Greeting - Example Conversations

Listen to the Entire Lesson

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."

Greeting - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire
conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear
only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the
sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is
native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast
for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native.

1
Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B
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."

2
Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B
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."

3
Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B
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
"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."

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."

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."
Tomorrow's Plan - I am going to
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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."

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Tomorrow's Plan - Questions and Answers

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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

Listen to the Entire Lesson
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 your 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?"

1
Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B
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."

2
Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B
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."

3
Listen All  |   Person A  |   Person B
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."
WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

 Hello. 
 Hi.
 How are you? 
 I’m good. How are you?
 Good. Do you speak English? 
 A little. Are you American?
 Yes. 
 Where are you from?
 I’m from California. 
 Nice to meet you.
 Nice to meet you too.

DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?

 Excuse me, are you American? 

 No.
 Do you speak English? 
 A little, but not very well.
 How long have you been here? 
 2 months.
 What do you do for work? 
 I’m a student. How about you?
 I’m a student too. 

WHAT’S YOUR NAME?

 Excuse me, what’s your name? 

 My name is Jessica. What’s yours?
 John. 
 You speak English very well.
 Thank you. 
 Do you know what time it is?
  Sure. It’s 5:10 PM. 
 What did you say?
 I said it was 5:10 PM. 
 Thanks.
 You’re welcome. 

ASKING DIRECTION

 Hi Michael. 
 Hi Amy. What’s up?
 I’m looking for the airport. Can you tell me how to get there? 
 No, sorry. I don’t know.
 I think I can take the subway to the airport. Do you know where the subway
is? 
 Sure, it’s over there.
 Where? I don’t see it. 
 Across the street.
 Oh, I see it now. Thanks. 
 No problem.
 Do you know if there’s a restroom around here? 
 Yes, there’s one here. It’s in the store.
 Thank you.
 Bye.
 Bye bye. 

I’M HUNGRY

 Hi Sarah, how are you? 

 Fine, how are you doing?
 What do you want to do?
 I’m hungry. I’d like to eat something. 
 Where do you want to go?
 I’d like to go to an Italian restaurant. 
 What kind of Italian food do you like?
  I like spaghetti. Do you like spaghetti? 
 No, I don’t, but I like pizza.

DO YOU WANT SOMETHING TO DRINK?

 David, would you like something to eat? 

 No, I’m full.
 Do you want something to drink? 
 Yes, I’d like some coffee.
 Sorry, I don’t have any coffee. 
 That’s OK. I’ll have a glass of water.
 A small glass, or a big one? 
 Small, please.
 Here you go. 
 Thanks.
 You’re welcome. 

THAT’S TOO LATE

 Mary, would you like to get something to eat with me? 

 When?
 At 10 O’clock. 
 10 in the morning?
 No, at night. 
 Sorry, that’s too late. I usually go to bed around 10:00 PM.
 OK, how about 1:30 PM? 
 No, that’s too early. I’ll still be at work then.
 How about 5:00 PM? 
 That’s fine.
 OK, see you then. 
 Alright. Bye.

CHHOSING A TIME TO MEET

  Jennifer, would you like to have dinner with me? 
 Yes. That would be nice. When do you want to go?
 Is today OK? 
 Sorry, I can’t go today.
 How about tomorrow night? 
 Ok. What time?
 Is 9:00 PM all right? 
 I think that’s too late.
 Is 6:00 PM OK? 
 Yes, that’s good. Where would you like to go?
 The Italian restaurant on 5th street. 
 Oh, I don’t like that Restaurant. I don’t want to go there.
 How about the Korean restaurant next to it? 
 OK, I like that place.

WHEN DO YOU WANT TO GO?

 Hi Mark. 
 Hi.
 What are you planning to do today? 
 I’m not sure yet.
 Would you like to have lunch with me? 
 Yes. When?
 Is 11:30 AM OK? 
 Sorry, I didn’t hear you. Can you say that again, please?
 I said, 11:30 AM. 
 Oh, I’m busy then. Can we meet a little later?
 OK, how about 12:30 PM? 
 Where?
 How about Bill’s Seafood Restaurant? 
 Oh, Where is that?
 It’s on 7th Street. 
 OK, I’ll meet you there.
ORDERING FOOD

 Hello sir, welcome to the French Garden Restaurant. How many? 

 One.
 Right, this way. Please have a seat. Your waitress will be with you in a
moment. 
 Hello sir, would you like to order now? 
 Yes, please.
 What would you like to drink? 
 What do you have?
 We have bottled water, juice, and Coke. 
 I’ll have a bottle of water, please.
 What would you like to eat? 
 I’ll have a tuna fish sandwich and a bowl of vegetable soup.