LESSON NOTES

Lower Advanced S1 #8
How to Keep American Meetings
on Track

CONTENTS
2 English
2 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
3 Vocabulary Phrase Usage
4 Grammar
7 Cultural Insight

# 8
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 ENGLISH

1. JUNE: Hey, Big John, I'm running a bit short on time. I have an
appointment with a big-ticket customer in about ten minutes.

2. BIG JOHN: That's right. Well done, June. That's the kind of initiative we need
here at this store.

3. JUNE: I've actually learned quite a bit during this meeting and was
wondering whether we could review the tasks and projects that
have been assigned.

4. BIG JOHN: Well, we've been talking about the store's problems for about forty
minutes now.

5. JUNE: I know, but I'm having trouble distinguishing between what I'm
supposed to do and what the other departments should be doing.

6. BIG JOHN: What do you mean?

7. JUNE: It's just that in my department, we are really focused on sales and,
while we've spoken quite a bit about the problems we're having as a
store, I'm having trouble identifying exactly what I should
implement in my department so that I can increase sales.

8. BIG JOHN: Haven't you been listening for the past forty minutes?

9. JUNE: Yes I have been listening, sir. In fact, I think the solution proposed by
Cody is excellent. I just wanted to be clear that we are going to
implement his plan.

10. BIG JOHN: No one has agreed on any plan of action yet.

11. JUNE: Okay. I just needed to be sure I was on the same page as everybody
else.

VOCABULARY

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 V oc abular y English C lass

a means of solving a
solution problem or dealing with a noun
difficult situation

everybody every person pronoun

suggest something for

propose consideration, discussion, or verb
action by others

to identify to recognize, point out which verb

implement put into effect verb

that which excels the others;

excellent extremely good adjective

directing a great deal of

focused attention towards adjective

very; exceptionally; to the

quite utmost, entirely, wholly adverb

SAMPLE SENTENCES

I can’t find the solution to this problem. Not everybody agrees with her.

I propose that we sell everything we have I can identify most people's hometown by
and move to Florida. their accent.

This new sales strategy will be His test results were excellent.
implemented during the coming months.

They were focused on their studies, until This food is actually quite delicious.
the fun began.

VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE

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"have you not been..."
The phrase "have you not been" causes difficulty even for native English speakers. The idea is
clear; the concern lies in how you can correctly respond to this question.

Since the question has been asked in the negative, you should respond in the negative. In
English, just like math, two negatives make a positive. However, while it's technically correct to
respond with a simple no, it's best to add a positive formulation as explanation, just like the
speaker did in the dialogue.

"same page"
In this context, the phrase "same page" refers to a mutual understanding that everyone
"should" have. The idea is as if everyone were writing a book: since they are all working
together, they need to be on the same page so that parts of the story are not written before they
make sense.

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson Is Direct and Indirect Objects.

"I just wanted to be clear that we are going to implement his plan."

What Is a Direct Object?

A direct object is a person or thing that is directly affected by the action of a verb.

For Example:

1. "Susan ate a banana."

In this sentence, a banana disappeared because Susan ate it. The object is directly affected
through a specific action. In other words, it is a direct object.

Direct Objects Answer Questions

Direct objects answer the following questions: What was affected by the action of the verb?
and Whom was affected by the action of the verb?

For Example:

1. "Alex kissed Sam."

Who was kissed?

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Nouns as Direct Objects

Direct objects can be nouns (things, objects, people, etc.).

For Example:

1. "Jennifer bought a house."

The direct object "house" is a noun.

Pronouns as Direct Objects

We can use pronouns as direct objects. It's important to note that pronouns that we use as
direct objects must take the object pronoun form. Object pronouns include "me," "you,"
"him," "her," "it," "us," "you," and "them."

For Example:

1. "She's going to visit them next month."

"Them" (a few people) is an object pronoun.

Phrases as Direct Objects

Gerunds ("-ing" form) and gerund phrases and infinitives ("to do") and infinitive phrases can
also function as direct objects.

For Example:

1. "I hope to finish soon."

"To finish soon" (infinitive phrase) functions as the direct object of the verb "finish."

Clauses as Direct Objects

Clauses contain both a subject and a verb. We can use this type of longer phrase as a direct
object of a verb in another clause.

For Example:

1. "Hank believes that she is doing well at school."

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The phrase "that she is doing well at school" directly tells us what Hank believes. This
dependent clause functions as a direct object.

Indirect Objects

Indirect objects are persons or things that receive the benefits of an action. In other words,
when something performs some action for or on something else, the person or thing it is done
for is the indirect object.

For Example:

1. "Chuck bought Casey some chocolate."

Here, Casey received the direct object "chocolate." Notice that we place the indirect object
before the direct object.

Indirect Objects Answer Questions

Indirect objects answer the questions "to whom," "to what," "for whom," or "for what."

For Example:

1. "The manager explains the rules to his staff during the meeting."

To whom are the rules explained?

Nouns as Indirect Objects

Indirect objects can be nouns (things, objects, people, etc.). Generally, however, indirect
objects are usually people or groups of people. This is because indirect objects (people)
receive the benefit of some action.

For Example:

1. "Renée showed Terry her shoes."

"Terry" is the indirect object, and "issues" (what Renée showed) is the direct object.

Pronouns as Indirect Objects

We can use pronouns as a direct object. It is important to note that pronouns that we use as
indirect object must take the object pronoun form. Object pronouns include "me," "you,"

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"him," "her," "it," "us," "you," and "them."

For Example:

1. "Big John gave them three weeks to finish the inventory."

"Them" is the indirect object, and "three weeks to complete the inventory" (what the boss
gave) is the direct object.

Noun Phrases as Indirect Objects

Noun phrases are descriptive phrases that end in a noun: for example, "a beautiful car," "a
beautiful horizon," or "a calm, quiet morning." We can also use noun phrases as indirect
objects.

For Example:

1. "The author wrote the patient, faithful readers his last book."

"The patient, faithful readers" are the indirect object (noun-phrase form), while "his last
book" (what the author wrote) is the direct object.

Relative Clauses as Indirect Objects

Relative clauses that define an object can also function as indirect objects.

For Example:

1. "Lucy promised her husband, who had been waiting for an hour, that she would
never be late again."

In this case, "her husband" is defined by the relative clause "who had been waiting for an
hour." Both of these make up the indirect object. "She would never be late again" (what Lucy
promised) is the direct object.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

How to Back-Lead a Meeting without Being a Jerk

Sometimes we can be too direct, especially when something is really irritating to us. In

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situations like these, you have to be very careful. For me, this tends to happen most often at
work meetings.

Big John is talking about some problem and telling everyone to be creative and fix it, but the
meeting keeps getting off track.

To fix this situation, I used to say things like "Can we get back on track and resolve the
problem?" or, after someone make a particularly unhelpful comment, "Could you please
focus? We have to get this done now."

It took a while, but I learned that speaking like this is very offensive. Using phrases like these
puts the focus of the entire group on the errors of another person, which in turn makes that
person very defensive and resentful toward you. Feelings like these make it very difficult to
work productively with your co-workers.

It's much better to use phrases that focus on yourself and make it sound like the problem is
your fault.

For Example:

1. "I'm sorry, but I can't quite figure out what I'm supposed to be doing."

Notice that even though the problem is with the group, you still make it sound like your
problem. Phrasing yourself like this makes things run more smoothly because no one feels
attacked. You could take the issue further by saying something like the following example.

For Example:

1. "We've talked about so many different things that I'm having trouble distinguishing
between what I need to do and what my co-workers should do."

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