Episode 0307

Hello everyone and welcome to EnglishPod. My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and today we're talking about a very, very important part of conversations in English.

That's right, today we are introducing a new series all about small talk.

Okay, what is small talk, Marco?

Well, small talk is just everyday conversation about maybe the weather, about how how how you are, what's new in your life, etc. It's just plain conversation.

So something very simple and usually pretty quick. It's what you say to people when you bump into them or when you see them at a party.

So let's take a listen to today's dialogue and find out just what kind of small talk we have.

Hey Michelle, this is my friend James. He's visiting Shanghai from New York.

So, are you visiting for business or pleasure?

Well, actually a little of both. I'm meeting some business contacts, but I'm also taking some Mandarin classes too.

It sure is. Are you staying for long?

All right, we're back. So now let's take a look at a lot of great phrases that we've picked out for you this time on Fluency Builder.

Fluency Builder.

All right. So you've got two fluency builders today. So we're going to be exploring a lot of different phrases. We've got three now. The first one is very, very common. You you hear this phrase, 'Nice to meet you.'

Right. So obviously, if you meet someone new, you're introduced by your friend or something, you can just say, 'Hi, nice to meet you.'

All right. So, 'nice to meet you.' 'Nice to meet you too.' That's what we say afterwards because it sounds very funny if you say it two times. So...

Right. Hi, it's nice to meet you. Oh, it's nice to meet you too.

Right, exactly. So she went on this girl Michelle to ask if he is visiting Shanghai for business or pleasure.

Right, this is an important difference, something that we often talk about in small talk. Uh, you can travel for business, that means business trips, or you can travel to see different sights and have fun, that's called pleasure. And so we often hear this phrase, 'business or pleasure.'

Right. So if someone comes to your country, you say, 'Oh, uh, so are you here for business or pleasure?'

Oh, I'm here on business or I'm here to see the sights.

Okay, very good.

And uh, so James is actually in Shanghai doing both things. He's on a business trip, but he's also taking Mandarin classes. And so Michelle went on to say, 'That's great. How's it going?'

All right, you're going to hear this all the time in English. We say 'How's it going' to our friends and family. Uh, I wouldn't say it in a formal occasion with my boss or with my teacher, but it's very casual, very informal and it's a way to ask how things are.

Right.

Um, so you're taking classes? How's it going?

Mhm. Exactly.

So this basically means 'How are the classes going? How is everything?'

Right. Or you can say, 'Oh, Marco, I haven't seen you in a while. How is it going?'

Uh-huh. And that's another way of saying hi to someone or saying, 'How are you?'

How are you? How have you been recently?

So there are two differences in that phrase there. In this case, Michelle is asking how the Mandarin classes are going. How is it? Is it good? Is it bad? Is it difficult? Is it, uh, is it easy, etc. But if you say to someone, 'Hi, I haven't seen you for such a long time. How's it going?' That's more of a 'How are you?' type thing.

That's like, 'How's your life going?'

Exactly.

So just think about what the what what you're talking about. Are you talking about general situations like your personal a person's life? Or are you talking about maybe lessons or class or a job?

That's right. Okay, so we're going to take a break here. Let's listen to the dialogue again and we'll be back in a little bit with more phrases.

Hey Michelle, this is my friend James. He's visiting Shanghai from New York.

So, are you visiting for business or pleasure?

Well, actually a little of both. I'm meeting some business contacts, but I'm also taking some Mandarin classes too.

It sure is. Are you staying for long?

All right, we're back. So now let's take a look at Fluency Builder part two.

So Michelle at the end of today's dialogue says, 'If you need someone to show you the sights, then just call me.'

All right, so to show someone the sights. We talked about this a little bit earlier with that word pleasure. What does it mean to show someone the sights, Marco?

So basically the sights, we're talking about the different attractions of a city or place. So the museums, maybe, um, different buildings or different attractions in general. What is there to sightsee?

Okay, so we are in Paris, Marco, and I say, 'Hey, I'd love to show you the sights.' What do you expect to see?

So maybe we would go to the Eiffel Tower, maybe we would go to...

Notre Dame Cathedral.

Exactly. So we would go see all these different sights. And to show and and that would mean that you are showing me the sights. You are taking me to see all these sights.

Okay.

Okay. And she is also having a little get-together at her apartment, at her new apartment. So what is a little get-together? This is a noun.

This is a get-together. So think about this. two different words actually get together, but it's it's a noun, it's a thing. Uh, it's like a party, but it's a small party.

Right. A little get-together.

So I just I like to think of a get-together as something very casual, something very small, sometimes intimate, uh where you just have three or four, five friends. And uh it's it's yeah, it's not as big as a party where everyone's dancing and...

Okay. So a little get-together is just a a small group of people. You invite them over to your house, very relaxed, very casual. It's not really a party, it's more of a a reunion of friends.

And like we said, it's a noun, so you say, 'I'm having a get-together, you should come.'

Uh-huh. Okay. And uh she actually asks him to come, but she says it in a different way. She says, 'If you want to drop by.'

Okay, this is something people often say in small talk because you don't want to say, uh, 'You should come stay for a while,' because that that's, I don't know, they just met. Yeah, so you you should drop by means you should come and see and decide if you want to stay.

Mhm. So basically, it's also kind of a relaxed way of saying, 'You can come whenever you want' during the during our party or get-together.

So if the get-together is 9:00 p.m. to midnight, you can drop by whenever, 10:00, 11:00. So to drop by is to come for a short period.

So if we're talking on the phone and I say, 'I'll drop by your house later on today,' that means I'm going to go to your house very quickly at an unexpected time.

Yeah, or you could use it in a question, you know, 'Marco, I really wanted to borrow that DVD. When can I drop by to pick it up?'

Okay, very, very good. Now let's take a look at our last phrase. Uh, Michelle and James decided that they uh want to keep in touch. And so he said, 'Let me take down your number.'

Okay, so we're not talking about uh taking it anywhere, taking a number anywhere and going somewhere. We're talking about writing something down. So in this case, your number is your phone number.

Mhm.

Okay, 'Let me take down your number' means 'Let me write down your telephone number.'

Uh-huh. Okay, so it's another way of saying, 'Let me write down your telephone number.' Take down my phone number, call me later.

That's right. So, can can I take down your number so I can call you later?

Okay.

Okay. That's another way of asking this question.

Very good. All right, so that concludes Fluency Builder. Let's listen to our dialogue one last time and we'll be back in a bit.

Hey Michelle, this is my friend James. He's visiting Shanghai from New York.

So, are you visiting for business or pleasure?

Well, actually a little of both. I'm meeting some business contacts, but I'm also taking some Mandarin classes too.

It sure is. Are you staying for long?

Okay, so this is part one of our small talk series. We're going to have 10 episodes. And in each episode, we're going to be faced with a little different situation and a circumstance where we will be forced to have a very quick chat with someone.

That's right. And so you're often going to find yourself in these situations if you're traveling to an English-speaking country or you're living or working in America for example. And so it's really important because I think often times you don't learn this in class. This is something that you have to really learn when you're in the country or learn with us here at EnglishPod.

That's right. It's a little bit of social skills for uh for these awkward or maybe new situations.

Exactly.

All right. So if you guys have any other questions or doubts, you can find us at englishpod.com and we'll see everyone there.

The English part audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Go to some place in a formal way.

Visit.

Lesson.

Class.

Something seen or worth seeing.

Sight.

Spend time together.

Get together.

Feeling of happiness.

Pleasure.

An informal visit.

Drop by.

Let's try that faster.

Something seen or worth seeing.

Sight.

An informal visit.

Drop by.

Go to some place in a formal way.

Visit.

Spend time together.

Get together.

Lesson.

Class.

Feeling of happiness.

Pleasure.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Drop by.

Maybe I'll drop by after work and we can have a beer or two.

Drop by.

Drop by.

Drop by later today and we can watch a movie or two.

Get together.

Get together.

We should all have a get together by the river.

Get together.

My old football team is having a get together at the local bar.

Sight.

You have to see the sites of New York before you leave.

Sight.

That statue is the main site of the city.

Sight.

The main sites of this country are always full of tourists.

Pleasure.

Pleasure.

Pleasure.