First of all, watch the video through, so that you can get the gist of what the conversation is about.
Now watch the video more carefully, and pay attention to the following characteristics of spoken English the four teachers use:
- Use of so as a linking word in conversation.
- Use of fillers to gain thinking time: erm; er; well; You know
- Use of vague language: kind of; and all this; and stuff; sort of; like; and these kinds of things
- Involving listeners in the conversation: What, what seems to work for you guys or friends that you know?; What about you?
- Use of I mean to paraphrase what we have just said and make ourselves clear.
- Use of like as a linking word.
- Signalling the speaker that you are paying attention to what he/she is saying: Mm-hm; Oh, OK; Oh, no; Wow…wow
- Use of just to emphasize the verb.
- Showing agreement: Yeah; I agree with what you said about
- Use of auxiliary do in an affirmative sentence to emphasize the information: I do give myself
- Use of actually to introduce a piece of surprising or unexpected information: I actually need motivation
- Use of actually to emphasize what you are saying: distracts you from what you’re actually doing
- Use of actually for admitting something: I don’t know what they said actually
- Use of really to emphasize the adjective.
- Showing surprise: Really?
Now it's over to you. If possible, get together with a family or relative and discuss your attitude to physical exercise and fitness. How regularly do you do sport these days? And in the past? Are you a fit person? What everyday activities may help you to be fit? Have you ever done a job which involved physical exercise? To what extent do the people around you motivate you or deter you from doing sport? Don't forget to use some of the features of spoken English we have revised in this lesson.
Thomas: So, it seems to be a problem with a lot of people, erm, motivating, getting the motivation up to do exercise, to do sports. I read this article, where, that… er, related a study, erm, when you live with people who are athletic and fit, the motivation is almost inherent, and you kind of… gravitate toward that model. And the same is true in the opposite direction. If you live with people who are very lazy and just watch TV and all this, you just kind of become a lot more lax about your own fitness level. What, what seems to work for you guys or friends that you know?
Vicky: For me, it’s a lifestyle thing. I mean, like, I used to be very, very fit, but my job involved… well, my job involved diving, so I was carrying heavy equipment, I was swimming for hours every day. So, it was a very, very easy thing to integrate into my life.
Thomas: Mm-hm.
Vicky: Whereas now, I, I don’t know, I just feel like it’s difficult to find the time. It’s difficult to make the time to do things.
Louise: Yeah.
Sophia: Yeah.
Vicky: Luckily there’s a gym next-door to my house, so I’ve just joined that. But the only reason I’ve joined that gym, it’s a horrible gym, but… it’s there. It’s two minutes away.
Louise: Yeah, convenient.
Sophia: Yeah. Yeah.
Vicky: You know? It’s so convenient. I think…
Louise: I find I have to trick myself into exercising by making it part of my transport, er, routine. So if I know I have to be at work, I’ll walk or I’ll ride a bus.
Thomas: Oh, OK.
Louise: So that way it’s both practical and exercise at the same time.
Thomas: I was going to imagine you running down the street in trainers and stuff.
Louise: Oh, no.
Vicky: Yeah, do you leave deliberately five minutes later so you have to rush in the streets?
Louise: Mm, I do, I do give myself a short, a short period, it, it’s a very fast walk.
Vicky: Power walk, ha ha.
Louise: Yeah, it’s a power walk. Ha ha.
Thomas: OK. What about you?
Sophia: Yeah, I actually need motivation I don’t, I don’t do any exercise. My only exercise is commuting. But like, but like you, I, er, I walk fast. It’s a brisk walk, so sort of exercise. Not, not quite jogging but brisk walking.
Louise: Yeah.
Vicky: But they say brisk walking, I think, I think I read something the other day that if jogging burns off some, like, eight hundred calories per mile, per mile, per hour, I don’t know what they said actually. The equivalent if you’re walking briskly, you still burn off four hundred or six hundred calories.
Louise: It, it’s still good for you, especially if you’re going up and down hills and these kinds of things, stairs are good. So it’s OK. But what I…
Vicky: That’s another thing.
Louise: I agree with what you said about, erm, about having partners in crime. You know, you need, you need to have, er, the motivation of people around you wanting to do the same thing. I think it’s really important.
Thomas: [Yeah, yeah.] And it almost distracts you from what you’re actually doing. I remember the first time I ever went on a long run, I had no idea that I could do it and I could because the guy I was with didn’t shut up the whole time.
Louise: Ha ha ha.
Vicky: Really?
Thomas: So, for about three miles he talked incessantly and I didn’t even realize what we were doing.
Vicky: Wow…wow.
Louise: Yeah, it’s good. I think team sports are good, too.
Thomas: Oh yeah.
Louise: A good, good fast game of netball, it’s good exercise, and it’s fun.
Vicky: That’s it, when it’s fun and there’s adrenaline, it’s a lot more motivating than when it’s all on your own, off you own back.
Louise: Yeah, yeah.
Thomas: So I think we’ve come up with the perfect formula: it’s either partners in crime or get a job that requires you to be fit.
Louise: Yeah, ha ha ha.
Vicky: Ha ha.
