Greeting Someone you Know

Hey John, how have you been?"

"Hi Bob, how are you?"
"Hi Nancy, what have you been up to?"
"Andy, it's been a long time, how are you man?"
If you meet someone unexpectedly, you can say,
"Hey Jack, it's good to see you. What are you doing here?"
or
"What a surprise. I haven't seen you in a long time. How have you been?"
If you see the person at a restaurant, you can say, "Do you come to this restau
rant often?"
Or at the movie theatre, "What movie did you come to see?"
Appropriate responses:
"Hi Steve, my name is Mike. It is nice to meet you as well."
"I heard a lot about you from John. He had a lot of good things to say."
"Wow. How long has it been? It seems like more than a year. I'm doing pretty
well. How about you?"
A typical response to this type of greeting is simple.
"Not too bad."
If asked what you have been up to, you can respond with, "Same ole same ole."
Or, "The same as usual."
Here are some other example responses.
"I'm pretty busy at work these days, but otherwise, everything is great."
"I'm doing very well."
"I finally have some free time. I just finished taking a big examination, and
I'm so relieved that I'm done with it."
Restaurant Responses
"I've been here a couple of times, but I don't come on a regular basis."
"I come pretty often. This is my favorite restaurant."
"I can't believe we haven't seen each other before. I come here at least twice
a week."
Movie Response
"I came here to see Matrix Revolution. How about you?"
A stranger meets a gentleman in front of a restaurant.
Stranger :I wondered if you could tell me where the post
office is.
Gentleman : That s not too far from here;
Stranger : Which way should I go. Sir?
Gentleman : Take the road right in front of you.
(giving directions)
Walk for about half a kilometre.
Stranger :Yes, Sir.
Gentleman : You ll see on your left, the restaurant Anand
Vihar.

Stranger : Oh, I see, Anand Vihar.

Gentleman : The very next building is the post office.
Stranger : OK, thank you Sir.
Gentleman : Welcome.
Meeting a foreigner in Chennai
Rahul : May I introduce myself?
My name is Rahul. (introducing oneself)
John : I am John.
Rahul : How do you do? (responding to introduction)
John : How do you do?
Rahul : Where arr you from, Mr.John? (asking for
information)
John : I m from the US. How about you?
Rahul : I belong here. How long have you been here?
John : I ve been here for two weeks.
Rahul : Are you going to stay for long?
John : No, I m just on a short holiday.
Rahul : Do you like Chennai? (asking for likes/dislikes)
John : Yes, I am enjoying it here. (expressing likes/
dislikes)
Rahul : Is it too hot for you?
John : No, not too hot.
Rahul : And how do you like the food here? (asking for
likes/dislikes)
John : It s delicious and tasty, but a little hot and spicy.
(expressing likes/dislikes)
Rahul : Do you like our idlis?
John : I love the soft idlis, particularly with sambar.
Fantastic combination.
ORAL PRACTICE
Fill in the blanks choosing the appropriate word front the ones
given in brackets and practise the conversations:
1. A : Do you........(enjoy/want) reading English novels?
B : Yes, I............(like/want) to read English novels. But I prefer
Tamil fiction.
A : Who do you.............(love/like) talking to?
B : I like talking to children.
2. A : Do you ever bake?
B : Yes, my mother taught to bake.
A : ....................(Can/Would) you bake us a cake sometime?
B : I would .................... (want/love) to.
3. A : Have you been to England?
B : Yes, I went there last year
A : How did you like it?
B : I had a....................(great/best) time there.

Greeting
"Hi, my
You can
"It's a

someone you never met:

name is Steve. It's nice to meet you."
respond to this by saying,
pleasure to meet you. I'm Jack."

Another common question to ask is

"What do you do for a living?"

You can respond to this by saying,

"I work at a restaurant."
"I work at a bank."
"I work in a software company."
"I'm a dentist."
Usually, you will not need to ask for a name. It is implied that each person s
hould say their name. But in case they don't, you can ask,
"What is your name?"
Many times, I don't hear the name. If you would like for them to repeat their
name, you can say,
"What was that again?"
"Excuse me?"
"Pardon me?"
Ann: Oh, it feels so cold this morning.
Mary: It sure is. Early this morning my car s windshield was covered with frost. I
had to spray it
with water before I could head to school.
Ann: Who would have thought it could be this cold in early December, especially
in California.
Mary: I know. The temperature was 35 degrees Fahrenheit when I woke up this morn
ing. I was
freezing as soon as I got out of bed. The cold weather just hit me by surprise.
Ann: I cannot remember when it was this cold in early December.
Mary: Brace yourself for the rain this afternoon. Cold and wet, Yuck!
Ann: It is going to rain this afternoon?
Mary: Not only this afternoon, but also the rest of the week.
Ann: Oh, it is going to be miserable. I have a full class schedule today and tom
orrow. To walk
from class to class, I will have to juggle my books and my umbrella trying not t
o get wet.
Mary: You carry too many books. Why don t you leave some of them in your locker?
Ann: My locker is a long way from my English classes. This is the reason why I c
arry all my
books with me. Is it going to rain hard or just drizzle?
Mary: The news said that it would start to drizzle around noon, and then it woul
d rain really
hard by three o clock.
Ann: No hope for better weather this week?
Mary: There is a slim chance of sunshine by Saturday. However, it will be foggy,
windy, and
rainy before the sun comes out this weekend.
Ann: I am glad that it rains even though I do not like rainy weather. We have a
very dry season
so far this year.
Mary: Yes, I can hardly remember when it rained last time. Well, as long as ther
e is no thunder
or lightning, I can bear it.
Ann: We rarely have thunder or lightning in California.