BEGINNER CONVERSATION

Greetings

1. Hi.
    Hello.

2. Good morning.

    Good afternoon.

    Good evening.

3. How are you?

    How are you doing?

    How ya doing? (Informal)

4. Fine. How about you?

5. Okay. Thanks.

Introducing Yourself

1. I'm John.

    I'm Jackie.                   (Use first name in informal situations)

2. I'm John Kennedy.

    I'm Jackie O'Neill.          (Use full name in business and formal situations)

3. (It's) nice to meet you.

    (It's) nice meeting you.

    (It's) good to meet you.

4. Nice to meet you too.

Introducing People

1. This is my friend, Jack.                       Hi Jack. I'm Linda

    my brother, Bob.

    my sister, Cindy.

    my father, Mr. Harris.

    my mother, Mrs. Harris.

    my teacher, Ms. Watson.

    my student, Carrie.

    my friend, Mary Jones.

    my boss, Mr. Ritter.

    my co-worker, Penny Pitcher.

2. Nice to meet you.                           Nice to meet you too.

Identifying People and Things

1. This is Minnie Rivers.

    That is Mr. Lewis.

2. Minnie is a writer.

    Mr. Lewis is a barber.

    Gail is an artist.

    He is a photographer.

    She is a secretary.

    He's a dentist.

    She's a doctor.

3. I am a computer programmer.

    I'm a businessman.

    I'm a businesswoman.

    I'm not a mechanic.

4. We are writers.

    They are engineers.

    You are a student.

    You are students.

5. This is an apple.

    This is a banana.

    That is an orange.

    That is not a tomato.

    It is a telephone.

    It's a horse.

    It's not an airplane.

Classroom Questions

My name is Robert.
What is your name?
You can call me Bob
What is it? That's a pencil.
What is that? It's a desk.
How do you say it in English? Eraser.
How do you spell it? E-R-A-S-E-R
Please say it again. All right.
Please speak more slowly. OK. Listen carefully.
I don't understand. Let me explain.
I'm sorry. That's okay.

Asking for Information

1. What is this? This is a table.

2. What is that? That is a chair.

3. What's this? It's a pen.

4. What's that? It's an apple.

5. What are these? These are pencils.

6. What are those? Those are books.

7. Where is Mr. King? He is over there.

8. Where is Ms. Knight? She's (right) here.

9. Where's Johnny? He's in the house.

10. When's the movie? It's at 9:00.

11. When's lunch? Lunch is at noon.

12. How is the food? It's delicious.

Giving Information

1. Jeremy is from Ohio. Oh really? What part of Ohio? Columbus.

2. Kelly is a saleswoman.
Is that right? What company? Microsoft.
3. He's a university student.
Oh. What university?
4. Ronda lives in Texas. Harvard.
Really? What city (in Texas)?
5. I work at a restaurant. Dallas.
Oh really? Which restaurant?
6. I live in Florida. Angelo
Oh yeah? Where in Florida?
8. Where are you from? Meroni's
I'm from Delaware.
9. What is your occupation? Orlando.
I'm a police officer.

Simple Sentences
1. I work in a post office. Are you a letter carrier? No, I'm a postal clerk.

2. Greg works in a bank. Is he a teller? Yes, he is.

3. They live in   Washington. Are they senators? No, they aren't.

What do you eat? (I eat) eggs, bacon, and

4. I eat breakfast at 8:00 toast.
a.m.
Where does she work? In the cafeteria.
5. She goes to work at    9:00
a.m.
Where does he play? At the gym.
6. Eddy plays basketball
every Friday.
When does she finish? At 11:00.
7. Penny starts class at
10:00.
Why (not)? I don't like it.
8. I don't drink beer.

Simple Questions

Very Simple - Yes/No Questions

Are you from Canada? Yes, I am.

Is he a doctor? No, he isn't.

Is this free? Yes, it is.

Do you like apples? Yes, I do.

Does she live in New Orleans? No, she doesn't

More examples of - Yes/No Questions

Is she going to the dance? Yes, she is.

Are they flying home? No, they're taking the bus.

Are you coming to the party? No, I have other plans.

Examples of simple - Wh- questions

What do you do (as an occupation)? I'm a computer programmer.

What do you do on the weekends? I usually stay home and watch television.

Where are you from?

I'm from Ontario, California.
Where do you live?
I live in Arizona.
How do you say that in English?
I live at the Chateau Apartments.
How do you spell your name?
I don't know. S-I-M-O-N.
How do you know Mr. Amos?
He's my teacher.

Number and Counting

1. How many fingers do you have? I have eight fingers.

2. You have eight fingers? Eight fingers and two thumbs.

3. How many brothers does Ryan have?

He has four (brothers).
4. How many students in your class?
Thirty-five, including me.
5. How old is your sister?
She is seventeen.
6. How many hours do you work every day?
From nine to five. Eight hours.
7. How many people are in the group?

8. How many cookies are left? About seventy.

9. How many toothpicks are in the box? Five or six.

More than a hundred.

Talking about Family

Introducing your family

This is my mother/mom.

This is my father/dad.

(These are my parents)

This is my wife.

This is my husband.

There are five people in my family.

(My mother, my father, my older brother, my older sister, me, my younger brother.)

I have two brothers.

One is older.
One brother is older (than me).
One is younger.

I have one sister.

I'm number three.

 
Asking about family

How many brothers and sisters do you have?

What number are you?

He's the oldest (of five children).

She's the youngest.

Cindy doesn't have any brothers or sisters.

Jared is an only child.

How many children do you have?

We have two. One son and one daughter.

Do you have any kids?

No, I'm not married.

Talking about Favourite Things

1. What is your favorite color? Purple.

2. What's your favorite kind of music? I like pop music.

3. Favorite sport? Kung fu.

4. Do you have a lucky number? Yes. It's eight.

5. What kind of food do you like best? I like Cantonese food.

6. How about movies? Action.

7. Who is your favorite movie star? Jackie Chan.

8. What city do you like most? Hong Kong, of course!

Talking about here and now

1. What is Ms. Chan She is writing a letter. Oh. That's nice.

doing?

2. What is he doing? He's playing hockey. That's interesting.

3. What are you doing? I'm reading a book. Is it interesting?

4. Who is singing that Frank (is). Oh. It sounds good.

song?

5. Who is washing the The children are. That's great.

dishes?

6. Where are you going I'm going to the library. Okay. Have fun.
now?

Describing People

Personality and Appearance Description

1.Tell me about your father. Well, he's very friendly, smart and funny.
   What kind of person is he?

2. What does he look like? He's young, short and handsome.

He has straight black hair and green eyes.

3. What does your mother look like? She's tall, thin and beautiful.
She has blonde hair and wears glasses.
4. How about your little sister? She has curly red hair and a cute smile.
Everybody likes her.
Clothing

5. What is your brother wearing? He's wearing light brown pants and an
orange t-shirt.

6. What kind of shoes does he have Sneakers, and he's wearing white socks.
(on)?

7. Is Susan wearing a dress? No. She's wearing a blue skirt and a yellow
blouse.

8. Anything else? Yes. She's wearing boots and carrying a

purse.

Talking about Feelings/Health Issues

How's the weather today? It's really cold. Let's stay inside.

How do you feel? I'm fine. That's good.

How are you feeling? Not too good. Sorry to hear that.

Is everything okay? I feel sick. That's too bad.

What's wrong? I have a headache. Here's some aspirin

What's the matter? My leg hurts. Let me help you.

Are you all right? I cut my hand. That looks serious.

What happened? He broke his arm. Call 911!

Telling Time

7:00 It's seven o'clock. It's seven p.m. / a.m.

12:00 It's twelve o'clock. It's noon / midnight.

3:10 It's three ten. It's ten (minutes) after three.

7:14 It's seven fourteen. It's fourteen after seven.

9:15 It's nine fifteen. It's (a) quarter after nine.

1:21 It's one twenty-one It's twenty-one minutes past one.

11:05 It's eleven oh five. It's five after eleven.

2:09 It's two oh nine. It's nine minutes past two.

6:30 It's six thirty. It's half past six.

4:50 It's four fifty. It's ten minutes to five.

10:45 It's ten forty-five. It's quarter to eleven.

8:35 It's eight thirty-five. It's twenty-five minutes to nine.

Talking about Past Actions

1. What did you do last Friday? I went to a baseball game.

2. Where did you go? I went to Detroit.

3. When did you get back? I got back on Saturday night.

4. Where did you stay? I stayed with my parents.

5. What did Sally have for lunch? She had soup and sandwiches.

6. What did he eat last night? He ate Chinese food.

7. How was the weather? It was wonderful.

Talking about the Future

1. What will you do tomorrow? I'll help my mom with the housework.

2. When will you finish? In the afternoon.

3. What will we do in class today? We'll play some word games.

4. Where will they put the table? They'll put it next to the window.

5. When will Joe leave for New He'll leave right after dinner.
York?

6. How will he get there? He'll take the bus.

Note: Another way of talking about the future is with the phrase "be going to" + verb.

For example,

I am going to eat out tonight.

Mr. Wolfe is going to stay home.

What are you going to do tomorrow?

I'm going to visit my grandmother.

How are you going to get there?

I'm going to walk through the forest.
Please be careful!  

Talking about Life Events

1. When is your birthday? December 29(th)

2. What year? That's personal.

3. Were you born and raised here? No. I wasn't.

4. Did Sam grow up here? Yes, he did.

5. Where did Lisa go to school? In California.

6. Which university did Rick go to? Princeton.

7. When will she graduate? Next April.

8. When did they get married? They got married in June.

9. When was your son born? Two months ago.

10. What day is your wedding anniversary? It's July 17th

11. When did they move to Pittsburgh? Last September.

12. When did his grandfather pass away/(die)? Five years ago.

Expressing Likes and Dislikes

1. I like fruit. What kind? Oranges and

bananas.

2. Helen likes sports. What kind of sports? Football and tennis.

3. Ms. Cramer doesn't like Really? Does she like Yes, she does.
coffee. tea?

4. Tony does not like action Oh. What kind does (He likes) drama.
movies. he like?

5. Does Terry like Yes, he does.

swimming?
6. Does Phil like soft drinks? No, he doesn't.

7. Does Sheila like salad? No, she does not.

Yes, I do.
8. Do you like Chinese food?
No, I don't.
 A little.

Simple Shopping

1. Where are the pencils? They're on the Okay, thanks.

second shelf.

2. How much is this mirror? It's $19.95. Okay. I'll take it.

3. How much does this cost? That one is $5.00. How about this one?

4. How much are these? They're $4.00 each. That's too expensive.

Large.
5. Do you have any t-shirts? What size? Medium
or Large?
Your change is $3.41
6. That comes to $26.59. Here's $30.00.
Thanks.
7. That will be $17.48. Here's $17.50. Keep
the change.

Closing a Conversation

Before closing

It's been nice talking to you.

Nice talking to you too.

(I'm sorry, but) I have to go now.

Closing

Good-bye

Bye.

See you later.

See ya (informal)

Catch you later (informal)

Expressing Thanks

Expressing Thanks

Thanks

Thank you

I appreciate it.

Thanks for the tour.

Thanks for your time.

Thank you for the nice gift.

I appreciate your kindness.

Describing a picture

What do you see in the picture?

There is a
There's a

There are some

There're some

Is there a . . . ?

Are there (some) . . . ?

Locations

On the right/left By the door On the chair

Near the window In the box Under the table

Actions

The man is _______ ing

The woman is __________ing

Clothing

What is the man/woman wearing?

She/He is wearing a

some

Opinions

What do you think

I think
 Tell a Story

Yesterday, Ms. Jones . . .

Use PAST tense

Talking about Occupations

A: What do you do for a living?

A: What is your occupation?

B: I'm a____(mechanic)___________.

A: A____(mechanic)_____________? That must be a lot of work.

B: It is. Every day I ___(fix)_____ ___(cars)______.

A: How interesting. How many___(cars)_____ do you __(fix)____?

B: I ___(fix)_____ about __(8)____ __(cars)____ every day.

Match the occupation with the daily activity.

Occupation Activity

o Mechanic o catch fish

o Teacher o take pictures
o Dentist o fix cars
o Doctor/Nurse o cook meals
o Journalist o pull teeth
o Fisherman o plant flowers
o Gardener o put out fires
o Chef/Cook o take care of
o Fire fighter patients
o teach classes
o Photographer o write news
stories