LESSON TRANSCRIPT

Gengo English S1 #2
How to make a First Impression in
English that Will Last a Lifetime

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
DIALOGUE
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
VOCAB LIST
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
LESSON FOCUS
OUTRO

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INTRODUCTION
Sadia: Hello, everyone. Thanks for tuning in. This is Sadia.

Keith: Hi, and I’m Keith. “How to make a Good First Impression.” Alright, so Sadia, what are we looking at
in this lesson?

Sadia: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to introduce yourself and make new friends.

Keith. Right. This conversation takes place on a Wednesday flight, just after boarding.

Sadia: The conversation is between the main character, Zo, and the person sitting next to him.

Keith: Alright, well let’s listen to the conversation.

DIALOGUE
Michelle: (humming a pop song)

Zo: Excuse me. May I pass you? My seat is next to yours.

Michelle: Oh, sorry! Go ahead, please.

Zo: Hello. How are you? I'm Zo.

Michelle: Hi! Nice to meet you. I'm Michelle.

Zo: I'm sorry. Your name again, please. Slowly.

Michelle: Michelle.

Zo: Michelle.

Michelle: That's it. But please call me Shelly.

Zo: Shelly. Nice to meet you.

Michelle: Nice to meet you too.

Keith: One more time slowly.

Michelle: (humming a pop song)

Zo: Excuse me. May I pass you? My seat is next to yours.

Michelle: Oh, sorry! Go ahead, please.

Zo: Hello. How are you? I'm Zo.

Michelle: Hi! Nice to meet you. I'm Michelle.

Zo: I'm sorry. Your name again, please. Slowly.

Michelle: Michelle.

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Zo: Michelle.

Michelle: That's it. But please call me Shelly.

Zo: Shelly. Nice to meet you.

Michelle: Nice to meet you too.

POST CONVERSATION BANTER

Sadia: Alright, so even though Zo and Michelle are meeting for the first

time, their conversation sounds pretty casual-- it's pretty

informal.

Keith: Yes, that’s right. I think it's a very casual conversation.

Sadia: Yeah, so I’m thinking they’re probably around the same age,

which brings them closer together even though that, for now

they’re complete strangers.

Keith: Definitely. They don’t know each other, but they’re using casual language, probably because
they’re close in age.

Sadia: Mm-hmm.

Keith: So notice that Michelle has given Zo, whom

she has never met, a stranger, permission to call her by

her nickname. In some cultures, only family and close friends use nicknames.

Sadia: Right. But in America, for some reason, I’m not really sure why. It's not uncommon for some
people to be known only by their nicknames.

Keith: That’s right. Some people, they have a real name, but I don’t know their real name. I just know
their nickname.

Sadia: Yeah, exactly, and there are some funny ones too, like Bubba and Jimbo.

Keith: I like them, they’re fun.

Sadia: Ha, ha.

Keith: Fun nicknames.

Sadia: Do you have a nickname?

Keith: Me? Now, but you know what, I always wanted one. I always feel like it would be a lot of fun to
have a nickname.

Sadia: Yeah, I agree, I agree.

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Keith: But how about yourself? Do you have a nickname?

Sadia: Well, not really, I mean...

Keith: You do have one, but you don’t want to tell us!

Sadia: Well, some family and some friends tried to

experiment with a nickname, but didn’t really stick.

Keith: What does that mean? “To stick”?

Sadia: “To stick” means “to stay” or “to last,” so when I say my nickname never really stuck, or it didn’t
stick, that means that, you know, it didn’t last a very long time.

Keith: Well, why? Is it embarrassing? Is that what it was?

Sadia: Let’s just say that I don't think I could have gone through

my adult life being called, "Poochie."

Keith: Poochie?! That’s really cute. I like it a lot, actually.

Sadia: Really? Well maybe I should reconsider!

Keith: Well maybe I should call you Poochie from now own.

Sadia: Oh, boy.

VOCAB LIST
Keith: OK, let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is...

Sadia: seat [natural native speed]

Keith: a place for sitting, a thing on which to sit

Sadia: seat [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Sadia: seat [natural native speed]

Next:"

next [natural native speed]

Keith: immediately following, adjacent, future

next [slowly - broken down by syllable]

next [natural native speed]

Next:"

Sadia: your [natural native speed]

Keith: belonging to you

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Sadia: your [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Sadia: your [natural native speed]

Next:"

name [natural native speed]

Keith: word or phrase referring to a person or thing

name [slowly - broken down by syllable]

name [natural native speed]

Next:"

Sadia: slowly [natural native speed]

Keith: without speed or in a slow manner

Sadia: slowly [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Sadia: slowly [natural native speed]

Next:"

Sadia: me [natural native speed]

Keith: myself [direct object]

Sadia: me [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Sadia: me [natural native speed]

VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE

Keith: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.

Sadia: OK. The first phrase we’ll look at is, “Excuse me.”

Keith: "Excuse me," and this of course is a very, very useful phrase.

Sadia: Mm-hmm.

Keith: It's typically used

when you want to pass someone and when they’re in your way, or when you want to get someone's
attention.

Sadia: Right. So for example, I was walking through Bryant Park the

other day. I was exhausted. I was running around, I had done a lot of shopping. And I spotted a woman
who was sitting on a bench by herself, so I thought I need to sit down.

Keith: I want to sit down.

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Said: I WANT to sit down, so I walked over to her and I said, "Excuse me-- is anyone sitting here?"

Keith: Or, you also could say something else, right?

Sadia: I could’ve also asked, "Excuse me-- do you mind if I sit here?"

Keith: Right, and I think that’s a very good phrase. We’re in New York, and we ride the subway pretty
often.

Sadia: Ahh yes.

Keith: But sometimes people take up a lot of space, a lot of room. So if you want to sit, you can say,
“Excuse me.”

Sadia: Exactly. “Excuse me” is particularly helpful during rush hour.

Keith: That’s right. In this dialogue, Zo, she says, "Excuse me." He and his new friend Michelle are on a
plane-- and probably Michelle is sitting on the outside, and Zo has to go inside. So he says, "Excuse me."
So he can sit down.

Sadia: Right. Excuse me.

Keith: OK, so the second phrase that we’re going to take a look at is, "I'm sorry..."

Sadia: So Zo doesn't understand Michelle when she tells him her name, so he asks her to repeat it by
saying, "I'm sorry, your name again?"

Keith: It sounds like he's apologizing, though. He’s saying, “I’m sorry, I did something wrong.” Why?

Sadia: Well, he is, really apologizing. He's sort of saying, "I'm sorry to have to ask you to repeat yourself,
but could you?"

Keith: Ah, that’s right. It's a polite way of asking someone to repeat themselves.

Sadia: Right. So, "I'm sorry, could you say that again?"

Keith: Or, "I'm sorry, once more please?"

Sadia: Precisely. So, “I’m sorry” is used when you want someone to repeat themselves.

LESSON FOCUS
Sadia: The focus of this lesson is making a request or asking for something using "please."

Keith: In this dialogue, Michelle makes a request of Zo. She says, "Please call me Shelly."

Sadia: That's right. “Please call me Shelly.”

Keith: Making a request or asking for something in English is very, very simple. Say, "please," followed by
your request.

Sadia: Instead of saying, “Call me when you get home,” which sounds kind of rude, really.

Keith: Yeah.

Sadia: You can say “Please call me when you get home.”

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Keith: Sadia, you’re so nice. Or if your mom says, “Please don't leave your dirty dishes on the table.”

Sadia: Instead of “Don’t leave your dirty dishes on the table,” your mom is nice, and she says, “Please
don’t leave your dirty dishes on the table.”

Keith: That’s very, very nice.

Sadia: Or “Please come with me to the doctor.”

Keith: Or you can also say, “Please don't do that.”

Sadia: So "please" turns a command into a polite request.

Keith: Sometimes the teachers are really mean, and they say, “Sit down!”

Sadia: But instead, they could say, “Please sit down.”

Keith: And, "Hand me that book" becomes

Sadia: Please hand me that book.

Keith: And finally, "Stop!" becomes

Sadia: Please stop.

Keith: Sadia, you get all the nice lines. I get all the mean ones.

Keith: Well, "Please" can also be placed at the end of a sentence.

As in, "I'd like two tickets, please."

Sadia: Right or, "Sit down, please."

Keith: Keep studying English, please!

Sadia: Yeah. Keep tuning in, please!

Keith: Exactly. So, making a request is very, very easy--

Sadia: It is. Just use PLEASE!

OUTRO
Keith: Please. Alright, well, that’s going to do it for this lesson. Thanks for listening.

Sadia: Thanks for listening, Buh-bye.

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