Need Conversation Practice? Right This Way!

In this video, you’ll practice conversation skills with me. We’ll break down each component of the conversations and teach you skills that you can practice as many times as you want.

Tagged With: English conversation   YouTube blocked? Click here to see the video.

Video Transcript:

This is going to be so fun. We’re studying seven English conversations and you’re going to be speaking. Tons of English speaking practice here. When you’re learning another language, you just need to speak it as much as you can to build that conversational ability. You’ll watch a conversation and we’ll define any terms you might not know. Then you will be speaking both parts. You need to speak out loud for this. Don’t leave me hanging in silence. Then after all the conversations, we’ll review the vocabulary and then you can watch them all one more time.

I’m Rachel. I have a background in opera singing and I’ve been teaching the American accent to non-native speakers for over 20 years. Scan this QR code or go to rachelenglish.com/free to get my free course, The Top Three Ways to Master the American Accent. It will change the way you think about speaking American English.

In the first conversation, you owe a friend money from a trip.

Hey, I just wanted to remind you that you still owe me money for the hotel in Cancun.

Oh my gosh, thank you so much for reminding me. It totally slipped my mind.

If something slips your mind, that just means you forgot.

No problem. Do you have Venmo?

Venmo is an app popular in the United States for sending money to your friends.

Yes, I do. What’s your handle?

A handle is a unique username for an app. For example, on Instagram, my handle is Rachel’s English.

I’ll text it to you.

Okay, thanks. I will get on that. I will pay you right away.

Now, we need to have you practice speaking. I’ll play person one and you play person two. I’ll put on screen the text for you to say out loud.

Hey, I just wanted to remind you that you still owe me money for the hotel in Cancun.

No problem. Do you have Venmo?

I’ll text it to you.

Now. You be person one.

Oh my gosh, thank you so much for reminding me. It totally slipped my mind.

Yes, I do. What’s your handle?

Okay, thanks. I will get on that. I will pay you right away.

Now, you’re calling a friend who broke her foot to offer help.

Hey, Jane. I heard you broke your foot.

Can you believe it? I tripped on the stairs.

Oh my gosh. Are you immobilized?

Immobilized means prevented from moving normally.

Yeah, I’m in a boot and I’m non-weight bearing for 6 to 8 weeks. Non-weightbearing means I can’t stand or walk on my foot.

Wow. How can we help? Would it be helpful for us to take Tim to school?

We’ve got most days covered, but actually it would be great if you could take him on Friday.

Great. No problem. 7:30 okay?

That’s perfect. He’ll be all ready to go.

Thank you so much.

Perfect.

Now, we need to have you practice speaking. I’ll play person one and you play person two. I’ll put on screen the text for you to say out loud.

Hey, Jane. I heard you broke your foot.

Oh my gosh. Are you immobilized?

Wow. How can we help? Would it be helpful for us to take Tim to school?

Great. No problem. 7:30 okay?

Perfect.

Now you be person one.

Can you believe it? I tripped on the stairs.

Yeah, I’m in a boot and I’m non-weightbearing for six to eight weeks.

We’ve got most days covered, but actually it would be great if you could take him on Friday.

That’s perfect. He’ll be all ready to go. Thank you so much.

Do you love babies as much as I do?

Hey, we want to come by to meet the new baby. Would Sunday work?

Oh my gosh, that’s so sweet. Yeah, we have nothing planned. Does one work for you?

Yes, we want to bring some food for you guys. Are there any dietary restrictions or foods you absolutely hate?

A dietary restriction is a food that you cannot have because you have an allergy to it or maybe you’ve chosen not to, like if you’re vegan. I don’t have any food allergies, but I can think of a peanut allergy or maybe someone who’s lactose intolerant. Those people would have dietary restrictions.

No, no restrictions. And we like pretty much everything.

Great. We’ll see you then.

Oh, good. I’m so excited for you to meet him.

Now, we need to have you practice speaking. I’ll play person one and you play person two. I’ll put on screen the text for you to say out loud.

Hey, we want to come by to meet the new baby. Would Sunday work?

Yes. We want to bring some food for you guys. Are there any dietary restrictions or foods you absolutely hate?

Great. We’ll see you then.

Now you be person one.

Oh my gosh, that’s so sweet. Yeah, we have nothing planned. Does one work for you?

No, no restrictions and we like pretty much everything.

Oh, good. I’m so excited for you to meet him.

Now you’re chatting with a colleague.

Hey Rachel, how are you? Great. It is such a relief to be heading into the weekend with the Johnson project done.

Heading into is a phrasal verb that means going into something. For example, I was heading into the kitchen when I saw a mouse run across the floor. But we also use it for time when we’re at the beginning of a chunk of time, like heading into the weekend. Or I could say, “I’m heading into the summer with no vacation plans.”

Yeah, totally. You put in so much overtime for that.

I did. That was a tight deadline.

A deadline is the date at which you need to have something done. A tight deadline is one where you’re not sure if you have enough time to complete the task. Tight deadlines are stressful.

Now, we need to have you practice speaking. I’ll play person one and you play person two. I’ll put on screen the text for you to say out loud.

Hey, Rachel. How are you?

Yeah, totally. You put in so much overtime for that.

Now you be person one.

Great. It is such a relief to be heading into the weekend with the Johnson project done.

I did. That was a tight deadline.

I hope you never lose your job.

Hey, how are you?

Honestly, not very good. Last week I was laid off.

We use the word fired when someone is let go from their job for poor performance or for doing something wrong. But we usually use laid off when it wasn’t the person’s fault, but the company was downsizing or something like that.

Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry to hear that. Yeah, it’s a huge bummer. My whole team was let go.

Oh no.

So, not doing great today.

That’s hard. I’m really sorry.

Thanks. I’m just taking a few days to lay low and then I’ll start looking for work next week.

Good luck.

Now, we need to have you practice speaking. I’ll play person one and you play person two. I’ll put on screen the text for you to say out loud.

Hey, how are you?

Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry to hear that.

Oh no.

That’s hard. I’m really sorry.

Good luck.

Now, you be person one.

Honestly, not very good. Last week, I was laid off.

Yeah, it’s a huge bummer. My whole team was let go.

So, not doing great today.

Thanks. I’m just taking a few days to lay low and then I’ll start looking for work next week.

Now you’re calling a babysitter.

Hey Dana, I was calling to see if you could babysit on Friday.

Why I was calling instead of I am calling? Sometimes we use the past continuous tense to ask questions. I was calling to see if you could babysit? I was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner with me? It just adds an extra layer of politeness.

Oh, I can’t. I’m not free that evening.

You could also decline by saying, “I’m not available. I already have plans.” Or, “I’m all booked up.”

I am free Saturday evening, though.

I’m sure we can change our reservations. Let’s do Saturday. Does 7:00 work?

It does. Great. Thank you. See you then.

You’re welcome!

Now, we need to have you practice speaking. I’ll play person one, and you play person two. I’ll put on screen the text for you to say out loud.

Hey Dana, I was calling to see if you could babysit on Friday.

I’m sure we can change our reservations. Let’s do Saturday. Does 7:00 work?

Great. Thank you. See you then.

Now, you’ll be person one.

Oh, I can’t. I’m not free that evening. I am free Saturday evening, though.

It does.

You’re welcome.

In our final conversation, you’re chatting with a friend about an upcoming trip.

So, when do you leave for London?

Tomorrow night.

So, you’re taking the red eye.

A red eye is an overnight flight.

Brutal. I cannot sleep on planes.

I can, so I’m not worried about that. But the jet lag will be tough.

Jet lag is when your body has a hard time adjusting to a new time zone.

Well, just douse yourself in lattes your first day.

To douse something means to pour liquid over it to soak it. Of course, this is a joke. I don’t actually mean to pour lattes on your head. I just mean drink a lot of coffee.

I do love a good latte.

Then knock yourself out with sleeping pills the first night.

To be knocked out means to be made unconscious, like if you got hit in the head with something, but we also use it to describe sleeping very deeply.

Yeah, I’ll do that. I do want to get on that new time zone quickly since it’s such a short trip.

Now, we need to have you practice speaking. I’ll play person one and you play person two. I’ll put on screen the text for you to say out loud.

So, when do you leave for London?

So, you’re taking the red eye? Brutal. I cannot sleep on planes.

Well, just douse yourself in lattes your first day.

Then knock yourself out with sleeping pills the first night.

Now you be person one.

Tomorrow night.

I can so I’m not worried about that but the jet lag will be tough.

I do love a good latte.

Yeah, I’ll do that. I do want to get on that new time zone quickly since it’s such a short trip.

Great. Now, let’s review all the vocabulary we learned. We’ll review them out of order. Put anything that is new to you that you’re learning right now in the comments below as a list.

Nouns.

Red eye. A red eye is an overnight flight.

Venmo. Venmo is an app popular in the United States for sending money to your friends.

Dietary restriction. A dietary restriction is a food that you cannot have because you have an allergy to it or maybe you’ve chosen not to, like if you’re vegan. I don’t have any food allergies, but I can think of a peanut allergy or maybe someone who’s lactose intolerant. Those people would have dietary restrictions.

Jet lag. Jet lag is when your body has a hard time adjusting to a new time zone.

Deadline. A deadline is the date at which you need to have something done. A tight deadline is one where you’re not sure if you have enough time to complete the task. Tight deadlines are stressful.

Handle. A handle is a unique username for an app. For example, on Instagram, my handle is Rachel’s English.

Now, some verbs.

Douse. To douse something means to pour liquid over it to soak it. Of course, this is a joke. I don’t actually mean to pour lattes on your head. I just mean drink a lot of coffee.

Heading into. Heading into is a phrasal verb that means going into something. For example, I was heading into the kitchen when I saw a mouse run across the floor. But we also use it for time when we’re at the beginning of a chunk of time, like heading into the weekend. Or I could say, “I’m heading into the summer with no vacation plans.”

Knocked out. To be knocked out means to be made unconscious, like if you got hit in the head with something. But we also use it to describe sleeping very deeply.

Laid off. We usually use laid off when it wasn’t the person’s fault, but the company was downsizing or something like that.

Now, some adjectives, adverbs, or other descriptors.

Immobilized. Immobilized means prevented from moving normally.

Non-weight bearing. Non-weight bearing means I can’t stand or walk on my foot.

And finally, other expressions and phrases.

Slips your mind. If something slips your mind, that just means you forgot.

I was calling. And why I was calling instead of I am calling? Sometimes, we use the past continuous tense to ask questions. I was calling to see if you could babysit. I was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner with me. It just adds an extra layer of politeness.

And now we’ll see all that vocabulary in context and watch the conversations again.

Hey, I just wanted to remind you that you still owe me money for the hotel in Cancun.

Oh my gosh, thank you so much for reminding me. It totally slipped my mind.

No problem. Do you have Venmo?

Yes, I do. What’s your handle?

I’ll text it to you.

Okay, thanks. I will get on that. I will pay you right away.

Hey, Jane. I heard you broke your foot.

Can you believe it? I tripped on the stairs.

Oh my gosh. Are you immobilized?

Yeah, I’m in a boot and I’m non-weightbearing for 6 to 8 weeks.

Wow. How can we help? Would it be helpful for us to take Tim to school?

We’ve got most days covered, but actually it would be great if you could take him on Friday.

Great. No problem. 7:30 okay?

That’s perfect. He’ll be all ready to go. Thank you so much.

Perfect.

Hey, we want to come by to meet the new baby. Would Sunday work?

Oh my gosh, that’s so sweet. Yeah, we have nothing planned.

Does one work for you?

Yes, we want to bring some food for you guys. Are there any dietary restrictions or foods you absolutely hate?

No, no restrictions and we like pretty much everything.

Great. We’ll see you then.

Oh, good. I’m so excited for you to meet him.

Perfect.

Hey, Rachel. How are you?

Great. It is such a relief to be heading into the weekend with the Johnson project done.

Yeah, totally. You put in so much overtime for that.

I did. That was a tight deadline.

Hey, how are you?

Honestly, not very good. Last week, I was laid off.

Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry to hear that.

Yeah, it’s a huge bummer. My whole team was let go.

Oh no.

So, not doing great today.

That’s hard. I’m really sorry.

Thanks. I’m just taking a few days to lay low and then I’ll start looking for work next week.

Good luck.

Hey Dana, I was calling to see if you could babysit on Friday.

Oh, I can’t.

I’m not free that evening. I am free Saturday evening, though.

I’m sure we can change our reservations. Let’s do Saturday. Does 7:00 work?

It does.

Great. Thank you. See you then.

You’re welcome.

So, when do you leave for London?

Tomorrow night.

So, you’re taking the red eye? Brutal. I cannot sleep on planes.

I can, so I’m not worried about that. But the jet lag will be tough.

Well, just douse yourself in lattes your first day.

I do love a good latte.

Then knock yourself out with sleeping pills the first night.

Yeah, I’ll do that. I do want to get on that new time zone quickly since it’s such a short trip.

I would love it if every day this week you watched the training part of the video where you participate out loud in the conversation. The more you practice speaking, the easier it becomes.

Here’s an idea. Try making up your own responses within the conversations. Just anything to get you thinking and speaking.

Don’t forget to head over to rachelenglish.com/free to get my free course, The Top Three Ways to Master the American Accent.

Keep your learning going now with this video and don’t forget to subscribe with notifications on. I absolutely love being your English teacher. That’s it. And thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

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