I.

Greetings
I.1 Types of Greetings
A. 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."
"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."

Another common question to ask is:

"What do you do for a living?
"What are you?

You can respond to this by saying :

"I work at a restaurant."
I am in charge for the human resources’
"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, you 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?"

B.Greetings Someone you Know

If you meet someone you know, you can say:

"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?”
The response:
"Wow. How long has it been? It seems like more than a year. I'm doing pretty well. How
about you?"
"Not too bad."
"The same as usual."

If you see the person at a restaurant, you can say,

"Do you come to this restaurant often?"
The response:
"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."

Or at the movie theatre,

"What movie did you come to see?"
The response:
"I came here to see Matrix Revolution. How about you?"

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?"

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."

I.2 Examples Dialoguge

1.
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."

2.
Person A: "What is your name?"
Person B: "Jackson."
Person A: "What was that again?"
3.
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 have just finished taking a big examination, and I'm
so relieved that I'm done with it."
4.
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."

5.
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."

6.
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."

7.

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."
8.

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."

I.3 Exercise:
1. COMPOSE AND PRACTICE A DIALOGUE THAT CONSIST OF 5 PAIRS OF
CONVERSATIONS, GIVE THE SITUATION

2. USE THE MODEL OF “GREETINGS SOMEONE YOU NEVER MET” OR “GREETINGS

SOMEONE YOU KNOW”
II. University Life
II.1. University Classes
There are several topics we can discuss about the classes in university :
A.Registering for classes
B.Grades in class
C.Professors and different curriculum
D.Dropping out/Withdrawal

A. Registering for classes

*Some examples of Q-A:

"Did you register yet?"
"I haven't registered yet."

"When do you register for classes?"

"I register next Tuesday."

"When does registration start for next semester?"

"Registration starts 4 weeks before the next semester."

"How do you register for classes?"

"You register on-line. Go to the website, and click on register."

"Where is the registration office?"

"The registration office is in Schmidt Hall. That's right across the street from the statue."

"What classes are you registering for?"

"What classes are you going to take?"
"What classes do you want to take?"

"I'm not worried about getting into psychology 101, but I think the physics class will be full
by the time I register."
"If all things go well, I plan on registering for English composition, chemistry, and
calculus."
"I really want to take computer programming, but I'll have to see if it is full or not."

*Regular comments about registering

"I hate registering for classes. All the classes I want to take are always full."
"Seniors have the first pick so registering is easy for them."
"If I get all the classes I want to take, I'll be so happy."
"Registration was great this time. I got all the classes I wanted."
"Registering for classes is such a big headache."

B. Grades in Classes

Talking about grades is all dependent on if you open up about these things or not. I know some
people are very secretive about their grades, and others like me freely talk about grades. So
make sure you are close friends with the person you are talking to about grades.

Grades are different depending on school. Some schools give letter grades that translates into
number grade. Other schools strictly give number grades only. The difference is in letter grades,
you cannot get a 3.5. You either get a B+, which is a 3.3, or an A- which is a 3.7. However, in
number grades, the instructor can give a 3.4, 3.5, or 3.6.

*Some examples of common Q-A

"What did you get in English?"

"What grade did you get in English?"
"In English, I got a B+."
"I got a 2.9 in English."

"I can't believe I got a 3.1 in biology. What did you get?"
"I did similar to you."
"I got a 3.4 this semester."

"How was your GPA this semester?" (GPA stands for Grade Point Average).
"How were your grades this quarter?"
"If I didn't get the C+ in Biology, my GPA would have been awesome this semester."
"My grades were ok."
"I did average this quarter."

"Did you do well this semester?"

"Did you screw up your grades this semester?"
"What was the lowest grade you ever got?"
"What is your overall GPA?"
"How are your grades?"
"What's your accum?" This is short for accumulated. This is asking what your overall
GPA is.
"My accum is 3.6 right now. I really want to get over 3.75."
"My overall GPA is 2.94. I need to get a 3.4 next semester to bring my GPA above 3.0."
"My GPA sucks."
"I did pretty good this semester." (Although grammatically this is incorrect, spoken English
allows such errors. If you want to be grammatically perfect, you will need to say, "I did pretty
well this semester."

C. Dropping Out / Withdrawal

There are two ways to leave a class. You either drop out, or you withdraw. Dropping out usually
means you are going to get a failing grade and you don't care about it. But primarily, dropping
out refers to leaving college life altogether. So if you intend to say that you dropped out of a
class, you should use withdraw. There are several time periods for withdrawal. The first week,
there is no penalty. The second week up to the first month, a W will show up on your transcript.
And finally, withdrawal after the half way point will give you a failing grade. But this is
dependent on each school policy. So learn the withdrawal format of your school.

*Some examples of common Q-A :

"I dropped out of my chemistry class."

"I withdrew from my biology class."
"I had too many classes as it is, so I dropped out of my statistics class."
"I couldn't keep up with the schedule, so I dropped out of that class."
"I couldn't understand the material, so I withdrew."
"I hated the professor, so I just withdrew."

"When is the last day to withdraw?"

"If I withdraw now, will it show up on my transcript?"
"Does a withdrawal look bad on the transcript?"
"How do I drop out of a class that I don't want to take anymore?"
"What is the procedure to withdraw from class?"
"How do I withdraw from a certain class?"

Other things you might want to say when discussing this topic...

"Are you sure you want to drop out of that class. You only have 4 more weeks. At least
you can get the credit."
"If I stay in that class, I'm going to screw up my GPA."
"The best I can do is a C in this class. I don't want a C on my transcript. I'm going to
withdraw from the class."
"If you get a bad grade, can't you just re-take the course?"
"Even if I retake the course, both grades are used. This school has a different system
where re-taking the course doesn't really help."

D. Professors and Curriculum

*Some examples of common Q-A :

"How is Professor Johnson?"

"Professor Johnson is so uptight. He's always lecturing and never allows students to ask
any questions."
"Professor Johnson is a brilliant professor. I learned so much from him."

"Is Professor Smith an easy grader?"

"No way. He is such a hard grader. I was expecting a 3.7, but it turns out that I got a 3.1.
Can you believe that?"
"His grading system is messed up. He grades according to how much he likes you."

"What is Professor Lee like?"

"He's a difficult grader."
"He's an easy grader."

"Would you take another class from Professor Jackson again?"

"So far, I have taken 2 classes from Professor Jackson. I'm going to take every class he
offers."
"I wouldn't recommend Professor Jackson. His classes are so boring."

"How many exams did you have to take in Sociology 121?"

"There were just two exams... the midterm and the final."
"There is an exam ever other week. It was hard, but at least it prevented me from
cramming."

"What's the curriculum for Chemistry 101?"

"The curriculum is pretty basic. We have two days of lecture, two days of lab, and one day
of discussions. Every now and then we have a quiz, but it's pretty routine.”

"Do you have to give any presentations in journalism class?"

"What do you do in poetry class?"
"In journalism, we have to give a presentation 3 times during the course. I didn't mind it,
but a lot of other students were complaining."
"We had two presentations, but they were pretty easy. It was the writing that was hard."

II.1.A. Interactive Practice

1.

A: "Hey John, did you register for classes yet?"

B: "I register this Friday."
A: "What classes do you plan on taking?"
B: "I really want to take the communication class, but I don't know if it will be available."
A: "Is that class really that popular?"
B: "Yeah. I tried to get in last semester, but it was full by the time I registered."
A: "What other classes are you going to take?"
B: "I still need to take English 201, but I really don't like writing."
A: "I took that class already. There is a lot of writing, but it's not that bad."
B: "Oh really? Who was the instructor? There are like 4 different instructors to choose from."
A: "I had Professor Mahoney."
B: "Is he an easy grader?"
A: "I'm not sure if he is or not, but I thought he was definitely fair."
B: "Do you mind if I ask you what you got?"
A: "Not at all. I got a 3.8."
B: "Well, what did you get in English 101 last year?"
A: "I got a 4.0 in that class."
B: "Well, I can't compare to you. I got a 3.1 in English 101. That means if you got a lower grade
in English 201, it must be harder."
A: "It's not what it appears. I actually tried harder in the 101 class. If I put as much effort into the
201 class, I would have received the same grade."
B: "Oh. That helps. Thanks."

2.

A: "Hey Mike. I forgot about registration. I'm a day late, so all the classes are mostly full. What
do you think I should do?"
B: "You're screwed. You can't do anything about that. You have to hope that you get some classes
that will be useful."
A: "Do you think going to the registration building will help at all."
B: "No. They will tell you the same thing in a worse way."
A: "Did you register yet?"
B: "Of course. Registering for classes is not something you want to miss."
A: "What classes do you think are still open?"
B: "Well, I know psychology 101 is a big class, so there will always be seats in that class. You
can also get into Sociology."
A: "That's helpful. Thanks. But what do you think about philosophy. I wanted to take that class
this semester."
B: "I took that class last year. The professor is really cool, so if you go to his office, you can have
him sign a card that will let you in even if the class is full."
A: "He does that?"
B: "I guess that's because so many people drop out of that class."
A: "That makes sense. I think I'll do that. Thanks for all the help."
B: "No problem man."

3.

A: "Did you get your grades yet?"

B: "Yeah. My whole GPA is screwed up now."
A: "Why? What happened?"
B: "Well, I bombed my econ final and ended up with a 1.7."
A: "Ouch. You must be very disappointed."
B: "Well, it's my fault because I didn't study as much as I should have."
A: "Why don't you re-take the class next year?"
B: "That's what I plan on doing unless I keep screwing up. How did you do this semester?"
A: "I didn't do that well either. I ended up with a 3.2 this semester. That drops my total GPA to
3.45."
B: "My GPA is pretty similar to yours. I have a 3.1 now because of the stupid econ class."
A: "What was your GPA before this semester?"
B: "I was sitting happy with a 3.4."
A: "Why did it go down so much?"
B: "Let's just say I screwed up more than my econ class."
A: "What happened to you?"
B: "I started playing StarCraft and ended up wasting a lot of time."
A: "You better stop slacking off."
B: "You're right. I'm not going to play games during school anymore."

4,

A: "Did you ever take History 231?"

B: "Yeah. Last semester."
A: "Who was the professor?"
B: "It was Professor Johnson."
A: "I have him this semester. What do you think about him?"
B: "He's a terrible instructor and demands a lot, but fortunately, he's an easy grader."
A: "What did you end up getting?"
B: "I got an A-. Sounds good, but none of my test scores were that high, so I don't know how I
got a decent grade."
A: "That's probably because he grades on a curve."
B: "Are you enjoying the class so far?"
A: "I hate it and I was about to withdrawal. But after hearing your experience, I think I will
tough it out."
B: "Yes. Definitely stay in the class. You will get a better grade than your test scores. He does
that deliberately to make all the students study a lot."
A: "Thanks for letting me know. I feel relieved now."

5.

A: "Hi Mark."
B: "Oh, hi Stacy."
A: "How was your summer vacation?"
B: "I worked over the summer at a restaurant. Have to make tuition money right? What did you
do?"
A: "I took summer school. I withdrew from two of my classes last year so I wanted to make
them up."
B: "So are you officially a junior now?"
A: "Yeah. And I have 5 credits to spare. I only needed to take 10 credits over the summer, but I
took 15 because the price was the same."
B: "That makes sense. So where is Nicole?"
A: "She dropped out of school completely."
B: "Really? Why?"
A: "She worked at a startup company as an intern and since the business did well, they asked her
if she wanted to work full time."
B: "Wow. She's so lucky. She doesn't have a degree and she already has a job."
A: "It sounds good now, but I'm traditional. I want the degree, so I wouldn't have accepted the
offer."
B: "Do you know how much they are paying her?"
A: "I don't know. But I bet it must have been a good offer, or she wouldn't have accepted it."

II.2 Examinations

There are many types of tests and different terminologies. You can be taking an in-class test, or
it could be a take-home final. It could be a multiple choice exam or an essay type forma. Let's
learn the different terminologies associated with testing:
Examination/ Exam
Mid-term, Finals
Test/ Quiz
Take-home final
Research paper
Final paper
Report
Essay
Presentation
Open-book test/final

*Some examples of common questions : (practice : think about the answers)

"How many tests did you have to take in your Math class?"
"We had a total of 4 tests in that math class." Or more simply, '4 tests.'

"What was the mid-term like?"

"The mid-term was hard. If you read all the material, you will still have a hard time
because the professor wrote up all the questions in a difficult way.

"How much percentage is the mid-term towards the final grade?"

"Do you have to write any papers in that class?"
"How many pages did you have to write for your essays?"
"Was the open-book exam hard?"
"How difficult was the take-home final?"
"Was the final exam short answer questions, or was it multiple choice?"
"How much time did you get to write your research paper?"
"How often did you have a quiz?"
"What day did you take your final?"
"When did you take your final?"
"Are you done with your mid-terms?"
"When is finals week?"
"The syllabus for the econ class says you have six exams. What were they like?"
"How difficult is the mid-term for psychology 101?"

*The tips : Finding Information

Having a lot of information about tests can help prepare for exams. The next several questions
are geared towards finding specific information.
"Does Professor Giles use old exam questions for his tests?"
"Can I borrow your old exams for Intermediate Accounting? I want to use the questions to
test myself before the real exam."
"Do you know anybody who took Physics 340? I want to know the types of questions that
were asked on the final."
"Do you think I need to study chapter 6 for the mid-term? It's so boring, and I can't seem
to apply it anywhere."
"What topics did the professor cover the most in the final exam?"
"What were the long essay questions on?"
"Do you remember the long essay questions you had on the final?"
"I was thinking about buying the study supplement for the engineering class. Do you think
it will help?"

*General Information

"How much percentage is the mid-term towards the final grade?"

"The instructor said it was twenty percent of our final grade."

"Do you have to write any papers in that class?"

"No. We only had one mid-term and one final."
"Yes. We had to write 2 essays for that class."

"How many pages did you have to write for your essays?"
"We had to write 5 pages for both essays."

"Was the open-book exam hard?"

"Most of the time, open-book exams are harder, but this one was really easy. All the
questions were in the glossary so I found the answers quickly."

"How difficult was the take-home final?"

"It is easy that we have the material to look through, but it is very time consuming. I had
to do an all-nighter just to finish." (All-nighter means to stay up all night).

"Was the final exam short answer questions, or was it multiple choice?"
"It was multiple choice."
"Neither. The exam had 2 long essay questions."

"Did you have any pop-quizzes in your geology class?"

"We had 3 pop-quizzes in that class. Luckily, only five percent counts toward the final
grade."
"Fortunately we didn't have any."

"How much time did you get to write your research paper?"
"We had two months to write the research paper."

"How often did you have a quiz?"

"Once a week."

"What day did you take your final?"

"I took the final last Monday."
"I didn't take it yet. I take the final tomorrow."

"The syllabus for the econ class says you have six exams. What were they like?"
"It was pretty easy because they only covered 2 chapters. If you keep up, then you
shouldn't have a hard time."

"Does Professor Giles use old exam questions for his tests?"
"He always creates new test questions so old ones will not help you."

"Can I borrow your old exams for Intermediate Accounting? I want to use the questions to
test myself before the real exam."
"Sure, I have it in my dormitory. I'll bring them tomorrow."
"He didn't return the exams, so I don't have them."

"What were the long essay questions on?"

"Both questions were on supply and demand. Make sure you know that stuff inside and
out."

"I was thinking about buying the study supplement for the engineering class. Do you think
it will help?"
"I highly recommend it. I didn't have it for the first exam, and I got a B-. But after I
studied with the supplement, I aced the next test."
II.2.A Interactive Practice
1

A: "Did you already take the history exam?"

B: "Yeah. It was hard. When do you take it?"
A: "I take it tomorrow morning. There is so much material, that I don't know what to emphasize
on. What types of questions did you get?"
B: "Mostly on the civil war. You should also study the impact Martin Luther King Jr. had on
American society."
A: "How about Abraham Lincoln? Did you get any questions about him?"
B: "I only had 1 question about him. But you might get more. I don't know if he will have the
same exam or not."
A: "Hopefully he will use the same exam, cause I'm going to spend most of my time studying
the civil war. It is a huge section and that is what he lectured the most on in class."
B: "If you can't study everything, then that is probably the best way to go."
A: "Aright. Thanks for the info. I gotta go to the library now."
B: "Good luck."
A: "Thanks. See ya."

A: "Hey Jack. You look tired. What's going on?"

B: "It's finals week and I have been up all night studying."
A: "How many exams do you have left?"
B: "Three more to go?"
A: "Have you been keeping up, or are you cramming everything?"
B: "If I was keeping up, I wouldn't need to stay up all night."
A: "Ha ha ha. Looks like you are in for a tough week."
B: "Tell me about it. How about you? What have you been up to?"
A: "I finished my last final this morning."
B: "So you're completely done?"
A: "No. I have one more report that is due this Friday. I haven't started it yet, but it shouldn't be
too tough."
B: "How many pages do you have to write?"
A: "It's a 10 page paper on habitual behavior for psychology 211."
B: "You wanna take one of my exams for me?"
A: "I would if I could, but you know that's not possible."
B: "Yeah, I know."
A: "If you need help with your chemistry class, I can help you over the weekend."
B: "That would be great."
A: "Let's get together Saturday around lunch time."
B: "You don't know how much this means to me. Thanks."
A: "Don't mention it. I'll see you on Saturday."

II.3 Exercise:
1. COMPOSE AND PRACTICE A DIALOGUE THAT CONSIST OF 5 PAIRS OF
CONVERSATIONS, GIVE THE SITUATION

2. USE THE MODELS ABOVE

Source : http://www.talkenglish.com/lessondetails.aspx?ALID=588