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It contains lessons on Greetings, communicating when you're bored, past, present, and future tense, and the weather. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Greeting - Basic Greeting someone you know Greeting - Example Conversations Greeting - Interactive Practice Bored - General Phrases Bored - Calling Someone Bored - Boring Work Bored - Interactive Practice How is your Day - General Statements 10. How is your day - Example Conversation 11. How is your day - Interactive Practice 12. Tomorrow's Plan - I am going to 13. Tomorrow's Plan - Questions and Answers 14. Tomorrow's Plan - Example Conversation 15. Tomorrow's Plan - Interactive Practice 16. Yesterday - The Past - General Statements 17. Yesterday - The Past - Questions and Answers 18. Yesterday - The Past - Example Conversation 19. Yesterday - The Past - Interactive Practice 20. Weather - Summer and Autumn 21. Weather - Winter 22. Weather - Fahrenheit and Celsius 23. Weather - Questions and Answers 24. Weather - Long Description
25. Weather - Interactive Practice 26. Small Talk - Two Example Dialogs 27. Small Talk - Interactive Practice 28. Movies - Asking Friend 29. Movies - Example Conversation 30. Movies - Interactive Practice 31. Movies Types - Action and Drama 32. Movie Types - Comedy and Horror 33. Movie Types - Other Types 34. Movie Types - Interactive Practice 35. Movie Discussion – General Statements 36. Movie Discussion - Describing a Movie 37. Movie Discussion - Example Dialog 38. Favorite - What's your Favorite 39. Favorite - Answering Questions 40. Favorite - Interactive Practice 41. Hobby - Questions and Answers 42. Hobby - Various Q&A 43. Hobby - Interactive Practice 44. Exercise - Questions 45. Exercise - Walking Jogging and More 46. Exercise - US Culture 47. Exercise - Interactive Practice 48. Exercise Gym - Lifting Weights 49. Exercise Gym - Questions and Answers 50. Exercise Gym - Other Methods 51. Exercise Gym - Interactive Practice 52. Intro and General Things Review 53. Intro and General Things Review Interactive Practice
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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?"
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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?"
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Greeting - Interactive Practice 1 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 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 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."
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Bored - General Phrases Being bored means having nothing to do. When someone is bored, they often call people and try to entertain themselves or try to find something to do with a friend. So being bored is a good starting point for conversational English. There are a couple of situations you can express to someone that you are bored. Most commonly, you will call a friend and tell them that you are bored or ask them to do something together. The other time is when someone asks you how you are doing. We will cover both situations in this session. General Phrases "I'm dying from boredom." "I hate being bored." "I don't have anything to do." "My life is so boring." "Life is so boring." "I'm just watching TV until I find something to do." "I was bored all weekend." "I am so bored today." "I get bored very easily." "I get bored all the time." A common place to get bored is when you have to visit family members. "It's always boring whenever we go to our relatives." "It's nice to visit my grandmother, but it gets boring after a couple of hours." "My cousins are so boring. All they do is watch TV." "There's nothing to do in the country side. I'm always bored there." If you think you are a boring person, here is a way to say that you are boring. "I think I'm a little boring." "I'm a boring person." Boring can be used to describe someone. "He is a boring person." "His personality is very boring." "It's boring whenever she's around."
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Using bored to answer a question is very common. Here are some general questions that someone might ask. "How was your trip?" "How was your vacation?" "How was your weekend?" "How was the lecture?" "How was the class?" "How was the game?" Any of these types of questions can be answered with a simple answer. "It was pretty boring." "It was boring. I didn't do much." "It wasn't as fun as I thought. It was a little boring." "I was bored most of the time." "Because it was disorganized, we had too much extra time. I was bored during our free time." Bored - Boring Work A different situation you can tell someone you are bored is when you are simply talking with a friend concerning a part of your life that is boring. For example, if you have a boring job, you can explain to your friend how boring it is. "How is your work these days?" "Work is so boring that I'm going crazy." "I ran out of things to do and management is too busy to give me more work. I tried to find things to do with no luck. I'm basically sitting in my chair pretending to work." "That sounds so boring." "Tell me about it. Time goes so slow when you're bored. I'd rather be busy. Then at least the day would go by faster." Similar type of boring work is when doing something that is routine. Some sentences expressing boring work are: "I'm doing the same thing over and over again." "My work is so repetitious that I am getting bored of it." "My work does not interest me." "I'm only working to pay the bills." "I wish I had your job."
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Because some people are so busy, they envy people who have nothing to do at work. "I'm so bored. I have nothing to do at work. I just surf the Internet all day long." "Dang! I'm so busy at work, it's driving me crazy. I really wish I had your job." 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.
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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." 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
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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."
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"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." Yesterday - The Past - General Statements In daily conversation, talking about the past is done very frequently. Whenever you meet a friend, you always tell each other what you have been doing recently. Friends are always interested in each other so they want to know how you have been spending your time in the past. Today's lesson is going to target past tense communication. This goes hand in hand with the last two lessons and changing a few words around can make a future or present tense sentence into a past tense sentence. To begin, here are a couple of sentences that are common to say: "I went to the airport yesterday." "I met Bob last week." "I was an hour late for my meeting." "I went to the bus stop, but I was 30 seconds late. A person on the street told me the bus just went by." "I completed that task this morning." Speaking in the past requires past tense words. Let's take a closer examination for the sentences above.
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Past Tense Present Tense
Future Tense
Went
Go
Going to go
Met
Meet
Will meet
Was
Am
Going to be
Completed
Complete
Will complete
As you can see by some of the examples in the chart, some words change when speaking in the past tense. Besides some words that change, many times a word with the letter 'd' or 'ed' at the end changes the word to past tense. Here are some examples: "I was being polite so I opened the door for him." "I stapled the papers together to keep them organized." "The paper ripped on the bottom, so I taped them together." "I switched the presents around because I found out Jane doesn't like red lipstick." "I was very interested in the topic so I paid close attention." The tricky part is to know when to add a 'd' to the end of a word to make it past tense. There are exceptions that can cause confusion, for example, "I rode my bike to school." It would be incorrect to say, 'I rided...' "I built the house from scratch." Incorrect way is to say, 'I builded...' "I sat on the chair next to the emergency exit." Incorrect way is to say, 'sitted...' So remember to use past tense words correctly or the other person might not understand what you are saying. Yesterday - The Past - Questions and Answers When asking questions about the past, you can ask questions like: "How did you enjoy the movie?" "What time did you get home last night?" "How was your date with Jackie?" "How was the traffic going to the airport?" "What have you been up to?" "What did you do last weekend?" "How was the party?" "How come you didn't come to class yesterday?"
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"How did your presentation go?" Here are some ways you can answer these types of questions. Remember to use past tense because these actions already occurred. "How did you enjoy the movie?" "It was a long movie, but overall, the movie was great." "I really didn't like the movie. It was slow and boring." "I enjoyed the movie so much that I saw it again." "What time did you get home last night?" "I got home at two in the morning." "I didn't make it home until eleven last night." "I made it home at midnight." "How was your date with Jackie?" "The date went so well. We had dinner at a seafood restaurant. And then we saw a movie together." "I don't think it went too well. We hardly had anything to talk about. I really thought Jackie was bored to death." "The date was alright. She called me this morning to go out again, but I haven't responded yet." "What have you been up to?" "I just graduated from school so I'm happy that I'm done." "I met Jackie yesterday and we spent the evening together in a nice restaurant." "The only thing I have done in the last three months is computer games." "What did you do last weekend?" "Last weekend, I visited my parents." "I went golfing on Saturday. I shot a great score." "I stayed home and watched TV all weekend long." "How come you didn't come to class yesterday?" "I was very sick yesterday." "I missed the bus and by the time I got to campus, class was already over." "I slept in because I didn't hear the alarm ring." "How did your presentation go?" "It went ok. A few of the people asked some tough questions, but overall it was good."
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"I messed up so bad. I brought the wrong folder from my office so I didn't have any notes." "It was the best presentation of the day. My boss told me I was organized, focused, and spoke clearly." Weather - Summer and Autumn In this section, we will learn about the four different seasons along with the difference between Celsius and Fahrenheit. Also, we will learn about weather in different parts of the world. In the next session, we will practice more dialog. But this is a good starting point when learning to hold a conversation about the weather. Summer: Depending on the location, summer can be warm and pleasant or unbearably hot and humid. Although you will describe summer in one particular way, you should be aware of how other people describe summer in different parts of the world. In Nevada, Arizona, Egypt, or other places that are like deserts, people might say, "Summer is very hot and dry. It's not so bad when we are in the shade." "Summer is extremely hot. The sun will burn you if you don't wear sunscreen." "Because it's not humid, it is easy to get used to." In Seattle, the summer is the best season, "Summer is the only time of year that it doesn't rain much." "Summer is like paradise in Seattle." "If summer wasn't so good here, I would move to a different city." In New York, Korea, or other hot and humid places, people can say, "Summer is both hot and humid here." "I am always sticky because I sweat so much during the summer." "Without air conditioning, I don't know how I would survive." Spring and Fall / Autumn From my perception, I noticed that spring and autumn are generally pleasant seasons for many areas of the world. I haven't heard enough to say one way or another, so I can only write down what I know. "My favorite season is autumn." "The only reason I don't like the fall is due to all the leaves I have to rake up." "Fall is so beautiful because of all the different color leaves everywhere."
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"It rains a lot around here during the fall." "It gets cold in late autumn." "In our country, autumn is just like summer. It's hot and humid." "My favorite season is spring because of the budding flowers." "I love the spring because it's not cold nor hot." "The spring season here causes a lot of people to sneeze due to all the flowers appearing. Many people with allergies hate the spring." Weather - Fahrenheit and Celsius It's unfortunate that some countries still use the Fahrenheit system. It would be so much easier if everything was in Celsius. But because the United States still uses the Fahrenheit system, knowing the conversion of Celsius to Fahrenheit will help when speaking to Americans. "How do you convert Fahrenheit to Celsius?" "Well, you subtract 32 from Fahrenheit, multiply by 5 and then divide by 9." "How do you convert Celsius to Fahrenheit?" "You multiply Celsius by 9, divide by 5, then add 32." Here is an example dialog. Person A: "What is the average temperature in Seoul during June?" Person B: "It is usually about 26 degrees Celsius during June." Person A: "What is that in Fahrenheit?" Person B: "That would be about 80 degrees Fahrenheit." You don't need to remember everything. But if you know a couple of numbers you can just change the other number slightly. For example, if you know that 80 degrees is about 27 degrees Celsius, then if the temperature is 77 degrees, you can figure that it will be about 25 degrees Celsius. Also, you don't have to be very accurate. In conversation, many people just want general numbers and being off by a half a degree will not do any harm. Finally, during the winter months, it gets so cold that the temperature goes below 0 degrees Celsius. Let's practice a few sentences using negative numbers. "How cold does it usually get in Korea?" "Usually around minus 5 degrees Celsius, but sometimes it gets as cold as minus 12 degrees." "How cold does it get in Alaska?" "Depending on the area, but it's common for the temperature to be below 0." "Is that in Fahrenheit or Celsius?"
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"Fahrenheit." "That means it's 20 below zero!" Remember, although numbers below zero are negative numbers, it's not common to say, 'Negative 2 degrees.' It's not wrong to say it and everyone will understand, however, when speaking to many people, almost everyone says 'minus 2 degrees.' Another common way to say it is below zero is to say, '2 below' as in the example above. Weather - Questions and Answers In this session, we are primarily going to practice speaking key sentences that will help you carry a conversation about the weather. Asking about the weather: "Do you know what the weather will be like tomorrow?" "Do you know if it's going to rain tomorrow?" "Did you see the weather forecast?" "What is the weather like in Korea/Seattle/Los Angeles?" "How is the climate in Korea?" "Does it rain much in Denver?" "How different is the weather between Pusan and Seoul?" "What is your favorite season of the year?" Answering questions about the weather: "The weather is supposed to be sunny and warm tomorrow." "It's supposed to rain for the next several days." "I didn't see the news yesterday so I don't know what the weather is going to be like." "Weather in Los Angeles is usually hot in the summer and mild in the winter. It never really gets that cold." "The weather in Pusan is very similar to Seoul. The main difference is that Seoul gets a little more snow in the winter and a little hotter in the summer. This is primarily because Pusan is right next to the water." "My favorite season of the year is Spring. It's not too cold and the anticipation of a good summer puts me in a good mood." Statements about the weather: "I heard Seattle is a very gloomy city with so many clouds." "The weather is beautiful this time of year."
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"I hate the rain. It makes me feel depressed." "Autumn is a great season." "The summer months are so humid in Korea." "I can't stand the cold winter months." "It's a beautiful day today, isn't it?" "I wish the weather was like this everyday." "It's been raining for 5 days straight. I wonder when it will stop raining." "I hate the snow. The roads are dangerous to drive in, and when it melts, the streets are very dirty." "I love snowboarding so I always look forward to the winter." "The winter months are tolerable because I don't mind the cold." "Korea has four distinct seasons." Small Talk - Two Example Dialogs In this conversation, we initiated the conversation and talked about the other person. However, sometimes you will not have anything to talk about. In order to keep the conversation alive, you should think about topics such as the weather. One: "Hi Mary." Two: "Oh, hi." One: "How are you doing?" Two: "I'm doing alright. How about you?" One: "Not too bad. The weather is great isn't it?" Two: "Yes. It's absolutely beautiful today." One: "I wish it was like this more frequently." Two: "Me too." One: "So where are you going now?" Two: "I'm going to meet a friend of mine at the department store." One: "Going to do a little shopping?" Two: "Yeah, I have to buy some presents for my parents." One: "What's the occasion?" Two: "It's their anniversary." One: "That's great. Well, you better get going. You don't want to be late."
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Two: "I'll see you next time." One: "Sure. Bye." This example is when you run into someone. This is an easy type of small talk because when you run out of things to say, you can always say bye. There are times when you don't have that option. Let's practice a situation where you cannot leave, such as an interview. I go into depth about interview communication in a different section. For now, I am going to emphasize the small talk portion of an interview. There are times when you will not have an opportunity for small talk, but in other cases, you might have to talk about general things. Them: "Hi. My name is Josh. It's a pleasure to meet you." You: "Hi Josh. I'm glad to be here." Them: "Did you have any problems finding this place." You: "I didn't have any problems. I found directions on the internet so it was pretty easy to find. However, the traffic was not that great." Them: "Traffic is never good around here." You: "I agree. It would be great if there was a train or a subway line that went through here." Them: "That would be so great. I would definitely take the train if they had it." You: "Trains are great because you can read a book or get a little rest instead of having to fight the traffic." Them: "Very true. Well, let me begin by telling you about our company..." This is a good example of small talk. It shows that you are easy to speak with, and most importantly, you found a small connection even though it was about a small topic such as the traffic problem. In this type of situation, don't feel that you have to constantly talk. If it is not relevant to the topic, it might be better not to say anything. But if you can add on to the topic, it's a good thing. The person who is giving the interview has the control, and that person will direct the small talk to the interview when the time is right. In my example above, I made a small transition from the traffic and started the interview process. If you are interested about interview, please go to the Interview Section. You may now move on to the practice session. Movies - Asking Friend In this section we will work on the planning aspect of watching a movie. In other Movie sections, we will cover discussing a movie, types of movies, etc. Since this is the first Movie section, let me take a quick minute to explain how to find out movie times and how to pay for tickets in America. It's very similar and simple.
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First, you need to find out what time a show is playing. In most cases, this is done by checking the Internet. Usually, you type in the zip code and all the theatres in that area will display all the movies and movie times for that week. After you have chosen the movie to see, you need to buy the ticket. There are some places you can buy on-line, but it isn't that popular yet. You can go to the theatre before the movie starts and buy it at the theatre. The only thing you need to know how to say is the movie name and the movie time. Here is a quick example. Let's say you are watching the Titanic at 3:00. You walk up to the counter and say, 'Titanic. Three o'clock.' Wasn't that easy? Finally, big blockbuster movies usually sell out of tickets very quickly. So if you want to see it on opening day, it is wise to go to the theatre right when it opens and buy the tickets in advance. Before you watch a movie, you need to plan ahead with friends. Either you are asking a friend to watch a movie, or you are answering. In either case, we will cover it here. The following questions and statements are used when asking a friend to watch a movie. "Hey John, do you want to (wanna) go see a movie tonight?" "I'm going to watch Terminator 2. Do you wanna join?" "Let's go see The Matrix tomorrow." "What time should we meet at the theatre?" "Let's watch a movie after dinner." "The Titanic is coming out this Friday. Let's go see it." If there are not enough details, a response can be in a question form. Here are a couple of examples. "Who is all going?" "Who are you watching it with?" "Where are you watching it?" "What time are you watching the movie?" Normal answers: "That sounds great." "I always wanted to see that. Let's go." "Let's meet at the theatre at four o'clock." "Sure. Do you wanna eat lunch together before the movie?" "I've already seen that movie. What else is playing?" "I can't. I have to work that night." "That movie sounds scary. I don't like horror movies."
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"I really don't like the actors. I'm going to pass." Movie Discussion - General Statements In this movie section, we are going to have discussions about movies that we already saw. This is useful because whenever we come out of a movie theatre, we always ask our friends what we thought about the movie. Sometimes, it's a simple answer such as, 'It was alright.' But sometimes, a good discussion can arise from a great movie. Let's get started... Every time I finish watching a movie, I either ask someone, or someone asks me, "What did you think about the movie?" For the most part, the answer is a simple one line sentence: "It was alright." "It could have been better." "It was pretty good." "I liked it." "It was entertaining." "It was so stupid I almost fell asleep." "Lame" "Boring" "Too unrealistic" I can go on for a long time describing movies. I have listed a few so you get an idea how to answer simple movie questions. Besides simple one line answers, there are a few reasons we need to say other things. It is because either we didn't understand something, want to describe a scene we liked, want to describe a scene that was stupid, or simply go on and on about how great the movie was. Favorite - What's your Favorite The word favorite is used a lot in spoken English. It is very common to talk about your favorite things with your friends or acquaintances. Topics can range from favorite movies, favorite TV shows, favorite food, favorite cars, etc. Since there are so many favorite things in the world, you should pay close attention to this lesson. Asking questions is the most common way to use the word favorite: "Who is your favorite singer?" "Who is your favorite person?" "Who is your favorite athlete?"
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"Who was your favorite ex-girlfriend?" "Who was your favorite elementary teacher?" Are you following me? It's very easy. Just change the word at the end and you can make dozens of sentences. "What is your favorite show?" "What is your favorite movie?" "What is your favorite dessert?" "What is your favorite program?" "What is your favorite class?" "What is your favorite game?" "What was the title of your favorite song?" "What was the name of your favorite sit-com?" We used 'who' and 'what' in our sentences. It's possible to use 'where', 'how', and 'when', but the most common is 'what' and 'who'. I'll provide a couple of sentences for the other words. "Where is your favorite vacation spot?" "When is your favorite time of day?" "How is your favorite noodles cooked?" It's not common, because even though it is grammatically incorrect, you can ask the same question with 'what' "What is your favorite vacation spot?" "What is your favorite time of day?" Nobody is really going to notice and it's not a big deal. After this lesson is over, I suggest practicing with 'what' and 'who', but don't bother with the others. It's not as important. Favorite - Answering Questions To answer these types of questions, it is very easy. All you have to do is change 'your' to 'my', repeat the last portion of the question and add your answer. We'll practice a couple of times. "What is your favorite show?" "My favorite show is Smurfs." "What is your favorite movie?"
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"My favorite movie is Matrix." "What is your favorite dessert?" "My favorite dessert is cheesecake." "Who is your favorite singer?" "My favorite singer is Josh Groban." "Who is your favorite athlete?" "My favorite athlete is Tiger Woods." "Who was your favorite elementary teacher?" "My favorite elementary teacher was Mrs. Smouse." Different ways to ask about favorite things You don't necessarily have to use the word favorite. Favorite basically means what you like the most. So, you can ask favorite questions without the word favorite. "What do you like to eat the most?" "My favorite food is ice cream." "What is a childhood memory that stands out?" "My favorite childhood memory is a time I went fishing with my dad." "Which professor do you like the most?" "My favorite professor is Professor Kim." Likewise, you can answer questions without using the word favorite. "What is your favorite baseball team?" "I like Seattle Mariners the most." "What is your favorite type of food?" "I love Italian food... especially pasta. They are so good." "Who is your favorite music group?" "I really enjoy listening to Depeche Mode." Exercise – Questions There are various types of exercise. Some people might think walking is exercise, and some other people will think weight lifting is exercise. In the next couple of lessons, we will take a closer look at various types of exercise. Exercising can be done in many different ways. Here is a small list to get us started: Walking
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Jogging Running Sports Aerobics Rowing (boat) Commuting to work Etc. Here are some questions. "Do you exercise at all?" "Do you work out?" "What type of exercising do you do?" "Where is a good place to exercise?" "Why don't you exercise?" "Where do you usually jog?" "How long do you take a walk for?" "How often do you jog?" "Where do you do aerobics?" "How long do you usually run for everyday?" Exercise Gym - Questions and Answers Here are some questions you can ask. "Where do you work out?" "What club do you work out at?" "When do you usually work out?" "How often do you work out?" "How many hours do you work out in a day?" To ask how they work out or what their routine is, you can ask: "When you bench, how many reps and sets do you do?" (Reps are repetition. In weight lifting terminology, this means how many times they lift in one set.)
"Do you do low reps with heavy weights, or many reps with light weight." "How many sets do you do when you work out your arms?"
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If you are the person being asked these questions, here are ways you can answer: "I work out at 24 Hour Fitness" "I work out at Bally's" "I work out at Samsung Health Club" "I started lifting weights about 2 years ago." "I have been lifting weights for about 2 years now." "I just started 9 months ago." "I usually work out 2 hours a day 4 times a week." "I work out everyday for an hour." "I go to the gym 3 times a week." "I go in every other day." "I can bench press 220 pounds." "I squat 400 pounds." "I curl 90 pounds." "I'm trying to gain bulk so I'm doing low reps with heavy weights." "I'm trying to get ripped, so I'm doing a lot of repetitions." (Ripped means to get lines to show up in the muscles. It's called ripped because when you rip a piece of paper, you see a line in the paper where the tear is. So a person is ripped when you can see lines on his body due to muscles.)