Episode 0322

Hello everyone and welcome to English Pod. My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and you've probably heard us talking a little bit about small talk the past few weeks. We have another episode about small talk and we're gonna teach you some things that you can say to people when you haven't seen them or maybe even met them before.

That's right. Today we're gonna talk to a stranger, so we're gonna talk very briefly about some casual topic. Uh and so let's jump into the dialogue and see what happens.

Excuse me, is this seat taken?

No, please, feel free.

Thanks a lot.

Do you work in Shanghai?

Yes, I do. How about you?

Where are you from?

Um, well, let's see. I'm from Kansas originally, a much quieter and more peaceful place than here. That's for sure.

Uh-huh.

But I'm living in Paris right now.

All right, we're back, so now we're gonna take a look at a lot of phrases on this occasion. So let's go for Fluency Builder part one.

All right, so the first phrase we have is a very common phrase if you're in a train or on a bus. You hear the phrase, is this seat taken?

Right. So Michelle came up to the stranger and said, excuse me, is this seat taken?

That means is anybody sitting here? It basically means can I sit here? But this is a very polite way of asking uh if you can sit down in the seat. You can also say it in a restaurant, in a movie theater, in a classroom, so remember this one. This was a really, really common phrase.

So it's a very polite way of saying can I sit down, right?

That's right. You're asking for permission basically. Is this seat taken?

Because what if a person says well, no, it's not. Do you have to say may I sit down, may I take a seat?

Well, if they say I'm sorry someone is sitting here, that means that maybe they're waiting for a friend and then no, you can't sit there. But if they say, sure, like in the dialogue, feel free, then you're really basically able to sit down, no problem.

Right. So the stranger answers by saying, no, please feel free. So he says, no, the seat is not taken, please feel free. What does he say, what does he mean by this?

Okay, feel free is a very unusual phrase in English, but one that you're gonna hear a lot. Uh it basically means do what you want to do.

Okay.

Okay, so if I want to sit down, I say is this seat taken? If you say feel free, Marco, that means feel free to sit down.

Okay, so we can complete the sentence by saying, no, please feel free to sit down, but it's kind of stating the obvious. You're saying basically feel free to do what you want.

That's right, but you could use it in other ways. For example, hey, Marco, are you using this pen right here?

No, no, feel free.

That means feel free to use my pen.

Okay, very good. And uh, so then they started talking about what they do, where they work. And uh Michelle said, yes, I work in Shanghai. How about you?

Oh, how about you? Now this is a really important uh construction. This is a really important phrase in English, and I think a lot of people make mistakes with this. So how about you means um do you work in Shanghai? I just said I work in Shanghai, but how about you? Do you?

Right, exactly. So that's saying and you, do you work here or and you, what do you do? How about you? Now, the common mistake with how about you or using the the construction how about is that uh for some reason some people seem to think that it means how is it? So for example, if someone says, how about your weekend? That's wrong.

No, we don't say that. How was your weekend? But uh in this case, how about you always follows a statement. Okay? So yes, I do live in Shanghai. How about you? That means do you live in Shanghai?

Right.

Or I say, I would like to eat a hamburger and french fries, how about you?

How about you? What would you like to eat? Exactly. So remember that's the way that you use how about. Never say how about your weekend or how about your vacation and you're want to ask how was it. Don't say that.

No, basically this is a way to reply to someone when they're telling you about their experience, you want to talk about yours.

That's right. Okay, so let's take a break. Let's uh review everything and we'll be back with Fluency Builder part two.

Excuse me, is this seat taken?

No, please, feel free.

Thanks a lot.

Do you work in Shanghai?

Yes, I do. How about you?

Where are you from?

Um, well, let's see. I'm from Kansas originally, a much quieter and more peaceful place than here. That's for sure.

Uh-huh.

But I'm living in Paris right now.

All right, so now let's continue with some more phrases on Fluency Builder.

Okay, this first phrase is one that I really like to use. The phrase is from Michelle. She says, you can say that again. But she's talking about how Shanghai is so big and so exciting. And Michelle says, you can say that again. Now what does this mean, Marco?

That's right. So she is basically agreeing with the person. The stranger says, Shanghai is amazing, it's great, there's so much to see. Michelle says, you can say that again. It's saying, I agree with you, you are so right.

That's right. So if you go to the movies and you say, oh that movie was terrible, you can say,

You can say that again.

Exactly.

That means, oh I agree, it was really bad.

That's right. Now, when Michelle asked the stranger where he was from, he says, I'm from Kansas originally.

Okay, what's originally? I'm original? No. Um, I'm from Kansas originally means maybe I don't live in Kansas now, but that's where I come from. Origin originally, that means, you know, at the beginning.

Right. So just remember Kansas, by the way, is one of the states in the in the United States. And so he's saying he's from Kansas, but now he lives in Paris. So that's why you say, I'm originally from Kansas, but I live in Paris.

All right, so Marco, you live here in Shanghai, but where do you come from originally?

Originally, I'm from Ecuador.

All right. And I'm originally from Chicago, but I currently live in China.

That's right. Okay, so uh as he was talking about Kansas, he also said that, well, it's obviously uh a lot quieter and more peaceful, and then he ends his statement by saying, that's for sure.

That's for sure. And this is a phrase that we use to add emphasis on something. Um, it's almost like saying, uh this is a really quiet, much quieter and peaceful place, that's for sure. It really is. It's it's not like you're adding anything to the statement like no meaning, but you're you're actually kind of making it more strong.

Right. You're saying it's a fact.

It's a fact.

It's it's really this way. So obviously compared Kansas compared to Shanghai is a lot more quieter, that's for sure.

Uh-huh. Or I could say that, um in Chicago in the winter, it's a lot colder than Shanghai, that's for sure.

Right. So again you're emphasizing on your statement, telling everyone that it's very, very much like this.

This is how it really is.

Okay, so that's all the phrases we have for you. Why don't we listen to our dialogue one last time?

Excuse me, is this seat taken?

No, please, feel free.

Thanks a lot.

Do you work in Shanghai?

Yes, I do. How about you?

Where are you from?

Um, well, let's see. I'm from Kansas originally, a much quieter and more peaceful place than here. That's for sure.

Uh-huh.

But I'm living in Paris right now.

All right, so small talk with a stranger. This is actually a very common scenario. Uh if in a bus, in a train, you sit next to a stranger, this is more or less what you're gonna talk about: where are you from, what do you do, where do you live?

That's right, and you don't even have to talk about this with a total stranger. You could actually use this with someone that you're working with or um, you know, just an acquaintance. So basically these are key questions that you would ask someone that you don't really know very well.

That's right. And as you can see, you're not really going into any deep personal questions. It's very uh light uh conversation, very brief as well.

That's right. And I would like to add that in American culture, people often think it's very rude to ask someone how much do you earn, um how much is your apartment, how much is your car? So, you know, in small talk in American culture, and I think a lot of Western cultures, um we don't talk about money or religion.

Yes, yes.

So what religion are you? So I think it's important to to talk about things that are very uh very simple, you know, what do you do for a living, where do you live, what how is the weather, these things.

Yes, yes. This is exactly, I think one of the main points that when you're learning a language such as English, not only to understand the language, but also the culture. It's very, very different, especially for example, in Asian cultures where it's no big deal if uh you go to the hairdresser and the hairdresser asks you how much you earn. But in the United States or many Western countries, it's not something that you talk about your salary or that you really ask. It's kind of personal information.

It is. And if you talk about it, you might make people very uncomfortable. So I recommend talking about some of the things that we've discussed here and some of the things that we've discussed in other lessons in this series about small talk.

That's right. And if you have any questions or any comments about this lesson, you can come and visit us at Englishpod.com.

We hope to see you guys there until next time. Bye.

Bye.

The English audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

A person who is traveling.

Tourist.

Causing wonder or astonishment.

Amazing.

High-tech.

Modern.

Originally.

Originally.

Calm or tranquil.

Peaceful.

To form a mental image of.

Imagine.

Excite.

Exciting.

Let's try that faster.

To form a mental image of.

Imagine.

Excite.

Exciting.

High-tech.

Modern.

Originally.

Originally.

A person who is traveling.

Tourist.

Causing wonder or astonishment.

Amazing.

Calm or tranquil.

Peaceful.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Peaceful.

Peaceful.

Peaceful.

When my son goes to university, I'm sure this house will be peaceful.

Modern.

This building is very modern. There is even a wave pool.

Modern.

Japan is a very modern city. I wish my country was like that.

Modern.

I don't like modern architecture. It feels very cold and unwelcoming.

Tourist.

I've lived here for ages, but I still feel like a tourist.

Tourist.

I think having a map and being curious is what a tourist needs.

Tourist.

Tourist groups are so annoying. They never see the real side of a country.

Originally.

Originally, we were going to go to America, but instead we went to Jamaica.

Originally.

Originally.

I originally liked PlayStation, but now I play Nintendo.

Imagine.

I imagine that other people think I'm fat.

Imagine.

Can you imagine a world with no war?

Imagine.

Who could have imagined that Obama would become president?