GREETING & GENERAL THINGS

Lessons for today:

Greeting - Basic 2. Greeting Someone you Know 3. Greeting - Example Conversations 4. Greeting - Interactive Practice 5. How is your Day - General Statements 6. How is your day - Example Conversation 7. How is your day - Interactive Practice 8. Tomorrow's Plan - I am going to 9. Tomorrow's Plan - Questions and Answers 10. Tomorrow's Plan - Example Conversation 11 Tomorrow's Plan - Interactive Practice

Greeting - Basic
There are many ways to greet someone. We'll learn about the most common way to greet someone in this lesson. I'll give a variety of example sentences. Greeting someone you never met: "Hi, my name is Steve. It's nice to meet you." You can respond to this by saying, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Jack." Another common question to ask is "What do you do for a living?" You can respond to this by saying, "I work at a restaurant." "I work at a bank." "I work in a software company." "I'm a dentist." Usually, you will not need to ask for a name. It is implied that each person should say their name. But in case they don't, you can ask, "What is your name?" Many times, I don't hear the name. If you would like for them to repeat their name, you can say, "What was that again?" "Excuse me?" "Pardon me?"

Greeting Someone you Know

"Hey John, how have you been?" "Hi Bob, how are you?" "Hi Nancy, what have you been up to?" "Andy, it's been a long time, how are you man?" If you meet someone unexpectedly, you can say, "Hey Jack, it's good to see you. What are you doing here?" or "What a surprise. I haven't seen you in a long time. How have you been?" If you see the person at a restaurant, you can say, "Do you come to this restaurant often?" Or at the movie theatre, "What movie did you come to see?" Appropriate responses: "Hi Steve, my name is Mike. It is nice to meet you as well."

"I heard a lot about you from John. He had a lot of good things to say." "Wow. How long has it been? It seems like more than a year. I'm doing pretty well. How about you?" A typical response to this type of greeting is simple. "Not too bad." If asked what you have been up to, you can respond with, "Same ole same ole." Or, "The same as usual." Here are some other example responses. "I'm pretty busy at work these days, but otherwise, everything is great." "I'm doing very well." "I finally have some free time. I just finished taking a big examination, and I'm so relieved that I'm done with it." Restaurant Responses "I've been here a couple of times, but I don't come on a regular basis." "I come pretty often. This is my favorite restaurant." "I can't believe we haven't seen each other before. I come here at least twice a week." Movie Response "I came here to see Matrix Revolution. How about you?"

Greeting - Example Conversations

Let's look at several example conversations. Then we can move on to the practice section. Person A: "Hi, my name is Steve. It's nice to meet you." Person B: "I'm Jack. It's a pleasure to meet you, Steve." Person A: "What do you do for a living Jack?" Person B: "I work at the bank." Person A: "What is your name?" Person B: "Jackson." Person A: "What was that again?" Person A: "Hey John, how have you been?" Person B: "What a surprise. I haven't seen you in a long time. How have you been?" Person A: "I'm doing very well. How about you?" Person B: "I finally have some free time. I just finished taking a big examination, and I'm so relieved that I'm done with it." Person A: "Hi Nancy, what have you been up to?" Person B: "The same ole same ole." Or, "The same as usual. How about you?" Person A: "I'm pretty busy at work these days, but otherwise, everything is great." Person A: "Andy, it's been a long time, how are you man?" Person B: "What a surprise. I haven't seen you in a long time. How have you been?" Person A: "Do you come to this restaurant often?" Person B: "I've been here a couple of times, but I don't come on a regular basis." The next lesson is the interactive practice section. If you would like to repeat this lesson or previous lessons, feel free to go back and study as many times as you need. When you are ready, go to the practice section.

Greeting - Interactive Practice

A: "Hi, how are you doing?" B: "I'm doing great. How about you?" A: "Not too bad." B: "Do you come to this restaurant often?" A: "I've been here a couple of times, but I don't come on a regular basis. What have you been up to?" B: "I'm pretty busy at work these days, but otherwise, everything is great." A: "Well, have a good evening."

B: "You too."

A: "It's nice to meet you. My name is Jack." B: "I'm Steve. It's a pleasure to meet you." A: "What was your name again?" B: "Steve." A: "So Steve, What do you do for a living?" B: "I work at the public library. How about you?" A: "I'm a University student." B: "That's great. It was nice meeting you." A: "Yeah. It was a pleasure meeting you."

A: "Hey Jack, it's good to see you." B: "Wow. How long has it been? It seems like more than a year. I'm doing pretty well. How about you?" A: "Not too bad." B: "What movie did you come to see?" A: "I came here to see Matrix Revolution. How about you?" B: "I'm going to watch Finding Nemo."

How is your Day - General Statements

In this lesson, we are going to learn how to communicate to someone using the present tense. However, because this isn't a site teaching grammar, I do not want to spend too much time on details. I wanted to include this section primarily to show many different sentences using present tense and to have a dedicated practice section with only present tense sentences. This lesson is a little shorter than others because speaking in the present tense is not as common as speaking in the future or past tense. Although speaking in the future tense or the past tense is more common, it is still important to know how to communicate in the present tense. Here are some example sentences: "I see Bob over there by the newspaper stand." "I'm going to the library." "I'm on my way home." "I'm going to the bus stop." "Jack is going to the store." "Jill is stopping by now." "The meeting is starting now." "The manager is waiting for you in her office." "Tell the receptionist that you are here to see Mr. Hwang." Questions: A very common question you will run into is, "How are you doing?" "How is your day going?" "What are you doing now?" To answer these types of question, you must remember that you are talking about what is currently going on now, so you must use the present tense. Here are some ways to answer the above question. "I'm enjoying the beautiful weather without any worries in the world." "I'm playing a video game on my computer because I have nothing to do." "I'm at the grocery store buying ingredients for tonight's dinner." "I'm at the gym working out." As you can see, each sentence is starting with, 'I am' instead of 'I will be' or 'I was.' We will discuss past tense and future tense in the next sessions. More descriptive answers you can give are the following: "I'm pretty busy right now. I'm doing my homework because I have an exam tomorrow." "My project deadline is coming up, so I'm currently in the process of finishing my tasks." "I'm taking the day off from work today because I have so many errands. I'm going to the post office to send some packages to my friends." "I'm looking for a job. The job market does not look that great, but I can't give up." "I'm applying for a job at a consulting firm in Taiwan." "I'm listening to music while thinking about my situation."

How is your day - Example Conversation

The present tense is more common in writing. As you can see by all the explanations I am giving, they are all written in the present tense. That is because it is instructional. Instructional writing is more commonly written in present tense. However, stories in novels are written in past tense. The reason past and future tense is used more commonly than present tense when speaking is because usually you are telling someone what you have done or what you plan on doing. Speaking in the present tense is used primarily to tell someone what you are currently doing. As in previous lessons in 'Bored and Greeting' it is very common to have a conversation using the present tense when you run into somebody or when you make or receive a phone call. Let's use this time now to incorporate what we have learned so far. Person A: "Hi Jack. What are you doing?"

Person B: "Hi Mary. I'm filling out a job application." Person A: "Are you finished with school already?" Person B: "No. I have one more semester, but it would be great to have a job lined up." Person A: "How is your day going?" Person B: "Quite busy. I'm preparing for my presentation tomorrow on our marketing strategy. I'm not even half done yet." Person A: "You must feel stressed out now." Person B: "That's an understatement." Person A: "What are you doing now?" Person B: "I'm playing pool with my friends at a pool hall." Person A: "I didn't know you play pool. Are you having fun?" Person B: "I'm having a great time. How about you? What are you doing?" Person A: "I'm taking a break from my homework. There seems to be no end to the amount of work I have to do." Person B: "I'm glad I'm not in your shoes."

How is your day - Interactive Practice

A: "What are you doing now?" B: "I'm watching TV." A: "What are you watching?" B: "I'm watching Friends. What are you doing?" A: "I'm doing my homework, but I really need to take a break." B: "You want to do something?" A: "Yes. But I shouldn't. I got to finish my assignment now." B: "Alright. Call me later then." A: "OK. Bye."

A: "Where are you going now?" B: "I'm going to the bank." A: "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" B: "I'm working now. I'm making a deposit for our company." A: "Where do you work?" B: "I work for a restaurant as a controller." A: "Wow. That's great." B: "Great seeing you. I have to go now. I'll talk to you later."

A: "Hi Steve. What are you doing here?" B: "I'm meeting a friend here for dinner. How about you?" A: "I'm on my way home but I needed to stop by the book store to buy a text book." B: "Didn't you finish school yet?" A: "I have one more year, and then I'm done." B: "What are you majoring in?" A: "I'm majoring in Sociology" B: "How do you like your major?" A: "I really find the subject very interesting. I'm enjoying all my classes." B: "That's great." A: "I better go now. I don't want to miss the bus." B: "Aright, I'll talk to you later." A: "Okay. See you later."

Tomorrow's Plan - I am going to

Talking about the future is something that is done very frequently. Whether we are talking about our dreams or simply telling someone what we will do tomorrow is all spoken in the future tense. As in the previous lesson, this isn't a grammar lesson. This lesson is to provide many different sentences using the future tense. In the previous lesson, we concentrated on present tense using 'I am' When we speak in the future tense, we can still use 'I am' but it is important what follows the two words that will make it future tense. Here are a couple of examples. "I'm going to see Bob tomorrow" "I'm going to meet John at the airport at 6 O'clock tonight" "I'm going to go home in an hour" "I'm going to go to the bus stop right after class" "I'm going to do that tomorrow" When using 'going to' after 'I am' it is important that a future indicator is present. For example, if I say, 'I am going to meet John', this can also be present tense that we practiced previously. But if you add a future indicator like 'at 6 O'clock tonight' then it becomes future tense. Other future tense indicators are: 'going to go' 'going to be' 'I will' 'I have to' Let's practice using these words: "I'm going to be dead if I don't finish this project by tomorrow" "I'm going to go home next week" "I'll meet you there at five" "I can't go tonight because I have to work late"

Tomorrow's Plan - Questions and Answers

When asking questions about the future, you can ask questions like: "What are you going to do tonight?" "What are you doing next week?" "When do you plan on doing your homework?" "When are you going to eat dinner?" "What time do we have to leave for the airport?" "What should we do tonight?" There are many different questions you can ask. By changing a few words, you can make numerous questions properly about the future. When you are answering questions that relate to the future, remember to use the future tense. Here are some ways to answer the questions directly above: "What are you going to do tonight?" "I plan on meeting John after dinner. We're going to go to a night club." "I'm going to go to take my girlfriend out to dinner. And if we have time, we might try to see a movie." "What are you doing next week?" "Since I'm on vacation next week, I plan on going to Pusan to visit some friends down there." "Next week I have to go shopping for all the Christmas presents. I have to buy a present for my dad, mom, and my two sisters." "When do you plan on doing your homework?" "I think I'm going to do my homework after I watch the world cup. I don't think I'll be able to concentrate until after the game is over." "I'm so unmotivated to do my homework. But I'll eventually have to do it, so I'll get around to them probably after dinner."

"What time do you have to leave for the airport?" "The flight comes in at 4:30, so I plan on leaving at about 3:30" "The security is pretty tight so I should get there early. I plan on arriving there 2 hours before my flight leaves." "What should we do tonight?" "After dinner, let's go grab a couple of beers. Then we can go shopping for a couple of hours, and afterwards, we can rent a video and watch it at my place." "I'm pretty busy tonight. I have to do the laundry, vacuum, and then make dinner, so I won't be able to meet you tonight."

Tomorrow's Plan - Example Conversation

Let's use this time to incorporate what we have learned so far. Person A: "Bob is in the hospital, did you get a chance to visit him?" Person B: "I'm going to see Bob tomorrow" Person A: "I thought you had to meet John tomorrow?" Person B: "I'm going to meet John at the airport at 6 O'clock tonight" Person A: "I'm going home now, do you want to head out together?" Person B: "No Thanks. I'm going to go home in about an hour" Person A: "Didn't you need to buy a present for you brother's birthday?" Person B: "I'm going to do that tomorrow" Person A: "I'm going to go to the bus stop right after class, so I won't have time to meet you" Person B: "That's OK. We can always get together tomorrow." Person A: "Why do you look so stressed?" Person B: "I'm going to be dead if I don't finish this project by tomorrow" Person A: "I thought you had 2 weeks to finish this project" Person B: "I don't have time to explain now. I'll talk to you later." Person A: "Since we are done with school, when are you going back home?" Person B: "I'm going to go home next week" Person A: "Me too. Do you want to meet at the train station on Sunday?" Person B: "Sure. I'll meet you there at five" Practice asking questions: "What are you going to do tonight?" "What are you doing next week?" "When do you plan on doing your homework?" "When are you going to eat dinner?" "What time do we have to leave for the airport?" "What should we do tonight?"

Tomorrow's Plan - Interactive Practice

A: "Do you have any plans tonight?" B: "I have class until 5 O'clock, but I'm free after that." A: "Do you want to grab dinner?" B: "I don't have any dinner plans so that sounds great." A: "What time should we meet?" B: "I need to go to the book store first, so let's meet at 6 O'clock."

A: "Let's go to Everland next week" B: "I can't. I'm way too busy." A: "What are you doing next week?" B: "On Monday, I'm going to meet my professor. Tuesday, I have a job interview. Wednesday, I'm going to the dentist. And on Thursday, I have to go visit my parents." A: "Why are you so busy?" B: "I've been procrastinating for a long time."

A: "What are you doing over the weekend?"

B: "I'm going to exercise, meet some friends, and then watch tv." A: "Who are you going to meet?" B: "My friend from middle school is visiting, so we are going to have dinner on Saturday." A: "How long is he going to stay?" B: "He is only here for a day." A: "Where are you going to eat dinner?" B: "I plan on taking him to an Italian restaurant."