Everyday conversations

Practice everyday conversations with these short lessons from ShareAmerica, a site managed by the Bureau of International Information Programs within the U.S. Department of State.

Everyday conversations offers sixty lessons plus through around everyday situations (making suggestions, greetings, invitations, advice, expressing opinions) and topics (the environment, recycling, hobbies).

The lessons all follow the same format: Learners listen to a short dialogue (from one to three minutes) the transcript of which is available. Some of the vocabulary items and phrases in the dialogue are highlighted because an explanation of their meaning and use is given.

Everyday conversations is a wonderful site for students at elementary and early intermediate level, although stronger students will also benefit from some of the vocabulary and idiomatic expressions that come up in the conversations.

 

Madrid Teacher: The best way to teach English

After 87 weeks publishing Madrid Teacher videos on a weekly basis, the series comes to an end. There are not more videos available as far as I know, so this is it for Madrid Teacher.

I have meant to leave the video on English learning until the very end, so after so many weeks keeping us company, here's the last piece of advice from these teachers. We'll miss you, guys.



What do you reckon the best way to learn a language… what do you think the… best thing you can do to learn a language is?
I think the… the main thing is students have to study. They have to dedicate some time to go into a class, or having a teacher or something and, besides that, just study. Two or three hours a week.
Yeah, there’s definitely a relationship between the amount of time you put in, and what you learn.
To be honest, I disagree. I think that the most important approach is, of course, the amount of time you put in, but I would say that studying… would be less effective than beginning initially with the language as it is naturally used. Listen to it as frequently as you can and speak it.
Well that’s what I mean. I mean, if you’re listening to it, you’re studying it. I mean…
Not necessarily.
...if you’re watching movies, watching TV series…
Yeah, I’m talking about films and music.
...listening to podcasts; I mean, you could be doing all that sort of thing.
I agree.
But, it’s a mass of noise to begin with.
Yeah, but…yeah. I mean, there’s two types of listening you can do. I… From my opinion listening is the most important thing, but there’s two types. Listening to stuff at your level… or slightly above or slightly below, which is good for, you know, understanding… and general listening like what you were talking about.
Listening to natural English, normal English. I think that’s good because it gets you… gives you an ear for the language. And it’s…
Yeah I think it’s kind of a roundabout way to go through things if you… for instance with English, if you start listening to “what is” for a long time so you understand it, and then all of a sudden you start hearing “what’s”. I mean, you could… one might say that you’ve wasted your time looking about… looking… listening to “what is”.
Yeah.
With natural English, you’re right it’s a mass of noise, but it begins to sort itself out, especially if you’re supplementing with vocabulary and reading.
Right. And you have to vocabulary, and grammar, and other things.
The best way to learn vocabulary is reading.
It’s not just one thing.
No, of course.
It’s a lot of different things.
Well I think… people tend to think grammar is a lot more important than it is. I think you can strip grammar down to its basics, it’s… there’s a few structures that are useful and if you learn them you can generate more language, but I don’t think you should be overly obsessed with grammar.
I think they need to be more obsessed with vocabulary. They need to…
Yeah. Without words you can’t say anything.
Right. And that’s…
Basic verbs, expressions, and vocabulary. That’s another interesting point, you know, I think you need to learn vocab. in… in… in expressions, rather than just individual isolated words.
Right, in chunks.
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, there are obviously some words, you know, like “pen, paper”, that you can learn individually, but, most vocabulary is more useful if you learn it as an expression, you know, er, “have a bath”, “have a shower”, “have a drink”…
Yeah.
Rather than just, “drink”.
That’s when you’ll be able to communicate and express yourself.
Yeah.
Yeah, but the…but the main point here is with vocabulary. They need to spend some time memorizing it.
Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
And… students tend not to do this. I mean, they’ll spend more time with the grammar than with the vocabulary, at least here in Spain.
There are some… there are some words and expressions that you have to make a conscious effort to learn. But I… I’ve found that, with French and Spanish there are some words that I’ve found easy to remember. I don’t know why. But there are other words where you have to… you have to find a way to remember them. I used to draw pictures and things like that.
Yeah, there’s got to be something, some kind of drawn out repetition. If it… if it’s writing it down and referring to it every once and a while on an index card or a notebook, if it’s pictures like you say… You know, rarely you get this groundbreaking experience where you can associate a memory to a word. More often it’s the mundane… studying.
You’ve got to study, yeah.

Madrid Teacher: What's your favourite cocktail

A group of Madrid Teachers discuss cocktails and how to make them, which gives us a chance of going over the strategies native speakers use in oral communication.



What's your favorite cocktail and you’ve got a favorite cocktail?
To be honest it really depends on the situation and for me it comes down to what kind of liquor am I trying to drink, white or brown and if it's white I have to go a gin martini dry unless it’s bad gin then I’ll go to dirty, but if it is Brown it’s gonna be a Manhattan.
A Manhattan and so what's a Manhattan?
They call it the king of cocktails. It’s… nowadays bourbon although I think it started as wry and a little bit a red vermouth and so angostura bitters, a dashing too.
I'm not a big fan of cocktails but I generally have a screwdriver, you know, vodka and orange
It’s a refreshing drink!
Yeah! I actually looked it up on the Internet the other day, I was actually finding out about the origins of the screwdrivers. Engineers in the States they used to have orange juice in their break, their work breaks, and then they used to put in a bit of Vodka, engineers in their breaks seemed to have vodka, orange juice in their breaks and then they used to put in a bit of vodka and then they would stir it with their screwdrivers.
Oh, there’s the name!
Screwdriver, yeah.
Thanks man I’m going to remember that.
Next time you ask for a screwdriver ask for a real screwdriver too so that you can stir your drink.
What about you, Duncan?
I don’t know… and they've all got such funny names these cocktails. My favourite is probably a Bloody Mary.
Ah, that’s great in the morning.
Yeah, it’s a great one in the morning.
Do you have yours with Tabasco or Worcestershire sauce?
A little bit of tabasco, a little bit of Worcestershire sauce, tomato juice I do something, a stick a celery to stir it around.
Of course.
That’s a classic.
There’s just so many wonderful drinks with a… with gin, I mean, the Tom Collins is it a wonderful refreshing drink…
And it's quite funny that there’s different versions of the Tom Collins.
Yeah, of course.
… like the Juan Collins is like the same thing but with tequila instead of gin, I think that’s funny too.
Tequila is fantastic too.
And then the American Collins. They put fruit in it.
Fruit, and they keep the gin…?
That’s with gin but they add the fruit.
Okay, the American Collins and then the…
Never heard of that.
… sort of quite funny. And the John Collins is with bourbon.
Ah, okay.
I’d like to give that a try.
What’s the difference between a bourbon and a whiskey?
I was just about to ask that. I’m sure our American friends here will be able to tell us the difference.
I I know that there's something having to do with the, the distillation process but really the difference that you notice in the glass is the bourbon is a lot smokier because they use the American oak barrels to age it.
Okay.
And American oak is a burned oak rather than the French oak which is a lot smoother and older, so it
imparts a really different…
Because it’s got a very different taste.
Yes, they do, they are certainly worth.
Interesting.
Interesting.
So you’ve got a favorite cocktail?
Well the only the only thing I drink is a little bit of Bailey's with my coffee.
I do like Bailey’s. Bailey’s is good. Have you ever had an Irish coffee?
No, I haven’t had hardly anything…
Oh, you’ve got to try real Irish coffee.
…it’s all over my head.
The best Irish coffee I’ve ever had was sitting outside, it was in December, it was in a plaza, in a square… really, really cold day in the morning having an Irish coffee that was the best Irish coffee I’ve ever had.
Where were you?
In Segovia
The best Irish coffee you’ve ever had was in Segovia?
A bit strange, yeah. It was more the setting being outside and it was really cold, it was just like sitting outside in the bar, wrapped up and then drinking this Irish coffee. So it set me up for the whole day. It gives you that nice warm inner glow plus the coffee gives you a boost.
…coffee house this Irish coffee has in it?
It’s got whiskey.
Whiskey.
And this special and then cream I think there’s a special way of pouring the cream that is when you pour…
I used to work in a in a café, so I have actually made Irish coffee
Oh, tell us how to make Irish coffee!
So, yeah you will start with the whiskey at the bottom of the glass, add the coffee…
Yeah.
…and then the trick: if you get the cream in an empty plastic bottle, for example, shake it first so it’s slightly thicker and then pour it over the back of the spoon and it floats on the top, and that’s how you get the black coffee with the white flan on the top. Just shake it and....
I’m telling you it’s a killer drink.
And does the whiskey stay at the bottom, does it?
No, no, the whiskey mixes in.
It mixes in.
More shitty
I just saw, I just saw a photo the other day of Irish coffee and looked like the whiskey was at the bottom, the coffee was in the middle and the cream on the top.
Really?
Well maybe you don’t stir it, I’m not sure.

Madrid Teacher: Wacky Fashion Debates

A group of Madrid Teachers discuss fashion.



Have you seen the latest Paris fashion show photographs?
Yeah! I thought they were fabulous.
Didn’t you? Weren’t they wonderful?
Yeah, they were great.
These beautiful textures with flowing wool sweaters and scarves, I mean, these people were wrapped up almost like blankets but still managed to look elegant.
What did you think?
I… what is the point of these fashion shows, you know, come on they have these most ridiculous clothes, things that no one's ever gonna wear. What's the point of it, who are they making them for?
I think these people are like dressing up like peacocks to attract the opposite sex, you know, there is lots there…it’s the.
Okay. These fashion shows are all about spectacle and all about art, it’s all about fantasy.
Right.
I don't think the designers do it because they’re suggesting we wear those things, but it’s, it’s something to aspire you.
But they are in business, right, They’re selling…
They do, they sell the clothes, I mean, I think they actually make some of those things and people buy them. I mean, who buys them? This like I heard about human hair dresses and gold-plated jeans, iron clothes…
Gas masks!
Well, these, these are the extremes of the spectrum, I mean, what the great companies do, the ones that are able to maintain their businesses, they achieve a unified aesthetic and use the catwalk for their extremes and then filter those textures and patterns and ideas down to what they actually sell on the racks.
Yeah, and so their ready-to-wear collections are much more accessible for people, not so expensive, and a bit more tame.
Something that won’t start a car accident.
Yeah.
And who actually wears this and where do they wear this?
I would imagine that a lot of people wear it and when they want to see and be seen.
Okay, some of those parties and things like that, night life.
Parties, the streets…
Some of these wacky fashions do, you know, you do see some people wearing them like that mankini thing that Borat wore in his film.
I can’t say I’ve ever seen one of those.
No, but I’ve seen him on television, I saw there was a report, you know, beach wear in, I don’t know, maybe it was Rio or somewhere… and there was some people wearing those things, yeah.
But I don’t think they are Channel or anything like that.
No, but I think there was one fashion house that had taken on the mankini and developed it to be sold, you know, some of these fashion do get worn by people, I guess people wanna get attention and draw attention to themselves, that type of person, I suppose. But then the fashion world has got the whole, the whole thing of models and the whole controversy around, you know, thin models and things like that.
I think the ultimate of fashion is a Ferrari. You’ve got to have… you’ve got to wear a Ferrari…
That’s got nothing to do with fashion!
I think it is fashion, it’s the whole peacock effect, [it’s a man’s man] it’s dressing up, yeah. You’re really dressed to kill with a Ferrari.
Yeah, but…
See, you’re stumbling upon something here, it’s the idea of a unified aesthetic. It’s not just some funky hat or something like that. It’s a colour or a pattern that is repeated and then maybe that goes along with the car that you drive and then…
Right.
… your key fob repeats it too.
Right.
I mean, that’s the idea of fashion. You make a style that almost surrounds you…
Yes.
… and people look and go damn!!.
Yeah, yeah.
It’s all about personal expression, actually, expressing your identity and who you want to be [Absolutely.] and…, but I think the Ferrari is much more pretentious than fashion.
Yeah, yeah.
I wouldn’t mind being pretentious.
That’s right everything else…

Madrid Teacher: Spelling minister

A group of Madrid teachers get together to discuss the problems the English language poses for both non-native and native speakers.



I, I was reading recently that they want to change English exams and actually not give you negative marks for having spelling mistakes because it's not as important as knowing the actual English. It’s good and bad, spelling is quite difficult in English I think a lot of things are spelled quite differently to the way we say them, but it’s really important at the same time.
That's a big change in education because I remember when I was a kid, I mean, the weekly spelling test was a big source of stress and the best speller in the class was kind of a hero, you know, even spelling bees…
Yeah.
They were really smug.
Yeah, very smug. But really this is sort of interesting.
Yeah, yeah well I guess we're in a technology age now so we've got the f7 button to do the spelling grammar checks, so they say well these days you can kind of press that and do that.
One of the problems is that kids when they’re writing like SMS messages, you know, they, they use all these abbreviations and they don't know how to write the real word.
Yeah.
And on top of it most young people don't read so you know they watch movies or whatever and they don’t do enough reading.
Yeah, it’s true.
I find, I mean, I’m not as good as spelling now as I was when I was a kid…
No, neither am I.
… I don’t have, I don’t have the weekly spelling drill…
Yeah, exactly.
… and you know, you grow up, then I don’t know if you learn other languages you start to get confused with the one m in accommodate or two, I’m not sure, because, you know, it’s slightly different.
Yeah, sometimes your visual memory fails you so you write it one way, your writing might be correct
but you think… this is not right.
Hang on a second. That doesn’t look right!
Then you have to ask the students. It’s okay?
Google it, Google it, that’s what I do. I just Google everything.
I think it’s really important that children, everybody continues to spell things properly because even if you look at it from the angle that English is the international language if you like, everyone, if every native person changes the spelling or disregards the spelling, how can anyone else learn a foreign language?
And there will be anarchy.
It’s impossible, totally impossible, you know.
Yeah.
Does anyone know any memory aids with spelling? I remember i before e except c…
Yeah, that’s what I remember.
… except when there’s neighbouring…
They are like little tricks people learn.
The problem with English, though, is so often they have the rules, but the rules aren’t really rules, are just trends [Yeah.], so you have the general rule and then you have a hundred exceptions.
This occurs, yes.

Madrid Teacher: Ridiculous requests

In our weekly Madrid Teacher series, a group of teachers discuss some ridiculous requests people sometimes make.



I read in the newspaper the other day the English asked the postal workers to walk more quickly in order to, to deliver more letters.
That’s ridiculous.
Have you ever heard any ridiculous requests?
Well, when I was a student I worked at this fast food place and they made me wear a chicken suit and stand in front of the fast food place.
To bring customers…
Well, basically to give out flyers with discounts and, yeah, attract more customers.
I’m sure that they did, yeah.
Well, yeah, a was a bit of an attraction, standing there, cold weather, hot weather, warm weather, standing…
Yeah, the same happened to me but I had to be a part of birthday parties at a fast food place so I was with a big suit, enjoying the children, I was like what…
You know what I mean
… how hot is inside.
Last weekend I saw a man in a funny children's outfits skiing, you know, drawing the kids’ attention [Yeah.], it looks like fun.
For a while maybe.
I had to dress up one year as a jester. I was in a catering business and they made us dance down this aisle during one of our events and sing Christmas carols to all the people.
So you were singing?
Singing and dancing in a costume.
I had the same thing.
And what did you do if you didn’t know the words?
You’re supposed to memorize them.
You are.
So it’s part of the job, yeah.
But they were classical novels, carols I mean.
Yeah, yeah, like Jingle Bells and things like that.
That’s all dressing up, though. Have you ever had any other requests?
Well, there was this company and they decided they were cutting back so it’s a big company and so instead of, for example, cutting back on the executives, different important things, they decided they would take out this washing liquid in all of the company…
Did everyone get sick?
You know, that's an excellent question because, of course, after that I just thought it wasn’t a good environment to work in.
That was, that was.
Who knows.
So we are all washed up.
We’re all happy now.

Madrid Teacher: Prohibiting the advertising of alcohol debate

In our weekly Madrid Teacher video four teachers discuss the convenience of prohibiting the advertising of alcohol to lessen the social problems alcohol brings about. Their conversation gives us the opportunity to get familiar with some of the features of spoken English native speakers use.

First of all, watch the conversation through to get the gist, the main idea, of what they are saying.
Now watch the video more carefully paying attention to the following features of spoken English:

• Conversation fillers to gain thinking time: Well, you know;
• Ambiguous language: all sorts of things; food stuff; something like this;
  a social, cultural thing
• Using pretty to emphasize the adjective
• Use of so as a linking word 
• Showing agreement: Well said; Yeah, I think it’s an excellent point; that’s a good point
• Expressing personal opinions: personally; to be honest;  I think
• Use of I mean to paraphrase what you have just said and make yourself clear. 
• Use of certainly to emphasize your ideas 
• Use of just to emphasize the verb 
• Use of actually to introduce a piece of surprising information 
• Reacting to information we've just heard: that’s great, that’s good 

Well, you know, I, personally alcohol is a big problem, particularly in England, you know, people binge drinking, you know, leads to violence and all sorts of things, you know, any British, any town in England on a Friday, Saturday night you’ll find loads of people, you know, getting into fights and…

It’s a problem.

… throwing up on the floor it’s pretty bad, and I think…

So the advertising causes that?

Well, you know, the more advertising there is the more people are gonna drink. Smoking advertising went so why shouldn't alcohol, and alcohol causes, you know, a lot of diseases and probably puts a big burden on, you know, the social security system, national health service…

So does ice cream, doughnuts you gotta do away with those advertisements…

Fast food.

All the fast food stuff.

Well said. But to be honest I can't ever support banning something like this. I mean, to me that just reeks of censorship and I think that, that's where society begins to crumble. People need to be respected for their ability to choose, and I certainly wouldn't blame any kind of binge drinking on advertising. I think the problem’s a lot more deep.

I think with something like alcohol or tobacco it’s different because they’re drugs, aren’t they, well, certainly tobacco was, and alcohol is addictive, you know, if you become an alcoholic you can’t control it, your drinking, so I think anything that reduces that or leads to less drinking is good, and I think, you know, if advertising it is almost like saying it’s a good thing.

Yes. I think the way that alcohol is advertised is a problem because it’s glamourised and it’s aimed towards young people a lot of time, which is what becomes the problem and I guess the wrong, it hits the wrong audience, which becomes a problem.

Yeah, I think it’s an excellent point.

Part of the problem in England is people just don’t know how to drink, I don’t know what it is like in Scotland, but…

I think it’s a social, cultural thing and I’m not sure advertising is going to change that.

Maybe they…

However, Alice’s point about the way it’s targeted and how it’s glamorized , that’s a good point, and I think that maybe could be regulated.

They have to have more of a responsibility, I think.

And simply the fine print at the end, please drink responsibly isn’t going to raise the image in your mind you have of those… the man and the woman meeting miraculously  over a nice drink of cognac.

Yeah. The gorgeous people, and the glamorous setting and… Yeah.

I heard that some companies are actually, drinks companies, are actually producing adverts that encourage responsible drinking. There’s one in England about showing a girl and she had, from her point of view, she had a great evening, but then you saw it from other people’s point of view…

Oh, that’s great, that’s good.

… she was like a real mess…

I’ve seen that.

… making a fool of herself.

Madrid Teacher: Plastic bag debate

Today's Madrid Teacher video has to do with the environment and the use and abuse we make of plastic bags. In my opinion, it's a bit harder than usual, as the conversation doesn't flow as naturally as some other days, as if the teacher taking part in the conversation were a bit unsure about what to say. However, it gives us the chance to pay attention to some features of spoken English.

First, watch the video through to get the gist, the main idea, of what it is about.

Now watch the video more carefully, paying attention to the following:

• Use of really to emphasize the verb.
• Use of just to emphasize the comparison.
• Use of hedging (I think) to tone down our opinion.
• Showing agreement: Yeah; That's true; Of course; There you go!; Yeah, exactly; Absolutely
• Conversation fillers to gain thinking time: You know; like; Well
• Use of vague language: or so
• Rephrasing our ideas to make ourselves clear: I mean
• Use of question tags asking for confirmation and to involve listeners in conversation

… my main thing. What, what are we supposed to do with our rubbish if we haven’t got plastic bags? Now’s the government who want to get rid of the plastic bags.
You can buy bin bags but it is great to have a free alternative.
But bin bags…
We would have the same problem if any of that is true.
The problem is that with so many of these problems there are much better alternatives and what we're really facing is a massive global climatic crisis. We need to look at different alternatives. Bin bags certainly that is one of the biggest issues blocking the phasing out of plastic bags but, of course, that's another system that needs renovation,  it’s trash collection.
I think that now they’ve developed bin bags that are actually biodegradable…
That’s what I'm talking about.
Yeah, so that would be…
But nothing really degrades, nothing degrades in a landfill.
No, that’s true.
So they cover it up.
You know, it’s because of all the plastic in there, insulating everything.
Yeah, everything's completely airtight and…
They say like a plastic bag takes a thousand years to decompose or so.
Yeah. I bet it is longer than that
I mean, it’s a big problem, you know, you get marine life die, you know. They mistake it for squid and fish they eat it and they choke on it.
Well, they can be quite dangerous. I mean, you know, if you leave them lying around animals which could get trapped inside, birds could get trapped too.
They always say those warnings, don’t they, don't put those on your head or something, you know.
Oh yeah, in case of suffocation yes.
And if you want to talk about danger, I mean let's look at where plastic comes from. It’s petroleum-based. How many people are dying right now in wars fought over oil. I mean, the world survived before there were plastic bags and it's just like that cell phones, just like the Internet.
Was it all part of the consumer society, isn’t it, mass consumerism and the plastic bags just go hand in hand, don’t they?
Of course.
They’re part of the distribution system.
Whatever happened to paper bags, I mean… you know.
Thank you.
I don’t know, they cost more to produce, I mean, they still look the same problems, you need, you know, you need to use wood and continue to cut down forest, but yeah, I mean paper bags
Or even grocers use paper bags.
And there’s  recycled paper, you don't have to try to cut down forests.
That’s true.
Newspaper, newspaper has a multitude of uses.
In England, in Britain we used to get our fish and chips in newspaper.
There you go!
Oh yeah!
And then they banned it because apparently there’s lead in the ink
Yeah, health and safety, isn’t it, all around, yeah.
So remove the lead from the ink, come back to the newspaper.
Yeah, exactly.
Fish and chips did taste good in newspaper, absolutely.
You know,   I bet it was charming to.
Oh, yeah, you could eat your chips and read…
And read while you are eating.

Madrid Teacher: What Did You Think of The Haunting in Connecticut?

In our weekly Madrid Teacher series two teachers talk about the film The Haunting in Connecticut, which as usual gives us an opportunity to learn about some features of spoken English.

First, watch the video through to get familiar with everything that is being said in the video.

Now watch the video more carefully, paying attention to the following:

• Use of so as a conversation filler.
• Use of you know as a conversation filler.
• Use of actually to introduce some surprising information.
• Asking questions to show that we are interested in the conversation: What did he see?; And they stole a scene from The Shining?
• Showing surprise: Really? Wow!

Now it's over to you. If possible get together with a friend or relative with the same level of English and think about a film that disappointed you. Tell your friends or relative what the film is, what it is about and why you found it disappointing. Try and use some of the features of spoken English we have revised today.

It’s about this kid who has cancer. Right. So, the kid has cancer. The mom wants him to be closer to the hospital. So, they rent a house in Connecticut. And it’s haunted. You know, and then kid starts seeing things. So, he thinks it’s the meds, the medication in other words. And, so he doesn’t know if it is real or not real. So, one day he’s in the hospital, he tells a reverend that is also, you know, being treated for cancer that he is seeing things. And then the reverend says, this is the only good line in the whole movie, I actually thought the movie was going to develop from here, but it didn’t happen that way, Reverend tells him we walk a fine line between the dead and the living. So, we see things that other people can’t see. And, yeah, basically that is the only good thing about the movie. Oh, yeah, and then they stole a line from The Shining.
So, what did he see?
What?
What did he see?
He saw dead people. Because…
Like in Sixth Sense.
Like the Sixth Sense. And supposedly there was a lot of people dead in that house, and they were buried there. And there was, you know, a few dumb people in the back going oh! but there is nothing scary about it, nothing. And then they burnt the house down to liberate the spirits. And, The end.
And they stole a scene from The Shining?
The Shining. Yes, the kid towards the end. Wow! I am surprised that they are not mad and trying to sue them for that. They totally bit off a scene from the Shining.
Really?
Yes, they did. It was just one of those things that you are like oh! And they allow that to happen in Hollywood?
Wow!
Because, Matt, it’s the kid who has the cancer, finds, figures out where all the bodies are in the house. So, in order to liberate them he needs to burn them. So, he takes an ax, just like in the Shining, and just starts chopping away on the wall, you know, axing away, I guess, and then all the bodies crumble down and then he burns them.

Madrid Teacher: Gaffes galore

In our Madrid Teacher series, this week a group of three teachers talk about language mistakes native speakers sometimes make.

First of all, watch the video through so that you get the gist, the main idea of the conversation.

Now watch the video more carefully, pausing where necessary, paying attention to the following features of spoken English:

- So as a conversation filler.
- Use of actually to signal that you are going to say some surprising information.
- Reacting to what the information you hear: On the coin?; How embarrassing!; Do you? What’s your story?; Interesting!; Oh, no.
- Moving away from the topic: Oh, it reminds me
- Involving listeners in the conversation: Have you seen the Bible museum in Amsterdam?
- Use of adverbs to emphasize the information: quite
- Showing agreement: yeah!; Exactly!




Now it's over to you. If possible get together with a friend or relative whose level of English is similar to you and talk about mistakes people or you have made with the use of their own language. Try and use some of the features of spoken English we have mentioned in this post.

So I, I read in the news the other day about in Chile how they produce these coins and then actually spelled the name of the country wrong, wrongly. Instead of Chile, with an ‘l’, they wrote Chii, they put two ies, so it’s completely wrong.
On the coin?
On the coin, and they’ve like produced thousands of them…
How embarrassing!
…but now, so now they’re like collectors’ item, so they’ve obviously stopped printing anymore
Great, they’re something unique.
Yes something unique.
Big mistake.
Maybe they meant to do it on purpose.
I doubt it.
That’s a good way to create money for the country…
Stimulate their economy, yeah!
I don’t know.
I don’t think so, but…
I…
I have a similar story.
Do you? What’s your story?
Mine is a… at the University of Wisconsin, I don’t know when it was, but a long time ago, they printed the diplomas with Wisconsin spelled with ‘son’ at the end incorrectly.
Instead of ‘sin’.
You pay all the money for an education.
And they are… that’s one of the top universities, isn’t it, in the States, yeah, after…
It’s a big-ten university, yeah.
Interesting!
We all make spelling errors sometimes, no?
Yeah.
Well, I‘ve heard about the Bible, one of the early editions of the Bible, they made quite a bit spelling mistakes. Instead of  ‘thou shalt not commit adultery’, they forgot to add the ‘not’ and it was ‘thou shalt commit adultery’.
Oh, no.
Oh, it reminds me. Have you seen the Bible museum in Amsterdam?
No. What’s that?
It’s quite fascinating. It’s, it’s filled with all kinds of different bibles because, of course, everything was hand-written and so, of course, even though it could be inspired or not, there were lots of errors that were committed…
I can imagine, yeah.
… and a lot of the people didn’t read and so, of course, they would only listen what was read to them and so many things were communicated that may not have been correct.
Just makes us realize how lucky we are, no, when, when we write something we can correct it, change it, move the text around…
It’s a lot easier now!
Imagine writing up the whole bible.
Well almost, because I read about, for example, a cookbook, they had a little problem also. It called for instead of salt and ground pepper, it was salt and ground people.
Oh, no! Oh, no!
Cannibals might have been interested in that!
Exactly! A little spicy maybe but you never now.

Madrid Teacher: Chatting about The Shining

In our weekly Madrid Teacher video three teachers talk about the film The Shining, which gives us a great opportunity to get familiar with some of the features of spoken English native speakers use.

First of all, watch the video through to get the gist (the main idea) of the conversation.

Now watch the video again, paying attention to the following characteristics of the language the teachers use:

- Conversation fillers: Well; you know
- Reacting to what someone has just said: What?; echo questions (The Exorcist?)
- Introducing personal opinions: I personally think; for me
- Use of vague language: or anything like that
- Emphasizing what we are saying with adverbs: just; pretty; really
- Paraphrasing what we have just said to make ourselves clear: I mean
- Showing agreement: Yeah; Oh, yes, of course



Now it's over to you. If possible, get together with a friend or relative whose level of English is similar to yours and discuss a film that has made an impact on both of you. If you're the lone ranger sort of student, it would be a good idea that you recorded yourself talking about the film for, let's say, three minutes, and then go over the recording to try and spot any mistakes or any segments in which the words and sounds are not properly articulated.
 
Well, I’ve just read this article about how The Shining got voted as the best horror movie ever.
What?
I personally think it's, well, it’s my favorite horror movie. I can’t watch anything else, it’s gory or anything like that. For me The Shining is just great, it’s just that atmosphere.
I liked it [Yeah.] a lot too, I mean the acting was pretty good.
Yeah, Jack Nicholson he’s great, isn’t he?
Oh, yes, of course, Jack Nicholson is fantastic, and don't get me wrong, it's good, but the best? Such a superlative award for The Shining, with all the other films that are out there? Stephen King writes books for people who are flying or sitting in the park and they turn that into a film adaptation. It’s just one step further from the source. They…
So what, what film would you suggest or…?
The Exorcist.
The Exorcist?
The Exorcist.
That’s pretty good, that was pretty good.
But for me, for me The Shining just creates that atmosphere of tension and fear and it’s not explicit. I don't like these films, you know, that show a lot of blood and cutting of limbs and disgusting things… For me that’s not horror, that’s just disgusting.
Yeah.
That’s certainly catering to a specific audience.
Yeah but The Shining is… it’s the atmosphere it creates, you know, alone in the hotel and in the mountains with snow and… for me… I watch that film and I just feel like I’m really on edge…
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
… whereas another type of horror film with a lot of blood I just, I can’t watch that it’s just a, you know.
I can’t either. It’s disgusting.
I would say of all the films I've seen The Shining is probably the best.

Madrid Teacher: Ethical Eating Debate

In our weekly Madrid Teacher video,  four teachers discuss the concept of ethical eating. This gives us an opportunity to revise some of the features of spoken  English that they use.

First of all, watch the video through to get the gist of the conversation.
Now watch the video more carefully paying attention to the following:

• Conversation fillers to gain thinking time: you know; Well
• Use of so as a linking word
• Use of hedging to introduce our opinions so as not to sound so dogmatic: I think
• Showing agreement: Yeah; Certainly; Exactly
• Use of really to emphasize the adjective

I think, you know, we, if we if you gonna eat meat, you gotta… there's two things first we gotta look after animal welfare… you can’t, we know, we gotta get away from these factory farms with millions of animals crammed into terrible conditions, so from the animal rights point of view I think we gotta improve on that, we've got to have more free range chickens, more free-range pigs and then also it’s… we've got to reduce the amount of meat we eat because it's contributing to global warming, because the meat industry does contribute a lot towards global warming. So I think it's... there’s two things there, and I think we gotta work on both of them.
Yeah. I think Paul McCartney's frontier campaign is a meat-free Monday, trying to encourage everyone not to eat meat on a Monday to reduce just the meat consumption and global warming…
It’s just like I get started with one day, no meat and then hopefully you’ll become a vegetarian in a few years.
It’s a good start!
Certainly this is a good start and they're certainly potential solutions but as Stephen was saying there's some… there are many places in the world where we don't have a choice. People who eat what comes their way and they're lucky to do so, and to just narrow the scope from, from the global hunger issue, if we start enforcing the idea that people only eat these free range chicken and other animals that are extremely expensive, you've got the upper bracket of the economy being able to enjoy these meats and everybody else down below having to eat food that’s awful for them. We need to get some kind of middle-ground and affordable way…
But they’ve shown, they’ve shown meat from, you know, factory farms it's not good and it’s, it’s damaging our health and it’s doing it in a very slow and long-term way, you know, over the long term we’re gonna… it’s not right, there’s a lot of food poisoning…
I think, I can agree that it’s possibly or probably not health food but it’s food, it’s food on the table.
But there are other alternatives to eating meat. There are, you know, there’s vegetarian food, there’s food…
Right, and all that, all those sorts of solutions cost a lot more, and most people today having difficulty making, making ends meet.
Well, a lot of celebrity chefs in the UK shown that you can eat really healthy well sourced-food at a reasonable price [Yeah.], a lot of these, you know, TV dinners and things like it’s quite expensive,
it’s bad food, it’s not good for you.
I think as the western world starts to take a bit more responsibility about these things, the cost of keeping good conditions in the farms will eventually come down and eventually that will be the new way to farm animals.
Exactly.

Pragmatics: a useful life skill

In the last few months, Macmillan English has been publishing a number of resources for teachers of English under the general term ‘MacMillan Life Skills’. Here’s the way the publishers describe the series:

“Life skills (sometimes also referred to as 21st century skills) provide students with the ‘soft skills’ that, along with their educational qualifications, help them stand out as the preferred candidate for educational and employment opportunities. (…) Each month you’ll find great information; including lesson ideas, an infographic or poster and motivational quotes to bring life skills into your lessons."

However, part of the material Macmillan English publishes is also suitable for students, especially those in the intermediate-to-advanced level. I would like to draw your attention to one of the components of the MacMillan Life Skills: pragmatics.

“Learning about pragmatics and how to express yourself successfully is a useful life skill, said Michael Rundell in January [2014] when he introduced the new pragmatics series on Macmillan Dictionary. The series is part of the Macmillan Life Skills campaign, offering free resources for English language students and teachers each month.”

A number of tips have been published so far about pragmatics in English, which are relevant to students of English:

ways of persuading someone to do something

ways of giving advice

ways of using understatement

ways of saying goodbye

ways of saying hello

ways of expressing you are unsure about something

ways of saying you are sure about something

ways of expressing your personal opinion in writing

ways of giving your opinion

ways of saying something politely

ways of expressing agreement or disagreement

ways of thanking someone

ways of apologizing

ways of offering something to someone

ways of suggesting something

ways of expressing uncertainty

ways of saying 'I don't know'

In these posts students will find formulas to confidently express the above-mentioned ideas, sound more-English like and improve their English.

Stop Whining People who complain and moan

In today's Madrid Teacher video, five teachers and students discuss some people's habit to complain non-stop. That gives the opportunity to go over some features of spoken English.

First of all, watch the video through so that you can get a general idea of what the conversation is about.

Now watch the video again, paying attention to the  following:

• Conversation fillers to gain thinking time: you know; Well
• Use of adverbs with adjectives and verbs to emphasize the information: really, rather; just
• Use of actually to introduce a bit of surprising information.
• Showing surprise: Really?
• Reacting to what you have just heard:  No way!; That’s terrible!; Yeah can you imagine; That’s interesting.
• Use of hedging so as not to sound too dogmatic when expressing our ideas: I think so; I guess
• Actively taking part in the conversation by asking questions and making suggestions: What about other things, like you mentioned before?; What about for example different waters
• Showing agreement: Coffee, yeah; Yeah! Exactly; That’s right; Absolutely!
• Use of I mean to paraphrase what you have just said and make yourself clear.

You know, I heard something really interesting the other day. It’s about, for example, in France they were selling wine to the US but it was actually an inferior… very… inferior type of wine and they were selling it as something that was rather expensive. What do you think about that?
Really?
Yeah.
How long did this go on for?
It went on for a very long time and no one noticed. That’s the pity.
No way!
That’s terrible!
Yeah can you imagine.
Oh, I would be able to tell in an instant!
Would you?
I think so.
Are you a wine lover?
I love wine, good wine.
Do you know the difference from a good wine and a bad wine?
Yeah! Just based on the colour, the smell, the taste.
Okay.
Everything.
I went on a few wine-tastings and they told me all of those things…
Yeah.
…how you were supposed to swish the wine and smell the wine to know if it’s good or not. I still can’t figure it out.
That’s interesting.
Well, yeah, takes some practice, I guess.
I think so, because I like wine too but I cannot notice the difference, ah, well, when the wine is very good, yeah, you can really taste it and it’s delicious, no?, but the difference like.
What about other things, like you mentioned before?
We can talk about, coffee, for example.
Coffee, yeah.
There’s a big difference when we talk about coffee… drinking coffee, I mean, because, for example, in South America coffee is very, very natural, okay, and…
And it’s so good!
…and I can also mention of course Central America, no, coffee from there is very natural and pure and delicious, when it is export(ed) to Europe I think that they mix it and it is not the same.
This morning I had my first cup of coffee with coffee that dissolves in the milk… Never again! Instant coffee.
Oh, no, I don’t like coffee. I don’t know the difference.
What about for example different waters, do you know the difference about different kinds of waters, bottled waters?
I couldn’t tell the difference.
You couldn't? Anyone else? Are you water connoisseur?
I just drink tap water.
Yeah, sometimes I think tap water tastes better.
Sometimes bottled water has a nice plastic taste to it.
Yeah! Exactly.
That’s right.
Wine to water!
Absolutely!

Celebrities vs Normal People in Advertising Debate

In our Madrid Teacher series, a group of teachers discuss the presence of celebrities in advertising. As usual, their conversation gives us an opportunity to revise some of the features of spoken English they use.

First of all, watch the video through so that you can get the gist of what they are saying.

Now watch the video more carefully, paying attention to the following:

• Use of fillers to gain thinking time: like; you know; well
• Use of vague language: or something like that; and everything
• Use of I mean to paraphrase what you have said and make yourself clear
• Showing agreement: okay; yes; Yeah; Exactly!
• Use of so as a linking word
• Pay attention to the number of times the speakers repeat words and phrases (that's another strategy to gain thinking time): Look, look at the statistics...; Why not, why not to aspire to try...
• Also pay attention to the number of false starts (speakers start a sentence one way and then go back to the beginning and start the same sentence differently, probably because they didn't know how to continue or finish off the first sentence): to look after our bodies more to, to be, you know, to do more exercise...; do we, we... I think it’s better to have,

I’m fed up with watching like David Beckham and on top of it the guy is like getting a billion dollars or something like that, I mean, from from advertising. I don’t aspire to be David Beckham. I know I’m never going to be like him.
But he’s inspiring us to, to look after our bodies more to, to be, you know, to do more exercise, to not eat fatty food, you know.
I don’t need to be inspired. I’m mature adult. I can inspire myself.
I know it’s good for me!
I do what I can but in my own possibilities.
Look, look at the statistics, you know, 40% of Americans and British people…are obese!
Well, okay, that’s going to the extreme, yes.
David Beckham is not going to change that. Natalie Portman is not going to change that.
Well, think about like kids, do we, we... I think it’s better to have, you know, pictures of slim-looking kids for adverts on the food products.
That’s very dangerous territory there because those kids are the ones who are most likely to turn into anorexics and bulimics and everything.
Yeah, but that’s taking, that’s taking the other, the other extreme.
This is all about society being sick!
No, society isn’t as, we are sick already, we have, we are obese.
Society is not the sickness. The sickness is like this fanaticism about, you know, your body, it’s like narcissism.
So we’re saying that it’s okay using the real campaign, real women campaign, okay, fine, so, it’s okay to say, yes, er, be chubby, be voluptuous, be… it doesn’t really matter what… why should we strive to have a better healthier image?
No, I think the image doesn’t, I mean the idea doesn’t change, take care of yourself, right, but if you're not so thin as the lady right on the magazine, then it’s okay.
Why not, why not to aspire to try and have a nice-looking body?
Exactly!
I think the product, I mean, every product should, shouldn’t have to have perhaps some huge goal or objective.
Everyone wants the best, everyone wants the best in life.
All “Dove” wants to do is sell their soap [Yeah.] and the demographics of the situation is that middle-aged or older women are gonna buy the product and they are not looking to sell to younger people.
Well, our argument, our argument is that if you’re going to have images of people, it’s better having images of people [Yes.] that you, we need to aspire to, rather than showing the norm. The norm in society now is that people are getting bigger, and that’s not good. It’s not good for the environment. It’s not good for [Exactly.] your health, the more we’re eating, the more we’re contributing to global warming.
No, I know overweight people, very nice, very friendly, they’re not at all like standoffish and I aspire to some of the qualities that they have. I don’t aspire to be like David Beckham or some of these other people I just don’t, they are alien to me.
We’re not talking about that, how would their personality occur, I’m talking about their body, you know, [Yeah.] the fact, the fact you look after their body, you know, you don’t let yourself go.
Yeah, but a typical body has defects.
Yeah, look at me, you know. I’m, I’m fat too, I’m not talking about, just saying, I want to see people like that, that can help me.
There’s nothing wrong with trying to be skinny.
It’s a bit immature because in the long run everybody is going to lose that body. I’m, I’m afraid that when you turn 65, most people.
My daddy is 70 years old, he goes, he goes jogging, you know, he’s, he’s someone I can aspire to. He keeps thin.
Exactly.
My father as well, he’s very skin, very skinny and I think that’s something I want to try to do.
Well, exactly but I’m sure he has wrinkles, and I’m sure it’s not, you know, all perfection and it’s still beautiful.
But why, but why, why does he keep himself skinny? Because he aspires to look good even for an 80-year-old, for an 80-year-old.
Or he wants to be healthy I imagine, I mean he wants to be healthy, yes.
So what’s wrong with trying to put er, an actor, an actress, or not even an actor, an actress [Yeah.], a regular person who has a healthy body.
Exactly, you want to be healthy, but you don’t have to be skinny for that.