dessert. So when the cake comes out, she will see the ring." "I'm going to take her to our favorite restaurant and ask her there." "I'm going all out. First, I'm going to send her to a massage. Then, I'm going to have her relax at a coffee shop where I'll send her some flowers. After that, I'm going to have her picked up in a limo to a restaurant where I'll be waiting in the entrance on my knees." "When my husband asked me to marry, he put a ring inside a fortune cookie with a message asking, will you marry me in the cookie." Some other types of questions that you might hear: "Are you nervous about proposing to her?" "Are you sure she is going to say yes?"

"Are you sure about this?" "How long have you been engaged?" "What are you thinking?" "You're too young to get married." "What did you do for your engagement party?" "Did you guys have an engagement party?" A friend might ask you questions regarding your relationship when the marriage topic comes up. "How long have you been with her?" "What made you decide to get married?" "Are you sure she is the right one?" "When did you know he was the right one?" "Did you see a sign or how did you know?"

Engagement - Best man and Maid of honor

Preparing for marriage is a time consuming thing with so much to do. I'll explain most of it in the next lesson, but I wanted to explain one difference in this lesson. In the western culture, they have friends standing next to the bride and groom during the wedding ceremony. At a minimum, it is one person. That person is called the best man. For the lady side, that person is called maid of honor. But if you have more than one, you usually have one best man, and multiple grooms men. For the ladies, they are called brides maid. Best man - Best friend or relative of groom usually holding the ring Grooms men - Other friends or siblings standing next to the best man Maid of honor - Best friend or relative of the bride usually holding the ring Brides maid - Other friends or relative standing next to the Maid of honor. The best man and maid of honor have responsibilities such as taking care of the bride and groom, planning for parties and taking care of the presents, and many other things. We'll discuss more about this in the next session. Let's move on to practicing the material in this lesson.

Engagement - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B

A: "Hey Jack. What's going on?" B: "Hey Matt. I'm going to ask Martha to marry me?" A: "Really? When did you decide this?" B: "I always knew she was the one, but I decided to pop the big question about 2 weeks ago. I'm just debating on how to do it." A: "That's exciting man." B: "So how did you propose?" A: "You shouldn't use my example. It wasn't special. I kind of wish I made it more special but it's too late now." B: "What do you think I should do?" A: "There are a lot of options. You can surprise her over dinner, or ask her in a public area, or if you have the balls, ask her father in front of her." B: "I never thought about that." A: "Thought about what?" B: "Asking her father in front of her. How do you think she will react?" A: "I don't know. You should know how she's going to react. She is your girlfriend." B: "I think that's the idea I was looking for. Thanks man." A: "Don't mention it. Good luck. You're going to need it." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Sarah. How are you doing?" B: "I'm doing great. How about you Jessica?" A: "Nothing new. You look happy though. Something special happen recently?" B: "Yeah. I got engaged last week." A: "Really? No way. I'm so happy for you. Congratulations." B: "Thanks." A: "So tell me all about it? How did he propose to you?" B: "He took me to a very nice restaurant and when I opened the menu, there was a big message in the menu saying will you marry me. And then, he got on his knees and showed me a beautiful ring." A: "That's so nice. Were there a lot of people watching?" B: "Yeah. The whole restaurant was full. But I didn't care. Everyone applauded when we were hugging after I said yes." A: "When is the big date?" B: "We set the date for June 15th." A: "That's in eight months. You are going to be so busy preparing for the wedding." B: "I know. But I wanted to ask you if you would be one of my bride's maid." A: "Really? I'd love to."

Wedding Process - Gifts and Reception

In some cultures, wedding present is usually given in the form of money. In America, money is rarely given among friends. Family might provide financial support, but for presents, it is always a gift bought at a store. In order to prevent duplicate gifts or gifts that you don't want, many stores such as The Bon, provide a wedding registry. You go and pick all the things you want and they enter it into a computer. You tell everyone in the invitation you sent out that the gift registry is at The Bon. They will go to The Bon and print out a list of what you have selected. If someone bought it already, then that item will not show up. This is a way to get what you need and makes it easier for the people buying you gifts. In the store, you simply tell the person: "I'm going to get married in June and I would like my registry here." If you are a person buying a present, then you can ask, "My friend is getting married and they registered here. Where can I get a list of presents they selected?" After the church is selected, the flowers have been ordered, and the photographer is reserved, then you have to practice. The wedding party usually meets at the church a day or two before the wedding and rehearses the coming day's event. After the rehearsal, a rehearsal dinner should be provided. Don't forget about the reception. You have to plan for a reception after the wedding. Usually it is a meal at a different location or at the church. Again, this is all dependent on how much you can afford. An open bar is also an option that many people like. An open bar is a bar that people can order drinks for free. Now that we looked through the process of a wedding, let's work on a few sentences friends say to each other before and during the busy wedding process. "Planning for a wedding is so time consuming. I don't know if I can finish everything on time." "I'm getting so stressed out. It feels like there are a hundred different things to do." "I think I'm almost done with my wedding plans. Although I'm relieved, I now feel anxious about the wedding." "Did you help your fianc plan for the wedding?" "You made her do all the work?" "My boyfriend was so helpful. He literally did most of the planning." "Are you going to have the reception at the church or did you reserve another place?" "How much did your wedding cost?" "How much was the reception?" A wedding is much larger and requires much more planning than I described here. I primarily covered the larger items in a broad way. This is to give you an idea and a starting point. If you have additional questions or specific requests, feel free to ask.

Wedding Process - Photographer, Dress and

Tux
Another thing you will have to prepare is the photographer. "How much do you charge for wedding pictures?" "What is included in your wedding package?" "How many years of experience do you have?" "How many weddings have you worked on?" "Do you have samples of wedding pictures you took that I can look at?" "Do you use both color and black and white film?" "Do you provide video service in your wedding package?" You also need to prepare for the dress for yourself and the dresses for your maid of honor and brides maid. Usually this is done talking with friends and family. "What color do you think we should get for the brides maid dresses?" "What color dress do you think will go well with purple and white roses?" Candle lighters are another person in the wedding party. You might need to get a dress for that person as well. "Should we have the same dress for the candle lighter or a different dress?" The men need to get a tuxedo. Usually you find a tux shop and they take care of the rest. Only instructions you need to give to the best man and grooms men is the location of the place. "Make sure you go into the Black Tie tuxedo shop next week and get your size measured." "Go to the tux shop and pick up your tuxedo on the 14th." I don't know the rule for who pays for the tux or the dress. I've seen it both ways. In some weddings, the people wearing the dress or tux pays for it, and in other weddings, I've seen the wedding couple pay for everything.

Honeymoon
Honeymoon is a small vacation two married people go to right after the wedding. It doesn't have to be right after the wedding though. I know some people who hold off the honeymoon until the summer, or if they are in school, until school is complete. Discussing with your partner where to go for the honeymoon "Where should we go for our honeymoon?" "Where do you want to go for our honeymoon?" "Did you have a place in mind for our honeymoon?" "How many days should we go for our honeymoon?" "Do you think a week is good enough for our honeymoon?"

"How much should we plan on using for our honeymoon?" Answering "I want to go somewhere to relax." "I was thinking about Hawaii or the Bahamas. What do you think?" "I wouldn't mind going to Europe." "What do you think about New York? I have never been there and there is a lot to do." "I think Australia would be great." "I'm pretty much open to anything. Where did you have in mind?" "I can only take 5 more days off from work." "I can only go for a week." "The longer the better. I wouldn't mind going for 10 days." "How about 2 weeks." "Let's go for 6 nights and 7 days." "How about 3 nights and 4 days." "I think we will need about two thousand dollars for our honeymoon." "Depending on what we are going to do, but we will need a minimum of three thousand dollars." "I think we need about five thousand dollars for our honeymoon." "We only have two thousand dollars so we have to go somewhere inexpensive."

Honeymoon - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey honey, where do you think we should go for our honeymoon?" B: "I always wanted to go to Mexico. Cancun is supposed to be a great place." A: "That sounds pretty good. But how about the Caribbean?" B: "That doesn't sound too bad either. Do you know how much it would cost for airfare and hotel?" A: "If we go for 5 nights, then the total for airfare and hotel would be about one thousand seven hundred dollars. How much would it be to go to Cancun?" B: "I found a deal for only twelve hundred dollars." A: "That's a lot cheaper. Let's go to Cancun then." B: "Really? That sounds great. I picked up a lot of brochures. Let's take a look at all the things we can do."

A: "That reminds me. I better make sure my passport is not expired." B: "You better make sure. If it's expired, you have to hurry and renew it." A: "We still have a couple of months. No rush." B: "What do you want to do in Cancun?" A: "I want to golf at least one day. And I also want to try surfing. Do they have instructors on the beach?" B: "Yeah. This brochure shows lesson and equipment rentals and everything. That shouldn't be a problem. I want to try snorkeling." A: "Do we need to buy snorkeling gear?" B: "No. We can just rent it there." A: "Sounds like we're going to have fun." B: "I know. I can't wait. It's going to be so fun." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Where are you guys going for your honeymoon?" B: "We decided on Cancun, Mexico." A: "I've been there before. It's a great place." B: "What did you do there?" A: "There is so much to do. It's a big tourist place so there is access to everything." B: "That's good. I'm looking forward to our honeymoon. Especially after all the wedding plans I had to do." A: "How long are you going for?" B: "We decided on 6 days. We are leaving on Sunday and returning on Saturday." A: "That should give you plenty of time. Do you have all your travel plans in order?" B: "We just booked our flight and got our room. Everything is set." A: "You're going to have so much fun. I'm so jealous." B: "When you get married, you'll have your chance." A: "I need to find a guy first." B: "Where do you want to go for your honeymoon?" A: "Since I've been to Mexico and Hawaii before, I want to go to Australia." B: "That sounds great. It's a little out of our budget so we didn't even consider Australia." A: "For the price, Cancun is one of the best so don't have any regrets. It is a great place. So do you have a ride to the airport?" B: "My brother is going to drop us off." A: "Looks like everything is set. Just make sure to take a camera. I know many people who forgot to take a camera on their honeymoon." B: "Will do. Thanks."

Married Life
When we talk about married life, we talk about the good and the bad. In this lesson, I will teach you the English you need to know to communicate how you feel about your married life. If you are not married, then at least you can learn this lesson to speak about your opinions on your friends married life. We will not go into detail about conversation between married couple. Mostly, couples talk about the same thing in a routine. But when you talk to friends, it's very different. Girl talking to friends "How is married life?" "How is your husband doing?" "What do you guys do for fun?" Some responses I've heard "I love my married life. My husband and I get a long so well." "He is so helpful. He does the dishes for me and helps me around the house a lot." "It was fun in the beginning, but now we are in a regular routine." "Everything is great, but he's a little lazy. One time he was watching TV and he called me when I was in the kitchen and asked me to get the remote control for him that was 6 feet away." "All he does is watch TV. I don't understand how a person can watch so much television." "Since we're both working, we don't have much time for each other. But we get to spend the weekend together and that is always good." "Since I'm working also, we go out to eat a lot because I don't have time to cook." "My husband is working at a consulting firm. He is always at work. I get bored a lot so I'm trying to find some hobbies." "My husband works at Microsoft. He gets home late and when he comes home, he's too tired to do anything. I'm thinking about starting a career because I have so much extra time." "My husband is in school right now. He's finishing his PHD."
/Audio

Married Life - Talking about a Friend

Talking about a friends marriage There are some terminologies used when a man is controlled by his wife. For example, if a friend cannot come out because the wife said no, or if he needs to get permission for everything, then these words apply to him.

Attached to a ball and chain - Ball and Chain refers to the wife. The ball and chain is the old type of device used to lock somebody up. You put a chain around the leg that has a large heavy metal ball attached to it so they cannot move. Here are some example sentences: "Ever since he got married, he has been imprisoned in his house. He never comes out anymore." "Calling the ball and chain already? You've only been out for a couple of hours." "You got to get that ball and chain off your leg man." "It's obvious who the man of their house is."

Married Life - Cheating

Affair and cheating In a marriage, having an affair and cheating on one another is a topic we'll discuss. Hopefully in your marriage you won't need to discuss this. But use this as a reference for when you see it on TV or something. Accusing "Where were you last night?" "Why does your shirt smell like perfume?" "Who is the person that keeps calling you at night?" "You've been acting strange lately? Are you having an affair?" "Are you seeing someone?" "Are you cheating on me?" "Who was the girl I saw you with at Starbucks?" "How long have you been seeing her?" "How long have you been sleeping with her?" "I can't believe you would do this to me!" "I don't understand why you would throw away our marriage like that." "Why did you do it?" "What did I do to deserve this?" Talking about a married couple with cheating problems "I think they are going to get divorced. Josh caught his wife cheating with another guy from work." "He should have been more careful." "I think she is having an affair with her boss. Her husband has no idea what is going on." "It's so obvious that she's sleeping with the boss. They go out together so often."

"If she wasn't sleeping with him, I think she would get fired. She is incompetent at what she does." "You know that girl from the strip club? Zack is sleeping with her and his wife doesn't even have a clue."

Married Life - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Jane. How are you doing these days?" B: "Hi Martha. Everything is perfect." A: "Are you enjoying married life?" B: "It couldn't be better. My husband is so supportive with my work and he helps around the house so much." A: "You're so lucky. I hope to get married to a guy like that." B: "I'm so happy. Even though we are both working, we get to spend a lot of time with each other in the evening and on the weekends." A: "Do you guys do anything special?" B: "In the evening, we just sit and talk over dinner. But on the weekend, we try to go out to the beach or hit a nice restaurant, or go to a nice cafe." A: "Sound like everything is great." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Stacy. What's going on?" B: "I'm pretty tired these days." A: "Why? You're not working so don't you have a lot of time on your hands?" B: "I have so much house work to do. I have to take care of the kids, cook, clean, laundry, and the cycle never ends." A: "How about your husband. Does he help much?" B: "Not at all. He comes home and complains about his hard day at work. He expects me to do everything. He even wants me to feed him sometimes. Can you believe that?" A: "That sucks." B: "If he wasn't so lazy, I think I wouldn't have any complaints. He mows the lawn, but can you believe he tried to convince me to do it?"

A: "That's crossing the line." B: "Oh well. I'll have to live with it. What else can I do?"

Health Review - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Samantha. You've been so busy lately. What have you been up to?" B: "Hey Jackie. I started dating this cute guy and decided to start exercising." A: "You're not out of shape. You look fine." B: "Well, this guy I am seeing is a personal trainer and he has a perfect body. Compared to him, I need some work." A: "How long have you seen him?" B: "We've been together for about a month and a half." A: "Did you sleep with him yet?" B: "Not yet. But before I get into bed with him, I want to look fit." A: "That's not the greatest reason to exercise, but I guess it is a valid one." B: "How about you? Anything new in your life?" A: "My father is a little ill. He has been to the doctor's quite a bit lately but they don't know what is wrong with him. He complains about stomach pains a lot these days." B: "I'm sorry to hear that. Any idea what could have caused it?" A: "He says it is because he didn't take care of himself when he was young. That's why I want to start thinking about my health." B: "I think it is important to take care of yourself while you are young too. Even though my reasons are not the best, at least I am working on it." A: "How are your parents doing?" B: "They're doing great. I'm thankful that they are healthy." A: "That's good to hear. Well, I gotta get running now. I'll catch you later." B: "Ok. Send my regards to your father." A: "I will. Thanks." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B

A: "Wow Billy. Looks like you lost a lot of weight. I could hardly recognize you." B: "Thanks. I've been on a diet for about 6 months. I'm going to ask Rachel to marry me soon and I want to be mentally and physically healthy." A: "What does being overweight have anything to do with marriage? If you love each other, that's enough right?" B: "Yeah, but I want to show her how much she means to me, and this is one way of proving it. I'm changing for the better." A: "Good for you. Hey, when do you plan on proposing to her?" B: "I think I am going to propose to her on our 2 year anniversary." A: "Is she expecting it, or will it be a surprise?" B: "I think she expects me to ask her one of these days, but not anytime soon." A: "You sure you want to settle down already? You're only 25 years old?" B: "Yeah, I didn't think I would get married until I was 30, but when you know she is the one, why wait." A: "That's true. Hey, I hope everything works out. You're going to invite me to your wedding right?" B: "Of course man." A: "Gosh, I'm still shocked how much weight you lost. You're getting real skinny now." B: "I am working on a six pack now. I have two lines starting to show up. I've been spending a lot of time at the gym. It is hard work, but I feel so good after working out." A: "Where do you work out?" B: "I have a membership at Bally's. It's not too expensive and I like all the equipment they have." A: "I've been thinking about joining a gym. Are they having any specials right now?" B: "Yeah, they do. They have free enrollment and first month free. You should come by. I'll show you around. I can take in a guest so you can try it out before signing up." A: "That sounds good. Let's go this Saturday." B: "Cool. I'll call you in the morning." 3 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey John. Who was that girl I saw you with last Friday night?" B: "Oh. That was Jessica. She's a girl I met the other week." A: "I thought you were seeing Patty?" B: "No. We broke up a couple weeks ago." A: "Are you getting pretty serious with this new girl?" B: "She's not long term. Just someone to chill with." A: "Ah... so you are boning her." B: "Damn right. But we don't have much in common. Oh well. At least we are compatible in bed." A: "She had a nice figure. You sure it's not going to work out?" B: "It works out well in bed, but if you try to have a conversation with her, it just dies out fast." A: "At least she is good for one thing. Ha ha ha." B: "How about you. You've been seeing Heidi for a long time now. When are you going to tie the knot?" A: "I don't know. She's been bugging me about marriage, but I don't see the need to rush it."

B: "You guys have been seeing each other for like 3 years haven't you?" A: "Actually, it's been more than 4 years already." B: "Wow. That's a long time. Any problems with having a girlfriend for that long?" A: "Not really. It gets a little boring at times, but we grew to be great friends. I can totally be myself around her." B: "I think that is the best type of relationships. Good for you." A: "But sometimes I wonder if I am missing out. You know... like banging all these chicks, like you." B: "Trust me. I would trade in all of it for a stable relationship. It's a lot more headaches. The breakups, the girl crying all the time, the broken promises, and on and on. I am so sick of it." A: "Well, if you put it that way." B: "I would love to be in your situation. You have a beautiful girl that you are in love with, and you are perfect for each other. What else do you want?" A: "Maybe a little more excitement." B: "So would you give up your girlfriend for what I have? A little excitement here and there? You can't have both you know. Unless you're a cheating dog." A: "I don't think I can go behind her back. We have a trusting relationship I don't want to risk." B: "Now you're making some sense." A: "It's always good talking to you man. You make me feel better." B: "Likewise. That's what friends are for right?" A: "So you coming out to play basketball this Saturday?" B: "Yeah. I'll be there." A: "Aright. I'll catch you then." B: "Aright man. Later." 4 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Stephanie. Guess what?" B: "What?" A: "Robert asked me to marry him. We're getting married." B: "Congratulations. I'm so happy for you. So when is the big day?" A: "We haven't set the date exactly, but it looks like it will be sometime in July." B: "How did he propose to you?" A: "On valentines day, he got me a present. I thought it was an ordinary valentines day present, but when I opened it, it was this big diamond ring. Right then, he got on his knees and proposed." B: "That's so neat. So you really got surprised?" A: "We talked about marriage a little, but I never knew he was serious." B: "You are going to be busy with wedding plans. But you have several months to prepare for it." A: "It's going to be pretty hectic for me. So I'm going to need some help. First of all, I was wondering if you would like to be my Maid of Honor." B: "I would be honored." A: "So you're going to help me with the planning right?" B: "Of course. How many brides maids are you going to have?" A: "Three. So we will have a total of four."

B: "Let me guess. Susan, Tina, and Cindy." A: "Close. I'm going to have Cindy as the candle lighter. The third brides maid is going to be Lydia. She is a good friend from church." B: "I know her. She's sweet. I'll make sure we have the best wedding for you." A: "I hope so. I appreciate your help."

Talking About Girls - Types You Like or Dislike

Describing what types of girls you like "I like a girl with a lot of curves." "I like all girls with a great body." "I like skinny girls." "I like a girl with smooth skin." "Since I'm pretty tall, I want a tall skinny girl." "I like a girl who likes to have fun." "I like girls who are smart. I can't stand airheads." "I like all pretty girls." "I like obedient girls." "The most important trait for me is wisdom. I want a girl who is wise." "It's important that the girl is smart and intelligent." "A good and fun personality is the most important trait I look for in a girl." "I want a girl who is going to take care of me." "I want a working girl so I can stay at home all day." "I want to meet a rich girl so I don't have to worry about money." "I like athletic girls because I like to play sports." Describing types you don't like "I can't stand girls with attitude." "I hate stuck up girls." "The worst kind of girls are high maintenance girls." "Stay away from nagging girls. You'll want to kill yourself after a month with them." "It bothers me when a girl is not independent." "I don't like weak girls who can't take care of themselves." "You might think rich girls are a blessing, but they constantly nag at you to make more money." "Rich girls are usually spoiled and soon you will be broke trying to keep up with her." "I don't like fat girls. They don't turn me on." "I don't like skinny girls who are like toothpicks. It's just gross."

Talking About Girls - In Love and Body Parts you like

Describing a girl you fell in love with "She is perfect. Her voice is sweet and her skin is so soft." "She has a killer body. I don't know if I love her, but I sure lust after her." "I think I'm in love. She is absolutely beautiful and her personality is perfect." "We talked on the phone for 6 hours. We connected so well." "We have so much in common. I love talking to her." "She's the sweetest thing. I think I'm in love." "She's so fine. She doesn't have an ounce of fat on her." "I met her on the golf course and after watching her hit, I fell in love." I found that talking about famous girls is a fun topic among friends. For example, we would ask each other who's hotter between Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Here some questions and answers just in case you get in one of these conversations. "Who would you take between Jessica Simpson and Liv Tyler?" "Who do you think is the sexiest women?" "Who is in your top 5 list of sexy women?" "Do you think Janet Jackson is hot?" "If you were stuck on a deserted island, which famous person would you want to be with?" Other descriptive sentences Skinny girls "She's a toothpick." "Her legs are like chopsticks." "She is all skin and bones." "She is way too skinny." Fat girls "She's a little chubby." "She's fat dude." "That girl is big." "She's a little overweight." "She needs to go on a diet."

Talking About Girls - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "What are you looking at?" B: "Yo Mike. Did you see that girl walking up the stairs?" A: "No. What girl?" B: "Damn. She was the hottest thing I have ever seen." A: "Oh man. I missed it. What did she look like?" B: "She had long brown hair and she had a round chest that was showing some cleavage." A: "I can't believe I missed it." B: "Let's go upstairs. You can check her out." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Yo Matt. How goes it man?" B: "Pretty good. What have you been up to?" A: "You know that chick in psychology class?" B: "Yeah. You only talk about her every other day." A: "I can't get her out of my mind. She is damn fine." B: "Why don't you go talk to her then?" A: "I think she is out of my league." B: "Chicken. Somebody is only out of your league if you think so. What do you see in her anyway? She is a little chubby dude." A: "She is not. She has a nice figure. And she has such a pretty face." B: "Whatever. If you think so." A: "You like skinny girls or something?" B: "I like normal girls without any flab hanging out." A: "Now you're exaggerating you freak." B: "Seriously, I like a girl who is fit and likes to exercise." A: "How about personality?" B: "It doesn't matter until you are thinking about marriage and I'm not thinking about that yet." A: "Well, I'm looking so I don't care that much about figure. As long as she is nice and sweet." 3

Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Who do you think is hotter? Britney or Christina?" B: "That's a no brainer. Christina is way hotter. You think Britney is hotter than Christina?" A: "She has some serious curves that turn me on. And I like the way she moves. I think she's sexy." B: "Ok. How about between the three girls on Friends? Who do you think is the cutest?" A: "I like Phoebe the most. She is so funny it cracks me up." B: "Ok. I agree with you there. Let's change the scenario a little. If you were stuck on an island, who would you choose to be with?" A: "I'd take Britney Spears. I have this thing about her." B: "No way man. How about Catherine Zeta Jones? She is absolutely beautiful."

Sports in General
Sports is a common topic mostly among the guys. In America, the three biggest sports are baseball, basketball, and American football. Due to the popularity of these sports, I will have individual lessons for them, but I will not have individual lessons for other sports such as soccer, volleyball, etc. For this lesson however, I will briefly talk about most sports and the most common language used among each one. First, let's practice general sports sentences: "What do you like to do in your free time?" "What are your hobbies?" "What sports do you like to play?" "I like to play sports. It's good for my health and I think it's very fun." "I like competitive sports because winning feels good." "I like to play tennis and I like to swim." "Jeff is pretty athletic so he picks up on sports real quick." "If you need a girl to play, you should get Jessica. She's very athletic." In English, you can mostly use the word play for a sport, but there are some sports where play doesn't work. Here are some examples: "I like to play basketball." "Let's go play basketball." "Do you like to play basketball?" This would also work for football, baseball, tennis, volleyball, soccer, and softball. However, sports such as swimming, bowling, and golf do not use the word play. Here is how you would say it.

"I like to swim." "I like swimming." "Let's go swimming." "Do you like swimming?" As you may have noticed, each of the sports that do not use play is the ones with an 'ing' at the end. So if the sport is primarily used with an 'ing' at the end, then do not use play with that sport name.

Sports in General - Volleyball

There are many different types of sports but I will primarily talk about the following in this lesson: Volleyball Soccer Swimming Softball Tennis Volleyball "I play volleyball on our high school team." "I play volleyball for our university." "I play recreational volleyball." "I play in a volleyball league run by the city." "What position do you play?" "I'm a setter for our team." "I'm the outside hitter." "I'm a back row specialist." "I'm good at digging balls, so I play in the back." "I'm the tallest in our team so I'm the middle blocker." "Our team plays a two six rotation." Two six rotation is a terminology used in volleyball where there are two setters. They take turns and the person who is in the back is the setter, so they should be opposite of each other in the lineup. "I like to play beach volleyball. There is so much more action because it is only two of us." "Beach volleyball is the best. It is so fun." "He hit the net." "He totally went fishing." This is a slang term to say that a person hit the net.

"The ball was out." "I can't believe the line judge didn't see that. He must be blind." "That was a double hit. The ball is spinning like mad." "He used his palm to lift the ball and he wasn't called for it." "I like to watch volleyball on TV."

Sports in General - Soccer

Soccer "Soccer is my favorite sport." "I love soccer." "I play soccer whenever I can." "I used to play a lot of soccer when I was in school." "I'm usually the forward on our team." "I play midfielder on our team." "I'm the fullback." "My favorite position is the midfielder." "I like to be the goalie." "I've been a goalie ever since I was in Junior high." "I am always the goal keeper." "He was off sides, but the officials didn't see it. That's how he got the goal." "He's a very rowdy player. He gets a yellow card each game. I can't believe he hasn't been given a red card yet." "He clipped him from behind. Why didn't he get a red card? The other guy could have broken his ankle with that tackle." "I like to play soccer because of all the running. It keeps me in shape and I have fun while playing." "I don't know why soccer is not so popular in America. Soccer is a very popular sport in most other countries." "Watching the world cup is so fun."

Sports in General - Swimming

Swimming "I'm on the swimming team." "I got a scholarship for swimming."

"I made the varsity swimming team." "I love swimming." "What style of swimming do you specialize in?" "I like breaststroke the most." "I like freestyle swimming, but I'm better at the butterfly." "I'm pretty quick at backstroke." "I like the competitive aspect of swimming. Sometimes it's hard to tell who is ahead of you or behind you, but right when you touch that wall and see that nobody else is there is a great feeling." "I've been swimming ever since I was 6 years old." "I swim 4 times a week." "I try to swim everyday." "I believe swimming is very healthy, especially for the joints." "I'm not a good swimmer. The only style I know is the dog paddle." "I can't hold my breath long enough to be an effective swimmer." "I can hold my breath for a minute and a half."

Sports in General - Softball

Softball "I play on a men's softball league. It's underhand pitch and mostly just to have fun." "Softball is similar to baseball, except you have 4 outfielders instead of 3." "Softball is fun if you are not good at hitting fast pitches." "I'm the shortstop on our team." "I play the outfield." "I'm the pitcher." "I saw a friend hit two grand slams in one game." "His pitches have way too big of an arch." "He needs to get his pitches above 6 feet from the ground." "The ball hit the plate and the umpire called it a strike." "I play on a co-ed softball team. We have 5 girls and 5 guys." "When we play co-ed softball, the girls hit with smaller balls than the guys." "It takes a while to get used to throwing two sizes of balls in co-ed softball."

Sports in General - Tennis

Tennis "Tennis is my favorite sport." "I play tennis just for fun." "I started playing tennis when I was in high school." "I made the varsity team in high school when I have been only playing for 3 months." "I used to have a girlfriend who left me to be with a tennis coach." "I can't hit a back hand." "I have a two handed back hand." "One handed back hands are more effective for attacks." "You can generate more power by using one hand for your backhand." "How do you topspin a ball?" "Every time I try to lob a ball, it always goes out." "My serves need a lot of help." "My second serve is too easy to hit." "I can't believe how fast professional tennis players serve." "A guy once died from getting hit with a tennis ball in the crotch at a professional tournament. He was an old guy and got a stroke from the shock or pain." "My favorite tennis player is Agassi." "Martina Hingis is the cutest tennis player." "I hate playing against a serve and volley type of player." "I'm a baseline player."

Football
Football is referred to as soccer in most countries, but in America, football is different than soccer. That is why I sometimes refer to football as American football. American football is not popular worldwide yet, but it's very popular in America. The Superbowl is the most watched sports event. To buy commercial time during the Superbowl is the most expensive. In this lesson, I'll give you some pointers on having a football conversation, and I will also explain

some rules. Let's start with the rules first because not everyone will know them. I will not be too specific because this isn't a lesson on football rules. Rather, I will give a brief description so you have an understanding of the game before we move on to the conversation aspect. There are eleven players on the field for each side. That means you need 22 people to play an official football game. The point of the game is to reach the other side, which is called the end zone, with the ball. A player can run with the ball, or they can throw the ball to another person. Touchdown is worth 6 points. If you are close enough but not quite in the end zone, you can kick the ball. That is called a field goal. Field goals are worth 3 points. After you make a touchdown, you can either kick a ball, similar to a field goal for 1 point or you can run or pass it for 2 points. This is called a two point conversion. Quarterback always starts with the ball. He either passes it to a wide receiver, hands off to a running back, or runs the ball himself. Offense positions: Center - The person hiking the ball to the quarterback each play. Quarterback - The main person starting with the ball each play. Either passes, hands off, or runs. Running back - The person who runs with the ball. Running backs can catch passes as well. Wide Receivers - The people who run out and catch balls from the quarterback. Tight End - Similar to a wide receiver but blocks a lot as well. Full back - Like a running back who runs with the ball, but mostly blocks for the main running back. Offensive Guard - blocks for the quarterback positioned right next to the Center on each side Offensive Tackle - same as the guard and standing right next to the guard Defense positions: Nose Tackle - Person in the middle facing the center Defensive Guard and Tackle - Opposite the offensive guard and tackle Linebacker - People right behind the front line. Cornerbacks - People on the sides of linebackers. Primarily covers the wide receivers and outside running plays. Saftey - People behind the cornerbacks who covers wide receiver and passing plays The object for the offense is to get in the endzone. The goal of the defense is to prevent the offense from getting in the endzone. A defensive person is always trying to tackle the person who has the ball. If the person goes down to the ground with the ball, then that play is over. There are four downs. After four downs, your team no longer has possession of the ball. If you gain

10 yards before the four downs are used, then you start with four downs again. Usually on first down, they call it first and ten. That means it is the first down, and I need ten yards to regain first down. If on the first play I only get one yard, then the next down is called second and nine. It is the second play and I need 9 yards more. On the second down, I get 5 yards, then it is third and 4. And on third down if I get 5 more yards, I have succeeded in getting 10 yards, and it is first and 10 once again. You continue to do this until you either get a touch down or get a field goal or fail to reach 10 yards in four plays. On the fourth down, your team can punt the ball. Punting the ball is used because you do not think you can get first down and punting the ball would move the other team further away from their end zone, making it harder for them. To punt the ball, a punter grabs the football and kicks it as high and as far as possible. There are many other rules, but I think this much explanation will be sufficient to understand a little about American football. Let's move on to speaking about this topic now.

Football - General Statements

"Do you like football?" "What do you think about football?" "Do you keep up with the NFL?" "Do you keep up with football?" "Who is your favorite team?" "Did you play football when you were young?" "Which player do you like the most?" "Who is your favorite player?" "Football is a brutal sport. It seems so dangerous." "Most of the people in football are so big." "There are too many injuries in football." "Football is so fun to watch." "I just started watching football on TV. I kind of get it, but I'm still learning all the rules." "In my country we don't have football so I really don't know how to play." "We don't have football in my country so I never learned the game." "I only watch the Superbowl." "I'm from Seattle, and because the Seahawks suck so bad, I don't really keep up with them." "I love the Miami Dolphins." "Joe Montana was my favorite player. I don't have a current one right now." "My favorite player is Priest Holmes. He is such a great running back."

Football - Topics
Talking about people you see "I saw a guy in a restaurant. He was huge man. Towering over everyone. I got the nerve to ask him if he played football, and he ended up being a professional football player for the Seahawks." "I saw a professional football player last week at a night club. All the girls were around him." "College football is very popular in America. It's almost as popular as the NFL." "My brother had class with a football player in college named Cortez Kennedy. He's now playing for the Raiders." "Even though a lot of football players are huge, most of them are really nice." Steroids "I heard that about ninety percent of football players have used steroids before." "Steroids is a big problem in the NFL." "I think the problem with the NFL is the steroid abuse." "I heard people say that you have to use steroids to be competitive. That's primarily because everyone else is using it, so if you don't, then it's your disadvantage."

Football - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "What are you watching?" B: "A football game. Packers are playing the Chiefs." A: "I never understood this game." B: "It's not that hard. If you watch a couple of games, you'll start to understand it." A: "Do you watch a lot of football?" B: "I like the Packers, so I watch all their games." A: "Did you play football before?" B: "Only in high school. I was too small to play for college."

A: "What position did you play?" B: "I was the corner back." A: "Is that the main guy in offense?" B: "No. That's the quarterback. The corner back is a defensive player covering passing plays and outside running plays." A: "I see. Do you think it is more fun than baseball?" B: "It's hard to compare the two because they're so different. I like both baseball and football. How about you? You like baseball a lot?" A: "Yeah. I'm a big baseball fan." B: "Baseball is fun, but you should also learn football. I'll explain as we watch." A: "Cool." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "What sports do you like to play?" B: "I like baseball and basketball." A: "How about football?" B: "In my country football is brand new, so I never learned the game when I was younger." A: "It's a very popular game in America." B: "Yeah. I heard a lot about it. Is it really that fun?" A: "For me, it's one of those games that are fun to both watch and play." B: "Are you a football player?" A: "No, just for fun with my friends. We play two hand touch or flag football. We're too old to play tackle football." B: "What is two hand touch and flag football?" A: "Instead of tackling somebody, you just have to touch them with two hands, or if it is flag football, grab the flag that the ball carrier is wearing." B: "I see. It's safer then right?" A: "Exactly. We play every Saturdays on the field by the tennis courts. If you want to learn and play a little, you're welcome to join us." B: "I'll give it a try. Give me a call and let's go down together." A: "Ok. I'll call you Saturday morning." B: "Great."

Golf - Terminologies
Golf is a sport that is increasing in popularity. This is more true for Asian countries with many great golfers coming from Korea, Japan, and China. Golf is also great because it is a sport for all ages and both genders. In this lesson, we will cover all the things you need to know to have a great conversation about golf. Before we start, let's cover some terminologies and equipment

Iron set - A typical set of irons consist of a pitching wedge and 3 through 9 irons 5 wood - Fairway wood designed to hit the ball a little farther than the 3 iron 3 wood - Fairway wood designed to hit the ball a little farther than the 5 wood Driver - The club used to hit the ball the farthest off the Tee Putter - The club used to putt the ball in the cup Tee box - The place where you hit your first shot Fairway - The short grass area in the middle Rough - Taller grass next to the fairway that is not in the middle Green - The area where the hole is and where you putt the ball. Par 3 - Short holes where it should take 3 shots to get in the cup Par 4 - Middle length holes where it should take 4 shots Par 5 - Long holes where it should take 5 shots Hole in one - When the ball goes in the cup on the first hit. Usually only on par 3's. Double Eagle - Ball goes in the cup after hitting the ball twice on a par 5. 3 under par Eagle - Ball goes in the cup after hitting the ball 3 times on a par 5 or 2 times on a par 4. 2 under par Birdie - Reaching the hole at one under par. So on a par 3, you reached the cup in 2, par 4, you reached in 3, and par 5, you reached in 4. Par - When you put the ball in the cup in the number specified by the par. Par 3, in three, par 4 in four shots, and par 5 in five shots Bogey - Using one extra shot to reach the cup. For example, on a par 4, you used 5 shots to get in the cup. Double bogey - 2 over par Triple bogey - 3 over par Quadruple bogey - 4 over par Etc.

Golf - Talking on the Course

On the course, here are some common sentences you can use when playing with other people. "Do you play this course often?" "Have you been here before?" "Great shot." "Great putt." "That was a nice shot." "You're doing great." "The ball hooked to the left." "Your ball sliced to the right." "I think your ball is out of bounds."

"Your ball is behind that big tree." "Your ball went towards the bushes." "I thought your ball went in the water." "You're about 160 yards away." "There is a dog leg left on the next hole." "I have a terrible lie." "I'm going to take a mulligan." "I'm going to hit again." "I'm going to play a provisional." "I can't find my ball so I am going to drop one." "I'm just going to drop." "I think the ball is going to break to the left." "It's an uphill putt." "I see a left break." "I don't see a break at all." "I'm not good at reading greens." "Do you know how far I am away?" "Did you see where my ball went?" "What color is the pin?" "What is the distance of this hole?" "Is this a par 5?"

Golf - Talking to Friends

Talking with friends about golf "Where do you usually play?" "How much are the green fees?" "How much does it cost over there?" "What do you usually shoot?" "Do you have a handicap?" "What is your handicap?" "What's your average score?" "How did you play today?" "How was your round last Saturday?" "Did you play well on Sunday?" "What was your score yesterday?" "What did you shoot last time you were out?" "How far do you drive the ball?"

"How far does your driver go?" "What club do you use to hit 150 yards?" "I usually play at Walter Hall." "I play all over, but mostly at Jackson Park Golf Course." "The green fees at Jefferson is twenty eight dollars." "It costs 35 dollars to play." "I'm a bogey player." "I'm not that good. I'm usually in the mid nineties." "I suck man. I'm still over a hundred." "I don't have a handicap, but I usually shoot in the low nineties." "My handicap is 17 right now." "My handicap is 14." "I'm a 5 handicap." "I shot a 95 yesterday." "I was 20 over on Saturday." "I did terrible on Sunday. I shot a hundred." "I was doing so good in the beginning, but on the back nine, I got three double bogeys." "I need to work on my putting. It sucks right now." "I need to practice my chip shots more." "I can't hit with my driver whatsoever." "I can hit my short irons pretty good, but I have a lot of problems with my 3 and 4 irons." "I hate my clubs. They are so old." "You need to buy some new clubs man." "Pro Golf Discount is having a sale right now." "I have a big problem slicing the ball." "I can't get rid of my hook." "He always slices the ball, so he aims left all the time." "He plays his slice." "He does a good job playing his hook." "Do you want to go golfing this weekend?" "When do you want to go out?" "When do you want to play?" "I'm going to play golf this Tuesday. Can you make it?" "We have a spot open. Do you want to play?" "You would get better if you go to the driving range once in a while."

"You need to fix that swing of yours." "You need to go to the driving range." "If you want to improve, you should take some lessons. It really helps."

Golf - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Steve. When's the next time you're going to play golf?" B: "I'm going out this Saturday." A: "Do you already have a foursome?" B: "Unfortunately, we do. Let's plan for something together for Wednesday. We can go right after work." A: "That sounds good. Where do you want to play?" B: "We won't have much time, so let's play somewhere close to work." A: "How about Bellevue? It's pretty close." B: "How much does it cost over there?" A: "Twilight rates are 21 dollars." B: "That's pretty good. Let's do it." A: "Aright. I'll get a tee time for Wednesday at about 4:00." B: "Make it 4:15. I won't get off until 4:00." A: "Ok. I'll call you later when I get a tee time." B: "Sounds good. I'll see you on Wednesday then." A: "Aright. Have fun on Saturday." B: "Will do." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "How did you golf on Saturday?" B: "I did pretty good. I shot a 13." A: "Not too bad. I thought you were going to break single." B: "I had a chance. I shot a 4 on the front nine, but the back nine killed me." A: "What happened?" B: "My drive was totally off. All of the sudden, I started hooking the ball. I hit two balls OB, and that

killed me score right there." A: "That sucks. You could have broken single if it wasn't for the penalty strokes." B: "Yeah. I was so frustrated after that hole. But overall, I shot well, so I'm not too disappointed. How about you? How have you been hitting lately?" A: "I hit great on the range, but when I get on the course, I can't seem to hit the ball right." B: "That happened to me for the longest time. It just takes time and practice. When you go out on the course more often, that problem will fix itself." A: "I'm still trying to break 90. I've been hitting in the mid nineties for ever." B: "How far does your driver go?" A: "I don't use it that much. I use my 3 wood more. I'm not consistent with the driver to use it." B: "You gotta keep practicing with it. Eventually you'll get the hang of it." A: "Yeah. I practice with it on the range, but I'm not making any progress on it." B: "Let's go to the range together and I'll check out your swing." A: "That sounds good. Let's go tomorrow night." B: "Ok. That will give us practice for our round on Wednesday." A: "I'll meet you there at 6:30." B: "Ok. See you tomorrow then."

Talking About Guys

Talking about guys is a little different than talking about girls. When guys talk about girls, they mostly talk about their body and looks. Although girls talk about guys in this manner as well, we mostly talk about personality, job, status, and things unrelated to looks. So, in this lesson, we will cover both looks and character of guys and what girls say to each other. General questions "What do you look for in a guy?" "What kind of person do you want to meet?" "What type of person do you want to marry?" "Who is your ideal type?" "How important is looks to you?" "Do you think physical appearance is important?" "What is the first thing you look for in a guy?" General answers for General questions "I'm looking for a guy who will treat me well." "I want a guy who is romantic." "I want to meet a guy who is rich." "I want a type of person that will respect me." "I want someone responsible. He should be able to take care of the family both emotionally and financially."

"I want a down to earth type of guy." "My ideal type is a guy who is smart and sensitive." "Looks are not that important to me." "The guy needs to be good looking to have a chance with me." "The first thing I look for in a guy is looks."

Talking About Guys - Comments

Physical appearance One of the biggest factors in physical appearance is height. Let's work on a couple of sentences. "I want a tall guy." "I have always been attracted to tall guys." "I don't like short guys." "I'm not attracted to short guys." Looks "I like a guy with a cute face." "I want a guy that works out." Commenting about guys "He is so cute." A lot of girls use the word cute. It doesn't necessarily mean cute like a baby, but cute means good looking in this context. "He is very handsome." "He is good looking." "He's so handsome." "He is tall with dark hair and brown eyes."

Talking About Guys - In Public

In a club or public place "Did you see the guy who just walked by? He was so cute." "I think the guy sitting at the bar is checking you out." "I'm going to stand next to the guy at the pool table. I hope he notices me." "What should I do to get his attention?"

"Should I ask him to dance?" "You should ask that guy to dance." "Why don't you just start dancing next to him?" Other things "He is so nice to me." "He takes care of me so well." "He has good manners." "He is so smart." "He's so sensitive." "He is so sweet." "Bob is so romantic. He writes poems to his girlfriend all the time." "Mike is very spontaneous. I think he would be a great boyfriend if you want to have fun."

Talking About Guys - Descriptions

Talking about your friends' boyfriend "She told me he was a good kisser." "Joanne is a dating a doctor from Harvard." "Suzy's boyfriend is so rich. He takes her to so many trips." "Jessica's boyfriend is in MBA at Wharton right now." "Her boyfriend is a jerk. He treats her like crap. I don't know why she doesn't break up with him." "I don't think he is that smart. He failed to get into college and he is doing manual labor right now." "I heard he hit her before. Someone should warn her before it's too late." "He's so cheap. He never pays for anything." "I think he is just using Martha because she has a lot of money. Why else would he date her?" Describing a guy you are dating "I met this guy and we started dating. He is so cute and he brought me flowers while I was at work. He is so romantic." "I'm seeing this guy name John now. He buys me a lot of stuff. I think I'm blinded by all the things he is buying me, but it's so fun." "We started dating after an 8 hour phone call. We just talked and talked and it was so great. We connected at a deep level and I think I really like him." "My boyfriend is in med school right now. He is going to specialize in surgery." "I'm dating a guy from work. I always had a crush on him because he was so nice." "On valentines day, my boyfriend prepared a picnic and we had lunch by the river. He prepared all the food and even had music. It was a great day."

"For my birthday, my boyfriend took me out to a nice restaurant. Afterwards, he took me out on a lake in a little boat. It was very romantic."

Talking about Guys - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Cindy. I heard you are seeing someone." B: "Yeah. His name is John. I started dating him a week ago." A: "That's so exciting. Tell me all about him. Is he good looking?" B: "I think he's cute, but not drop dead gorgeous." A: "How did you meet him?" B: "I go to this coffee shop a lot and this guy is always there. We started talking a couple of times, and he finally asked me out." A: "That's so cool. What does he do for a living?" B: "He works in the finance department in a manufacturing company." A: "Do you know if he makes a lot of money?" B: "I don't know for sure, but he drives a nice car and I heard he has a house." A: "How is his personality?" B: "He's very smart and a great person to talk to. In the beginning, we talked for about 30 minutes a day in the coffee shop before he asked me out. Besides that, he's very sweet and romantic." A: "How old is he?" B: "That's the problem. He is 2 years younger than me. What do you think about that?" A: "What's the big deal? I don't see anything wrong with that. If you were 23, then I might be worried he was immature, but you're almost 30 now. 2 years is no big deal." B: "Yeah. That's what I think." A: "When do I get to meet him?" B: "How about a double date. The four of us can go out to dinner and a drink or something." A: "That sounds great. How about next Saturday?" B: "I think Saturday will be good. Let's double check with the guys and get back to each other." A: "Great. I'll call you later then." B: "Ok. Talk to you later."

2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Jane. Did you see that guy standing by the dance floor?" B: "Yeah. He's kinda cute." A: "Wait. Isn't that Beth's boyfriend?" B: "I'm not sure. I haven't met him before." A: "Look. He's dancing with another girl." B: "Are you sure that's him?" A: "No. It just looks like him." B: "I heard he was a nice guy. He wouldn't be cheating on Beth." A: "Yeah. You're right. How do you know about him if you never met him?" B: "I hear all this stuff from Beth. She is always going off on how nice and sweet he is." A: "I heard the same thing. What type of guy are you looking for?" B: "Someone who is understanding, responsible, sensitive, smart, and with a lot of money." A: "Don't we all. Get real. All those guys are probably already taken." B: "It doesn't hurt to have expectations. What type of guy do you want to find?" A: "All I want is someone who is going to treat me well." B: "You know Alex don't you? He likes you. I bet he'll take good care of you." A: "He's a dork. At least someone who is not an idiot ok?" B: "Got it."

Guy, Girls, Sports - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Jason. What are you doing this Friday?" B: "I'm going to go to the driving range cause I'm playing golf on Saturday." A: "You're golfing without me? What's up with that?" B: "Sorry man, but we already have a foursome. I'm going with a couple of guys from work." A: "Where are you playing?" B: "Washington National. Have you been there yet?" A: "I've been there a couple of times. It's a great course. You know the Huskies play there right?" B: "I didn't know that. Is it a hard course?"

A: "It's pretty challenging. But it all depends on which tee you play from." B: "What are you shooting these days?" A: "I'm still hovering around a bogey game." B: "Still better than me. I'm still trying to hit a bogey game. Do you want to hit the driving range with me?" A: "I can't this Friday. I'm playing basketball with the guys that night." B: "At night?" A: "Yeah. We're playing indoors at a school gymnasium." B: "What's the occasion?" A: "Just a small league I play on. Nothing special." B: "I'm too short to play basketball." A: "You're not that short. Plus, we have a couple of guys who are the same height as you. They're awesome players." B: "I never got into basketball. It's fun and all, but maybe I'm just not good at it." A: "It's still great exercise. I get a better workout from basketball than I do from the treadmill." B: "That's true." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "What do you think about Matt's new girlfriend?" B: "Samantha? She's pretty hot. I can't believe she fell for Matt." A: "I heard she was a slut. I know of four other guys who slept with her." B: "She ain't no slut. If she was so easy, why don't you get in her pants." A: "I don't know. Just something I heard. But she has a killer body doesn't she?" B: "When are you going to get a girl?" A: "I don't seem to have much luck with girls." B: "Why do you think that is?" A: "I say the stupidest things around girls. I don't know why I do that?" B: "It's because you're nervous. Best thing to do is not say a word until you know it's not stupid." A: "It doesn't work that way. I stop thinking around pretty girls." B: "I know. You got to date a girl who isn't that pretty then." A: "Screw you." B: "Ha ha ha." A: "What the story of your love life these days?" B: "It's only been a couple of months that I broke up with Sarah. But I think it's about time to start hunting again." A: "Who's your type?" B: "Anybody with a nice body and a pretty face." A: "How about their personality or their character?" B: "I'm not thinking about marriage, so those things don't matter." A: "You're so shallow."

3 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "So Mark. What is your favorite hobby?" B: "Probably sports." A: "Anything specific? Or just sports in general." B: "Most sports. I like basketball, football, baseball, golf, tennis, so I guess most sports." A: "I like tennis. Did you play for your high school team?" B: "Yeah. I played on the varsity team starting from my sophomore year. How about you?" A: "I played my junior and senior year." B: "What other sports did you play?" A: "I played volleyball. I would have to say volleyball is my favorite." B: "What position did you play?" A: "I was the outside hitter." B: "That's so cool. I didn't know you were athletic." A: "I don't know if I would consider myself athletic, but I have fun playing." B: "I play on a co-ed volleyball team every Tuesdays. We're always looking for more girls to play on our team. Would you be interested?" A: "Yeah. It sounds fun. Just call me anytime you need a player." B: "That's great. Since we are on the topic of sports, what sport do you like to watch on television?" A: "I never got into watching sports on TV. So I really don't know." B: "Not even the Super bowl?" A: "Only when the group of people I'm with is watching it. I just never had interest in TV that much." B: "Well, I like following the Mariners. They're pretty good." A: "I like to go watch them play. It's fun when you are actually there." B: "A bunch of us are going to watch them play this June. Do you want to join us?" A: "Yeah. I'll go. I like the new stadium. It's pretty cool." B: "Ok. I'll make sure to get you a ticket as well." 4 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "What did Mike get you for your birthday Pam?" B: "He got me a watch. See." A: "That's beautiful. He must have spent a fortune on it." B: "He's so great. I think he might propose pretty soon." A: "How do you know? Did he give you any clues?" B: "He took me to a jewelry store and asked me what type of rings I like. It was a little obvious, but at least I got to pick the one I wanted." A: "That's not so romantic?" B: "He was never romantic. Silly and cute, but not romantic. I like all his quirkiness. He always makes me laugh."

A: "I guess you can't ask for much more than that." B: "How is it going with you and Brad?" A: "We broke up a week ago." B: "I'm sorry to hear that. What happened?" A: "I think we both just started to grow apart. I wasn't surprised." B: "Are you doing ok?" A: "Actually, I'm feeling great. I guess I needed some freedom." B: "Have you started seeing other guys yet?" A: "Not yet, but I when I meet a decent guy, I wouldn't mind dating again." B: "What kind of guy are you looking for?" A: "Although my relationship with Brad wasn't that bad, I want a guy who likes to go out more. Brad always spent all his time studying and researching for school. It was quite boring." B: "You definitely need a guy who likes to have fun." A: "I wouldn't mind dating a romantic guy. Maybe I'm dreaming, but a nice walk down the beach, or dancing in the moonlight would be something I would love to do." B: "Hey. There are guys like that. All you have to do is find the right one." A: "But that's the hard part. I always fall for the guy who is smart. And then after a couple of months, I get bored." B: "Doesn't a tall, good looking guy turn you on?" A: "Not really. What should I do?" B: "We should go to a club this Saturday and find a smart romantic guy. How does that sound?" A: "That sounds like a plan. Let's do it." B: "Great. I'll see you at nine then." A: "Ok. See you later."

Shopping - Clothes
A few guys like to shop. As for the girls, most of them enjoy shopping. Shopping can consist of grocery shopping, clothes shopping, or present shopping. I'm sure there are other types as well, but I will limit this lesson to these three types of shopping. Shopping for clothes 'Window Shopping' is a terminology used when you do not plan on buying anything. Basically, you are only looking. The term 'window shopping' was created because a lot of stores have mannequins on display in the window with clothes on them. So walking by the store and looking at the clothing through the window is a way to see what they have. This is called 'window shopping.' Mannequins are the fake life size figures that are used to put and display clothes. Most department stores show clothing with the mannequins. Here are some common statements and questions most commonly used in a clothing store.

"Where is the dressing room?" "I can't find my size here. Can you check if you have this in a size 4?" "Do you have this in different colors?" "Where are your jeans located?" "Where is the red sweater on display in the window?" "How much is this skirt?" "Are you going to have a sale soon?" "Where is the matching shirt for this skirt?" "When are you going to get more sizes?" "I'm looking for a belt that will go with these pants." "Do you provide alteration here?" "How much will it cost to get alternation done on these pants?" "These pants are too long for me. Where can I get them altered?" "How long does it take?" "When do you start selling summer clothing?" "When will you be getting your summer line?" Some answers you might hear from workers "The dressing room is in the right back corner." "The dressing room is right over there." "All our jeans are located in the back wall." "We usually get a shipment every Thursday, so I would check back then." "We have alteration here." "It costs seven dollars." "It takes one day. You can pick them up tomorrow if you drop it off now." "We'll have our summer line on display in April."

Shopping - Grocery
Grocery shopping is a common thing that is done at least on a weekly basis. I'll cover some general sentences that are commonly used. Before shopping "I'm going to the grocery store. Do you need anything?" "I'm going to QFC. Do you want to go?" "Did you create a grocery list?" "I'm going to Safeway tonight. Let me know if you need anything by 5:30." "Let's go to the grocery store together." Many large grocery stores have coupons they distribute through the newspaper. You cut them out and save money on items that are shown in the coupon.

"I have a bunch of coupons I got from the newspaper." "There were a lot of coupons, but I didn't need any of them." "There are no coupons for anything I ever buy." During grocery shopping "Where is your bread section?" "Where can I find milk?" "Where are your beers?" "Do you sell alcohol here?" "I'm looking for pickles. Can you help me find them?" "Do you have a bakery section?" "I'm looking for cough medicine. Where is your medicine area?"

Shopping - Presents
Shopping for presents Almost everyone needs to buy a present. Let's look at some sentences that you will need. It's common to ask a birthday person what they want. "What do you want for your birthday?" "Do you need anything?" Or, you can ask a friend of a birthday person. "What do you think John wants for his birthday?" "What do you think I should get for John?" "What are you getting John for his birthday?" Buying something for a girlfriend or boyfriend is a little different. If you don't have any ideas, then you can ask a sales person. Let's say you want to buy your girlfriend a piece of jewelry. "I want to buy my girlfriend a birthday present. Do you have any suggestions?" Or if you want to buy a boyfriend a tie or a shirt, you can go to a place like Banana Republic and ask them. "I'm shopping for my boyfriend's birthday. Can you help me pick out something?"

Shopping - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Welcome. Can I help you with anything?" B: "Hi. I'm shopping for my boyfriend's birthday. Do you have any suggestions?" A: "Let's see. How about a nice shirt and tie? You can't go wrong there." B: "Well. He doesn't wear ties that often." A: "We have some nice pants. You can also get him a belt with it." B: "That sounds good. Which one do you recommend?" A: "These slacks are very popular. He can wear them to dress up a little or on a normal casual day." B: "I like them. Do you have matching belts?" A: "Yes. Right over here." B: "How much are they?" A: "The pants are on sale for $40, and the belt is $25." B: "What is your return policy just in case he doesn't like them?" A: "Just save the receipt and we will gladly return or exchange them for you." B: "That sounds great. I'll take them." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Jackie. What are you doing?" B: "Nothing much. I'm just relaxing today. Why? What's going on?" A: "I was thinking about heading to the mall. Do you want to go?" B: "Are they having a sale?" A: "Yeah. Both Bon and Nordstrom's is having there annual sale. It's a great time to buy some clothes you've been holding out on." B: "That sounds great. Where should we meet?" A: "I'll meet you in front of Nordstrom's in 30 minutes." B: "Sounds good. See you there." A: "What do you think about these shoes?" B: "They're cute. But do you think you'll wear them much?" A: "No. Not really." B: "This sweater is so pretty. I love the low neck design." A: "I bet it's expensive." B: "It's on sale for $80. What do you think? Should I try them on?"

A: "For 80 bucks it looks great. Go try it on." 3 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Where is your dressing room?" B: "Right over there." Person A comes out of the dressing room B: "How did you like the sweater?" A: "I loved it. I'll take it." B: "Great. I can ring you up over here. It comes to $87.04." A: "Here you go?" B: "Do you have a credit card with us?" A: "No I don't." B: "If you open up a card, you can save 10% on all your purchases today." A: "Not today. Thanks though." B: "No problem. We always have this offer, so when ever you decide to, just let us know." A: "Sure." B: "Is there anything else I can help you with?" A: "Yeah. I was looking at some of your pants, but they are all a bit too long. Do you have alteration services here?" B: "Yes. It cost $7, and it takes one day." A: "Great. Thanks for your help." B: "Thank you, and have a great day."

Jewelry
There are many types of jewelry, but the ones I will focus on are the ring, necklace, earring, bracelet, and watch. Although watch can be in a category by itself, we will include it in this section until a separate section is created. Conversation is usually started with a person complimenting a piece of jewelry. Here are some examples. "That's a beautiful necklace." "What a magnificent ring." "I like the design of your ring." "Your bracelet is very nice." "I love your watch." "What a beautiful pair of earrings." "Where did you get your necklace from?" "What is the carat on your diamond ring?"

"Is that your wedding ring?" "What type of diamond is that?" "What is the make of your watch?" "Is that white gold, silver, or platinum?" "Is your gold ring 14 carats or 18 carats?" Carat is a unit of measurement for gold or diamond. 24 carat is pure gold and 50 percent of pure gold is 12 carats. Diamonds use carat to determine size. One carat is considered to be pretty big. While getting past 3 carats will be uncommon for the general people because of the large size. Answering a compliment is very easy. All you need to say is, 'Thank you.' But if you want to elaborate, you can say the following things. "Thank you. My husband got it for me for our anniversary." "Thank you. It was a present from my boyfriend." "Do you like it? My grandmother gave it to me." "This is a Rolex. My husband and I got a matching pair for our wedding." "This is a Cartier. I bought it last summer."

Jewelry - Jewelry Stores

Asking about jewelry stores "Where is the best place to buy jewelry?" "Where would you go to buy jewelry?" "Are all jewelry stores the same?" "What do you think about Tiffany's?" "Does the Shane Co. have good quality jewelry?" "Do they have high quality rings?" "What jewelry store do you recommend?" "It all depends on how much you want to spend." "The best place to buy jewelry is Tiffany's. Their service is great and the quality of all their stuff is amazing." "Jared's is a pretty good place for the price." "I like Costco because they are much cheaper than any other place." "If you want to buy an engagement ring, EE Robins is a great jewelry store."

In a jewelry store Most or all jewelry items are behind a glass on display. You will need to work with a salesperson to view items directly. "I'm looking for a bracelet." "Can I see this one?" "Can I see that one?" "Can I try it on?" "How much does this bracelet cost?" "Do you have this in white gold?" "Do you have any bracelets with diamonds in them?" "I'm looking for clip on earrings. Do you carry any?" "Do you have diamond studded clip on earrings?" "What types of earrings do you carry?" "I like this one, but do you have the same one with a bigger diamond?" "Do you have this bracelet without the design on it?" "Do you engrave here?" "I would like to get this bracelet? How much is engraving here?" "I'm looking for a titanium ring." "Do you carry any titanium bands?" "Do you have a matching necklace for this ring?" "Could I get this diamond on that band?" "How long will it take to mount this diamond on this ring?" "This ring is too loose for me now. Can you make it smaller?" "This ring is too small. Can you make it larger?"

Jewelry - General Statements

"You can tell she is rich by all the jewelry she is wearing." "Did you see the size of the rock on her finger?" "Her boyfriend buys her a lot of jewelry. He must be rich."

"I want a necklace for my graduation gift." "My mom is going to give me her ring when I get married. It's a tradition we have in our family." "Girls love jewelry as much as guys love sports." "Not all girls like jewelry. Some of them think it is a waste of money." "Even the girls who don't like jewelry would buy a lot if they had a lot of money." "Do you think I should buy her a necklace or a ring?" "If you buy her a ring, she might think you are proposing to her." "How much do you think I will need to buy my fianc a nice diamond ring?" "How much do I need to buy a decent diamond ring?" "Do girls like diamond earrings?"

Jewelry - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "I love your bracelet. When did you get it?" B: "I got it awhile ago, but I haven't worn it much. You really like it?" A: "Yeah. It's beautiful. Is it white gold or silver?" B: "It's white gold." A: "Where did you buy it?" B: "My boyfriend took me to the Shane Co. and he let me pick it out." A: "That's so sweet. What was the occasion?" B: "That's the best part. It wasn't for anything special. He just wanted to buy me something." A: "You're so lucky. If he bought you something for no special day, I wonder what he would buy you for your birthday." B: "My birthday is coming up next month. We'll find out pretty soon." A: "What do you want?" B: "I wouldn't mind a necklace. I was at the jewelry shop looking around, and they have a couple of

beautiful necklaces I want." A: "Why not a ring?" B: "I don't think I'm ready for a ring from him yet." A: "But you're ready for everything else?" B: "Damn right." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hi. Can I help you with anything?" B: "Yeah. Can I look at this ring?" A: "Sure. Let me get it out for you. What is your size?" B: "I believe I am a six." A: "Here you go." B: "Would you have any necklace that would go well with this?" A: "Actually, we have a few to choose from. They are over here." B: "There's no price tag on this necklace." A: "Oh. I'm sorry. I'll check the price for you. It is $199." B: "This necklace is a little short. Do you have one that is longer?" A: "Yes. Why don't you try this one on." B: "This one is much better. Can I try on the ring with this necklace?" A: "Sure. Here you go." B: "Let me think about it." A: "Sure. Take your time." B: "Thank you for all the help." A: "No problem at all." 3 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "What a beautiful watch. It goes very well with your ring." B: "Thank you." A: "Is that your wedding ring?" B: "I'm not married yet. It's my engagement ring." A: "Well, congratulations. When is the big date?" B: "In June." A: "Did you have the watch before getting the ring?" B: "Actually, we bought the ring together after I got the watch." A: "You did a fabulous job with the selection. It's gorgeous." B: "Thank you so much." A: "What kind of watch is it?" B: "It's a Tag Heuer." A: "If you don't mind me asking, how much do they cost?"

B: "This one is $1500. But they range from $600 to $3000." A: "That's why it looks so nice. I should have figured. You always get what you pay for." B: "Yeah. I would rather get one nice watch instead of 20 mediocre ones."

Happy and Feeling Good

It's common to talk to friends and family when you are happy. Most of the time, you want to express why you are happy and share with close people how you feel. In this lesson, let's take a look at many different ways you can express yourself when you are happy. General statements are usually short. Here are a few examples. "I'm very happy right now." "I'm happy." "I haven't been this happy in a long time." "I don't think I can be any happier right now." "He is very happy." "She is so happy right now." "My wife is pretty happy." "My husband is happy." These sentences are very basic. Most of the time, you will be explaining why you are happy. Let's incorporate the reason into the sentence. "I'm so happy I got a job offer." "I was happy when I received an A for my final report." "I'll be happy when that happens." "This semester is such a headache. I'll be so happy when it's over." "My brother was happy after passing the examination." "I think my mother was happier than I was when I got into the University." "If you find a job you are happy with, then that is the perfect job for you." "It's more important to be happy with your job then what other people think." "I don't think she will be happy if you do that." "My parents won't be happy if I drop out of school." "I think my professor was happy with my essay." "My grandmother is always happy when I come visit her." "My grandfather is always happy to see me."

"I'm so happy for you. That's wonderful news." "Congratulations on your engagement, I'm so happy for you." "I want to find a gift that she will be happy with." "He never likes his presents, but he is happy with the fact that we tried." "Happiness is probably the most important thing in life." "My goal in life is to make other people happy."

Happy and Feeling Good - Questions

Questions you might ask someone "Do you think he will be happy with this present?" "Do you believe money can buy happiness?" "Do you think she will be happy if I show up?" "What would make you happy?" "Was your brother happy with the results?" "When was your happiest time period?" "How can you put a price tag on happiness?" "How much money do you need to be happy?" "Would you be happy if that happened to you?" "Why are you so happy right now?" "Why are you in such a good mood?" "Did something good happen? You look so happy?" "Why do you have such a big smile on your face?"

Happy and Feeling Good - Other Sentences

There are other ways to express you are happy without using the word happy. In the last half of this lesson, let's look at some of these sentences. "I'm feeling pretty good right now." "I'm in a very good mood." "I feel great!" "I'm so glad I didn't have to go to work today." "It feels so good taking a long vacation."

"This is so awesome. I can't believe this happened." "I got everything I ever wanted. I feel so blessed." "My brother was jumping around everywhere when he heard he got into Stanford." Here are some slang terms you might hear. "I'm so stoked." Stoked basically means to be happy or to be excited. "I'm on cloud nine right now." This terminology represents feeling high. High is usually associated with drugs, but if something good happens and you are so happy, it can make you feel better than being on drugs. That is where this terminology came from. "I feel like I'm in paradise." "I feel like I'm on top of the world." "I feel like a king." "I feel like a champion." "I feel invincible."

Happy and Feeling Good - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey John. I have some great news." B: "What happened?" A: "I got a job offer from Dell." B: "That's great. I thought you said you didn't get the job." A: "I thought I did bad on the interview, but I guess I was wrong. I'm so happy right now."

B: "I bet. That's great news. I'm very happy for you." A: "Thanks. I feel like celebrating. Let's go have a beer. It's on me." B: "Sounds good." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Mike, did you win the lottery or something? Why the big smile?" B: "I'm so relieved. I just passed the bar exam." A: "You did? That's great! You must be very happy now?" B: "That's an understatement. I'm on cloud nine. I couldn't be any happier." A: "Did you tell your parents yet?" B: "Not yet. I didn't get a hold of them. I'll try to call them again tonight." A: "They're probably going to be so happy." B: "I think so. It's turning out to be a great day." 3 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Life's so boring." B: "Well, most of the time it is, I guess." A: "What do you think will make you happy?" B: "I think money will make me happy." A: "You heard people say that money doesn't guarantee happiness." B: "It will for me. Then I can do all the things I want to do." A: "You'll get bored eventually." B: "Then I can find something new to do. If I don't have to worry about money, then I don't have to work." A: "That's true, I guess. If I didn't have to work, I think I would be happy." B: "You see... money doesn't equal happiness, but it takes away a lot of responsibilities."

Anger
Different people react in different ways when they are angry. In this lesson, we will look at a variety of sentences people use when they are angry. When someone is angry in the real world, they use a lot of profanity or curse words. Because of this fact, this lesson will contain bad words. There are many ways a person can get angry. Let's first look at the situation where it involved a different person. "I'm so pissed. Roger just stabbed me in the back." "What was he thinking! I thought we were friends too."

"I don't know what I'm going to do when I see him. I found out that he's been sleeping with my girlfriend." "Matt is dating my ex-girlfriend. I'm pretty upset about that. He knows I still have feelings for her." "Whenever I think about him, I get pissed. He treats his friends like crap." "I can't believe he was talking behind my back. Whenever he talks to me, he acts like we're close friends." "Matt borrowed my car and put a dent in it. He claims he didn't do it. I'm never trusting him again." "I told Scott a secret and made sure he never tells anyone. The next week, I heard it from three different people. I was so pissed."

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Anger - Understanding

There are only a few things you need to say when someone is talking to you about anger. The best thing to do is understand their feeling. "I can't believe that happened. I'd be so pissed." "I know how you feel. I was so angry when that happened to me." "I can't imagine how angry you must feel. That has never happened to me." "If that happened to me, I'd get revenge." "What are you going to do to get him back?" "That totally sucks, but I'm not surprised. I always knew he was a back stabber." "The best thing to do is stop being his friend. He doesn't deserve to have any friends."

Anger - Confronting
When you are talking to the person that made you angry, it is common to lose control and say a lot of things. Here are some common sentences. "I thought you were a friend. I had so much trust in you. I can't believe you did this to me." "What were you thinking when you stabbed me in the back. Did it feel good?" "Why'd you do it?" "You know I still have feelings for Mandy. You didn't even consider my feelings. What? Am I not a friend or something?" "You're not the only one hurting for money. You owe me five hundred dollars. I need it now." "You didn't have to tell my parents that I owed you money. I said I would pay you back when I got

my paycheck. I can't believe you would do this." Sentences you can ask or say if you feel a friend is angry with you "Are you mad at me?" "Are you angry?" "You're not disappointed are you?" "Don't be angry with me. I really didn't mean it." "I didn't know you were involved. I hope you're not mad at me." "I really didn't know it was going to make you upset."

Anger - Other
If you make good friends, you can avoid these types of scenarios. However, there are times when the situation was out of your control. For example, a friend of mine had to landscape his back yard for his house, so he called a company to delivery a lot of top soil. As the driver was driving back to the house, he hit my friends house and damaged a pipeline. The driver claimed it wasn't his fault and said he wouldn't pay for the damages. When things like this happen, we use the court system to get payment. But my friend was so angry because they were not accepting fault. Here are some of the things I heard. "I was so pissed for a couple of weeks. During that time, I thought of twenty different ways I could hurt his business." "I'm going to screw with him so much." In the end, everything worked out. They went to court and my friend won. There are a couple of other emotions that are similar to being angry. I'll cover some of them here. "I'm so frustrated." "It's so frustrating working with him." "I was so frustrated, I stopped caring about the outcome." "He gets frustrated pretty easily." "It's easy to get frustrated when things are not fair." "I'm not really mad, just a little disappointed." "That really hurt me. I'm so disappointed." "I'm really disappointed in you. I didn't know you could stoop to that level." In boxing, a low blow is a hit below the belt that is considered unfair. The term low blow became widely used when someone did something unfair. Here are some sentences to give you an idea. "That was low."

"I can't believe Jackie would do something so low." Now that we know what low means, stooping to that level means to do something that is low. You are basically lowering yourself to perform a bad or unfair task.

Anger - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "What happened to your car?" B: "A tow truck was towing my car and put all those dents in my car." A: "Are they going to pay you for the damages?" B: "They're saying it was already there." A: "What the hell. That doesn't make sense. What are you going to do." B: "I have to go to court. A cop was there so he can prove that the damage wasn't there." A: "That sucks. I'd be pissed if that happened to me." B: I got an estimate and it's four thousand dollars." A: "Oh my gosh. Damn... screw the court, I would burn down their store." B: "We'll see what happens after court." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Jack, what's wrong?" B: "You!" A: "What are you talking about? What did I do?" B: "You told Martha that I was on a date? What was that all about?" A: "No... that's not what I meant. I didn't mean that. She asked me where you were and I jokingly said that you were on a date with Sara. I thought Martha knew that you and Sara were just friends." B: "She started feeling suspicious after you said that." A: "I'm sorry man. I didn't know. I didn't mean to screw anything up." B: "Martha gets jealous easily and it took a while to convince her that Sara was just a friend. Now, I have to explain to Sara that I can't hang around her because of you." A: "Look. I really didn't mean to, and next time I see Martha, I'll really tell her that you and Sara are

really just friends." B: "Don't bother."

Excited - General Sentences

Being excited is another positive emotion. I'm sure everyone knows what it feels like to be excited, so let's get right into learning sentences. The day before a big event, many people get excited. Here are some sentences you can use. "I'm getting excited for golf tomorrow." "I'm too excited to go to sleep now. Our trip tomorrow is going to be so fun." "We're leaving for our camping trip tomorrow. I'm getting really excited." "Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day." "We're finally moving into our first house. It's a very exciting time for us." "I have an interview tomorrow. Although I am scared, it's an exciting opportunity." Regular sentences "I'm excited to be here." "Your sister must be really excited about starting law school." "It's really exciting thinking about the benefits people will gain from our project." "It's exciting starting a small business." "I get excited thinking about how many people I will help." "Don't get too excited. It's not guaranteed yet." "I wouldn't get excited yet. You still have one more match to play." "You didn't get the job yet, so don't get too excited about it." Questions "I'm pretty fired up about tomorrow. Aren't you excited too?" "Are you feeling excited or scared about your interview tomorrow?" "Do you get excited every time you get a phone number from a girl?" "Is your brother excited about starting work?" "Are you excited about your date tomorrow?"

Excited - Other Expressions

Sometimes, being too excited can be negative. Here are some examples. "I don't know what's wrong with him. He's always excited for no reason."

"He's too hyper. I don't know why he's excited about every little thing." Hyper is usually used when someone has too much energy. "If you feel too excited, you won't be able to sleep. Then you won't perform that well tomorrow." "Calm down. You're over reacting." "My friend can never go to sleep the day before we go skiing. He always gets too excited." "My dog gets excited whenever the doorbell rings." "People with heart problems shouldn't get excited too often." "You should feel excited about this opportunity." "I don't understand why you're unhappy with your situation. I'd feel excited to have your opportunity." "Going to a concert is very exciting. There are many people there with so much energy and it's very fun." "It's exciting to see a great singer perform so powerfully." "I'm excited about my trip to Europe. It's going to be so fun." Being pumped up is another way you can say you are excited. "I'm pretty pumped up about my trip to Australia. I'm really looking forward to it." "I'm pumped up about working out. I joined a health club and set a good schedule to follow." Being thrilled about something is another way to say you are excited. "It's so thrilling skiing down the mountain real fast." "I'm thrilled thinking about buying a new car." When you are referring to an exciting person, the word most commonly used is enthusiastic. "He's a very enthusiastic person." "I wish I had as much enthusiasm as he does." "It's always fun to be around an enthusiastic person."

Excited - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native.

1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "I can't wait to go skiing tomorrow." B: "I know. It's going to be so much fun." A: "I always get excited the day before." B: "I used to be like that. But I go skiing so often that I don't get excited anymore." A: "I only go skiing twice a year, so it's a real treat for me." B: "That makes sense." A: "What things make you excited?" B: "Whenever I go to Vegas, I get really excited." A: "Oh... that makes me excited too!" B: "Looks like anything fun makes you excited." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Jack. Are you excited about starting work?" B: "Yeah. I'm really looking forward to it." A: "What was more exciting, starting college or starting work?" B: "They're pretty similar, but in different ways. I really can't decide. How about you?" A: "For me, I think starting school was more exciting." B: "Does that mean work isn't that great?" A: "It's different for everyone, but because I knew school was going to be so much fun, I really got excited about it." B: "But work is a huge portion of our lives. I'm looking forward to making it fun." A: "That's a great attitude to have. I don't think you'll have any problems in the workforce." B: "I hope you're right." 3 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Suzie. Guess what? I'm having a baby!" B: "Really? That's so great. Congratulations." A: "Thanks. I'm so excited. We've been trying for 8 months now." B: "That's really exciting. How many months are you pregnant?" A: "Three months." B: "Are you going to find out if it is a boy or a girl?" A: "I want to, but Bob doesn't. He wants to be surprised like the old fashioned way." B: "Maybe it's more exciting not knowing." A: "I'd rather know and buy all the baby things ahead of time." B: "There are so many things you have to prepare for."

A: "I know I am going to be busy, but I know I can handle it. I have been looking forward to this day for a long long time." B: "It really must be an exciting time for you guys." A: "Thank you so much."

Being Worried
Some people might say worrying is useless, but it is an emotion that everyone has. Worrying doesn't help the situation, but we can't help to feel worried when something happens. Let's look at some sentences that are commonly used. "I'm worried about my son." "I'm worried about the situation." "I'm so worried." "I'm a little worried." "He's very worried about work." "He's worrying about his financial situation." "She's worried about her dog." "Our dog has been missing for 2 days. My wife is very worried." "Our son slipped and hit his head. It's going to be a couple of days before we know how serious it is. I can't help but worry about it." "I'd be worried if I was in that situation." "I bet she's really worried." "The doctor said something was wrong with my wife's blood test. I'm so worried." "I lost my job and I'm having a hard time finding another one. I'm beginning to worry about how I'm going to take care of my family." "My husband lost his job. Although I'm worried, I can't put pressure on him because he feels really bad."

Worry - Serious Situation

Sometimes, a person might not take a situation seriously. If something bad happened and they don't think it is bad, then a popular comment is to say something like this. "I would worry if I were you." "Do you think this is a joke? This is pretty serious." "This is one of your last chances. Aren't you worried at all?"

When we are worried, the word doesn't have to be used to express that we are worried. Here are a few examples of what I am talking about. "I don't know how I'm going to pay for the medical bills." "I have so much debt. I don't know what to do." "I just took the exam and I don't know if I passed or not." "I only applied for three schools. What's going to happen if I don't get into any of them?" "I just had my interview. I don't know if I got it or not." "I hope they come out with the results soon. I hate the waiting." "The doctor said there are some complications with the pregnancy. I'm praying nothing bad happens." "My mother got into a car accident. She's in critical condition. I don't know what's going to happen." "So many people are counting on me. What if I let them down?"

Being Worried - Talking to a Worried Person

When someone is worried, here are some sentences you might need to say. "Stop worrying. It's only making you feel worse." "You should try to think positive. Worrying is not going to help you." "Don't worry about the planning. I'll take care of it." "Don't worry about the money. I already took care of it." "I'm sure you passed the test. Don't worry about it." "You had a high GPA and you did well on your test. Don't worry about getting into school. I'm sure all of them will accept you." "You're over reacting. The situation is not that bad. I don't think you should be worried at all." "Worrying is not going to help your situation. Let's think of a step by step plan that will help your financial problem." "The hardest part of your situation is that you can't do anything about it. I hope everything works out." "Everything happens for a reason. I'm sure something good will come out of all this."

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Worry - Worried about Family

Parents worry a lot about their kids. And if you have a mom or dad that worries about you, then you can say these types of sentences. "Don't worry about me." "Stop worrying about me. I'm doing great." "My mom is always worried about me." "I wish my mom would stop worrying about me." "My dad is always worried about my future." "I wish my mom would stop saying how much she worries about me. It doesn't really help my situation." "Why do parents always tell us that they are worried about us." "If you weren't such a screw up, then your parents wouldn't have to worry about you." "Your parents only worry because they love you." "Your mom only wants what is best for you. That's why she's worrying so much." "Your dad wants you to have a better life than his. That's why he's worrying." Finally, when we get older, it is common to worry about marriage and kids. "I'm already 30 and I don't even have a boy friend. What if I don't ever get married?" "My mom is worried that I won't get married." "We've been trying to have a baby for 2 years now. I'm worried that we will never have one." "My parents are worried that we won't have any children."

Worry - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "You don't look too well. What's going on?"

B: "I just lost my job. I'm just worried about how I'm going to pay the bills." A: "I'm sorry to hear that. Have you been looking for another job?" B: "I just started, but the job market is very bad right now. I'm not optimistic about it." A: "That's tough. What does your wife think about this?" B: "She's trying to be supportive, but I can tell she is very worried about our financial situation as well." A: "I have some friends who might be able to help you find a job. I'll see what they can do." B: "I really appreciate your help." A: "No problem. In the meantime, don't try to worry so much. You'll get through this." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Jared, I just heard about your father. How is he doing?" B: "He's in the hospital resting. The doctor's didn't give a clear answer yet." A: "I'm so sorry to hear that. But this is a good hospital. I'm sure they will do whatever they can." B: "I hope so." A: "You must feel really worried right now. But you know your dad is a fighter." B: "Yeah. I think my mom is the most worried. I'm basically worried about how she is doing." A: "Where is she right now?" B: "She's in the hospital with my dad. I have to go back tonight." A: "Hey, I'll go with you." B: "You don't have to." A: "It's really no problem." B: "Ok. Let's go right after dinner."

Stress - School
Unfortunately, stress is a common emotion that we all experience. Most of the time, stress is caused by pressure placed on us. We experience stress trying to live up to someone else's expectations. This is the same for school and work. We are given work to do and if there is so much, we experience stress. School "I'm stressing out. I have a mid term tomorrow and I haven't studied yet." "I have a paper due tomorrow and I didn't even read the book. I'm so stressed." "I always get stressed out during finals week. Even if I study a lot, there are always unexpected questions I don't know about." "My parents give me so much stress. They expect me to get straight A's all the time." "I would enjoy school a lot more if my parents didn't put so much pressure on me."

"My dad gave me a beating when I brought home a C on my report card." "I'm so stressed. I'm taking the CPA exam next week and I'm not confident." "I've been stressed like this for two weeks now. I'll be happy when this semester is over." "I took too many classes this semester. I shouldn't have tried to do so much. Now I'm stressing like crazy." "My English professor is stressing me out. He wants me to help him write his article." "I'm having a lot of trouble in my political science class. It's stressing me out."

Stress - Work
"I get a lot of stress from work." "I'm sick of all the stress I have to deal with." "The project I'm working on is giving me a lot of stress." "I have a lot of stress because of my manager. He wants me to finish my project in four days." "The most stressful thing about work is always making sure my manager is happy." "If I don't butt kiss, I might get fired. It's so stressful living like this." "Work is so stressful." "There's this guy at work. He's the biggest butt kisser. It's stressful competing against this guy." "I get a lot of stress from my coworkers. They're all way too competitive." "I volunteered for another project and it's stressful to say the least. I'm working 14 hours a day." "My company is over working me. They expect way too much from everybody." "If the work doesn't kill me, the stress will."

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Stress - Questions and Answers

"What do you do when you feel a lot of stress?" "What do you do when you feel stressed out?" "How do you relieve your stress?" "After work, I usually go out with some friends and have a few drinks." "We usually complain about our jobs over a bottle of Soju." "Drinking is the way we deal with stress." "On the weekend, my friends and I go out and drink a lot. It's the only way to stop thinking about work." Although drinking to relieve stress is a normal practice. It is a bad interview question. When you are talking to friends, it is normal to say that you drink to take care of the stress, but if you talk to someone important, make sure you give a simple answer.

"I usually go to the river and relax by the water." "I like to rent a movie and relax on the sofa. This really helps me deal with my stress." "What stresses you out the most?" "What makes you stressed the most?" "Where do you get the most stress from?" "My company gives me the most stress." "My girlfriend gives me the most stress." "I get a lot of stress from my parents." "School is the most stressful for me." "Everything about life is stressful." "I have a lot of stress trying to pay all the bills."

Stress - General
"My parents are putting pressure on me to get married. It's so stressful." "My husband wants to have a baby. I don't want one yet. It's very stressful." "I get so much stress before interviews." "I feel a lot of stress when I have to talk in front of a large group." "Learning English is the most stressful thing I ever had to deal with." "I get stress every time I think about speaking English." "He is always late with his work. It's beginning to stress me out." "It's stressful because if anything goes wrong, our whole project will be ruined." "It's so stressful because of the importance. So many people are dependent on our success."
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Stress - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1

Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hi Jackie. You don't look too well. What's going on?" B: "It's nothing. I'm just a little stressed out." A: "Why? What's stressing you out?" B: "School. Since I was working part time, I had a difficult time keeping up with class. Now that we have exams coming up, I'm totally freaking out." A: "The best thing to do is study as much as you can. I'm sure you'll do alright." B: "I hope so. I guess I won't be sleeping for the next 3 days. That's what it'll take." A: "I have to study for an exam too. Why don't we study together. We can encourage each other." B: "That will be great." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Mike. What are you doing tonight?" B: "Nothing planned. How about you?" A: "Work is kicking my ass. I'm so stressed. Let's go grab a drink." B: "I'm always up for a drink. To tell you the truth, it's been quite stressful here too." A: "I say we get drunk tonight. I don't want to think about all this stuff." B: "But we have to work tomorrow." A: "We won't stay out too late. I just need to forget about work." B: "I hear ya. Let's do it." 3 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "What stresses you out the most?" B: "Probably my parents." A: "How so?" B: "Well, during school, they wanted good grades. Then after I got a job, they wanted me to get a better job. And finally, they want me to get married." A: "You have to deal with a lot of pressure from your parents." B: "Your parents are not like that?" A: "Ever since I brought home some bad grades in elementary school, they never expected much." B: "You're lucky." A: "What do you do to deal with the stress?" B: "Not much I can do. It's always there. I sometimes go out with some friends and drink, but that's only a temporary solution. The stress always returns in the morning." A: "That sucks. You wanna go grab a beer?" B: "Sure. Sounds great. Let's go."

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Sad or Depressed

It's unfortunate that there seems to be more negative emotion than positive ones. Being sad and depressed is a common emotion that we must deal with. While dealing with these negative emotions, it is good to talk about how you feel. Let's get started so you can say how bad you feel in English. I'm not going to cover feeling sad or depressed due to a broken heart in this lesson. Having a broken heart is a large topic so I will dedicate a whole lesson to the broken heart. There are several ways to express you are sad by using different words. Here is a small list of different words you might hear. Sad Down Gloomy Feeling Blue Depressed Let's use these words in sentences. "He's a little sad that Mark didn't invite him to his birthday party." "She's sad that she wasn't selected as the representative." "I always cry during sad movies." "I'm feeling a little down." "I got a bad grade in my final. I'm just a little down." "Jack is feeling pretty down. Let's take him out for a night of fun." "I feel so gloomy all the time." "I wish I was happy. I'm sick of feeling gloomy." "Let's go to a bar. I'm feeling a bit gloomy." "I'm feeling a little blue right now." "Jack hasn't come out in a long time. He's feeling a little blue. Let's try to cheer him up." "I didn't get my promotion from work. It's depressing me." "Let's go get drunk tonight. I'm feeling depressed." "Sometimes I feel depressed for no reason."

Sad or Depressed - Reactions

Crying is one reaction to being sad. When someone is crying, you know it is because they are sad for some reason. Here are some questions you can ask. "Why are you crying?" "What's wrong?" "Why are you sad?" "What's bothering you?" "Why do you feel so bad?" "Why are you depressed?" "What's making you feel like this?" Because there are so many things in the world that can make us sad, it is hard to cover everything. I can only cover the tip of the iceberg on this subject. But feel free to ask any specific questions and we will let you know the proper sentence for your situation. "Our team lost the final match. We were second place." "My mother is very sick right now. I'm worried and sad." "My grandmother is in the hospital. I don't think she's going to make it." "My uncle was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors don't expect him to make it." "My cousin was killed in a car accident. It was the saddest thing in my life." "I trained so hard, but I didn't make the wrestling team. I'm a little down." "I didn't get into that University. I'm so depressed and my parents are going to be so disappointed." "My grandfather just passed away. I was so close to him." Sometimes sadness can turn into anger. For example, when the US gets away with gold medals at the cost of Koreans or other countries, it's sad to see. After the initial feeling, it turns into anger. "Korea lost the gold medal to the US. It was so depressing watching the US get away with another gold medal." "I'm getting sick of watching Korea get screwed by the Americans. It's really discouraging."

Sad or Depressed - Situational Depression

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Depression is classified as a disease. Many people suffer from depression and it is good to know how to say some sentences whether it is you or someone else. Situational depression When someone first comes to the United States, it is common to be depressed. This is usually due to loneliness, boredom, or feeling sad because you miss your friends and family.

"I think I'm depressed because I have nothing to do here." "I'm depressed because I don't have anything here." "I'm so lonely here. I left all my friends to come here." Usually time heals these types of problems. Sometimes, whatever you say doesn't really help. They know the problem, but they can't control how they feel. Regardless, saying that you understand can show them that you care. "It must be really tough leaving your friends and family behind." "I have never experienced that, but I imagine it must be really hard." "Starting a new life someplace different is really hard. It's normal to feel this way. I think you'll get better with time." "If you surround yourself with people, you might find new friends." "Why don't you go to church. You can find peace there and even find great friends."

Sad or Depressed - Doctor and Friend

Things to say to a doctor "I'm always depressed for no reason." "I suffer from depression constantly." "I'm always depressed and I don't know why." Depression can be so bad that suicidal thoughts can arise. That's what doctors are there for and they can really help. But it is important to let someone know about how you feel. "I'm so depressed that I don't know if it's worth living any longer." "Can you do anything to help my depression?" If a friend talks to you about these things, here are some sentences you can say. "It's not your fault and this is pretty serious. I think you should go see a doctor. I can go with you." "I think a doctor can really help your situation. We should go in and talk to one." "You know they have medication to help depression. I'll help you look into it. What do you say?"

Sad and Depressed - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a

native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Mike. What are you doing?" B: "Nothing much. What are you up to?" A: "I was just concerned about Sam. He hasn't been himself lately." B: "He took the civil service exam and failed." A: "That sucks. He must feel depressed." B: "Yeah. He's been sitting in his room everyday for the last 4 days." A: "Why don't we take him out? We can try to take his mind off of it. In the least show him that we're there for him." B: "That's a great idea. Why don't you call him. I already talked to him a couple of times and it might be good for him to hear from somebody else." A: "Ok. I'll call you back after I'm done." B: "Sounds good." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Sarah. You look terrible. What's wrong?" B: "My grandmother just passed away." A: "I'm so sorry to hear that. When did this happen?" B: "A couple of days ago. I just got back from the funeral." A: "Is there anything I can do?" B: "No... not really. The sad thing is that I wasn't there when she died. I really wanted to be there one last time." A: "I'm sure she knew you loved her. Did she pass away in the hospital?" B: "Yeah. She died in her sleep." A: "I'm sorry she's gone." B: "At least she didn't suffer." A: "I think your grandmother would want you to think of all the good times you spent together." B: "I know. But I miss her." A: "When my grandmother passed away, I frequently visited her in the cemetery. I always talked to her. Even though she wasn't there, I somehow knew she heard what I said." B: "Yeah? That's what I was thinking too. Thanks." A: "It looks like you haven't eaten anything all day. We should get you something to eat." B: "You're right... I should eat something. Let's go."

Love - Family

There are several types of love. There is the love you have for your parents or children, the love you have for your wife or husband, the love you feel for a new girlfriend or a boyfriend, and the love you have for a friend. These are the primary things I will cover here. If you are curious about other types, feel free to ask specific questions and we will tell you the English equivalent. For now, let's talk about love. Family love I heard that the most unselfish love is the love from the mother to her child. It must be powerful and if you are a mother, you will probably understand. It's not common to talk to your mother or father about how much they love you. It is more common to talk to friends about this. Here are some sentences for this conversation. Talking to friends about parents "I can't believe how much parents love their children." "Although my mother always nags at me, I know she loves me so much." "I'm amazed at how much my parents gave up to give me a better life." "I'm such a bad daughter. After realizing how much my parents gave me, I feel so sad that I didn't show my appreciation." "I think you will understand how much your parents love you when you get your own children." "When my parents can't take care of themselves, I will feel happy to take care of them. It's the least I can do to repay all that they gave me." Talking to friends about children "I don't know what I would do if I lost my child." "I finally understand how easy it was for my parents to give me so much after I got my daughter." "I love my son so much. I don't know what I would do without him." "Love is so powerful. Even before my son was born, I had this bond with him that I couldn't understand." "I'm going to do everything for my child."

Love - Friend and Husband and Wife

Love for a Friend Some countries have a word for love between friends. For example, in Korean, the word is called Jung. The English language doesn't have this word. Basically when you feel love for a friend, you care for them deeply. You should understand that when someone says 'I love you' between friends, it doesn't imply anything sexual.

"Jackie is my best friend. I love her so much." "You're such a good friend. I love you man." "Suzie is the sweetest person. I love her to death." Love between Husband and Wife Love between the husband and wife loses the initial bubbly feeling, but it becomes more powerful and more solid. It's easy to express how you feel by three simple words. "I love you." "After 5 years, I love you more than ever." "I love you more now than I ever have." Other ways to express your love without saying 'I love you.' "I don't know if I could go on with you." "You need to take care of yourself better. I don't want to lose you early." "You mean more to me than anything in the world." "I wouldn't be able to live if something happened to you."

Love - Infatuation or Love

Between a new boyfriend or girlfriend Many people mistake infatuation for love. When you first meet someone and you feel you are in love with that person, it's not really love. Love takes time to grow. Your infatuation and lust can turn into love after you get to know one another. But if you feel this bubbly sensation inside and can't think about anything except the other person, then it's merely infatuation. However, this infatuation is so powerful that it drives people crazy. The next section will provide many different example sentences. Let's take a look at this powerful feeling. Things initially said "My days are empty without you by my side." "I can't say I love you because what I feel inside is more than love." "I don't think it's possible to feel more love than I have for you." "My feelings are so strong that even when we are apart, I think you can feel my love for you." "In the cold lonely night, the sound of your name comforts me." "My eyes are fixed on your picture when we are apart." "I take you everywhere with me. In my heart you are there." "I love you more than I love life. You mean more to me than you can understand." "I want you so much. I need you so much. I love you so much." "I think I'm in love. Whenever I'm not with her, I feel so weak."

"I can't think of anything besides her." "She is the first thing on my mind, and the last thing before I sleep. Even in my sleep, I am with her." "I find myself banging a wall controlled by a strong desire to be with her."
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Love - Talking to Friend

Questions and Answers "When was your first love?" "I fell in love for the first time in high school. We only dated for 3 months, but I had the strongest feeling for her." "My first love was in college. We were together for 2 years. I loved him a lot, but it's over now." "My first love was in college. We ended up getting married." "What was your first love like?" "My first love experience was so powerful. It drove me crazy. I don't know if I could handle it again, but it was definitely an amazing experience." "My first love can be described like a romantic fairy tale. I would speak poems into her ear and kiss passionately in the night." General Statements "I think I'm in love with her." "I met this girl last week. We've been talking on the phone every night. I think I'm falling in love." "I'm crazy about her. What do you think I should do?" There are many more things to say about this subject. I encourage you to write down what you feel. If you are uncertain if it is grammatically correct, feel free to ask us. We will answer all your questions. For now, let's move on to practice.
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Love - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native.

1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Jack. How's it going?" B: "I'm falling in love." A: "What! With who?" B: "That girl in my econ class. She is so hot." A: "Did you guys go on a date already?" B: "No. I didn't even talk to her yet. But I think I'm in love." A: "Does she have a boyfriend?" B: "I don't think so. I've been following her around campus and I haven't seen another guy." A: "Dude, you're a stalker man. Just ask her on a date." B: "I plan on running into her in the cafeteria when she's alone. I think I'll ask her then." A: "So why do you think you're in love?" B: "She's the only thing I can think of all day long." A: "That's called blind love. Well, I gotta run. Tell me how it goes next week." B: "Aright. I'll talk to you later." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Happy anniversary honey." B: "Happy anniversary baby." A: "It's been one year since we got married. It was so fast." B: "Yeah. And I love you so much." A: "Really? What do you love about me?" B: "Well, you're beautiful, smart, with a wonderful personality." A: "What else?" B: "I also think you're sexy." A: "You're embarrassing me." B: "You asked." A: "I love you so much. I'm so happy and I think we have a wonderful marriage." B: "Me too. Let's make every year better and better."
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Broken Heart - Expressions

The most painful time period in my life was when my heart was broken by my first love. Even though I call it my first love, I don't know if it was love or not. I just know it was a powerful feeling. Especially when it ended. I was devastated. In this lesson, we will cover sentences you will need when you talk to people about your broken heart.

Expressions "I wish I could sleep and not wake up. I can't take the pain any longer." "Sleeping is the only comfort I have. It's my only escape." "I wish God would take my life away. I wish I wasn't living anymore." "I'm never going to get over her. Even after 10 years, I'll still be thinking about her." "There's a hole in my heart and I don't think it's going to heal." "My heart is so heavy. It's so hard to even walk." "I don't have the strength to move. I can't stand up." "I lost my appetite and I can't fall asleep." "Maybe if she knew how much I loved her, she would come back to me." "Make it go away. Make the pain go away!" "I loved her so much. I loved her more than anything." "No. You don't understand. You don't understand how I feel." "Right when I came home from school, I would start to cry. I wouldn't even make it up the first step. I would fall on the ground and cry." "I remember in school, some classmates kept asking me if I was sick. That's how bad I looked. I was really sick in the heart." "I was crying one day and I fell asleep. When I woke up, I still had tears rolling down my face."

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Broken Heart - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hey Mike. I heard about your break up. You must be devastated." B: "It's more than I can bear. I don't think I can go on." A: "Come on Mike. It's not the end of the world." B: "It's the end of my world. She was everything to me. I loved her so much." A: "I remember my first break up. I remember it was the hardest thing I ever went through. So I know it must be really tough right now."

B: "Every night, I cry myself to sleep. Can you believe that I actually cry everyday?" A: "It's normal to cry. You shouldn't feel bad about it. It's the only way to let it out." B: "How long will I feel like this? How long is the pain going to last?" A: "It's different for everyone, but it took me four months to get over Jessica." B: "Four months... I have to live in hell for four months..." A: "But I'm ok now. I moved on and I'm dating other great people. I know you will be better." B: "Why do you think she left me?" A: "I really don't know. Some people change and they want to go in different directions." B: "But I loved her so much. I loved her more than anything in this world. She was my world." A: "I know you love her." B: "I don't think I'll be able to love anyone again." A: "I thought that too. I thought Jessica was the only person I would ever love. But it changes. It really does. You'll get better and become a stronger person." B: "I hope so." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Why are you so quiet?" B: "My girlfriend just broke up with me." A: "You must feel terrible now." B: "Yeah." A: "I remember my first break up. It was the worst feeling in the world. I was crying everyday for three months. And slowly, it got better. I know you'll feel better too." B: "You've been through this too?" A: "Yeah. I remember it very clearly. The pain makes it easy to remember. I know you're really hurting right now, but you know many people experience break ups." B: "But it hurts too much." A: "I know it's painful, but it's only temporary. After the pain goes away, you'll find other girls." B: "What if I don't want to find another girl?" A: "You'll change your mind. Look at everyone in the world. They all break up and move on. The faster you understand this, the quicker you will recover." B: "You're right." A: "I also know you must still have strong feelings for her, but try to think of all the bad things. You know she didn't treat you that well. Is that the person you want to spend the rest of your life with?" B: "Yeah. Thanks for the talk." A: "I'll give you a call later. We should hang out. It's good to be around people." B: "Ok. I'll talk to you later."

Afraid or Scared - General Sentences

Questions

"Do you get scared easily?" "Do you get scared watching horror movies?" "Are you afraid of the dark?" "What was the most terrifying experience you ever had?" "Do you get scared when you are at home by yourself?" "What do you do when you feel scared?" "Are you afraid of death?" "Hey Theresa, I just watched a movie and I'm scared. Do you want to get together?" "If you're not busy, do you want to come over? I just watched a movie and I'm afraid to be alone." General Sentences "My dog gets scared during fourth of July." "My dog gets scared when he hears a loud noise." "My wife hates watching scary movies. She's afraid of ghosts." "My little brother is afraid of his own room. He thinks there's a monster in the closet." "My sister is terrified of spiders. She screams every time she sees one." "I'm not afraid of ghosts and monsters. They're all fake." "When I was young, I used to get scared, but it all changed when I grew up." "I remember being afraid of a lot of things when I was younger." "The whole country was scared after the 9/11 attack." "The leaders of America said we shouldn't live in fear." When someone is scared, one instinct is to run away from the situation. The phrase, 'running scared' is used this way. "Why is he running scared?" "Is the government running scared?" "The revealed secret had the CEO running scared." Being scared does not always imply being frightened or afraid of monsters. A grown person can use this word if he or she is worried about something. Here are some examples. "My company is downsizing. It's a little scary going through this. I don't know if I will have a job next month." "I'm afraid my company is going to lay off our whole department." "It's a little scary waiting for the test results. This is so important to me. I really hope I pass." "If I tell her, I'm afraid she's going to blow up." "I'm afraid to tell her because she's going to be mad."

Afraid and Scared - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "Hello?" B: "Hey Tina. What are you doing?" A: "I was just watching TV. What's going on with you?" B: "I just watched a movie and I'm scared." A: "What did you watch?" B: "I saw the Sixth Sense. I didn't know it was going to be so scary." A: "I remember that. It was a great movie. But it was definitely scary." B: "If you're not busy, do you want to come over? I'm afraid to be alone." A: "Sure. I can come over. What should we do?" B: "How about if we watch a comedy. I need something to get my mind off the frightening images I have from the Sixth Sense." A: "Ok. I'll get ready and leave. I'll see you in about 20 minutes." B: "Hurry, ok. It's dark out." A: "Don't worry, nothings going to happen. I'll be there real soon." B: "Ok. See you soon." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "What are you afraid of?" B: "I'm not sure. I used to be scared of a lot of things when I was young, but not anymore." A: "Are you afraid of death?" B: "Only if I think about it so much. But death is inevitable, so there is no use thinking about it." A: "How about horror movies?" B: "No. I know they're all fake so there is nothing to be afraid of. How about you?" A: "I get scared pretty easily. I'm actually frightened of bee's." B: "Really? Why?" A: "I don't know. I got stung when I was young and ever since, I've always been afraid of them." B: "What other things are you afraid of?" A: "Sitting by the camp fire and telling horror stories is very scary."

B: "Wow. You're afraid of many things huh?" A: "I guess so. Aren't you afraid of something coming out of the bushes?" B: "It's not going to happen. We probably went camping dozens of times and nothing ever came out of the bushes. What makes you think something will?" A: "I don't know. I guess I'm terrified at the possibility." B: "If you were realistic, you probably wouldn't be scared of everything. Maybe you have too much imagination." A: "I should try to think more realistically. I'll do that." B: "Good. After a while, you won't be afraid of so many things."

Other Emotions - Emotional

In this lesson, we will cover several emotions we didn't cover yet. The ones I want to talk about are, being emotional, feeling no emotions, restlessness, proud, and anxiety. If you have questions concerning any emotion we didn't cover, feel free to ask questions anytime. Emotional If your emotions change easily, then you are an emotional person. An emotional person can also be described as one who is affected by things such as sad movies, criticism, or easily angered. In this lesson, we will go through some sentences talking about emotional people. "I know a lot of artists and many of them are emotional. I think it helps them with their creativity." "I saw a guy cry in a movie. He must be very emotional." "Emotional girls are high maintenance. It's really a headache dealing with them." "My last boyfriend was so emotional. His emotions would change drastically in the same day." When someone is way too emotional and it affects how they act in a negative way, some people will call them a psycho. "Your ex-girlfriend was a total psycho man." "He's a psycho. I saw him stalking you for a week." "My last girlfriend was a psycho. She would get upset at nothing and start crying the next minute." "I had a jealous boyfriend. He followed me around everywhere. I thought he was emotional because he would cry when I would yell at him, but I now think he's a psycho." Some people are only emotional when it is about something they are passionate about. If a person only gets emotional talking about one subject, then they are not an emotional person, rather, they are emotional about that topic. "He's pretty emotional about that topic."

"I wouldn't say anything negative about blind people. She's very emotional about it." "Anytime we talk about it, he gets very emotional." "His voice started getting louder when we were talking about the war. I didn't know he was emotional about it." "My father had a friend who was killed in the Korean war. He gets emotional thinking about it."

Other Emotions - Feeling Nothing

No emotions Feeling no emotions is one of the worst emotions. Many times it is described as being dead on the inside. Without emotions, it is hard to tell if you are a person. Here are some sentences I heard people say. "I don't feel anything. I don't know if I'm alive." "I hurt myself because it makes me feel alive." "I'd rather feel pain than feel nothing at all." "Not feeling anything is so depressing." "When my younger brother died, I didn't feel anything. It was worse than feeling sad." "I've never seen that guy laugh or cry. He's so emotionless." "I wonder if she feels anything. She's so cold."

Other Emotions - Restless

Restless Being restless is an uncomfortable feeling. You feel like you want to do something, but there is nothing to do. It's hard to sit still and you have too much negative energy. "Being restless is having too much negative energy." "Being restless is terrible because it's being bored when your body wants to do something." "I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm so restless." "I can't fall asleep. I'm too restless." "I'm either bored or restless. I can't tell." "I gotta find something to do, or I'll die." "It's hard for me to relax when I'm restless." "He gets restless very frequently." "Why are you moving around so much? Are you restless?"

Other Emotions - Proud

Proud You can either be proud of yourself or someone you care about, such as your children. When you are proud, it is the result of accomplishing something. Here are some sentences you can use. "I'm so proud of you." "I'm very proud of you." "You did a great job. I'm so proud of you." "My mother always tells me that she's proud of me." "I bet your parents are proud of you." "You should feel proud of your accomplishment." "That was awesome. You should feel proud of yourself." "I'm very proud of you, son." "I'm proud of my little brother. He did a great job." Proud can be used in a negative way. Proud can be seen as cocky or overconfident. "I don't know why he's so proud of himself."

Other Emotions - Anxious and Anxiety

Anxiety / Anxious Anxiety is a pretty serious emotional problem. When you feel many different emotions or awkward emotions and can't control them, it is referred to as having an anxiety disorder. Many people suffer from this problem. "I feel weird all the time. I'm anxious about everything." "I feel anxious anytime I'm faced with uncertainty." "I heard it's very uncomfortable feeling anxious about everything." "I need to see a doctor about my anxiety problem." "Mike went to see a doctor and she told him that he has an anxiety disorder." "There are medication for anxiety disorders. You should ask your doctor about it." There are times you can use the word anxious and not refer to a medical or serious condition.

"It's going to be fun. I'm anxious to get started." "The project is going to be great. I'm anxious to start on it." "Jill was anxious to start classes on Monday. She really likes school." "Jack is anxious to play. Let's have him go first."
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Other Emotions - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native. 1 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "How are you feeling these days?" B: "I don't know. A little bored and restless I guess." A: "Why is that?" B: "I have so much time on my hands and I have nothing to do." A: "Why don't you go out and have fun?" B: "I would like to, but I have to save some money so I can't go out all the time." A: "That sucks." B: "After awhile, I start to feel anxious." A: "Try relaxing and reading a good book. That's always a good way to kill time." B: "That's true. How about you? How are you these days?" A: "I'm doing pretty good these days. My kid just finished kindergarten. I'm so proud of him." B: "That's great to hear. He must be big now. It's been a year since I saw your son." A: "Yeah. He grew a lot in the last year." B: "I bet you're very proud of your son." A: "Yes I am. Thanks." 2 Listen All | Person A | Person B A: "What happened to that girl you were seeing?" B: "Oh Jackie? We broke up last week." A: "That was a short relationship. You only started dating 2 months ago."

B: "It was actually a long two months. She was a psycho." A: "What do you mean?" B: "She would be laughing one moment, and if I said something insensitive, she would start crying. I didn't want to deal with that." A: "She sounds very emotional." B: "She was a psycho man. One time we were suppose to get together. I was waiting for her call, and when she finally called, she was screaming why I wasn't at her place." A: "Were you suppose to be there?" B: "I thought she was going to call when she was done shopping. It was a misunderstanding. She was literally screaming on the phone over this." A: "Ok. You're right. She's a psycho." B: "I'm just glad it's over."
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Eating Together
Preparing a meal and eating together is a wonderful way to spend time with family and friends. While doing this activity not only can you share foods you love but it is also a good opportunity to talk and learn about one another. In this lesson, we will be covering everything you need to know from coming up with a meal to prepare, cooking it together, and sharing a conversation. Invitation and Planning First you must choose a meal to share. Breakfast is eaten in the morning, lunch in the afternoon and dinner in the evening. The steps for planning a menu

are relatively the same for all three. When planning a meal it is also important to try and come up with something you all will enjoy. Here are some questions commonly used when asking someone to cook a meal and have dinner. "Would you like to come over to my house and have dinner with me?" "Maybe we could cook dinner together?" "What time should we plan on getting together?" "Do you have any suggestions on what we could make?" "We should probably make a grocery list." "Do you want to go to the grocery store together?" "What grocery store do you prefer?" "If we could go together do you want me to drive?" "Should we pick up any wine or beer to drink at dinner?" "Maybe we can split the grocery bill?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "Sure, I would love to come over for dinner. I really love to cook and it might give us some time

to catch up with one another." "That sounds great. I am free tonight so I can definitely make it." "Cooking dinner together sounds fun." "I think that is a good idea, maybe we can share recipes." "How does 5 o'clock sound?" "I get off work at 5. I can go straight home to grab a few things and meet you around 6." "I have this new recipe I have been dying to try. Do you like Italian food?" "I am not too picky. I have some steak and chicken we can use." "Yes we probably should make a list. I don't want to forget anything." "I am pretty sure I will remember everything we need, but if you want to jot a few things down that is ok with me." "Sure, we can go to the grocery store together." "Let's see what we both have at home to cook and maybe we can skip the grocery." "I usually shop at Albertsons." "I don't have a preference where we go."

"If it's ok I can just meet you there." "Sure, you can drive if you don't mind." "I do not drink alcohol but maybe we could grab some soda." "Sure, wine sounds good with dinner. I prefer white wine." "I think splitting the bill is a good idea." "No big deal. I can buy the groceries this time and if we do this again you can treat."

Cooking Together
Cooking the meal together is a fun time to talk, share recipes and work together. Here are some questions commonly used when cooking a meal together. "You have a preference on which job to do?" "Do you mind heating up some water on the stove?" "Do you have any different ways to prepare this meal?" "Would you like something to drink while we are cooking?" "Do you mind setting up the table for us?" "Can you turn the oven on to 360 degrees?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "No, I really don't have a preference." "Yes, I would really like to prepare the salad." "No problem, I will heat the water up now."

"Sure I can heat it up. Do you mind it boiling?" "I have a way to prepare this that my mom taught me." "I don't really have any other ways. Let's just do what the recipe says." "Sure, can I have a glass of water?" "No thanks. I might just wait until dinner." "Sure I can set the table." "I have never set the table before. Do you have a particular way of doing it?" "Yes, I can turn on the oven." "No problem." This is also a good time to talk about other subjects while sharing interests and learning more about each other. If questions like these come up, just answer them the best you can. Everyone will have different opinions and answers about each of these personal topics. "What is your favorite TV show?" "Do you have a favorite book?" "Do you have any brothers or sisters?" "Where were you born?" "Do you have any hobbies?" "So how is work going?"

Eating and Clean Up

Here are some questions commonly used while eating and then cleaning up afterwards. "Do you mind if we pray before we eat?" "I love your recipe for the chicken. Where did you get it?" "Can you pass me the salt?" "Would you like some dessert?" "Can you help me clear the table?"

"Do you want to take home any leftovers?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "I normally do not pray but you can if you want." "That sounds good. I will let you pray if that is ok." "I found the recipe in a cookbook I have." "My mom gave me the recipe a few years ago." "Sure, here you go." "Yes I can." "Dessert sounds awesome." "No thank you, I am too full to have dessert." "Yes, let me help you clear the table." "Sure, I will just put the dishes on the sink." "Sure, I will take home some leftovers." "No thanks. You can just save it so you can have something for tomorrow." Here is a list of a few other statements you can say after eating. "Thank you for a wonderful dinner." "Thank you for your help." "Thank you that was delicious." "I sure am full." "Thank you for inviting me." "Thanks for accepting my invitation to come over." "We should do this again sometime."

Grocery Shopping
Grocery shopping is something commonly done when replacing or refilling things needed around the house. The steps involved include figuring out what you need and making a list, making a decision on

when and where to go, and then the actual process of shopping at the grocery store. Below we will look at each section and the questions/answers associated with each. Preparation Preparation is the time for decision making. You will need to decide on making a list of what to buy, where to take coupons and the possibility of planning meals just to name a few. Here are some questions commonly used when preparing to grocery shop. "Should we make a list first before we go?" "Should we check the newspaper for coupons?" "Should we plan out our meals for the week?" "Should we check in the fridge for anything that has expired?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "Yes, I think making a list would save us time once we are there." "I have been making a list this week as I noticed we needed things. Take a look and see if anything needs to be added." "I will get Sunday's newspaper to look for coupons." "That's ok. They usually have coupons at the store we can use." "I think planning our meals would be smart. That way we know exactly what we need." "I don't think we need to plan our meals. Let's just make a list of things we need and we can cook whatever we have." "Yes we should check the dates on what we have. That way if anything is expired we can replace it." "I think most of what we have is ok. We don't need to check the expiration dates."

Planning
Some of the important decisions in the planning process are where to go, when would be a good time to go, and who is going to go. "Should we go to Costco for some of the bigger items we need?" "Should we go at a certain time so it's not so crowded?" "Should we go to the fresh market or to our regular supermarket?" "Should we both go and take the kids or one of us stay home with them?" "Should we take our own grocery bags?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond.

"Let's go to Costco some other day, it will take too long." "Sure, I think we can find most of what we need there." "I like to go to the grocery at night. There always seems to be less people." "I prefer to go in the morning so I can get it over with." "I think we should go to both. We can get the vegetables and fruits we need at the fresh market." "Let's just go to the regular grocery. We do not have time for both." "If we go to Fred Meyer the kids can go into the kids play area. That way we can shop without any distractions." "It might be too much to take the whole family. I can just go if you do not mind staying home with the kids?" "I think we should take our own recyclable bags. It's good for the earth!" "We can just use what they have there."

At The Grocery
While at the grocery you could be asked by workers a variety of questions. "Do you need any help finding anything?" "Would you like a sample?" "Do you have any coupons?" "Do you have your grocery card?" "Would you like paper or plastic bags?" "Would you like any help out to your car?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "Yes, can you please tell me where I can find your produce section?" "No thanks, I know where to find what I need." "What kind of samples do you have?" "From the samples you offered me, where can I find them in the store?" "No I do not have any coupons." "Yes I do have coupons. Let me get them." "I do not have a grocery card. What is that?" "I do have a grocery card. Here it is." A lot of grocery stores offer a plastic card you could present when checking out that can offer special prices and points for how much you spend. These points can sometimes be used for special

promotions and sales. You can usually apply for one at the register. "I would like paper bags please." "I brought my own bags to use. Here you go." "No thanks, I don't need any help out today." "Yes, I would like some help taking my groceries out to my car." You too, may have questions while at the grocery. Below are a few examples of things that you might ask. "Can you tell me what isle the frozen food is in?" "Can you help me reach that?" "Can you tell me the difference between...?" "Can I please have a pound of the oven roasted chicken breast?" "Do you have any more of this in the back room?"

Pet Care
Choosing a Pet Choosing the right pet is one of the most important steps in becoming a pet owner. There are a lot needs to be considered when taking into account the time, money and effort a pet can require. Where you live, are you active, are you gone a lot, any medical issues and do you have a family? All of these questions and more should be discussed when thinking of buying a new pet. When looking for a pet you may also consider visiting a shelter. Many animals at a shelter need a good home and most likely will already have their vaccines and be spayed or neutered. A shelter is a good place where stray or homeless animals are taken in order to try and find them suitable homes. Here are some questions commonly used when discussing what kind of pet to consider. "Do you like cats or dogs?" "Do we have time for training?" "Do you have a house or an apartment?" "Is this going to be a family pet?" "Would you consider getting a pet from a shelter?" "Is there any other animals you are considering?" "Are you active?" "Are you comfortable grooming a cat or dog?" "What kind of food should you feed it?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "We like cats and dogs but are looking more for a dog."

"My wife is allergic to cats, so we prefer a dog." "We both work full time so finding time for training may be tough." "I really want to be committed so I will take my dog to training classes." "We live in a small apartment so maybe a cat or very small dog would be best." "We have a house with a yard so we have lots of room for any size dog." "Yes, we have children so we need a pet that can get along with small kids." "This is just me, so my house is pretty quiet." "We are not sure about cats or dogs but we really are interested in a fish." "My kids really want a hamster, but my husband and I are not too sure yet." "I run everyday so having a dog that could run with me would be great." "We go on walks occasionally but are not really active." "I am not too comfortable grooming animals so I would probably take it somewhere for nail trims and baths." "Yes, I am familiar with brushing and nail cutting but we would have to take it somewhere to get it bathed." "I think we should just ask our veterinarian." "I hear that a raw diet is the best. Maybe we can look up information on it."

Bringing Home a Pet

One of the most important things to do before bringing home a pet is to plan out everything. A few things you need to consider are food, shelter, space, and the overall safety for the animal. "What kind of food do we need to get?" "Should we get a crate to keep it in?" "Should we get any toys?" "If we get a crate where should we put it?" "Do we need to put things out of reach of the animal?" "Do we need a collar?" "Where should we feed it?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "The breeders gave me information on how much to feed." "I read in a book we are suppose to feed it twice a day." "I heard a crate is good with helping to house train."

"Yes, I think we should get a crate. I don't want it pooping all over." "I think we should get some squeaky toys." "I say we ask someone at the store what they recommend." "I think we should keep the crate in our bedroom." "I think we should keep the crate in the garage." "Since she is a puppy we should definitely pick up anything around the house she can chew." "Yes, we need to put away anything we don't want it to chew on." "Yes we need a collar and leash so we can take it on walks." "I think we should get a collar with sparkly diamonds on it." "We should feed it in the kitchen." "We should feed it in its cage."

Taking Care of a Pet

Knowing how to take care of your pet is an important part of having a good experience and also making sure your pet is healthy and happy. Here are some questions commonly used asking about pet care. "How often should we walk it?" "Should we brush its teeth?" "How much should we feed it?" "How often do we need to clean the cage?" "How often do we need to change the water?" "How often should we brush it?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "I have never done a nail trim." "Yes, I use to trim our dogs nails when I was growing up." "We should walk her every day. The Vet said it is healthy for her." "I think we should walk her as much as we can. It's good exercise for us too." "I will ask the Vet if we should brush its teeth." "Yes, I read it's good to keep their teeth clean." "The breeder said to feed her 1 cup two times a day."

"I am not sure how much to feed her. Let's look on the food package." "We need to clean the cage once a week." "We should just change it once it starts to smell." "We need to change the water once a week." "We will just clean it once in a while." "We should brush her daily." "We only need to brush her once in a while."

Child Care
Whether you're a single parent or a family in which both the mother and father work, child care can be an important issue when deciding what to do with your children while away. Being knowledgeable and being able to ask the right questions can help provide you with what you need to make the best decision. Finding Child Care If you live near family you may be fortunate enough to have one of them take care of your child while at work. But what if you have no family near you and need to look into other means of child care? Other options may include in home day care and daycare centers. Asking friends, co workers, or neighbors can be a good way to get recommendations when beginning your searching process. Call and make appointments to see the facilities and meet the staff. You can learn a lot by seeing and talking to people in person. Below we will look at the different types of child care as well as questions you might be asked as well as important questions you may want information on. In Home Child Care In home child care can include someone coming to your house and watching your child or you dropping your child off at someone else's house. This could be a family member or someone with a licensed in home daycare. Since having a family member watch your child can be easier to set up, we will look more at having a non family member come over or taking your child to an in house daycare. Here are some questions you can use when looking into an in house daycare. "How long have you been running a daycare?" "Are you licensed?" "What hours are you available?" "What if I am late picking up or dropping off?" "How much do you charge?" "Do you have some references?" "Are you certified in child CPR?"

"What is the ratio of children to teacher?" "How do you discipline a child?" "Do you have the children nap?" "How many and what are the ages of the children you're currently looking after?" "Are the children separated by age group?" "What is your curriculum?" By asking these and other questions that may pertain to your individual circumstances you will learn a lot about whether or not this daycare will work for you. Below are some questions that you might be asked when looking into an in house daycare. "Has your child ever been to a daycare before?" "Does your child have any allergies?" "Does your child have any special needs?" "What is your child's feeding schedule?" "What is your child's nap schedule?" "How do you discipline at home?" If you are asked any of these questions just answer them to the best of your knowledge. Providing good information about your child can help with the transition. Day Care Centers Day Care Centers are much like a school that a wide variety of children can attend. From babies to older children, daycares can vary in their prices, age ranges and curriculum. When making a decision on which Day Care Centers to use it is important to research them and what they have to offer. The questions listed for In-Home daycare are virtually the same for Day Care Centers as are the questions you might be asked. Just be prepared and make choices that you feel comfortable with.

Bank and Money

Banking, money management and investments are all important areas when talking about what do with your money. There are a lot of decisions to be made from choosing a bank to investments. Being knowledgeable and being able to discuss different areas in English will help you to feel more comfortable when making decisions about what to do with the money you earn. Below we will look at different ways of handling the decision making process. Where to Bank Deciding where to bank/open an account, can be as easy as using a credit union associated with your work of employment to comparing different banks and what they offer as incentives for customers. You may also take recommendations from family, friends or co- workers.

Here are some questions commonly used when discussing which banks to consider. "Is it important that they offer internet and telephone banking?" "How important is location and accessibility?" "Will you need a safe deposit box?" "Is free checking important to you?" "Are free withdrawals from an ATM important?" "Is reputation of the bank important to you?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "Yes, internet and telephone banking is important. I work late hours and have a hard time going during their normal business hours." "Not really, I do not feel comfortable doing money transactions on the internet." "Location is really important. I like to visit my bank on a regular basis." "Location is not that important since I do most of my banking online." "I will not need a safe deposit box." "I have some valuables that I do not feel comfortable having at my home so yes, I will need a safe deposit box." "Of course free checking is important. I do not want to be charged for writing checks." "Free checking is not really important, I really do not write checks." "Free withdrawals are very important. I use the ATM machines all the time." "I prefer not to use the ATM card so it's not that important to me." "The banks reputation is important to me. I want to feel comfortable with where my money is." "I thought all banks were the same. It does not matter to me."

Managing Your Money

Managing your money is an important factor in building a savings and making sure that your money is accounted for and spent wisely. "How often should I check my savings/checking balance?" "When I withdrawal money should I write it down?" "Should I come up with a budget?" "Should I pay bills online or send payments in the mail?" "Should I have a direct deposit from my work?" "What if I notice anything unusual on my bank statements?"

These questions may be asked individually and may vary depending on your circumstances and needs.

Investing
Investing is to commit money or capital in order to gain a financial return. There are many ways to invest and spend your money. Since there are risks involved with investing, become knowledgeable yourself and possibly seeking out advice from a professional. Here are some possible questions to ask when talking about investments. "Can you tell me about bonds?" "Can you give me more info on stocks and the stock market?" "Can you give me information on mutual funds?" "How long has this company been in business?" "What am I investing in?" "How risky is the investment?" "When can I access my money?" "Are there any fees?"

Mail
Mail basically is comprised of three components, the preparation, sending and receiving of mail. Sending mail can be as simple as putting addressed/stamped envelopes in your own mail box for your postman to pick up, to mailing packages or letters at the local post office or using one of the many delivery companies. Receiving mail/packages can also include delivery from your local postman as well as one of the many delivery companies. The Preparation Preparing mail/packages to be sent involves labeling with the recipient's name and address as well as the senders. Also making sure packages are sealed and wrapped to postal standards is a good idea. Make sure you are aware of postal laws regarding the types of materials that can be sent in the United States as well as other countries before mailing. Here are some questions commonly used when discussing the preparation of letters and packages to send. "Where do I put my name and address on the letter I am sending?" "How do I know if I need to put more than one stamp on the card I am sending?" "What should I put with the item I am shipping to make sure it does not break?" "How heavy can the objects be that I am sending?" Here are some possible answers to the question above regarding the preparation of

letters/packages. "You always put your name or the senders name and address in the top left corner of the package/letter. This is in case it cannot be delivered and needs to be returned to you. It will be returned to the address you have provided." "I would either take the letter to the post office and ask them or look on the postal website to look at weight regulations when sending out letters." "You can use newspaper or purchase packing material from the store to place in with what you are sending. You may also want to write on the outside of the package that what is inside is FRAGILE. This will inform whoever is handling it to be careful and handle gently." "You can send objects of various weights but you will be charged upon how much it weighs when shipping it. Meaning the more it weighs the more it will cost you to ship."

Sending Mail
After preparing the items(s) needed to be mailed/shipped one must now decide in which manner to send it. Here are some questions commonly used when discussing sending a package or letter. "Can I just put this card in my own mailbox for the mailman to pick up?" "If I am sending something breakable should I inform the post office?" "How fast will my letter/package get to the person I am sending it to?" "Why should I want to send a package through another company other than the post office?" "How much will it cost to send this?" "How do I know if I need more than one stamp on this letter?" "Is there a way I can be notified once my package is delivered?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "Yes, if your letter is stamped and addressed you can just put it in your mailbox and the postman will take it to the post office." "Our mailbox has a different place to put outgoing mail. You may want to look at yours to see if you have one." "Yes, I would inform the post office. They usually ask if what you are sending is fragile or breakable but you can also write on the outside of the box FRAGILE." "I would definitely let them know so they do not break anything."

"There are lots of options when sending something. The price may vary depending on the weight of the package and how you want it sent. I would just check with the post office." "You can choose anything from next-day delivery to regular delivery which could take days. Checking with your post office or looking online is always a good way to get information." "Using a company like FedEx or UPS you can usually guarantee a faster delivery but they are a bit more expensive." "The post office can weigh the package for you and let you know how much it will cost to ship your item." "I have a scale at home I use to weigh packages. Then I look online to see how much it will cost." "I think it depends on the weight, take it to the post office." "Just send it with one stamp. If it is too heavy they will send it back to you." "Yes, the post office can email you a confirmation of delivery." "They can give you a tracking number so you can look online to check on the delivery of what you are sending."

Receiving Mail
Here are some questions commonly used when receiving mail. "What happens if I am not home and something is delivered to me?" "Do I need to sign for a package when it comes?" "If I am out of town can I put a hold on my mail?" "Can a neighbor accept a package for me?" "What if I receive a package that is not addressed to me?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "If you are not home the postman will leave you a note. They may try and deliver it another day or you might have to go to your post office to pick it up." "Sometimes they will just leave the package on your front doorstep. If you live in an apartment they might just leave it at the rental office." "Not all packages need to be signed for." "If you need to sign for a package and are not home they will not leave it." "Yes, you can put your mail on hold either by filling out a form at your post office." "Yes, you can actually do it online. Just check the post office web site."

"I am not sure. Maybe you should call the post office." "I think they can but you have to inform the post office before hand that you will allow it." "I would take a package not addressed to me to the post office and let them know." "If it was addressed to a neighbor, I would just take it to their house."

House Care
Owning a home involves care both inside and out. Outside care can include yard work, window cleaning, insect and animal issues. Inside house care involves cleaning, washing, painting and upkeep. Below we can look at some of the questions and possible answers one might come across when dealing with house care. House Care-Inside Here are some questions commonly used when talking about taking care of your house from the inside. "How often should I change the batteries in the smoke detectors?" "How often should I change the air filter in the furnace?" "Should I clean the house myself or look into hiring a cleaning company?" "What should I use to clean my carpets?" "What colors should I use to paint the inside?" "Should I have one can for trash and one for recycling?" "How should I decorate?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "Some smoke detectors will beep loudly to let you know when the batteries are low." "I would change the batteries every six months to be safe." "You should change your filter every six months also." "I am not sure, I just take it out and look at it. If it is dirty I replace it." "Make time during the week to clean. It helps keep a clean environment and you can feel good about having a clean house." "If you have the money I would hire a cleaning company. They do a good job and you can just relax more." "For small stains I just use spot cleaner I purchased from the store, otherwise I rent a cleaner and do it myself." "I usually hire a carpet cleaning company. They do a better job than I can do myself."

"I would go to a home improvement store and look at their paint colors." "You could get some magazines and look for ideas." "You should always recycle so I would have two cans, one for trash and one for recycling." "You can just have one, it's less of a hassle." "You could hire an interior decorator to help you decorate."

House Care - Outside

Here are some questions commonly used when talking about taking care of your house on the outside. "How often should I mow the grass?" "What should I do to get rid of the weeds?" "When should I plant flowers?" "How do I clean my outside windows?" "How do I get rid of moles?" "What do I do about bee hives?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "You should mow your grass once a week." "I just mow mine once it gets really long." "I would go to Home Depot and ask someone for recommendations." "It depends on what kind of weeds you have, some are worse than others." "You should plant flowers in the spring." "I would always wait until it gets warm to plant flowers, that way they will last all summer." "I would use a ladder and clean my outside windows myself." "I would see if you can hire someone. Your windows are really high and you could get hurt." "They sell pellets you can put in mole holes to help get rid of them." "I would call a pest control company and ask them for recommendations." "I would not mess with bee hives, call for someone to come out and get rid of it." "I would buy bee killer spray from the store and just spray it."

Phone
Technology is constantly changing and cell phones for one are more remarkable than ever. From adding applications and ring tones to texting and internet access, the options seem endless. With

the constant advancement in technology comes a lot of decision making when one considers buying a new phone. Though cell phones add convenience and on the go communication, home phones too have advanced throughout the years making it possible to video chat, forward calls, and conference call. Cell Phones The use of cell phones has increased dramatically over the years adding a new dimension to the onthe-go, fast paced life styles of today's world. Below we will take a look at some questions involving the decision making process when looking at and ultimately choosing a cell phone. Here are some questions commonly used when talking about cell phones. "With all the cell companies out there how do I decide who to go with?" "Should I ever consider a pre paid cell phone?" "I have never text before. Would you recommend getting a phone I can text with?" "How important are all the applications you can get for your phone?" "Should I purchase a phone that is blue tooth compatible?" "What kind of plans are there to buy?" "Should I buy a warranty?" "Should I consider a family plan and purchase phones for them?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "I would go do some research and compare companies, that way you can try and get the best deal." "I would go off of recommendations from friends. See who they are with and who they like." "I would maybe consider getting a pre paid phone if you were buying one for of your kids. You can put a certain amount of money on it that they can't go over. So that way you can keep them from charging up the bill." "I have never used a pre paid phone. I don't see why you just don't get a regular one." "Yes, texting is great and it's a fun way to talk and keep in touch." "Most phones you can text with. I would look for one with a bigger keypad so it's easier to use." "Applications are fun. Some phones have free ones and others you can buy." "I use applications on my phone all the time. I have one for music, one for games, and one I use as a GPS." "Blue tooth is a wireless earpiece used for hands free talking. I would highly recommend getting one." "Yes I would make sure it is blue tooth compatible. In some states it is illegal to talk while driving but if you're using a blue tooth it's ok." "Every company has different plans. I would just ask when I go there to look at phones."

"I would get a plan with free long distance and free texting." "I always buy a warranty. That way if you break your phone they will replace it." "I think warrantees are a waste of money. If my phone breaks I just buy a new one." "I would first look into the prices for family plans if you're interested." "Family plans are great. Your whole family can get their own phones and it's a good way to keep in touch with busy teenagers."

Home Phones
With the popularity of cell phones, home phones seem to be getting less attention. But there have been many new upgrades with the home phone which allow families to enjoy lots of fun and exciting new experiences. Here are some questions commonly used when talking about home phones. "What company should I use for my home phone?" "Should I get wireless phones for my home?" "Is there a way to check my messages while I am away?" "Can I forward a call coming to my home phone to my cell phone?" "Should I purchase a video home phone?" "How important is conference calling?" "Is caller ID important?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "I would check around with your neighbors and see who they use." "I would check for any specials to see who is offering the lowest prices." "You do not have to get wireless but they are a lot more convenient to use." "Definitely go with wireless. Do they even make the non wireless anymore?" "I would make sure you buy a phone that allows you to check your messages while away. That way you can get back to someone faster." "I never use that feature. If someone wants to reach me that bad they can just call my cell." "You can forward a call to your home to your cell. Just make sure the home phone you buy will allow you to do it." "I tried that before and it's too complicated." "Video home phones are great. I use mine to talk to my family in California. It's nice to be able to see them as you talk." "I don't use video home phones. I just use my computer to video chat."

"Conference calling is great to use for work but not really practical for the home." "I never use conference calling at home, we just use three way calling." "Caller ID let's you know who is calling you. That way you can screen your calls." "I use caller ID so I don't have to talk to all the telemarketers."

Computers
Computers are used everywhere from work, education and for entertainment. With a vast variety of styles, sizes and types of computers the options seem limitless. Make sure that you learn as much as you can before purchasing a computer to assure you are buying the best one to fit your needs. Here are some questions commonly used when talking about computers. "I am interested in buying a computer. Do you have any recommendations?" "Should memory of the computer be an important factor when making my choice?" "I am unfamiliar with computers. Can I get help setting it up?" "Should I get a laptop or a PC?" "What do you plan on using the computer for?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "It depends on what you're going to need it for. I would do a little research to learn more about them." "I would go to the store and tell them your needs and interests and they can help you with which computer would be best for you." "If you're going to be saving a lot of information or media I would get a computer with a lot of memory." "Memory is always important. I would get a computer with more now so you don't have to upgrade later." "Most places that sell computers offer help with setting it up and other troubleshooting areas." "They are pretty simple to set up. I would just use the directions it comes with." "Laptops are more mobile so if you're on the go a lot I would recommend a laptop." "I would go with a home PC for now. It will be accessible for your whole family to use." "I am using the computer mostly for storing all my photos and music." "I have a home business so I will be using it for a variety of things."

Internet

The internet is a place accessed through your computer which contains large quantities of information. People use the internet in their daily lives for research, work and pleasure. Almost anything you can think of can be accessed or found through the internet. Here are some questions commonly used when talking about the internet. "Should I get some sort of virus protection for my computer?" "How do I get virus protection for my computer?" "Can I download music over the internet?" "Is it safe to shop over the internet?" "Why is my internet is running slow?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "I would definitely get some sort of virus protection. You do not want your computer to crash." "Yeah I would. My computer got a virus one time and it cost me $100 to get it fixed." "There are a few good ones out there. I will come over and help you download them." "I know of a few online. They cost money but are worth it." "You can. There are a few sites to use for downloading music." "Downloading music is great! You can find just about anything but you do have to pay for them." "Make sure you are shopping on a reputable site otherwise I would be careful." "I don't feel comfortable using my credit card over the computer." "You can check with your provider to see if there are any problems." "Maybe you need a faster connection for what you are doing."

Email
Email is a very useful tool to send and receive information as well as communicate with friends and family. It is basically a way to send letters and other information directly to a person through their computer. Here are some questions commonly used when talking about email. "How do I set up an email account?" "How do I send people emails?" "How will I know when I get one?" "Can I send photos through email?" "How do I know if they get my email?" "Can I attach a file to an email?" "Can I send an email to more than one person?"

If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "After you decide which email system to use just follow the instructions they provide." "Check with your provider to see if they provide an email account." "First you need to get their email address. Just type it in and then write them a message." "I can come over and help you. It is easier for me to show you in person." "You can set your email up to prompt you when you get an email." "I just check my email often to find out." "Yes you can send photos through email." "Read your manual, I am sure it will tell you how to do it." "You can set your email up so you get the notification when they receive an email you sent." "I usually just talk to them or see if they send something back to me." "Same as sending photos, I would check your manual to see how to do it." "Yes you can attach files. Just look for the attach files button." "Yes you can send an email to as many people as you want." "Just cc them in the email and you can send it to more than one person."

Driving a Car
Knowing the rules of the road and how to operate a car properly are all important factors in staying safe while driving, both for your safety and others. Getting a License Getting your license is the first step in becoming a driver. Most states have certain regulations on how to go about getting one. Most require some sort of written test as well as an actual driving test. You can usually pick up study booklets with the information you will need to know to pass the test. Here are some questions commonly used when preparing to get your license. "Where do I get my study material?" "Where is a good place to practice my driving?" "Should I learn on an automatic or a stick shift?" "Does someone need to be with me when I am practicing?" "Is the driving test difficult?" "Will my driver's license be good in other states?" "What happens if I fail my test?"

If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "You will need to call your local DMV to set up an appointment to take your test." DMV stands for Department of Motor Vehicles. "Call a DMV to set up a date." "You can get your study material at the DMV." "You may want to call the DMV and see if they offer the study material online." "Practice in a safe place with no one around." "Maybe an empty parking lot would be a good place." "I would recommend learning on a stick shift. That way driving an automatic will be easy." "I prefer learning on an automatic, it's just easier." "Yes, you need to have a licensed driver with you while practicing." "You first need to get a learners permit before practicing to drive." "If you study for the driving test you should be ok." "I did ok on the written test but had a bit of trouble on the driving part." "You can drive from state to state with a legal driver's license from where you live." "Yes it is good if driving to other states but if you move to another state, the laws may be different and you will need to get a license for that state." "If you fail the test you can take it again at another time." "Stay positive! You're going to do just fine."

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Driving

Once you have obtained a legal drivers license in your state, you are now able to drive. You should be knowledgeable on the laws and regulations regarding where you live. "Do I need to have car insurance?" "Can I talk on my phone when diving?" "What if I get caught speeding." "What are the carpool lanes for?" "What if I have car trouble?" "What if I get into a wreck?" "If I have my license in one state can I drive in another state?"

If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "Some states require car insurance. Make sure you find out before driving." "If you do not have car insurance and hit someone you are responsible to pay for the damages." "In some states talking on the phone while driving is illegal, check you laws first." "Always use a blue tooth device so you can concentrate on the road." "If you get caught speeding just calmly do what the police officer asks you." "You will most likely get a ticket and have to pay a fine." "Carpool lanes are for cars with two people or more inside." "Carpool lanes are for motorcycles and cars with a lot of people." "If you have car trouble you can use a cell phone to call for help." Some people use a service called AAA. It stands for American Automotive Association. You can become a member by joining and paying a yearly fee. "You can wave down someone to help you or just wait for help." "You should wait for the police to come and help handle things" "You should get each others insurance and personal information." "Yes, you can drive from state to state with your license." "If you move permanently to another state you will need to get a driver's license for THAT state." Other options besides driving There are other options for transportation besides driving your car. You could ride the bus to work. You could ride a bike or use the public subway system if they have one. You may also choose to carpool. Carpooling is when you share a ride with friend(s) to cut down on the amount of traffic on the roads.

Car
The purchasing of a new car can be a fun experience as long as you do some research beforehand. You might want to consider price, condition the car is in, your needs and the practicality of the vehicle. All are important factors in deciding which car is best for you. Purchasing a Car Purchasing a car can be both exciting and intimidating. Knowing what you want, how much the car is worth and how much you can afford are all important factors. Sometimes dealing with car salesman

you will want to know these points beforehand. If you an uncomfortable bargaining with a salesman just have an idea of what you can afford and stick with it. Here are some questions commonly used when purchasing a car. "How can I check what a car is worth?" "Can I check if the car has been in any major wrecks in the past?" "Should I consider financing?" "Does the car have a warranty?" "Can I negotiate price?" "Should I buy used or new?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "There are different ways to check. A common place is called the Kelley Blue Book." The Kelley Blue Book is a trusted prices, values and reviews of cars. "You might be able to look up prices on the internet." "You can ask for a 'history' on the car from the salesman to check if there are any past accidents." "There are websites where you can look up the history of a car. Just search for them." "Almost all car companies offer financing." "I would try and pay cash but if you can't afford the entire car you may need to finance." "All cars have some sort of warranty. Check with the car dealership." "Warranties are good in case you need anything fixed." "Just know how much you can spend and only spend that much." "You can try and negotiate if you're comfortable with it." "Used or new depends on you and what you need." "You can usually spend less money buying a used car. Just make sure it is in good shape."

Car Maintenance
Proper maintenance on your car can help assure it will run smoothly and last you a long time. Here are some questions commonly used when talking about the maintenance of your car. "How often should I change the oil in my car?" "Should I rotate the tires?" "What type of gas should I put into it?"

"Should I get tune ups?" "Should I keep it outside or in my garage?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "Normally you should change your oil every 3000 miles." "Yes change your oil when it gets low." "Rotating your tires will make them last longer." "Rotating your tires will keep them in good condition and keep you safe." "Most cars use unleaded gas." "I would check your car manual. You don't want to put the wrong gas in your car, it can ruin it." "Tune ups keep your car running smoothly." "Tune ups are good and you may find something that needs replaced that you would normally not know about." "If you have a garage I would use it. It will keep your car safe from the weather." "If you don't have a garage just keep it in your driveway."

Selling a Car
There comes a time when you will need to sell your car. You may need a bigger one, or smaller one. You may want one less expensive or one that is better on gas. Make sure you research how much your car is worth as well as viable ways of advertising it before you attempt to sell. Here are some questions commonly used when selling a car. "How should I advertise my car to sell?" "Should I fix any issues with my car before selling it?" "Should I research how much it is worth before selling it?" "Will I get more if I trade it in?" "Should I be firm on the price I am asking?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "There are many ways to advertise. You can use the newspaper, the internet, or even put a sign in it that says For Sale." "I would advertise in a local car selling/buying magazine. A lot of people will see it there." "You can fix any issues if you want. It might up the value of the car when you sell it." "I would just be honest and inform people it has something wrong with it."

"Definitely research how much it is worth. That way you can be sure to sell for the right price." "I would just sell it for what you owe on it. If you already own it then I might look up how much it is worth." "I would try and trade it in if you are buying a new car." "I would try and sell it, you will probably get more money for it." "Once you find out how much it is worth, some people price cars at a higher price to try and make money." "I would ask for more than it's worth, then you can lower the price and still get what you want."

Dental Care
Picking a Dentist Going to the dentist is an important part of your health. With some of the anxieties that sometimes come with visiting the dentist, choosing the right one can be beneficial. Sometimes using recommendations from friends or family is a good way to find a dentist you will like. Here are some questions commonly used when picking a dentist. "I am nervous about going to the dentist, do you have any recommendations for one?" "Should I go to a dentist that I saw an advertisement for?" "Are there any dentist just for children?" "How do I make an appointment if I have never been to this dentist before?" "Do I need to have dental insurance?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "My dentist is really nice. I think it would be a good experience for you." "My dentist will let you come in and just talk at first. That way you can get comfortable with each other." "Sure, you can try a dentist you are unfamiliar with." "Go for it. If you do not like him you can always go somewhere else." "There are dentists that specialize just in children. I would look on the internet." "My dentist will see children or adults and is great with both." "I would just call and tell them you are a new patient and you would like to schedule an appointment." "You could always stop by and make an appointment." "Most places require dental insurance."

"I don't think you need insurance but you will need to pay for things up front."

Dentist Check Ups

Checkups are appointments to your dentist where they examine your mouth for overall health and usually include some sort of cleaning. Check ups are an important part of keeping a healthy mouth as well as a way of catching any possible problems before they cause any pain or discomfort. Here are some questions commonly used when asking about checkups. "How often should I go in for checkups?" "Do they clean your teeth at checkups?" "Will they take x rays at my check up?" "Can I ask questions if I have any concerns?" "Do I really need checkups?" "Will I have to get any fillings?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "Normally you should go in for a checkup every six months." "I would ask your dentist and see what they recommend for you." "My dentist cleans my teeth at my check ups." "Usually they do. It feels good when they are done." "Sometimes they take x-rays to check your teeth." "I think they only take x-rays if they have not seen you before." "Yes, this is a time to ask questions if you have them." "Ask all the questions you want. They will try and help you." "Check ups help keep your mouth clean and healthy." "Check ups are a good way to find any problems before they begin to hurt." "If you have any cavities then you will have to get a filling." "Fillings are not normally part of a check up."

Problems with your teeth

If you are having any pain or problems with your teeth you should go see a dentist, as soon as possible. If you wait, you may make things worse. Below are some things you can tell the dentist you are experiencing.

"I have a really bad tooth ache." "My teeth are really sensitive when I eat or drink things that are hot or cold." "My gums bleed when I brush my teeth." "My tooth is loose." "I think I might have cracked my tooth." "It hurts when I bite down." The answers to all of these depend on you and your dentist. Just make sure you call and make an appointment if any of these occur.

Pediatric Care
A doctor that specializes in pediatrics is a children's doctor. Choosing the right one can make you feel more comfortable as well as make it a good experience for your child. Choosing a Doctor When choosing a doctor for your child you can ask your friends or family for recommendations, try one out simply by finding them on the internet, or using one supplied by the hospital where your child was born. Here are some questions commonly used when choosing a doctor. "Do you have a recommendation for a Pediatric doctor?" "Can the hospital my child was born at recommend any?" "Can I visit the doctor's office before going there?" "Are there reviews on Pediatric doctors?" "Do I just call to make an appointment?" "Will I need to go to certain doctors because of insurance?" "What if I do not have any insurance?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "We have one we have used for years, I will give you her name and number." "I know of a couple really good ones. I will call you with their information." "Sure, they can usually provide you with a list." "Sometimes they can give you names and numbers of doctors associated with their hospital." "You should be able to visit before your appointment." "I would call and ask them first. Each office can be different."

"Sometimes you can find reviews on the internet." "I would just go off of recommendations." "Just call and tell them you are a new patient." "You can call or just stop in. If you stop in you can see the office first hand." "Most insurance companies have a network of doctors associated with them." "Yes, I would get a list of doctors from my insurance company." "You do not need insurance but you will have to pay for everything yourself." "I would check. Some places require that you have medical insurance."

Appointment
Depending on the age of your child and the reason for the appointment things may vary on what happens during the appointment. Most appointments will include taking the height and weight of the child. Checking ears and eyes, listening to hearts and lungs, and taking blood pressure. Depending on the age of your child, vaccines might be also done. This is also a good time to talk with your doctor about any concerns or issues and simply a good time to ask questions. Here are some questions commonly asked when making an appointment. "How is your child doing?" "Do you have any concerns?" "Is he/she eating ok?" "Is he/she sleeping ok?" "Is he/she responding to noise or their name?" "How are the child's bowl movements?" "Is he/she saying any words?" If you are asked any of these questions just answer to your best knowledge and be honest. They are all important information for the doctor to know and see how your child is doing.

School - Kids
Picking a school Depending on where you live you will most likely have a school assigned to you. The schools assigned to your area are public schools which offer grades kindergarten all the way up through high school. Public schools are free and are offered to all. A few other options available are private schools or even home schooling. Private schools usually require a tuition fee and vary in price and distance from where you live. Home schooling is where the parent(s) are the teachers at home

educating and teaching their children. Children that are home schooled and decide to change to public or private schools usually will need to test into their appropriate grade. Here are some questions commonly used when picking a school. "Are the public schools in this area good?" "Do the public schools in our area have full day kindergarten?" Getting to School When talking about getting to school you are simply talking about the act of 'how' your child will get to the school they are attending. Here are some questions commonly used when talking about ways to get to school. "Is there a bus stop near our house?" "Can I drive my kids to school?" "Can my kids walk to school?" "What if we miss the bus in the morning?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond or answers you might hear. "There is a bus stop right around the corner from our neighborhood." "There are no bus stops close to our neighborhood. We need to drive to the bus stop." "Yes, you can drive your kids to school." "Not sure, you may want to check with the school." "Kids can walk to school if they live within a close distance from the school." "Children walking to school need to be accompanied by an adult." "If you miss the bus it is your responsibility to drive your child to school." "If you miss the bus maybe you can catch a ride from a neighbor or a friend."

After School
What happens after school can include a lot of decisions and planning as well. After school care, transportation, playtime with friends, sports and homework are all possible factors when making decisions about what happens after school. Here are some questions commonly used when talking about what happens after school. "Does your child need after school care?"

"Will your child be riding the bus home?" "Do you want to have play dates after school with our children?" "Do you want to enroll your child in sports?" "Will your child have to finish homework before playing?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "Yes, both my wife and I work so we need help after school." "I am a stay at home mom so I do not need any afterschool care." "Yes my child will be riding the bus home." "No, I will be picking up my child after school." "Sure, a play date would be fun for the kids." "Play dates are great! Let's plan some." "She does not get much homework in this grade." "Yes, we usually have our kids finish their homework before playing."

Birthday
Birthdays usually include a party or gathering to celebrate the life of the person whose birthday it is. Although having a party is not a necessity for birthdays, we will be going over the steps involved when deciding to have one. Planning and Invites The first thing you will want to do is plan a date to have the party. It does not need to be exactly on the date of the actual birth of the person the party is for. If the person's birthday falls on a Tuesday you can very well have the party on Saturday if it's more convenient. A birthday party can be a surprise, it can be at a special place, or it can happen simply at home. Coming up with a guest list and sending out invitations would be the next step. Below we will look at possible questions involved with the planning of a birthday party. "My birthday this year is on a Monday. Should I have the party on a Saturday instead?" "Should we have a surprise birthday party?" "Who do I invite?" "What's the best way to send out invitations?" "Should we have people RSVP? RSVP means 'Please respond.' You are asking people to let you know if they are attending beforehand so you can plan ahead." "Should we reserve a room for the party?" "Where should we get a cake?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond.

"I would have the party on Saturday then more people might be able to come." "It does not really matter, have it whenever you like." "He does not like surprises so I would just do a regular party." "A surprise party would be fun, just make sure he does not find out." "I would just invite family since it's a small party." "You could invite friends and family. Make it a big party this year." "You could just pass out invites when you see the people." "I would mail them since it is a surprise party." "I would have people RSVP so you will know how many people are coming." "Having people RSVP lets you plan the party easier." "I would reserve a room so no one else is using it." "They require a reservation so they can plan ahead for your party." "We should get a cake at the bakery." "We should get an ice cream cake from the ice cream store."

Set Up
Setting up for a party can be time consuming and sometimes expensive. Make sure you plan ahead and set up early if you can. How much you decorate depends on how much you want to spend. If you decide to reserve a party room they typically will decorate and even cater the party, which will add to the cost. Here are some questions commonly used when setting up for a party. "Should we reserve a room?" "Should we get there early to decorate?" "Should we buy decorations?" "Should we have the party catered?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "If we reserve a room we can have them decorate for us." "Let's just have the party here at home to save money." "Yes if we get there early we can decorate and be done with it." "Not really, we can decorate anytime."

"Yes we should go out and buy lots of decorations." "We can just use stuff we have around here. We can just make a couple signs." "Having it catered would be great! Then we do not have to cook." "Catering is too expensive. Let's just cook the food ourselves."

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The Party

After all of the hard work planning for the party it's time to enjoy yourselves. Make sure the guest of honor is having a good time and remember this party is about THEM. Here are some questions commonly used when setting up for a party. "When is he going to open presents?" "When are we going to have cake?" "How did you find the caterers?" "Should we yell SURPRISE when he walks in?" "Are we going to play any games?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "He will open presents after we eat." "I think he will open presents after we eat some cake." "We will have some cake later on." "I am not sure. Did they get a cake?" "I found the caterers on the internet." "My neighbor recommended the caterer." "Yes, we should all hide. Then when he walks in we jump out and yell SURPRISE!" "Don't yell too loud, you might scare grandpa." "I think we are going to do some karaoke." "They have some games scheduled for later on."

Vacations
If you have a job, vacations are a time spent away from it, or a vacation may just be time spent relaxing and taking a break from your daily responsibilities. Vacations can be as simple as staying home and relaxing with family to going on a trip somewhere to get away. Planning a Vacation

Planning a vacation properly can make all the difference between having a fun, relaxing time to being stressed and not knowing what to do. If you decide to just stay home for a vacation then relaxing with family or friends might work just fine but if traveling, you may want to put in some research into what to do and when to do it. If visiting family or friends make sure they are able to take time away from their own jobs to spend quality time with you. If you are going to another state or country, checking travel requirements, weather, and accommodation will help make it a better experience. If you are employed it is a good idea to ask for the time off before scheduling anything. That way you can be sure of dates and times you will be gone. Here are some questions commonly used when planning a vacation. "How far in advance should I ask for vacation time?" "How do I find out if I need a passport?" "How do I get a passport?" "How do I find out about fun places to visit?" "How far in advance should I book a place to stay?" "Should I use a travel agency?" "Should I contact family or friends to make sure we can visit?" "Should we go to an all-inclusive resort?" All-inclusive means you pay ahead of time for your rooms, food and beverages. Sometimes it helps to cut down on costs. "What if we do not speak the language of the place we are going to?" "What if we need to rent a car?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "I would ask for vacation time months in advance if you can." "The earlier you ask the better chance you have of getting the time off." "Once you decide where you are going I would call the airport and ask them." "If you travel outside of the United States you will need a passport." "You can apply for a passport at a local Government Agency." "Check online for information." "You could go to the book store and look at travel books or brochures." "I would get online and do some research on places you are interested." "It depends on where you are going. I would call and ask them how far in advance they take reservations." "I would call them as soon as you decide on where to go."

"You can sometimes get good deals and information from a travel agency." "I would just do it yourself. You can find out all the information online." "Yes I would contact them to make sure they are available when you visit." "If you can visit when they have time off you will be able to do more together." "An all-inclusive resort would be nice so everything is already paid for." "I would rather just stay at a hotel and pay for things as we do them." "You can buy a book to bring a along to help translate." "You could study a bit before you go to learn a few new words." "I would call ahead of time and reserve a car from a car rental agency." "I would check with the place you are staying to see if they have car rentals." Getting There Once you have scheduled a vacation and have decided to travel, you must now consider some sort of transportation. A lot depends on how far you are going, where you are going, and how fast you need to get there. Options might include traveling by airplane, car or even train. Checking prices, requirements for travel, and whether or not the mode of transportation goes to the destination are all the things to consider. If traveling by plane or train, make sure you book your seats months in advance if possible to assure a spot. A lot of times the price of traveling will change depending on your choice of seats and the time of year. So make sure you consider all when making reservations.

On Vacation
While on vacation you can simply hang out and relax at the beach, enjoy time with friends and family, or go sightseeing. It all depends on what you want and a lot of times what you can afford. Here are some questions commonly used when on a vacation. "Should we do any sightseeing on vacation?" "What places should we visit?" "What if we do not speak the language of the country we are in?" "How do we know good places to eat?" "How do we book any excursions?" If you are asked any of these questions, here are ways that you could respond. "It is always fun to visit historical places while on vacation." "Depends on what you like to do. Sightseeing can be a fun way to discover new places." "You can always ask the hotel for recommendations on what to see."

"You can read in a historical travel book and fun things to see and do." "Try and find someone to help answer your questions at your hotel." "Bring along a language book to look up words so you can communicate better." "A good idea is to ask the locals where to eat. They can give you good advice on places you might not normally go." "I would ask the concierge at the hotel." "Sometimes you can book excursions with the concierge at the hotel." "You can book them beforehand through the travel agency."

Family and Friends

When you have discussions with family and close friends, you usually speak the language you are most comfortable with. Therefore, this lesson will not focus on the sentences you use to speak with your family, but it will focus more on the sentences you use when you are talking to someone about your family or your close friends. Here are some questions you can ask when talking about family. "How are your parents doing?" "Are your parents healthy and well?" "Do you still live with your parents?" "Do you live near any family members?" "Where do your in-laws live?" "Do you see your family frequently?" "Do you ever have family reunions?" You can respond to these types of questions in multiple ways. Here are some examples. "My parents are doing well." "My father is getting old, but otherwise, healthy." "My mother has been complaining about chest pains. I hope it isn't anything serious." "Yeah. I live with my parents. It saves me some rent money." "Just for another year until I get back on my feet." "No. I moved out several years ago. I have my own apartment now." "My in-laws are in Ohio." "I grew up in Florida, so my in-laws are there. We moved to California 5 years ago."

"My family lives in the area so I usually see them once a month." "My family lives pretty far away, so I only see them a couple times a year." "We have a family reunion every 5 years." "No, but I wish we could." "We used to, but everyone is too busy these days, so we haven't had one in a while now."

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Talking about Friends

Having lifelong friends is a great conversational topic. Many questions are related towards how long they have been friends. Here are some questions you can ask when talking about friends. "How long have you guys been friends?" "How long have you known each other?" "Did you grow up together?" "Did you go to school together?" "So how did you meet?" Here are some example you can use to respond to these types of questions. "We've been friends since elementary school." "I think it's been like 20 years." "We grew up together. Our parents lived pretty close so we were basically neighbors." "We went to the same school since the 5th grade." "We met in middle school and started going to the same school from the 7th grade." "We started going to the same school at the University of Washington." "We met at church when we were young. We have been close friends since." "We met in high school in our English class."

Pregnancy and Birth

Expecting a baby can be both exciting and a nervous time. For first time parents you are deciding on a hospital for delivery, doctors for child care, deciding on birth classes, curious about what you are having, and preparation for home just to name a few. For second, third, or even forth time parent's things may be a bit easier and relaxed. We will be taking a look more at the experience or events of first time parents. Pregnancy

Having a doctor you feel comfortable with and like will help make the pregnancy process a bit easier. The mother as well as the baby will be going through changes and having someone to answer all your questions will be helpful. You will need to go in for exams, have ultrasounds and continue to check the overall health of mom and the baby. Here are some questions you may be asked if you are pregnant. If you feel comfortable answering you can, but pregnancy is personal so it is ok to not answer questions especially asked by strangers. "How far a long are you?" "Are you having a boy or girl?" "Do you have names picked out?" "Is this your first child?" "What hospital are you delivering at?" "What are some things that you need?" Here are some ways you can answer. "6 months." "I am in the 8th month." "I am having a boy." "I am having another boy." (If this is your second boy.) "We are having a girl." "We thought a lot about names, but we haven't decided on one yet." "We don't know if it is a boy or girl, so we haven't decided on a name." "If it is a boy, we picked Mark, and if it is a girl, we decided on Jennifer." "This is our 5th child." "No. We have 2 other children." "We are going to Bellevue hospital." "We will be delivering at Overlake hospital." "Thank you for offering, but we don't need anything right now." "I think we have everything we need, but I'll let you know if I need something. Thank you."

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Pregnancy Checkups

You will go to checkups throughout your pregnancy. This will help assure you and your baby are

staying healthy and things are going well. This is also a good time to ask your doctor questions. Here are some questions you might ask at a checkup. "I am having a bit of back pain, any recommendations?" "How is my baby doing?" "What should I be eating?" "Is there anything I should not be eating?" "Can I fly on the airplane?" "Is it ok to exercise?" "Can I still take my medication?" Here are some questions your doctor might ask you during your checkup. "How are things going?" "Are you getting any sleep?" "Are you in any pain?" "How is your appetite?" "Do you want to know the sex of your baby?" Here are some ways you can answer. Providing as much information will allow the doctor to help you. "I'm having a lot of morning sickness and I can't hold anything down." "I feel tired all the time." "I get a lot of heart burn. It is very uncomfortable and I can't eat well." "I am hungry all the time. I am eating so much. Is it okay to eat so much?"

Birth
The time has come for the baby to be born. Here are some questions that might be asked to the mother or doctor at the hospital. "Did your water break?" "How far along are your contractions?" "Are you in any pain?" "Do you need to call any family?" "Do you need an epidural?" "Can I get you anything?" When it is time to have a baby, here are some sentences you might need. "Doctor, I think my water broke. I will need to come in to the hospital immediately."

"My contractions are 5 minutes apart." "I am having contractions every 10 minutes." "I have severe cramps." "Can I call my mother?" "What are the side effects of having an epidural?" "I would like to get an epidural." "Does it hurt to get an epidural?"

Neighbors
Neighbors are people who live in your neighborhood. You may live in a large neighborhood with lots of homes or a small cul de sac with just a few homes. Neighbors can even include people who live upstairs or downstairs from you in an apartment complex. Introductions Here are a few statements you can use when meeting a neighbor: "Hello, my name is Jack." "This is my wife, Suzie." "I live next door to you." "I live downstairs from you." These statements are all good ways of letting someone know something simple about you. Here are some questions you can ask when speaking to a neighbor. "What is your name?" "How long have you lived in the neighborhood?" "What do you do for work?" "Do you have any children?" "Where are you from?" "Hi, how are you doing?" You may be asked the same questions from a neighbor. If this happens, just answer them the best you can. These questions are a good way to initiate a conversation and a way to find out more about one another. Hanging out with Neighbors After meeting your neighbors you may want to spend more time with them. You can invite them over for a barbeque, for a drink, or even just hang out outside in the neighborhood. Just do the best you can talking and asking questions. Enjoy the time together to learn more about one another and

have fun. Questions will come to you as you get to know them better and you will hopefully begin to feel more comfortable.

Organizing Time
Being able to manage your time efficiently can help relieve some stress of trying to get things done and also help accomplish goals in the proper time frame. We will take a look at a few different ways to better/help manage your time wisely. Organizing Time Just as stated above, managing your time can be an important tool in performing jobs in a time frame as well helping with some of the stress that comes with getting things done. Here are a number of ways/tools to help manage your time wisely. Using a daily calendar to mark down appointments, commitments, or special events will help remind you of what needs to be done. A monthly calendar can basically work the same way as a daily one but enable you to plan ahead far in advance. Here are some questions commonly used when organizing your time. "What is the best tool to organize time/appointments?" "Should I use monthly or a weekly planner?" "Should I carry my planner with me?" Daily Planner A daily planner will help you schedule your time wisely when dealing with a busy life full of events. Using a daily planner can help organize meetings, lunch plans and other responsibilities throughout your day. Daily planners come in all shapes and sizes. From writing things down to using an electronic planner, lots of options are available. Here are some questions commonly used when using a daily planner. "How do I know what to use as a daily planner?" "If I use an electronic planner should I set reminders?" "What if I have more things to do than the time to do it?" "What if I need to cancel something?" "What if I need to make an appointment?" "If I have someone at work who plans for me should I still keep a planner?" Monthly Planner/Yearly Planner A monthly or yearly planner is essentially the same as a daily planner except the fact that they allow you to plan far in advance. Just as daily planners can be as simple as writing things down on a

calendar or using an electronic device to keep track, the same methods can be applied on a monthly or yearly planner. Managing your time, making and keeping appointments, and keeping notified of special events are all functions of a planner.

Habits and Health

Habits and heath are popular topics with almost everyone. From listening to the radio, watching T.V, or talking with friends, the topic of habits and health seem to always come up. Habits can include such things as smoking, drinking and eating and health topics can include dieting to exercising. Talking about these subjects with others depends on your comfort level or interest on the subjects. Often times these subjects come up because of curiosity or even by someone looking for other options. While information on these subjects is readily available for people to research on their own, it is important when talking about them to be caring and show respect while not telling someone what they SHOULD be doing but instead talk about your experience and thoughts while lending some support. Habits The definition of a habit is an unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition. Although you hear a lot about 'bad' habits, not all are. You could have a habit of shaking hands when greeting someone or a habit of looking both ways before you cross the street for example. But without a doubt the 'bad' habits are the ones you will hear the most about and the ones people like to discuss. Below you will find some questions associated with bad habits. "How can I stop smoking?" "How can I cut down on drinking?" "How can I reduce my eating?" "I should stop smoking." "I think I drink too much." "I have to watch what I eat." "I have a bad habit of interrupting people when they speak." "I have a habit of smoking when I drink." "Why are most habits bad for you? I wish I had a habit of eating vegetables."

Health
Our health is an important subject for all of us. How much we eat, how much we exercise and how much we sleep are all topics of discussion when mentioning health. The United States in particular is surrounded by conversations of obesity, but on the flip side one of the greatest consumers of health care products. As popular of a subject health is it can also be an uncomfortable one. People who are

overweight might not be as comfortable talking about health, so try and be aware of the person you are talking to's feelings. Here are some questions and statements commonly used when talking about health. "How do I find a good gym?" "What vitamin supplements do you use?" "How often do you go to the doctors to get a regular check up?" "Now that I am getting older, I wonder what I have to do to stay healthy." "I need to find a good way to exercise without putting too much pressure on my knees." You may also find yourself asking some of these questions: "Have you ever been on a successful diet?" "Have you ever tried yoga?" "Have you ever used a personal trainer?" "Do you belong to a gym?" "How do I find information on diet?" "What is some healthy food?" "Should I use a weight loss system/company?"

Sleeping and Dreams

Getting a good night sleep is an important part of your health and overall happiness. Sleeping well can insure you are rested for the next day and able to perform properly at work and school. Lots of things can interfere with a good night sleep from babies crying in the middle of the night to having a lot on our minds. People in general require different amounts of sleep to function properly throughout the day although the recommended amount of sleep is typically 8 hours. Here are some statements about sleep you might say. "I wish I could sleep more, but I have too much to do." "I usually sleep 6 hours a day." "I have a hard time falling asleep, and also a hard time waking up." "When I lay down to sleep, I am usually asleep in matter of minutes." "I wake up automatically at 6am every morning." "I am having a hard time sleeping." "I got a new bed yesterday." "My husband snores a lot." "I am not getting a lot of sleep with our new baby at home." "My neighbor's dog keep waking us up at night."

"The storm last night kept me from getting a good night sleep."

Dreams
Dreams are very interesting and can be a topic of discussion in many situations. Here are some sentences to start some of these discussions. "I had a really bad nightmare last night." "I keep having the same dreams over and over." "I had a great dream last night and I really didn't want to wake up." "I rarely have dreams that I remember." "I had this weird dream where I was flying through the mall. What do you think it means?" "I have a recurring dream where I am walking through the woods in a green costume. Do you know what it means?" "I had a dog when I was young, and I often dream about him." When dealing with children, they can get nightmares if they watch a scary television show. You can use some of these sentences to talk to your children or to talk to other people about this problem. "You can't watch that show because you'll have a bad dream." "You know you'll get nightmares if you watch something scary." "Are you sure you want to watch that show? It might be a little scary." "My son kept me up all night because he couldn't fall asleep after watching a movie. I shouldn't let him see anything like that anymore." "The daycare had a movie day and although it was a children's movie, my kid had nightmares." "Even babies have dreams. One day my 1 year old daughter woke up screaming pointing to the bed."

Hair Cut and Massages

Although some men enjoy massages and are picky about where they get their hair cut these are generally more talked about by women. Women usually go to a salon to get hair cut and some salons offer more than just hair cutting services. Salons can offer a number of different massages, pedicures and manicures. Choosing a Salon Finding a good place to get your hair done is usually done by word of mouth. Meaning someone has recommended one to you or you liked someone's haircut and asked them where they go. Here are some questions commonly used when choosing a salon.

"I like your hair cut, where did you go to get it cut?" "Will I need an appointment?" "What other things do they offer there?" "Do they sell hair products?" "How much do they charge?" "How far in advance should I book an appointment?" Booking an appointment Once you have chosen a salon now it is time to book an appointment. Simply calling them on the phone will do. Sometimes by checking on the internet or simply by calling you can check on prices and other options like what kind of massages they offer. "Where are you looking to get your hair done?" "Did you need to get your hair colored?" "When did you want to try and come in?" "Did you want to book a pedicure?" "Did you want to book a massage?" "Do you prefer male or female for your massage?" "What type of massage do you like?"

At the Salon
Once you have booked your appointment and have arrived at the salon, you will need to communicate what you want. First, they might ask you some of these questions. "How would you like your hair cut?" "What are we doing for you today?" "What can I do for you today?" "What did you want to do with your hair?" "Did you want a manicure or a pedicure?" "Did you want your nails done?" "What color nail polish would you like?" "Are you in for a hair cut or a perm?" "Did you want to color your hair today?" "So what color were you thinking for your hair today?" To make sure you get what you want, it is important to be clear on your expectations. Use some of these sentences to express what you want.

"I only want a trim." "Can you cut about 2 inches off the length?" "I want 1 inch off the top and the sides blended in." "Can you layer my hair?" "I would like a straight perm today." "Can you color my hair to brown?" "I would like my nails done please." "A pedicure with red nail polish please."

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Books and Magazines

Books and magazines contain a wealth of information. Learning new things, finding information needed to help with projects or simply a way to escape from the everyday world are some of the many reasons why people read books and magazines. Reading books is also a great way to spend time with your children for fun, or to share what you have learned with family and friends. Here are some questions you might ask while at a bookstore. "What are some of the bestsellers?" "What are some new releases?" "Where can I find books by a particular author?" "Where is the children's section?" "Do you have books on animals?" "Do you offer a membership for customers?" "Does this magazine have monthly or yearly subscription?" "Can I get a subscription sent to my business?" "Can I reserve a book?" You can also make many statements about books to your friends. "I just finished reading a book on money management. It was very informative." "I love reading. If I am not out, I am usually in my room reading a book." "My favorite types of books are autobiographies." "The new fiction bestseller was fun. You have to read it." "Buying books as a present is not appreciated by the kid, but the parents usually love them." "I really like getting books as a gift."
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