Learn English Online, Hoc Tieng Anh, Hoc Anh Van, Hoc Online, Hoc Tren Mang


Slang Telephone Conversation | ESL Podcast

October 6th, 2009

Background: This esl podcast is about a phone conversation between two friends. In this podcast they are making plans about what to do, and we learn excellent phrases for daily phone conversation. Come and listen to a fun English learning podcast and let us know what you think!

icon for podpress Telephone

ESL Conversation

A:  AB, what’s going on?

B:  Not much, just taking it easy today.  Work’s been killing me lately.

A:  What do you say we head downtown and grab a coffee at the Starbucks near plaza 66.

B:  I’ve had way too much caffeine lately.  I wouldn’t mind grabbing something to eat though.  Would you be up for that?

A:  It’s a nice day today, so we could get something at Element Fresh near the Portman.  They’ve got a patio so we could sit outside.

B:  Sure, do you want to workout after?

A:  I’ve already gone.  Wasn’t great though.  6 out of 10 at best.

B:  Just come with and do some cardio.  I think you could afford to shed a few more pounds.

A:  We’ll see.  Let’s meet at Element at 2.

B:  K, later.


Key vocabulary and phrases that are discussed in the podcast:

AB: Friends sometimes call people by their initials just for fun.  My name is Andrew Best so friends of mine might call me AB.

What’s going on? A slang phrase meaning, “what are you doing now?  Or what are your plans for the next while?”

Taking it easy: relaxing, not doing much.

Been killing me: A phrase meaning “causing you a lot of stress”.  You can say, my new job has been killing me.  Or you could say, “The summer has been so hot this year, it’s killing me.”

Grab a coffee: In casual conversation, we sometimes use the verb “grab” for food or drinks.  “Let’s grab a coffee”, means, “let’s go somewhere and get a coffee”.

Way too much:  In casual conversation, we sometimes use “way” instead of “far”.  “Way too much”, means, “far too much”.

Caffeine: The drug found in coffee that gives people energy and keeps them awake.

Would you be up for that? A casual phrase meaning, “Do you want to do that”, or “will you do that”.

Patio: A place to sit outside.  Sometimes restaurants and pubs have patios where people can sit outside and eat on a nice day.

6 out of 10: Sometimes people rate things out of 10.  10 out of 10 is perfect.  0 out of 10 is the worst.

At best: Ranking something is subjective, which means that its not always clear what the score out of 10 will be.  If you say, 6 out of 10 at best, it means, 6 out of 10 or even lower than 6 out of 10.

Come with: A slang phrase that means, “come with me” or “come with us”.

You could afford to shed a few more pounds: Sometimes we say “shed a few pounds”, which means, “lose weight”.

We’ll see: It means, “I’m not sure yet”.

Element: In the dialogue, I said the restaurant’s name is Element Fresh.  When both people know clearly what is being talked about, people sometimes use short forms.

K: Slang and short for “ok”.

Later: When hanging up the phone we sometimes say “later”.  It’s slang and should be used only with friends.

Source:china232.com

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • BlinkList
  • Diigo
  • Fark
  • Faves
  • laaik.it
  • LinkedIn
  • Live
  • MisterWong
  • MySpace
  • Netvibes
  • Netvouz
  • NewsVine
  • Propeller
  • Reddit
  • Slashdot
  • Socialogs
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • Twitter
  • Yahoo! Buzz

Comments


Author: Categories: Listening Tags:
Comments are closed.