Episode 0031
Summary
Angela calls Samantha to reschedule their afternoon meeting, citing an emergency. Samantha agrees to postpone, revealing she also can't make it, and suggests they reschedule for the following afternoon. Later, Angela and a friend are out when the friend points out Samantha trying on a jacket. Angela realizes Samantha lied about her emergency and expresses anger, followed by sadness when she thinks Samantha spotted her.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
Hello, Samantha speaking.
Hi Samantha, this is Angela calling.
Oh hi Angela, what's up?
I'm just calling about our meeting today. I wonder, is it possible to reschedule our appointment in the afternoon? I have a bit of an emergency that I need to take care of.
Let me see. It shouldn't be too much of a problem.
I'm really sorry. I hope it doesn't inconvenience you too much. It's just this thing came up and...
Angela, you know what? I can't make it to our meeting either. Why don't we postpone it to tomorrow afternoon at the same time?
Sounds great. See you tomorrow.
Angela? Angela, look up. See that lady over there who's trying on a red leather jacket? Isn't that Samantha?
What?
No wonder she told me she couldn't make it to the meeting.
Oh no, I think she saw me!
Summary
The EnglishPod hosts, Marco and Erika, discuss phrases for canceling and rescheduling appointments. They present a dialogue where Angela calls Samantha to reschedule an appointment due to an emergency, and Samantha offers to postpone it. Later, Angela is with a friend who spots Samantha, revealing Samantha had lied about her availability. The hosts then break down key vocabulary like 'reschedule', 'inconvenience', and 'postpone', and introduce fluency builder phrases such as 'What's up?', 'can't make it', and 'this thing came up', providing examples and explanations. The dialogue is replayed at different speeds throughout the lesson. Marco also shares a personal anecdote about canceling a business meeting to watch a soccer game.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
Hello, English learners, welcome back to EnglishPod. My name is Marco.
And I'm Erika.
And today we're bringing you another great lesson about appointments.
That's right. We've got an elementary lesson about canceling an appointment.
It's a really common situation. Sometimes you have an appointment at the doctor's or something.
Or at work.
And you have to cancel it.
Yes, so we're going to learn some great language to help you cancel appointments today.
Let's go straight to the dialogue then. We're going to be listening as Samantha and Angela have a phone conversation and Angela is trying to cancel an appointment.
And it's going to be a little bit fast in the beginning, but when we come back, we will explain all the great vocabulary.
Hello, Samantha speaking.
Hi Samantha, this is Angela calling.
Oh, hi Angela. What's up?
I'm just calling about our meeting today. I wonder, is it possible to reschedule our appointment in the afternoon? I have a bit of an emergency that I need to take care of.
Let me see. It shouldn't be too much of a problem.
I'm really sorry. I hope it doesn't inconvenience you too much. It's just this thing came up and...
Angela, you know what? I can't make it to our meeting either. Why don't we postpone it to tomorrow afternoon at the same time?
Sounds great. See you tomorrow.
Angela! Angela, look up! See that lady over there who's trying on a red leather jacket? Isn't that Samantha?
What? No wonder she told me she couldn't make it to the meeting. Oh no, I think she saw me!
Okay, we have some really interesting words that you probably listened to in this dialogue, so let's start with language takeaway.
Today on language takeaway, we're bringing you three words. Uh Erika, what's the first one?
The first word is reschedule.
Reschedule.
Reschedule.
Reschedule.
When you reschedule an appointment, you...
Change it for another day or time.
Exactly.
Great. The second word that we have is inconvenience.
Inconvenience.
Inconvenience.
Inconvenience.
So, to inconvenience someone is to...
To make things not convenient for that person.
Right. So to make things a little bit difficult or to make things a little bit um...
Uncomfortable. Uncomfortable.
Inconvenience.
And our third word is postpone.
Postpone.
Postpone.
Postpone.
Postpone. We have some examples of the word postpone that will help you to understand its meaning a little bit better. Let's listen.
Example one.
Since Robert is late again, we have to postpone the meeting.
Example two.
I'm sorry Simon, but your vacation has been postponed until next month.
Example three.
Unfortunately, the flight will be postponed.
Okay, so basically postpone is to delay.
That's right. Make it at a later time.
At a later time.
Mhm.
Okay, some great words there and uh we can listen to our dialogue a second time at a slower speed.
Hello, Samantha speaking.
Hi Samantha, this is Angela calling.
Oh, hi Angela. What's up?
I'm just calling about our meeting today. I wonder, is it possible to reschedule our appointment in the afternoon? I have a bit of an emergency that I need to take care of.
Let me see. It shouldn't be too much of a problem.
I'm really sorry. I hope it doesn't inconvenience you too much. It's just this thing came up and...
Angela, you know what? I can't make it to our meeting either. Why don't we postpone it to tomorrow afternoon at the same time?
Sounds great. See you tomorrow.
Angela! Angela, look up! See that lady over there who's trying on a red leather jacket? Isn't that Samantha?
What? No wonder she told me she couldn't make it to the meeting. Oh no, I think she saw me!
All right, so in this dialogue we had some really great phrases that we should look at in fluency builder.
We have three phrases for you today in fluency builder and the first one is so common. It's a great phrase. What's up?
What's up?
What's up?
So this is a very common way of saying hi.
Yeah. What's up?
How's it going? What's going on?
Right. And now the interesting thing is that many people don't know how to answer this phrase.
Yes, I see this all the time with my students.
So if you say what's up, you should say...
Not much.
Not much.
Nothing.
Nothing. So, what's up?
Not much.
Not much. All right. So the next time someone tells you what's up, now you know what to answer.
Yeah.
Okay, our second phrase is can't make it.
Can't make it.
I can't make it.
We use this phrase when we want to say I cannot attend. I cannot make it. Yeah, I can't come.
Right. So if you're having a party today, I say, 'Oh, I'm sorry, I can't make it.'
Mhm.
It means I can't go.
Exactly. Maybe one more example.
So, Marco, we've got a meeting today at 3:00.
I can't make it. I'm recording today.
Oh, okay.
So, can't make it.
Mhm.
Our last word for fluency builder: this thing came up.
This thing came up.
This thing came up.
This is a great way of giving an excuse for why you can't make it to the event.
Right. So, I can't make it today because this thing came up, like something...
Something happened. Something happened. Yeah.
Let's listen to a few examples of this phrase, so we can see how it's used in the wild.
Example one.
I'm sorry that I'm late. This thing came up at work and I had to stay to take care of it.
Example two.
I can't talk right now, something came up.
Example three.
Sorry I missed the meeting, something came up.
Okay, great examples and I guess it's perfectly clear now.
Yes.
So let's listen to our dialogue a third time and now we're ready to understand everything.
Hello, Samantha speaking.
Hi Samantha, this is Angela calling.
Oh, hi Angela. What's up?
I'm just calling about our meeting today. I wonder, is it possible to reschedule our appointment in the afternoon? I have a bit of an emergency that I need to take care of.
Let me see. It shouldn't be too much of a problem.
I'm really sorry. I hope it doesn't inconvenience you too much. It's just this thing came up and...
Angela, you know what? I can't make it to our meeting either. Why don't we postpone it to tomorrow afternoon at the same time?
Sounds great. See you tomorrow.
Angela! Angela, look up! See that lady over there who's trying on a red leather jacket? Isn't that Samantha?
What? No wonder she told me she couldn't make it to the meeting. Oh no, I think she saw me!
So Erika, have you ever canceled an appointment like this under false pretenses?
So, for for fake reasons?
For a fake reason. To go shopping?
Um, well I may not have, you know, told my boss so I can't make it to a meeting because this thing came up and then I really was going shopping. I've never done that, but how about you, Marco?
Well, you know in Ecuador soccer's a really big thing.
Right.
So, um, when we were playing in the World Cup, Ecuador was playing and...
Not you, but...
Well, no, like the Ecuadorian soccer team. I canceled an appointment because I was going to go watch the game.
Really, a business appointment?
A business appointment.
Well, I guess that's okay.
Yeah, I mean, it was like the first time we were ever in the World Cup and, you know, my boss didn't really put up much of a fight because I guess he also wanted to go watch the game.
So very similar to the events in this dialogue.
Very similar. I guess that's kind of the inspiration behind it.
All right guys, I hope you found some of these phrases helpful and useful.
And remember if you have any questions about anything you heard in today's lesson, please visit our website at EnglishPod.com.
Right. There you'll be able to find more resources and also a large community to interact with.
Yes, including me and Marco.
So we'll see you there, until then, it's bye bye.
Bye.
Summary
The audio provides an English vocabulary lesson, featuring a male speaker introducing meanings and a female speaker providing corresponding vocabulary words. The lesson progresses to include example sentences for the vocabulary words, with a focus on practical phrases related to scheduling, problems, and attendance.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
The English Pad audio review.
Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.
What is the matter?
What's up?
Schedule something for a different time.
Reschedule.
Cause problem or trouble.
Inconvenience.
Occur in an unexpected way.
Come up.
Decide to do something at a later time.
Postpone.
Not surprisingly.
No wonder.
Let's try that faster.
Cause problem or trouble.
Inconvenience.
Not surprisingly.
No wonder.
Cause problem or trouble.
Inconvenience.
What is the matter?
What's up?
Not surprisingly.
No wonder.
Schedule something for a different time.
Reschedule.
Cause problem or trouble.
Inconvenience.
Schedule something for a different time.
Reschedule.
Cause problem or trouble.
Inconvenience.
Schedule something for a different time.
Reschedule.
Decide to do something at a later time.
Postpone.
Schedule something for a different time.
Reschedule.
Not surprisingly.
No wonder.
Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.
Reschedule.
I'm not feeling well. Could you reschedule my meeting with John to tomorrow afternoon?
Inconvenience.
I don't want to inconvenience you, so I'll pick up the flowers on my way home.
Postpone.
Since Robert is late again, we have to postpone the meeting.
Make it.
I'm sorry, I can't make it to the meeting today. I'm very sick.
No wonder.
Rebecca has lived in the States for five years. No wonder she speaks English so fluently.
Come up.
I'm sorry that I'm late. This thing came up at work and I had to stay and take care of it.
Postpone.
Since Robert is late again, we have to postpone the meeting.
Make it.
I'm sorry, I can't make it to the meeting today. I'm very sick.