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[Music] hello everyone and welcome to English pod my name is Marco my name is Katherine and today we're talking about a very very important part of conversations in English that's right today we are introducing a new series all about small talk okay what is Small Talk Marco well small talk is just everyday conversation about maybe the weather about how how how you are um what's new in your life Etc it's just plain conversation so something very simple and usually pretty quick it's what you say to people when you bump into them or when you see

them at a party so uh let's take a listen to today's dialogue and find out just what kind of small talk we [Music] have hey Michelle this is my friend James he's visiting Shanghai from New York oh hi James nice to meet you so um are you VIs visiting for business or pleasure well actually a little of both I'm meeting some business contacts but I'm also taking some Mandarin classes too oh that's cool how's it going well I'm finding the classes pretty tough actually but I'm having a great time in Shanghai it's really an amazing

City it sure is are you staying for long only 2 weeks unfortunately I wish I could stay longer but well listen if you need someone to show you the sites then just call me I'm having a little get together at my new apartment next week so if you want toop drop by then that sounds great I'd love to let me take down your number Michelle all right we're back so now let's take a look at a lot of great phrases that we've picked out for you this time on fluency Builder fluency Builder all right so

we've got two fluency Builders today so we're going to be exploring a lot of different phrases we've got three now the first one is very very common you you hear this phrase nice to meet you right so obviously if you meet someone new you're introduced by your friend or something you can just say hi nice to meet you all right so nice to meet you nice to meet you too that's what we say afterwards because uh it sounds very funny if you say it two times so right hi it's nice to meet you oh it's

nice to meet you too right exactly so she went on this girl Michelle to ask if he is visiting Shanghai for business or pleasure all right this is important uh difference something that we often talk about in small talk uh you can travel for business that means business trips where you can travel to see different sites and have fun that's called pleasure and so we often hear this phrase business or pleasure right so if someone comes to your country you say oh uh so are you here for business or pleasure oh I'm here on business

or I'm here to see the sites okay very good and uh so James is actually in Shanghai doing both things he's on a business trip but he's also taking Mandarin classes and so Michelle went on to say that's great how's it going all right you're going to hear this all the time in English we say how's it going to our friends and family uh I wouldn't say it in a formal occasion with my boss or with my teacher but it's very casual very informal and it it's a way to ask how things are um so

you're taking classes how's it going mhm exactly so this basically means how are the classes going how is everything right or you could say oh Marco I haven't seen you in a while how is it going uhhuh and that's another way of saying hi to someone or saying how are you how are you how have you been recently so there are two differences in that phrase there in this case Michelle is asking how the Mandarin classes are going how is it is it good is it bad is it difficult is it uh is it easy

Etc but if you say to someone hi I haven't seen for such a long time how's it going that's more of a how are you type thing that's like how's your life going exact so just think about what the what what you're talking about are you talking about General situations like your person a person's life or are you talking about maybe lessons or class or a job that's right okay so we're going to take a break here let's listen to the dialogue again and we'll be back in a little bit with more [Music] phrases hey

Michelle this is my friend James he's visiting Shanghai from New York oh hi James nice to meet you so um are you visiting for business or pleasure well actually a little of both I'm meeting some business contacts but I'm also taking some Mandarin classes too oh that's cool how's it going well I'm finding the classes pretty tough actually but I'm having a great time in Shanghai it's really an amazing City it sure is are you staying for long only two weeks unfortunately I wish I could stay longer but well listen if you need someone to

show you the sites then just call me I'm having a little get together at my new apartment next week so if you want to drop by then that sounds great I'd love to let me take down your number Michelle all right we're back so now let's take a look at fluency Builder part two so Michelle at the end of today's dialogue says if you need someone to show you the sites then just call me all right so to show someone the sights we talked about this a little bit earlier with that word pleasure what does

it mean to show someone the sights Marco so basically the sites we're talking about the different attractions of a city or place so the museums maybe um different buildings or different attractions in general what is there to sight see okay so we are in Paris Marco and I say hey I'd love to show you the sights what do you expect to see so maybe we would go to the Eiffel Tower Maybe maybe we would go to notam Cathedral exactly so we would go see all these different sites and to show and and that would mean

that you are showing me the sites you are taking me to see all these sites okay okay and she is also having a little get together at her apartment at her new apartment so what is a little get together this is a noun this is a get together so think about this two different words actually get together but it's it's a noun it's a thing uh it's like a party but it's a small party right a little get together so I just I like to think of a get together as something very casual something very

small sometimes intimate uh where you just have three or four or five friends and uh it's it's yeah it's not as big as a party where everyone's dancing and okay so a little get together is just a a small group of people you invite them over to your house very relaxed very casual it's not really a party it's more of a of a reunion of friends and like we said it's a noun so you say I'm having a get together you should come mhm mhm okay and uh she actually asks him to come but she

says it in a different way she says if you want to drop by okay this is something people often say in small talk because you don't want to say uh you should come stay for a while because that that's I don't know they just m it's not in order yeah so you you should drop by means you should come and see and decide if you want to stay mhm so basically you it's also kind of a relaxed way of saying you can come whenever you want during the during our party or our get together so

if the get together is 9:00 p.m. to midnight you can drop by whenever 10:00 11:00 so to drop by is to come for a short period so if we're talking on the phone and I say I'll drop by your house later on today that means I'm going to go to your house very quickly at a unexpected time yeah or you could use it in a question you know Marco I really wanted to borrow that DVD when can I drop by to pick it up okay very very very good now let's take a look at our

last phrase uh Michelle and James decided that they uh want to keep in touch and so he said let me take down your number okay so we're not talking about uh taking it anywhere taking a number anywhere and going somewhere we're talking about writing something down so in this case your number is your phone number okay let me take down your number means let me write down your telephone number uh-huh okay so it's another way of saying let me write down your telephone number number take down my phone number call me later that's right so

can can I take down your number so I can call you later okay that's another way of asking this question very good all right so that concludes fluency Builder let's listen to our dialogue one last time and we'll be back in a [Music] bit hey Michelle this is my friend James he's visiting Shanghai from New York oh hi James nice to meet you so um are you visiting for business or pleasure well actually a little of both I'm meeting some business contacts but I'm also taking some Mandarin classes too oh that's cool how's it going

well I'm finding the classes pretty tough actually but I'm having a great time in Shanghai it's really an amazing City it sure is are you staying for long only 2 weeks unfortunately I wish I could stay longer but well listen if you need someone to show you the sites then just call me I'm having a little get together at my new apartment next week so if you want to drop by then that sounds great I'd love to let me take down your number Michelle okay so this is part one of our small talk series we're

going to have 10 episodes and in each episode we're going to be faced with a little different situation or circumstance where we will be forced to have a very quick chat with someone that's right and so you're often going to find yourself in these situations if you're traveling to an english- speaking country or you're living or working in America for example and so it's really important because I think often times you don't learn this in class this is something that uh you have to really learn when you're in the country or learn with us here

at English pod that's right it's a little bit of social skills for uh for these awkward or maybe new situations exactly all right so if you guys have any other questions or doubts you can find us at englishpod do.com and we'll see everyone there bye guys bye [Music] hello everyone and welcome to English pod my name is Marco my name is Katherine and today we have part two of our series about small talk in English that's right so as we mentioned Small Talk are very short quick conversations about everyday things like the weather and you

usually have this with a colleague very quickly or or a friend maybe yeah maybe not someone you know very well too MH exactly so we're going to take a look at part two why don't we listen into the dialogue and see what's going [Music] on so Michelle let me introduce you to Maria she's my colleague from Brazil Maria this is Michelle hi Michelle so what do you do here in Shanghai I mean what work do you do I work in advertising right now how about you I'm actually in the wine business oh that sounds really

great I love wine myself is this your first time to Shanghai Maria no actually I often visit I usually come to China for business at least once a year also I love the restaurants in Shanghai so that's a good reason to come me too actually there's a great Brazilian restaurant I recommend I mean the food is delicious but the service isn't so good I often like to get together with friends and have a great barbecue there we should go there together sometime wonderful idea I'd love that all right we're back so now let's take a

look at some of these very interesting phrases we find in this dialogue in language takeaway language takeaway so the first phrase we have today is from the first sentence of this dialogue um James says so Michelle let me introduce you to Maria that's right so we have the phrase introduce someone to or introduce you to okay uh let me introduce you to this person so Marco let me introduce you to my friend right and this is something that you say when you want to tell the person look I'm going you're going to meet someone new

let me introduce you to my friend Sally and this is very important because it's polite and it's a way for you to say okay you two don't know each other here this is you know this person's name this is this person's name it's very important when you are introducing people or when you're in a situation with two people who don't know each other that's right exactly so let me introduce you to someone now uh another key question here I think probably one of the key questions when you meet someone new uh you're talking Small Talk

short conversation what do you do here or what do you do what do you do so this might sound like a very strange question what do you do do you watch TV do you like to eat food no but this means what job do you do right what type of work do you do okay so Marco what do you do I host an English podcast all right me too so this is the question now don't get confused and remember that this is the typical way of asking someone what is their job if you say what

is your job or um what is your occupation what is your occupation it's too formal and it's kind of awkward I don't think anyone has ever asked me what is your occupation no I rarely say that I almost always say what do you do or maybe what type of work do you do or what business are you in mhm so this is our next phrase actually right if someone asks you what business are you in or what industry are you in you would say like in this case Maria she is in the wine business okay

I'm in the wine business that means that my job has to do with selling or buying wine MH so if we replace the noun wine with something else for example clothing I'm in the clothing business or I'm in the cheese business exactly basically change it with anything with any product I guess if if you sell computers I'm in the computer business MH or if you have anything to do with computers you can say I'm in the computer business all right so that's great I'm in the H business exactly all right so now we know what

the person does we we continue asking questions you know we're interested we want to keep the conversation going a little while longer we say oh wow that's really great I love one myself then we ask is this your first time to Shanghai Okay so is this your first time to Shanghai or in Shanghai this means is this your first time to visit Shanghai that's right now the preposition here is always confusing for an ESL learner because sometimes do you say is this your first time in Shanghai is this your first time on Shanghai now we're

saying to Shanghai so in this case or in this type of question both are correct is this your first time in Shanghai is this your first time to Shanghai all right so I could also say you know if we are in Chicago hey Marco is this your first time in Chicago but I have to ask if we are in that City I can't say okay I'm in Chicago today but Marco is this your first time in New York because we are not in New York right now exactly that could be confusing so remember when you

ask this question you're asking about where you are today right now exactly very good so on that note let's take a break let's listen to the dialogue again and we'll be back with some more phrases [Music] so Michelle let me introduce you to Maria she's my colleague from Brazil Maria this is Michelle hi Michelle so what do you do here in Shanghai I mean what work do you do I work in advertising right now how about you I'm actually in the wine business oh that sounds really great I love wine myself is this your first

time to Shanghai Maria no actually I often visit I usually come to China for business at least once a year also I love the restaurants in Shanghai so that's a good reason to come me too actually there's a great Brazilian restaurant I recommend I mean the food is delicious but the service isn't so good I often like to get together with friends and have a great barbecue there we should go there together sometime wonderful idea I'd love [Music] that all right let's take a look at three more key phrases on fluency Builder part two fluency

Builder so one phrase that we heard from this when things started to get a little bit more personal Michelle said I often like to get together with friends so this phrase here is to get together with friends mhm so to get together means to be United or go with friends somewhere that's right so we could also use the phrase to hang out this means uh you're not doing anything in particular you're not cooking or swimming or you know going shopping but it just means you're together with your friends you could be doing anything right exactly

so even if you want to ask your friend or colleague hey do you want to get together after work and have a couple of drinks all right that means would you like to hang out or would you like to go somewhere for a drink uh it's very informal and it's not romantic right um it's it's just with friends exactly so if you ask someone to get together sometime it doesn't mean let's go out on a date that just means you know let's hang out let's hang out let's be friends okay now so they were talking

about a Brazilian restaurant and James said hey you know we should go there sometime okay or we should go there together sometime is even like more personal um this is a really common phrase and one that you guys should remember as a phrase okay we should go there sometime that means that I would like to make plans with you to go to this restaurant right exactly now if you notice the word sometimes is separated you have some and then aart the other word is time so it's very different from sometimes don't confuse it what we're

saying here is when you have time when I have time we should go there it's almost like saying one time or in the future sometimes it's different it's like I brush my teeth sometimes that means not very often no that's not true um but um I would like to go there sometime means you know it's it's a little bit vague I don't say when but I would like to to in the future exactly and Michelle agree she says wow it's a wonderful idea I'd love that okay this is another great phrase remember this as a

phrase um would you like to go see a movie I'd love that I'd love that so I'd love that I'd love to these are ways of saying I like the idea let's do it mhm exactly so it's usually in response to an invitation suggestion or suggestion very good all right so let's take a look at our dialogue again and review everything and we'll be back in a [Music] bit so Michelle let me introduce you to Maria she's my colleague from Brazil Maria this is Michelle hi Michelle so what do you do here in Shanghai I

mean what work do you do I work in advertising right now how about you I'm actually in the wine business oh that sounds really great I love wine myself is this your first time to Shanghai Maria no actually I often visit I usually come to China for business at least once a year also I love the restaurants in Shanghai so that's a good reason to come me too actually there's a great Brazilian restaurant I recommend I mean the food is delicious but the service isn't so good I often like to get together with friends and

have a great barbecue there we should go there together sometime wonderful idea I'd love that all right so as we can see it's very quick small conversation but very good phrases to talk to a stranger to start up a a small conversation I think these are great too Marco because if you're learning English and you want to uh to practice your speaking skills you're not going to have many people to talk about deep things with so it's great to to use with strangers or with people in your office that's right and these are common typical

questions and they're also appropriate to ask someone so obviously if you meet someone new you're not going to ask them how much money they make because that's kind of inappropriate in Western culture that's right so what we've taught you here are very polite very common phrases we hope hope hope that you'll go out and practice these if you have questions or comments don't hesitate to leave them for us our website is englishpod do.com all right we'll see you guys there bye bye [Music] hello everyone and welcome to English pod my name is Marco my name

is Katherine and as you know we've had a series going about small talk in English so today's lesson is a part of that series that's right today we're going to listen to two friends two girlfriends meeting and they haven't seen each other for a long time so we're just going to see how they quickly have a small [Music] conversation hey Michelle is that you wow oh Grace long time no see where have you been oh yeah well you see I got a promotion so I moved to the new pong office last September you did congratulations

thanks a lot so how are things with you Michelle well same old same old you know nothing much has changed here are you still seeing Chris no actually we split up last month oh dear uh I'm sorry to hear that but I met a really cute guy last night at a networking party so well let's just wait and see good for you Michelle all right we're back so now let's take a look at some of that language on language takeaway language takeaway so the first word we have here today Marco is the word promotion Grace

says well you see I got a promotion so I moved to the new pong office that's right so she got a promotion and a promotion is work related that means that you got a better position that's right but you didn't change companies so in your company you had a job and you did well in that job and so your boss gave you a better job in the company and that's a promotion that's right okay so she got a promotion that's when they were talking about work and now they started talking about their personal life and

uh Grace asked if Michelle is still seeing Chris okay so the verb here is is to see someone to be seeing someone uh we're not actually talking about eyes and looking we're talking about dating that's right so if you're seeing Chris it means you are dating Chris okay so that that's an interesting way of uh describing a relationship so you say yeah I'm sorry I'm seeing someone I can't date you I'm seeing someone else or you could ask someone are you seeing anyone right now mhm that means are you dating anyone do you have a

boyfriend basically mhm okay and and sadly no they are not together anymore she says actually we split up last month all right so this is another relationship term to split up means to break up or to stop dating to stop seeing each other so there are two ways of seeing it as you said to split up or to break up that's right so unfortunately they split up or Unfortunately they broke up they are no longer seeing each other that's right okay but she said she had some good news because she met a really cute guy

at a networking party what is networking all right so networking is something that you do especially in the business world uh you go to events parties happy hours and you meet people you meet strangers and you talk about uh work and you try to meet as many people as you can okay so it's not really a social party to actually just go and meet random people you're trying to meet people that will be uh interesting for your business or uh maybe to get some other ideas it's for a business purpose that's right so perhaps in

your town you own a small business um and your town has decided to have a chamber of commerce networking party so you can meet other small business owners okay very good so that's what we have for language takeaway let's go back and listen to our dialogue for the second [Music] time hey Michelle is that you wow Grace long time now no see where have you been oh yeah well you see I got a promotion so I moved to the new pong office last September you did congratulations thanks a lot so how are things with you

Michelle well same old same old you know nothing much has changed here are you still seeing Chris no actually we split up last month oh dear uh I'm sorry to hear that but I met a really cute guy last night at a networking party so well let's just wait and see good for you [Music] Michelle all right so now let's talk about these small quick but very useful phrases for small talk on fluency Builder fluency Builder so this first phrase is a phrase that you'll hear a lot uh when people greet each other but perhaps

friends who haven't seen each other in a very long time we use this phrase uh long time no see that's right now you look at it and it may seem like it's incorrect right because uh you're missing something that's right long time no see who know see what what long time that's right um but this actually means I haven't seen you in a long time that's right so the phrase is long time no see hey Michelle long time no see how are you uh that's the way that you use it but it just take it

as a phrase don't try to analyze it too much so hey Marco long time no see that's right okay and uh well they're talking and she's like well how are you and she says well you know same old same old all right this is another one it doesn't look right it looks wrong but we do say this and twice same old same old and this means nothing has changed there's nothing there's nothing really new in my life right the same old things in my life nothing really new or exciting same old exactly so I could

say hey Marco you know how's the job going uh you know same old same old all right so nothing has changed to his job he has not gotten a promotion that's right so now Michelle was again describing about the guy that she met at the networking party and she said well let's just wait and see it seems like an incomplete sentence because let's wait and see what all right so let's wait and see what that's the question though you know what are we waiting to see well she's basically saying we don't know how things will

go but we you know we'll have to wait for the future to come before we we can make a decision or or figure out what's going on that's right so for example Marco we're at the office and I say how is that that report coming along is it you know were the numbers good uh and I can say yeah the numbers seemed all right but uh we'll just wait and see perhaps we don't have all the numbers yet so we have to wait to get the the the rest of them that's right so you're just

basically saying I don't know what will happen in the future let's just uh hope that it will be good and let's see what happens let's just wait and see let's just wait and see all right so let's go back and listen to our dialogue One Last [Music] Time hey Michelle is that you wow Grace long time no see where have you been oh yeah well you see I got a promotion so I moved to the new pong office last September you did congratulations thanks a lot so how are things with you Michelle well same old

same old you know nothing much has changed here are you still seeing Chris no actually we split up last month oh dear uh I'm sorry to hear that but I met a really cute guy last night at a networking party so well let's just wait and see good for you Michelle okay so this was another part of our small talk series as you see very useful and quick little phrases so you can have a very brief uh conversation with maybe someone you haven't seen or a little uh chitchat at the office that's right and these

are things that if you remember them you memorize them you can use in almost any conversation uh also I'm sorry to hear that or uh good for you these are really great phrases that are very very flexible that's right actually that's a really good one uh I'm sorry to hear that maybe someone gives you a little bit of uh bad news or uh something bad happened in their life it's very plight in a nice way of saying hey I I I I understand I'm sorry to hear that that's right so we hope that you've learned

something new in today's lesson if you have any questions about the phrases or words you've heard please check out our website englishpod do.com and leave us a question on the community section or in a in a note we'll be happy to answer them all right guys we'll see you there bye [Music] bye hello everyone and welcome to English pot my name is Marco my name is Katherine and today we have another episode in our series series all about small talk that's right today we're going to take a look at a work setting where two colleagues

maybe run into each other and they talk very briefly about something all right so let's check out today's dialogue and we'll be back in a [Music] moment hi Michelle do you need to use the photo copier oh hi Jeremy no please go ahead so how are you Jeremy I was talking to Linda about you only last week oh I'm fine thanks I'm super busy with work actually did you hear about the lawon contract no tell me more well I was discussing the contract with Bill and he said that they met the head of Lawson last

week and and hopefully they're going to confirm the deal on Wednesday fingers crossed that's great news Jeremy congratulations anyway I must get back but give my regards to your wife Monica I will Michelle speak to you soon all right we're back so now let's take a look at some VAB on language takeaway language takeaway so the first word for you guys today is photocopier now this is something that's very common in offices that's right a photocopier also known as a copy machine or just copier yeah this is something that you use to print on paper

or to copy paper so if I have a document but I want another copy of it I put it on this machine and it's it will copy it and print it out that's right so those are the uh ways that you know this machine by this name either photocopier copy machine or just copier all right but after that we have a very interesting adjective this is something that we use very often in spoken English uh the phrase here Marco was I'm super busy but what does it mean to say you're super something that's right so

when we add the word super to an adjective we mean that we're very very very busy super busy all right so I'm super hungry that means you're very very very hungry right or I'm Superwoman also it means that you are uh very much a great woman all right like Superman is very good at going fast and doing things and so he's super means great or exceptional so in this case I'm exceptionally busy that's right and uh moving on to the next line where Jeremy says that he was discussing the contract with Bill so a contract

we know what this means yeah what is this so a contract is a document and it's something that you have to have two or more groups for or two or more parties so Marco between you and me we could have a contract it says that uh when we come to record you will be respectful of me that's right and then we will both sign so it's kind of an agreement between two as you said or more people and but you are promising to respect the contract and to do what the contract says and if you

don't do what the contract says we have a special verb we say you broke the contract so to break break a contract that's right well Jeremy was discussing the contract with Bill and uh they said they met the head of Lawson now Lawson is a is a company that we're just using for the dialogue but what is it mean the head of this company okay if you think about the company as a body the head is the top and in this case that would be the president or the the manager or the leader it's the

most important person okay so uh we can use this in um in our offices for example the person in charge of marketing the director of marketing we also call him the head of marketing or the head of yeah the head of the sales division would be uh the manager of the sales team or whoever is most important in sales another very common example I think is the president many times they call him the head of state yeah the head of state so you can have a dinner with many heads of state and those could be

Kings or queens or presidents mhm very good all right so that's all the vocab for language takeaway why don't we take a short break and listen to the dialogue [Music] again hi Michelle do you need to use the photoc cop here oh hi Jeremy no please go ahead so how are you Jeremy I was talking to Linda about you only last week oh I'm fine thanks I'm super busy with work actually did you hear about the lawon contract no tell me more well I was discussing the contract with Bill and he said that they met

the head of Lawson last week and and hopefully they're going to confirm the deal on Wednesday fingers crossed that's great news Jeremy congratulations anyway I must get back but give my regards to your wife Monica I will Michelle speak to you soon all right we're back so now let's take a look at fluency Builder fluency Builder so there's a great phrase here Inu Builder that we use when we're trying to be polite in English Michelle says oh hi Jeremy please go ahead okay so uh Jeremy asked if she needs to use the co The photoc

copier and he said no uh Jeremy it's okay go ahead please go ahead okay this literally means um you go you know ahead of me but in in in reality she's basically saying um I can weit you go first mhm mhm so if um if you're going into a building and somebody opens the door before you and they say please go ahead that means they'll hold the door and you can go inside first so please go ahead uh this is a very polite thing to do and if you're in line and you see someone is

in a hurry you can say this to them please go ahead mhm all right very good please go ahead and we also uh going back to the contract discussed about confirming the deal okay all right so you have a deal or an agreement or a contract uh but the thing you do to make sure that you all agree is you confirm um so this means you want to make sure it is actually going to happen mhm and you can actually combine confirm with many different things like you can confirm your tickets to go to Italy

or can we confirm those holidays um before I make my my bookings because I want to go to Italy exactly so you confirm something and then jemy said a very strange phrase here fingers crossed after talking about the the deal Okay so fingers crossed is an interesting phrase it doesn't mean okay now go cross your fingers but it's something we say to be superstitious um because it means basically I hope so or hopefully um because fingers cross when you cross your fingers in many Anglo American kind of cultures you are saying that you hope something

will happen it's it's to bring good luck all right so oh gosh I I really hope it doesn't rain today and then I say fingers crossed yeah well fingers crossed it doesn't that means that we hope it does wasn't but now that you said that maybe it will right right so it's kind of a superstitious um belief that people have that if you cross your fingers it will bring good luck or what you say will happen will happen or won't happen that's right fingers crossed all right so let's take a break now and listen to

our dialogue One Last [Music] Time hi Michelle do you need to use the photo cop here oh hi Jeremy no please go ahead so how are you Jeremy I was talking to Linda about you only last week oh I'm fine thanks I'm super busy with work actually did you hear about the Lawson contract no tell me more well I was discussing the contract with Bill and he said that they met the head of Lawson last week and and hopefully they're going to confirm the deal on Wednesday fingers crossed that's great news Jeremy congratulations anyway I

must get back but give my regards to your wife Monica I will Michelle speak to you soon so this is a very common scenario in a very in a in an office in a normal office setting where maybe you meet your friend at in the kitchen or the water cooler the photo copier and you have very small brief conversations that's right and you're often going to hear this called water cooler talk because um you don't want to have a long conversation about something really deep at the water cooler but you do want to talk about

you know basic things things that you have in common or work stuff you know how's that paper coming along or uh how's that um I heard you had great sales last week and so these are great short things you can talk about with your colleagues right very good and as we say it's uh some of the phrases and the vocab are key things that you can use to start up a small conversation very brief uh to talk about you know small things with your colleagues that's right so we hope that you'll tune into our future

lessons about small talk and if you have any questions or comments you're welcome to find us on englishpod do.com we'll see you guys there bye [Music] bye hello everyone and welcome to English pod my name is Marco my name is Katherine and today we have another episode in our series about small talk so small talk Marco is what exactly quick little uh conversation that you have maybe with a colleague or friend or or even with a stranger maybe in the elevator just about the weather or some small little topic so you're not talking about the

meaning of life you're talking about the weather or food so let's check out today's dialogue and we'll be back in a minute to talk more about what's going [Music] on oh dear miss you are soaked wow it's really raining heavily outside yes it's sure is I had to run here from work I need to rush as I'm on my lunch break well please why don't you go ahead of me in line I'm in no hurry oh that's so nice of you thank you very much my pleasure Miss actually could you recommend what to eat here

I've never been here before sure well the avocado sandwich is delicious and it's the healthiest thing on the menu personally I think the beef salad is the tastiest choice I usually get that also the milkshakes are the best milkshakes in town well thanks for the suggestions no don't mention it all right we're back so as we saw in this dialogue it's a a small talk conversation with two strangers who are actually buying some food so this is something that could happen if you are waiting in line at a supermarket if you're at the bank or

even at at a shop like in this case exactly this kind of conversation happens all the time so let's take a look at some words and phrases in to's language takeaway language takeaway all right so the first word that we have for you today is the gentleman the older person noticed how wet the the girl was she said you are soaked all right so it's raining outside and he says oh dear miss you are soaked all right this is an adjective it describes what she looks like so if you are soaked it means that you

are a little bit wet very wet very wet you know you can say that someone is a little wet but if they're soaked it means their shoes their pants their shirt their hat everything is very wet okay you are soaked and uh so it's an adjective even though it has an ed ending it may look like a verb or in the past but it's not it's an adjective with an ed ending that's right so it's raining outside this woman is very wet she's soaked she's wet and she says I have to rush I have to

hurry because of what because I'm on my l break she's on her lunch break okay so during work we might have something called a break this is a short time when we don't have to work 5 minutes 10 minutes um and the break that we have at lunch when we get to eat is a little bit longer so we call this a lunch break that's right so usually people have their lunch break let's say at noon or 1:00 and it's usually an hour like you say that's right an hour mhm okay so she's on her

lunch break and that's why she's in a hurry and so uh the other guy let her go and front of him and he asked her for some suggestions what is good here what is a what do you recommend to eat that's right so he's not familiar with the food but the woman is and she says well the avocado sandwich is delicious now let's talk about this fruit because it is a fruit right Marco mhm it's a fruit an avocado it's a you see this it looks like a big green pear more or less that's right

well it's green on the inside and it's dark on the outside so to eat it you have to take off the skin yeah that's right and inside it's kind of uh buttery almost you kind of it's not hard like a like a banana or an apple it's kind of more very very soft you can take it out with a spoon that's right it's very very delicious and it's very common in a lot of um Latin cooking where you have for example guacamole in Mexican cooking which is made primarily of avocados that's right so she recommends

the avocado sandwich and then she goes on to describe some of the food and now here we're going to take a look at some adjectives but in a superlative form for example she said it's the healthiest thing on the menu this sandwich okay so this is a really important Point Marco and I'm glad you brought it up um I can say that this food is healthy that means it's good for my body U but if I say that it's the healthiest what does that mean how is that different from healthy basically you're saying that it's

the on the list of things that are at the restaurant maybe that are healthy this is the most healthy but you don't say most healthy you say healthiest healthy okay so is chocolate cake the healthiest thing on the menu no probably not it's probably the least healthy so on top we have uh the healthiest thing on the menu um we also have another superlative we heard the word tastiest right this comes from the adjective tasty something is delicious it's tasty it tastes good but here we're saying that it's the thing that tastes the best the

tastiest Choice okay so I think that the avocado sandwich is the tastiest that means means I think it's the best thing you can eat mhm and that's another one actually best is another superlative but it's a little bit different because it's not an is eastest right it's not like tastiest or um or healthiest it's just best right you're saying that it's the number one so the best milkshake in town like in this dialogue or you say the best soccer player in the world is so and so all right so this comes from the adjective good

so we have good which is not bad and uh the best which is the most good right yeah exactly but you don't say the most good you say the best he's the best so maybe Ronaldo is one of the best soccer players in the world exactly all right so now let's uh take a break let's take a look at everything again and we'll be right back with fluency [Music] Builder oh Dear Miss You are soaked wow it's really raining heavily outside yes it sure is I had to run here from work I need to rush

as I'm on my lunch break well please why don't you go ahead of me in line I'm in no hurry oh that's so nice of you thank you very much my pleasure Miss actually could you recommend what to eat here I've never been here before sure well the avocado sandwich is delicious and it's the healthiest thing on the menu personally I think the beef salad is the tastiest choice I usually get that also the milkshakes are the best milkshakes in town wellow thanks for the suggestions yeah don't mention it all right we're back so now

let's take a look at three phrases we picked out on fluency Builder fluency Builder have a great phrase here something that we often hear in conversation polite conversations uh the older man says I'm in no hurry MH now what does this mean does this mean he needs to go somewhere no he says you know what I really don't have to go anywhere fast that's why he let her the girl get in front of him in line at the shop all right so basically it means I can wait I can wait yeah M so if somebody

says oh I'll be right back uh please wait a moment you can say I'm in no hurry take your time okay so I'm in no hurry means it's not that important I don't have to go fast right but if you change the know and you say I'm in a hurry then that means that you have to go faster come on Marco speed it up I'm in a hurry in exactly oh hurry okay yes so just changing those two words that gives you a completely different meaning and uh well the girl Michelle she said oh that's

so nice of you thank you very much and he says my pleasure all right so this is an alternative to the phrase you're welcome okay this is a very polite way to say you're welcome and so when we hear her thank him for something you know thank you for letting me go ahead of you he says my pleasure this is a great great phrase for you guys exactly so now you have another alternative instead of saying you're welcome or no problem or don't mention it now you have uh it's my pleasure this is a little

bit more formal but you can use it in any circumstance that's right and as I said another option here is the is the phrase don't mention it which means exactly the same thing you're welcome that's right so the older gentleman says thanks for the suggestions thanks for your help and what does the young woman say don't mention it don't mention it so this is more colloquial this is a little bit more spoken language um she's saying no problem you're welcome that's right so you have your welcome no problem my pleasure don't mention it all ways

of saying the same thing all right so let's take another listen to our dialogue we'll be back in a moment [Music] oh dear miss you are soaked wow it's really raining heavily outside yes it sure is I had to run here from work I need to rush as I'm on my lunch break well please why don't you go ahead of me in line I'm in no hurry oh that's so nice of you thank you very much my pleasure Miss actually could you recommend what to eat here I've never been here before sure well the avocado

sandwich is delicious and it's the healthiest thing on the menu personally I think the beef salad is the tastiest choice I usually get that also the milkshakes are the best milkshakes in town well thanks for the suggestions no don't mention it all right we're back so talking about the superlatives I know it's a complicated subject because grammar wise it can be a little bit difficult to determine when do you say for example beautiful do you say more beautiful or do you say beautiful you say more beautiful that's right well I don't really have a hard

and fast rule for everyone um it's one of those things that you learn while you're studying English and you just have to remember yes there are some exceptions but usually you can guide Yourself by adjectives that have usually three or more syllables uh you probably have to use most or more amazing right you don't say amazingest most amazing most amazing or more amazing but out funny funny so then you say funnier or funniest or sad you can say saddest all right so sad funny these are one and two syllables sad funny saddest funniest you can

use this ending but with the words like beautiful or amazing they're three syllables they're long you have to say most amazing most beautiful yeah and there are some exceptions to the rule you may find them but usually if you see an adjective that's a little bit long like this you can just say uh you can just use more for the comparative or most for the superlative all right so lots of stuff there I recommend that you guys go check out the dialogue and expansion sentences we have for today our website is englishpod Doom all right

we'll see you guys there bye [Music] bye hello everyone and welcome to English pod my name is Marco my name is Katherine and you've probably heard us talking a little bit about small talk the past few weeks we have another episode about small talk and we're going to teach you some things that you can say to people when you haven't seen them or maybe even met them before that's right today we're going to talk to a stranger so we're going to talk very briefly about some casual topic uh and so let's jump into the dialogue

and see what happens [Music] excuse me is this seat taken no please feel free thanks a lot do you work in Shanghai yes I do how about you no I'm a tourist this place is amazing it's much bigger than I imagined and much more exciting there's so much to see here you can say that again it's much more modern Than People imagine where are you from um well let's see I'm from Kansas originally a much quieter and more peaceful place than here that's for sure uh-huh but I'm living in Paris right now oh Paris wonderful

I'd love to visit sometime all right we're back so now we're going to take a look at a lot of phrases on this occasion so let's go for fluency Builder part one fluency Builder all right so the first phrase we have is a very common phrase if you're in a train or on a bus you hear the phrase is this seat taken right so Michelle came up to the Str and said excuse me is this seat taken that means is anybody sitting here it basically means can I sit here right but this is a very

polite way of asking uh if you can sit down in the seat you can also say it in a restaurant in a movie theater in a classroom so remember this one this was a really really common phrase so it's a very polite way of saying can I sit down right that's right you're asking for permission basically is the seat taken because what if a person says well no it's not do you have to say may I sit down may I take a seat well if they say I'm sorry someone is sitting here that means that

maybe they're waiting for a friend and then no you can't sit there okay but if they say sure like in the dialogue feel free then you're really basically able to sit down no problem right so the stranger Answers by saying no please feel free so he says no the seed is not taken please feel free what does he what does he mean by this okay feel free is a very unusual phrase in English but one that you're going to hear a lot uh it basically means do what you want to do okay okay so if

I want to sit down I say is this seat taken if you say feel free Marco that means feel free to sit down okay so we can complete the sentence by saying no please feel free to sit down but it's kind of stating the obvious you're saying basically feel free to do what you want that's right but you could use it in other ways for example hey Marco are you using this pen right here no no feel free that means feel free to use my pen okay very good and uh so then started talking about

what they do where they work and uh Michelle said yes I work in Shanghai how about you oh how about you now this is a really important uh construction this is a really important phrase in English and I think a lot of people make mistakes with this so how about you means um do you work in Shanghai I just said I work in Shanghai but how about you do you right exactly so that's saying and you do you work here or and you what do you do how about you now the common mistake with how

about you or using the the construction how about is that uh for some reason some people seem to think that it means how is it so for example if someone says how about your weekend that's wrong no we don't say that how was your weekend but uh in this case how about you always follows a statement okay so yes I do live in Shanghai how about you that means do you live in Shanghai if I say I would like to eat a hamburger and french fries how about you how about you what would you like

to eat exactly so remember that's the way that you use how about never say how about your weekend or how about your vacation when you want to ask how was it don't say that no basically this is a way to reply to someone when they're telling you about their experience you want to talk about yours that's right okay so let's take a break Let's uh review everything and we'll be back with uy Builder part [Music] two excuse me is this seat taken no please feel free thanks a lot do you work in Shanghai yes I

do how about you no I'm a tourist this place is amazing it's much bigger than I imagined and much more exciting there's so much to see here you can say that again it's much more modern Than People imagine where are you from um well let's see I'm from Kansas originally a much quieter and more peaceful place than here that's for sure uhhuh but I'm living in Paris right now oh Paris wonderful I'd love to visit sometime all right we're back so now let's continue with some more phrases on fluency Builder Okay this first phrase is

one that I really like to use the phrase is from Michelle she says uh you can say that again but she's talking about how Shanghai is so big and so exciting and Michelle says you can say that again now what does this mean Marco that's right so she is basically agreeing with the person The Stranger says Shanghai is amazing it's great there's so much to see Michelle says you can say that again it's saying I agree with you you are so right I really agree all right so this is very emphatic that means that it's

really uh it's more than just I agree it's I really really agree the person really feels something about this feels passionately about it that's right so if you go to the movies and you say oh that movie was terrible you can say you can say that again exactly that means oh I agree it was really bad that's right now when Michelle asked the stranger where he was from he says I'm from Kansas originally okay what's originally I'm original no um I'm from Kansas originally means maybe I don't live in Kansas now but that's where I

come from MH or origin originally that means you know at the beginning right so just remember Kansas by the way is one of the states in the in the United States and so he's saying he's from Kansas but now he lives in Paris so that's why you say I'm originally from Kansas but I live in Paris all right so Marco you live here in Shanghai but where do you come from originally originally I'm from Ecuador all right and I'm originally from Chicago but I currently live in in China that's right okay so uh as he

was talking about Kansas he also said that well it's obviously uh a lot quieter and more peaceful and then he ends his statement by saying that's for sure that's for sure and this is a phrase that we use to add emphasis on something um it's almost like saying uh this is a really quiet much quieter and peaceful place that's for sure uh it really is it's it's not like you're adding anything to the statement like no meaning but you're you're actually kind of making it more strong right you're saying it's a fact it's a fact

it's it's really this way so obviously compared Kansas compared to Shanghai is a lot more quieter that's for sure mhm or I could say that um in Chicago in the winter it's a lot colder than Shanghai that's for sure right so again you're emphasizing on your statement telling everyone that it's very very much like this this is how it really is okay so that's all the phrases we have for you why don't we listen to our dialogue One Last [Music] Time excuse me is this seat taken no please feel free thanks a lot do you

work in Shanghai yes I do how about you no I'm a tourist this place is amazing it's much bigger than I imagined and much more exciting there's so much to see here you can say that that again it's much more modern Than People imagine where are you from um well let's see I'm from Kansas originally a much quieter and more peaceful place than here that's for sure uh-huh but I'm living in Paris right now oh Paris wonderful I'd love to visit sometime all right so small talk with a stranger this is actually a very common

scenario uh if in a bus in a train you sit next to a stranger this is more or less what you're going to talk about where are you from what do you do where do you live that's right and you don't even have to talk about this with a total stranger you could actually use this with someone that you're working with or um you know just an acquaintance so basically these are key questions that you would ask someone that you don't really know very well that's right and as you can see you're not really going

into any deep personal questions it's very uh light uh conversation very brief as well that's right and I would like to add that in American culture people often think it's very rude to ask someone how much do you earn um how much is your apartment how much is your car so you know in small talk in American culture and I think a lot of Western cultures um we don't talk about money or religion so what religion are you so I think it's important to to talk about things that are very uh very simple you know

what do you do for a living where do you live what how's the weather these things yes yes this is exactly I think one of the main points that when you're learning A Lang languages such as English not only to understand the language but also the culture it's very very different especially for example in Asian cultures where it's no big deal if uh you go to the hairdresser and the hairdresser asks you how much you earn but in the United States or many Western countries it's not something that you talk about your salary or that

you really ask it's kind of personal information it is and if you talk about it you might make people very uncomfortable and so I recommend talking about some of the things that we've discussed here and of the things that we've discussed in other lessons in this series about small talk that's right and if you have any questions or any comments about this lesson you can come and visit us at englishpod do.com we hope to see you guys there until next time bye bye hello everyone and welcome to English pod my name is Marco and my

name is Catherine and today at English pod we have a lesson for you about small talk that's right we continue with our series about short casual conversations you may have with your friends somebody you haven't seen in a long time or maybe even a coworker that's right so in today's dialogue we're going to listen to two people who work in the same building they're going to talk a little bit about travel right Marco yep we're going to talk a little bit about recommending a place to go on vacation maybe Europe and so we're going to

have some great phrases as to speaking of this topic very briefly with a friend all right let's listen to today's dialogue [Music] hey Michelle good to see you are you at lunch oh hi Jim no I just got back I thought you were on vacation now no I wish I was I just got back from Spain actually oh wonderful have you been there before or was it your first time my first time I've traveled around Europe a lot but this is my first time to Spain it was amazing and the weather was just beautiful no

rain and just sun sun sun M I'm so jealous of you I've never been anywhere in Europe I've always dreamed of traveling around and seeing the sites well I really recommend Spain you really should go anyway it's been great to catch up but I must be going this is my floor speak again soon I hope for sure take care all right we're back so now let's take a look at some of the language on language takeaway language takeaway all right in language takeaway we've got a couple of words and phrases for you the first one

is I just got back so to get back from somewhere Marco that's right Jim just got back from Europe and when you say I just got back is I recently or very recently returned from somewhere that's right to get back from somewhere means to return from that place so in this dialogue Jim just just got back from Spain Michelle just got back from lunch this means to return from somewhere that's right so it can be a place uh not only a country but it can be for example uh the office I just got back from

work or I just got back from football practice that's why I'm very sweaty right so this obviously means that you are now not in the same place where you just got back from no I'm from America I went to Spain on vacation and I just got back from Spain that means I'm I'm in America again yeah exactly you're not still in Spain no all right so that's for our first word now let's go on and Michelle said oh I'm so jealous of you all right jealous is an adjective and a very very common one you

can use it in many different circumstances it means to want what someone else has that's right so in this case Michelle is jealous that Jim went on vacation so she wishes she could go on vacation that's right I'm so jealous of you or if you see someone who has a new pair of shoes and you like the shoes because you don't have them you can say I'm so jealous I love your shoes that's right so you say I am jealous or if you are jealous of a person you say I am jealous of you and

so they were ending their conversation and Jim said you know what it's been great to catch up with you all right this is a really important phrase to catch up um it means two different things and we're going to talk about one meaning here today um to catch up with someone like to talk to to them about what they've been doing recently means to learn about their life because maybe you haven't talked in a long time that's right so maybe you haven't seen your friend in 2 years and you go out for dinner to catch

up to talk about what has happened in your lives recently that's right or you can if you see a friend on the street and you you you know that you haven't seen him or her in a long time you can make a date to catch up so hey Marco I haven't seen you in months let's catch up sometime soon that's right and and that means to share information and to find out how you have been recently exactly all right now when he was getting out of the elevator he said this is my floor now we

know floor but my floor what is this my floor your floor whose floor right this doesn't make much sense does it well actually floor here means that this is the the floor that I work on or the floor that I live on it means the place I'm going to right so we know floor the the ground beneath our feet in a building but in this case we're talking about one of the levels of a building so maybe the sixth floor that's right so if I'm in my apartment building uh in the elevator I can say

oh oh oh stop the elevator this is my floor I want to get off the elevator right this is where this is where I live mhm all right so a lot of great stuff there why don't we take a break and listen to the dialogue again [Music] hey Michelle good to see you are you at lunch oh hi Jim no I just got back I thought you were on vacation now no I wish I was I just got back from Spain actually oh wonderful have you been there before or was it your first time my

first time I've traveled around Europe a lot but this is my first time to Spain it was amazing and the weather was just beautiful no rain and just sun sun sun I'm so jealous of you I've never been anywhere in Europe I've always dreamed of traveling around and seeing the sites well I really recommend Spain you really should go anyway it's been great to catch up but I must be going this is my floor speak again soon I hope for sure take care all right we're back so now let's take a look at four key

phrases on fluency Builder fluency Builder so there are some keys to these small talk conversations and they are definitely the phrases the first one we have here is um good to see you so Jim says hey Michelle good to see you that's right so we've chosen this phrase because it's very casual and very common to use as a polite way of saying hey how are you good to see you I'm actually showing you that I'm happy that I am talking to you so this is a very uh flexible phrase you can say it at the

beginning of a conversation when you just see someone hey Marco good to see you or at the end you can say it was very good to see you I hope to see you again soon that's right so maybe you can use it at the beginning if you just begin to talk to someone or if you're saying goodbye you can say well you know what I have to go now but it's been good to see you mhm so very flexible phrase that's right that's right now when Michelle thought that Jim was on vacation uh Jim said

no no no I wish I was all right I wish I was I thought you were on vacation so she thought that he was still on vacation in Spain and he says well I'm not because you know here I am but I wish I was I wish I was in Spain right now because Spain is so nice that's right so it may seem a little bit strange but it's actually completing the idea so uh and basically we're using the verb to be because that's the question are are you on vacation no I wish I was

on vacation so that means he's not but he wants to be that's right okay so now he actually had to get going and he used this exact phrase he said I must be going I must be going now remember this as a phrase this is a good way to end a conversation maybe you have to go to work maybe you have your kids at home you have to take them somewhere so you say I'm really sorry I must be going but let's see each other again soon that's right so you are politely ending the conversation

you are politely saying I can't talk to you anymore I must be going now but it's been great to talk to you that's right very polite so remember this one it's better than I'm going now we don't say that yeah or I have to go well you can say I have to go but it's nice saying oh you know what uh I really like talking to you but I must be going now and Jim also finished by saying we we'll speak again soon and Michelle said for sure for sure now Americans particularly love to say

this phrase for sure means yes or I agree or definitely right right let's you can use it as an interjection so uh if I say hey Katherine am I going to see you later on today yeah for sure for sure there we go so you're saying yes absolutely definitely for sure so Marco my birthday is Friday night are you going to come to the party ah for sure I wouldn't miss it for the world a all right so that's all we have for today why don't we review everything we've taken a look at now and

listen to the dialogue one last time [Music] hey Michelle good to see you are you at lunch oh hi Jim no I just got back I thought you were on vacation now no I wish I was I just got back from Spain actually oh wonderful have you been there before or was it your first time my first time I've traveled around Europe a lot but this was my first time to Spain it was amazing and the weather was just beautiful no rain and just Sun son son M I'm so jealous of you I've never been

anywhere in Europe I've always dreamed of traveling around and seeing the sights well I really recommend Spain you really should go anyway it's been great to catch up but I must be going this is my floor speak again soon I hope for sure take care all right so this was another part of our small talk series as you can see very short but uh very useful language used to talk very briefly with someone it always happens you meet somebody at the elevator or you just want to talk very quickly yeah but you don't want to

talk about anything that's too personal like someone's politics or their religious beliefs or their children because maybe you don't know them very well so these are really great topics to talk about like um business trips or vacation or the weather um English speakers love to talk about these when they don't know someone that while that's right that's right so if you have any questions or any comments about this lesson or you want to suggest any other topics you can find us at englishpod tocom we hope to see you all there bye see you guys [Music]

bye hello everyone and welcome to English pod my name is Marco my name is Katherine and we've got another lesson in our series about small talk today that's right today we we are at the office again and we're going to be talking very briefly about uh something a business meeting that we're going to have soon that's right so let's check out our dialogue we'll be back in a [Music] moment ah Michelle hi I was hoping to see you how have you been how's the family oh hello Mr Campbell I'm fine and Jack's doing well how

are you I'm fine thanks I got your report this morning thanks for that are you joining the conference today yes I'm leaving at 400 p.m. good well we can discuss this more then but I think the figures are looking very good for this quarter yes me too I'm planning to discuss the advertising budget at the conference I don't think we should continue with the TV advertising no me neither it's far too expensive well let's discuss this more at the conference maybe we can share a taxi there yes sure all right we're back so now let's

take a look at some vocab on language takeaway language takeaway today in language takeaway we have a number of phrases and words about business the first one we have is are you joining the conference today that's right so we're going to go to a conference actually which is a little bit different than a meeting that's right a meeting is something you normally do with people at your own company but a conference is when people from many different companies meet that's right so and also I think you don't really have too much input at a conference

you mostly listen to other people uh speak about a topic or a subject that's right and I think these are normally held in Conference Centers or hotels uh you have a nice lunch so they're pretty big deals that's right all right so it's it's more of a formal business conference that we're going to and uh well they're actually going to discuss different aspects of the company as well uh especially the figures all right so in the context of business the word figure actually means number okay so we can say um the sales numbers for this

year are are a kind of figure mhm that's right so we're talking about money basically when we're talking about numbers that's right so when the figures look good it means that our our income our Revenue this looks good that's right and when we usually talk about income or Revenue we usually have to separate it into time and and here in the dialogue we're talking about a quarter all right so quarter qu quarter is a period of time very common in business that is a quarter of the year so three months three months that's right January

February March April May June and so on that's right so you have four quarters and that's actually what uh that's why you call it a quarter because it's 1/4 so we can say the figures for the first quarter were very good but unfortunately the figures for the second quarter were very bad that's right and actually another similar way that you use quarter is is the 25 cent coin it's called a quarter because it's a quarter of a dollar that's right and if you're in America you know that it has an eagle a bird on one

side of it that's right all right so we are taking a look at the figures for the quarter and they're saying well it's it's not looking too good because we need need to talk about the advertising budget all right so this is something that you um you think is very important it's budget it's how much money you have to spend on something and in this case you're spending it on Advertising so this is ads that you make that's right so as you said a budget is the amount of money to that you have available to

spend on something and on this occasion we're talking about advertising now you can have a budget for different things right you could have a marketing budget uhhuh so the money you have for marketing you could have a Personnel budget which is the money you would set aside for people mhm so how much you pay your employees mhm right so you can pretty much mix up many different nouns with budget even you can have a budget for your home how much you spend at home that's right so many people have this for their families they say

this month I will spend $100 on shopping and $200 on shoes uh-huh uh-huh so it's it's like a family budget you would call it that's right okay okay so that's all the words we have for you on language takeaway let's review everything quickly and we'll be back in a bit with fluency [Music] Builder ah Melle hi I was hoping to see you how have you been how's the family oh hello Mr Campbell I'm fine and Jack's doing well how are you I'm fine thanks I got your report this morning thanks for that are you joining

the conference today yes I'm leaving at 400 p.m. good well we can discuss this more then but I think the figures are looking very good for this quarter yes me too I'm planning to discuss the advertising budget at the conference I don't think we should continue with the TV advertising no me neither it's far too expensive well let's discuss this more at the conference maybe we can share a taxi there yeah sure all right in today's fluency Builder we have a number of phrases you could use in a small talk situation the first one's a

question how's the family how's the family now it it's how apostrophe s the family right so how is the family would be the extended way of saying it that's right but this is a short way to say it it's very common and you normally say this with people who are a little bit older people who have kids MH so I haven't seen you in a long time Marco and I I know you have some kids and I can say how's the family how's the family that's right and it's actually it may seem strange um the

way that this sentence is made but it's very very much uh similar to how are you you have how to be and you in the subject that's right and this is a very polite way to to say hi how how are you how is your family how is the wife how's the wife how's the wife and uh she said well you know what everything is great I'm fine and Jax I guess that's uh that's her husband is doing well Jack is doing well so doing well thanks this means good okay but you know when we

say when we say the answer to this question how are you I'm well that's that's the correct answer I'm good is not correct right so if somebody says how are you you can say I'm well or you can say I'm doing well that's a positive answer things are going well you could say not so well that's not a not not not good things are happening very good and it's very important to point out the difference as Katherine said you don't you don't you shouldn't use good I'm doing good or I'm good yeah no it's incorrect

because good is an adjective and we're we're looking for an adverb here that's right well that's right all right and to finish things off Mr Campbell and Michelle we headed headed the same way so they decided to share a taxi that's right so to share a taxi means two people or three people will uh pay for one taxi together so um maybe Marco I see you on the street and I know that you have to go to a conference I'm going to the same conference let's share a taxi it will cost less that's right so

you will share the cost between all the people in the cab now there's another way of saying it as well more common I think in the in the United States that's right we say split a taxi let's split a cab let's split a cab now remember that it's a taxi cab so sometimes people just don't say taxi they say a cab let's split a cab let's share a cab that's right Cab Taxi both are okay all right very good good stuff let's listen to everything One Last [Music] Time ah Melle hi I was hoping to

see you how have you been how's the family oh hello Mr Campbell I'm fine and Jack's doing well how are you I'm fine thanks I got your report this morning thanks for that are you joining the conference today yes I'm leaving at 400 p.m. good well we can discuss this more then but I think the figures are looking very good for this quarter yes me too I'm planning to discuss the advertising budget at the conference I don't think we should continue with the TV advertising no me neither it's far too expensive well let's discuss this

more at the conference maybe we can share a taxi there yeah sure all right so we're getting towards the end of our small talk series as you can see we are taking a look at different quick but uh very useful dialogues that you can uh have with someone a small conversation whether about business family whatever that's right and in today's dialogue we heard two people who probably know each other talking so sometimes you're with people who are strangers you don't know what to say to them you can listen to our other episodes on small talk

for things to talk about with those people that's right and of course if you have any questions or comments you can visit us at pod.com we hope to see you all there until next time bye [Music] bye hello everyone and welcome to English pod my name is Marco my name is Katherine and today we're talking a little bit about more small talk that's right we're going to continue our Series this is part nine so we're coming close to the end of our 10p part series and today we're following Melissa and Michelle as they discuss very

casually their personal life specifically about their marriages or getting married that's right so this one's a little bit more difficult than the last few let's take a listen to the dialogue and when we come back we'll be talking about some of those phrases that you [Music] heard hey Michelle jumping quick it's sporing out there oh hi Melissa are you going to the conference too I was planning to pick up Mr Campbell yes he told me we need to pick him up at his hotel and then go to the conference oh I see okay so I

heard you got married congratulations a thank you I'm very excited we were going to get married next year but then we decided to get married on holiday instead it was wonderful that sounds so romantic Jack and I were hoping to get married in Europe next year but we we had to postpone our plans we just don't have the money I know what you mean I think Shanghai is getting more and more expensive don't you I sure do in my opinion it's actually becoming more expensive than back home definitely oh there's Mr Campbell driver can you

stop here please all right we're back so a lot of interesting phrases in this dialogue more than vocab so we're going to have two fluency Builders let's start with the first one now fluency Builder the first phrase in today's fluency Builder is the phrase jump in so Melissa says hey Michelle jump in quick that's right so Melissa is actually in a taxi and that's why she's saying jump in quick so she is directing Michelle to do something she's saying jump in so it's actually her telling me Melissa get in the car that's right and um

so we can use this uh phrase to jump in somewhere uh which means um you're going to do it very quickly yeah to go somewhere or to get in a place very quickly we could say it about a cab we could also say it about a swimming pool maybe I'm swimming in the water and I say Marco jump in the water's nice that's right or maybe you just got back from the gym and uh you're going to jump in the shower really quick and before you go out again you're not actually going to jump like

you jump the action but you're you're going to get into the shower very quickly that's right and of course Melissa tells Michelle to jump in the cab quickly because it's pouring out there it's pouring what's pouring pouring pouring water pouring wine that's right it's actually yeah it's pouring water out there it means it's raining very very hard okay so it's not just drizzling a little little bit it's raining very hard it's pouring rain okay so we don't have to say the word rain we can just say it's pouring that's right as you can see in

that sentence Melissa doesn't say at any time it's raining but we understand that when somebody says it's pouring out there you know that means it's raining very hard can't be chocolate can't be chocolate can't be dogs or cats right no all right so um Michelle gets in the cabin she says well we have to pick up Mr Campbell Mr Campbell and Melissa says yep we need to pick him up at the hotel all right the verb here is to pick up now we want to just remember this as as a phrasal verb uh you pick

someone up in your car uh you could even pick someone up on your bicycle that's right that's right so but you can see that you can say we need to pick up Tommy at the hotel or you can say we need to pick Tommy up so you can use it both ways you can put the noun in between or after so can you pick me up at 5 right right or can you pick up the clothes at the the dry cleaners that's right it means to go collect something so you can use it in different

uh ways you can put the noun between pickup or you can put it after and uh all right so they're going to go pick up Mr Campbell now they're talking well they're kind of gossiping a little bit they said well I heard you got married all right so I heard now this is a very very common way to start a sentence that might have some gossip in it so I'm going to say something that um might or might not be true that's right so you're not really sure if it's true or not so this is

why you start with the sentence I heard that something something something so in this case she said I heard you got married or I heard you got married because I'm I'm basically saying wow some rumor made it to me and and I and I heard that you got married but I'm not sure so she's asking did you get married uh if so congratulations that's right that's right so it's a very common way of starting a sentence when you are talking to someone and maybe you want them to confirm this this news or this gossip or

this rumor is true or not I heard you got a promotion that's right congratulations mhm so that's the way that you use this phrase I heard you or well if you're using another person I heard that Tom uh got divorced I heard Susie had a baby that's right all right so that's all for the first part of fluency Builder let's take a break and we'll be back in a bit with part two [Music] hey Michelle jumping quick it's pouring out there oh hi Melissa are you going to the conference too I was planning to pick

up Mr Campbell yes he told me we need to pick him up at his hotel and then go to the conference oh I see okay so I heard you got married congratulations a thank you I'm very very excited we were going to get married next year but then we decided to get married on holiday instead it was wonderful that sounds so romantic Jack and I were hoping to get married in Europe next year but we had to postpone our plans we just don't have the money I know what you mean I think Shanghai is getting

more and more expensive don't you I sure do in my opinion it's actually becoming more expensive than back home definitely oh there's Mr Campbell driver can you can you stop here please all right so now we're back with part two of fluency Builder let's get started with the first phrase uh when she says that they got married on holiday what does that mean on holiday is another way of saying on vacation so while we were having a holiday somewhere uh this happened mhm so you could say we decided to get married on holiday that means

when they were traveling when they were on vacation they got married so it's kind of more of a British way of saying right on holiday yes you could say you know where did you go on holiday but maybe in America we'd prefer to say where did you go on vacation on vacation so both are correct you can say we got married while on holiday or we got married while on vacation both are correct there just a little bit of difference between British English and American English and then moving on she said well they also wanted

to get married Michelle did but they had to postpone their wedding okay to postpone something means to wait until later to do it so you maybe want to do it today but it's raining today so you have to postpone until next week that's right so it's kind of like you had to delay you had to wait yeah that's right so you could say that uh because of bad weather the picnic will be postponed until next month okay so that's the way that you use postpone now it's it's interesting cuz you have a p in between

there so it's postponed postpone yeah it's an interesting word to pronounce okay and uh well they also had to postpone it because of money you know it's just very expensive and Melissa agrees by saying I know what you mean I know what you mean now this is a really common phrase and this is something you'll hear with um more relaxed conversations between friends uh it means I understand the situation or um I feel the same way so in this case we just don't have the money Melissa is saying I know what you mean it means

I'm having a hard time with money too I don't have much money either that's right so uh you understand what she's talking about you also agree I know what you mean I that's it's just a way of agreeing with someone all right and then uh she goes on to confirm what Michelle is saying by saying I think Shanghai is getting more and more expensive all right um this is a really really key structure here we have more and more more and more and then after that we have an adjective so um the structure is more

and more adjective so more and more spicy more and more funny more and more expensive mhm um so in this case the city is more expensive than it was before that's right and it's still getting more expensive that's right that's the main idea when you use this structure is that when you save more and more and then you add an adjective such as expensive or beautiful it means that it continues to grow it continues to get more expensive or more beautiful or or more difficult but remember that we are using adjectives here that are when

you're using the comparative you can't say for example you can't use funny you can't say you are getting more and more funny because obviously the comparative for funny is funnier so just uh be careful with that one because uh it it could be a little bit confusing all right so and to finish off our fluency Builder we have Michelle who agrees with Melissa and says yeah you know I I I think Shanghai is getting more expensive and she says I sure do so she's basically agreeing she's saying yes that's true uhhuh but uh why why

does she say I sure do why doesn't she say agree I agree or yeah you're right well she doesn't have to say it because um she says I do she's the question before that was I think something something don't you and she says I do and I think that so it's assumed that she also thinks this she's answering a question that's right so um the that's an interesting way of asking a question when you say um I think this city is beautiful don't you so the proper way to answer that would be I do or

I sure do all right so that's all the time we have for fluency Builder let's listen to our dialogue one last time [Music] hey Michelle jumping quick it's pouring out there oh hi Melissa are you going to the conference too I was planning to pick up Mr Campbell yes he told me we need to pick him up at his hotel and then go to the conference oh I see okay so I heard you got married congratulations a thank you I'm very excited we were going to get married next year but then we decided to get

married on holiday instead it was wonderful that sounds so romantic Jack and I were hoping to get married in Europe next year but we had to postpone our plans we just don't have the money I know what you mean I think Shanghai is getting more and more expensive don't you I sure do in my opinion it's actually becoming more expensive than back home definitely oh there's Mr Campbell driver can you stop here please all right so we're reaching the end of our small talk Series in this case it's two women who are talking about their

personal lives and uh not only that they're talking about weddings and they're talking about money so this is a very interesting way to talk about these very common topics personal life love and especially money but remember in American culture these are the kinds of things you would only talk to your friends about you wouldn't really want to talk to Str about money personal life marriage because those are considered private so be careful when you're talking to people you don't know very well that's right that's right and actually your feedback was very interesting when we discussed

about uh if it's uh okay to ask for example uh a woman her her age or her weight or a man's salary so in most places you said that it wasn't really correct but you know this is the the very interesting thing about the cultural differences and how people can you know what is appropriate to talk about that's right so again if you have any questions or comments about the things we talked about here today or any of our older uh lessons about small talk please just let us know our website is englishpod do.com all

right guys we'll see you there bye [Music] bye hello everyone and welcome to English pod my name is Marco my name is Katherine and today we're talking a little bit about small talk that's right we are getting towards the end of our series actually this is the last uh podcast that we will have all about small talk and we're just going to be following Mr Campbell and Michelle and Melissa and they're just going to talk very briefly about the weather about traveling very uh casual things that's right so let's take a listen to this dialogue

and we'll be back in a moment to discuss what's going on [Music] hi ladies thanks for picking me up it's awful weather out there absolutely it's been raining for hours how are you Melissa are you okay I'm great thanks Mr Campbell do you have any business trips plann soon Mr Campbell of course I'm always traveling I'll leave for London next Monday and then I'll fly to Boston from there it's going to be a busy month how about you Michelle do you have any vacation plans yes Mike and I will travel to Beijing to see my

experence for the spring festival and hopefully next year we will visit London I hear it's a wonderful City I couldn't agree more London is really fantastic it's my favorite city I'm sure you'll have a great time all right we're back so now let's take a look at language takeaway language takeaway all right we don't have that much today language takeway but we do have a couple of really important words and phrases the first one comes from the very first line Mr Campbell says hi ladies thanks for picking me up that's right now this phrasal verb

to pick someone up means uh to get them right to yeah to gather them to collect them um you can do this with a car like I will pick you up at the airport but you can also do it in person by just walking to a place and meeting somebody and then taking them somewhere else that's the important part you take them somewhere else so maybe if you go pick your kids up from school you just walk there you get them and you walk back home that's right and so the key here is that you

remember that the verb goes first I will pick and then you have the person I will pick you up I will pick them up he will pick us up that's right so the subject goes between pick and and up that's right all right so we're going to pick someone up and then Mr cample comments on the weather he says it's awful weather out there it's awful all right so awful you listen to the tone you automatically think that this is probably a bad thing and you're right it is a bad thing but uh what's another

way to say awful it's terrible it's bad it's horrible mhm so awful is a way to say something's really bad and we use it very often with the weather this weather is awful but we can also use it about other things like food for example mhm so if you have something to eat and it doesn't taste good you can say this is awful what is this or what's that awful smell mhm oh Marco took his shoes o right an awful smell all right and well Mr Campbell went on to tell them that he's taking another

trip soon but a specific kind of trip all right so you know that there are many different kinds of trips but the one that he's taking is a business trip so normally we could just say I'm going on a trip next year but uh here we specify we say it's a business trip so what are we doing on this trip Marco that's right so we're basically working we're going because our company needs us to go to a me meeting or to do some work abroad all right so you know on a business trip that you'll

be doing work things you'll be having meetings you will not be going to Disney World you will not be meeting with friends and going to movies probably right exactly so it's very different from a a vacation a vacation you go with the objective of going to these fun places so can I say I'm going on a business vacation no you're either going on vacation or you're taking a business trip all right business trip so now let's take a break and let's review our [Music] dialogue hi ladies thanks for picking me up it's awful weather out

there absolutely it's been raining for hours how are you Melissa are you okay I'm great thanks Mr Campbell do you have any business trips planned soon Mr Campbell of course I'm always traveling I'll leave for London next Monday and then I'll fly to Boston from there it's going to be a busy month how about you Michelle do you have any vacation plans yes Mike and I will travel to Beijing to see my exp parents for the spring festival and hopefully next year we will visit London I hear it's a wonderful City I couldn't agree more

London is really fantastic it's my favorite city I'm sure you'll have a great time all right so now let's take a look at four key phrases on fluency Builder fluency Builder all right now we have a great phrase for everybody here in fluency Builder Melissa is talking to Mr Campbell and he asks her how she is are you okay and she says I'm great thanks now Marco why would we use this phrase instead of I'm fine thank you well it's basically the same thing um it's just another way of answering this common question how are

you you can say I'm fine thank you I'm uh I'm well but this is just another way of saying I'm okay all right but I think it's important too to remember that this is also very casual like the rest of the conversation and pretty enthusiastic she's great uh so it's important to remember that I'm fine thanks is standard it's very normal but I'm great is a nice way to change it and and do something different that's right okay and now we wanted to ask if we have any plans but we wanted to know if we

have any vacation plans and the interesting thing about this question was that Mr Campbell said any vacation plans so that's how he that's the whole sentence well first he says how about you Michelle any vacation plans so what we think here is that maybe it's wrong do you have any vacation plans is something that we we'd want to hear right right but here we don't actually need to say do you have any vacation plans because it's pretty clear who we're talking to we're talking to Michelle right right and we're talking about traveling and we're talking

about plans so it's overstated that we don't really need to say do you you have any vacation plans we're we're already talking about the subject now this is a great way to transition one person is talking about himself or herself and then you want to talk about the other person so so you say what about you any vacation plans or any dinner plans or any ideas exactly so it it's a it's a great way to like you say transition from one idea or from one person to another mhm now to the next phrase a very

common one specifically when you are not really sure about something but somebody told you specifically in this case Michelle says I hear it's a wonderful City when talking about London so what does she mean by I hear it's a wonderful City well basically Michelle is saying she's never been to London but she's read or she's heard um from friends or from a TV show that London's a wonderful City so she can't say it is a wonderful City because she's never been there but she can say listen you know I have I have heard this from

other people or from magazines so it's it's not even clear where she heard it but that's not really important so basically the idea is that we don't know personally but we have friends that told us or we have read in in a magazine or a TV show we've seen it that it's great so you can use it with many things like a restaurant that's right I hear the food is delicious or I could say hey Marco I'm going to Hong Kong Disneyland next year right and I can say oh I hear that it's a very

fun place so Marco you've never been there no I've never been there okay all right and to finish off Mr Campbell agrees completely about London being such a wonderful City and he says I couldn't agree more I couldn't agree more so he agrees we understand that um but I couldn't agree more is like saying I really really agree right like you are completely right yeah so um this is a way to exaggerate you know you want to say I agree H it's a little boring so you say I couldn't agree more I'm agreeing the most

I can that's right and uh then we can also use the opposite which would be if you disagree with someone I couldn't disagree more so you just changed that one word I couldn't disagree more so maybe I don't like London maybe it's too rainy or too dark for me so I say h i couldn't disagree more I think London is terrible ooh right maybe not the right thing to say in a small talk situation but we can talk about that in a minute exactly all right right so let's review everything One Last [Music] Time hi

ladies thanks for picking me up it's awful weather out there absolutely it's been raining for hours how are you Melissa are you okay I'm great thanks Mr Campbell do you have any business trips planned soon Mr Campbell of course I'm always traveling I'll leave for London next Monday and then I'll I'll fly to Boston from there it's going to be a busy month how about you Michelle do you have any vacation plans yes Mike and I will travel to Beijing to see my exp parents for the spring festival and hopefully next year we will visit

London I hear it's a wonderful City I couldn't agree more London is really fantastic it's my favorite city I'm sure you'll have a great time all right so this is our last podcast all about small talk and uh well I hope it's been useful we've gotten some great feed feedback about the different topics and small conversations you can have with a stranger a coworker a friend uh to kind of you know not have that awkward silence that's right we've uh we've gone over a lot of different situations we've had situations with strangers situations with work

friends um but I think what's really important is that in all these situations we're very polite we say nice things um there are these transition transitions like I hear or um I couldn't agree more these are wonderful ways of really um being nice to the person you're talking to that's right and we're going to come out with a new series soon so we would really like your feedback any topics or any specific subject you want us to talk you can let us know at englishpod domcom and also your questions and comments can be left there

that's right so please get in touch with us englishpod do.com we'll see you guys there bye [Music]