Silence please!

Hello English learners! And welcome to EnglishPod! My name is Marco.

And I’m Erica.

Erica, today we are really excited, right?

Yeah. We’ve got a great lesson today all about real English.

Exactly, English that you hear in movies and TV shows.

Yeah, speaking of movies, today’s podcast takes place at the movies.

Exactly. And that’s why it’s so fun today.

Aha.

Okay, great. So, before we listen to our dialogue let’s take a look at our “vocabulary preview”. Voice: Vocabulary preview.

In today’s vocabulary preview we have two words. And the first word is inconsiderate.

Inconsiderate.

Inconsiderate.

So, Erica, what is it when someone is inconsiderate?

If someone’s inconsiderate, they’re not thinking about the feelings of other people.

Right. So, for example, yesterday I was on the subway and it was full.

Right.

And an old lady was standing there and no one got up to give her their seat.

That was pretty inconsiderate.

Yeah, great. So, now let’s take a look at our second word. And it’skeep it down.

Keep it down.

Keep it down.

Keep it down.

So, why don’t we listen to some examples on how we use keep it down, so we can understand? Voice: Example one.

Excuse me, do you mind keeping it down? It’s after midnight.

Okay, I’m sorry. Voice: Example two.

I’m trying study! Do you mind keeping it down? Voice: Example three.

Do you mind keeping it down? I’m trying to watch the game.

So, that means be quiet.

Yes, don’t make so much noise.

I used to hear this one all the time from my mother.

Hehe. I think we all did when we were children.

Yeah.

Okay. So, now let’s listen to the dialogue for a first time. It’s gonna be kind of fast.

But don’t worry about it if you can’t understand everything. By the end of today’s lesson you will understand this dialogue.

Well, I hate it when people’s phones ring when I’m watching a movie.

Hehe. I think everyone… gets kind of, uh, angry, but we’re gonna talk about this a little bit later. Why don’t we take a look now at our “language takeaway”? Voice: Language takeaway.

So, the language takeaway is our most important words for today’s lesson. And our first word today is not such a big deal.

Not such a big deal.

Not such a big deal.

So, when something is not a big deal it’s…

Not a big problem.

It’s not important, right?

Exactly.

Okay, let’s listen to some examples. Voice: Example one.

I can’t get these files due by tomorrow.

It’s Okay. It’s not such a big deal. Voice: Example two.

Uh, I’m really sorry, I’m gonna be ten minutes late for the meeting.

It’s not such a big deal; Peter and ??? are late too.

Now let’s look at our second word. And it’s switch it off.

Switch it off.

Switch it off.

Switch it off.

So, this word means to turn it off.

To turn something off.

Now, we can use it in three different ways.

Yeah, this one… it’s a little bit complicated, because it changes a little bit depending on how you use it. So, Marco, I think you’ve got some examples for us.

Right, so, for example, I can say “did you switch off your phone?

Or you could say “did you switch your phone off?

Right, or simply you can ask “did you switch it off?

I think this one is a little bit hard; let’s look at a couple more examples.

Okay, so, I can say, for example, “Switch off the TV”.

Switch the TV off.

Or switch it off.

Yeah, I think that’s a little bit more clear.

Yeah.

But, you know what? We even had trouble with that one, didn’t we?

Hehe. Yeah, we had to do it a couple of times. Okay, now let’s look at our last word and it’s can’t hear a thing.

Can’t hear a thing.

I can’t hear a thing.

Can’t hear a thing.

Okay, we have some examples for this phrase, so let’s listen. Voice: Example one.

What’s going on in there?

I don’t know; I can’t hear a thing. Voice: Example two.

What? I’m sorry, this music is too loud; I can’t hear a thing.

So, that’s like saying “I can’t hear”.

Exactly. I can’t hear anything.

It’s too loud.

Right, so now we are ready to listen to our dialogue a second time. It’s gonna be slower.

This time listen for some of the key words we were explaining. DIALOGUE, SECOND TIME (slow)

Okay, great, now with the dialogue slower it’s really understandable.

Yeah, I think you could catch those key words a lot better.

Perfect, so now we are ready to look at “putting it together”. Voice: Putting it together.

So, in putting it together we help you use a great phrase in different ways. And today’s phrase is do you mind.

Do you mind.

Do you mind.

Okay, so, let’s listen to some examples on how you can use this phrase in different situations. Voice: Example one.

Do you mind holding my coat for me? Voice: Example two.

Oh, I forgot my wallet. Do you mind paying for dinner? Voice: Example three.

Do you mind turning off your phone?

So, this phrase is usually pretty polite. I could say to you, Marco, “do you mind holding my coat for me?”

And that’s really polite.

Yeah, so, would you mind, do you mind are very polite phrases.

But depending on your voice and how you use your tone, it could be a little bit sarcastic, right?

Yeah, it could be a little bit rude, if you say “would you mind keeping it down?

Exactly, like we heard in our dialogue.

Yeah, so, that’s not so polite.

Yeah, exactly, I mean in English you have to be careful, because your tone of voice tells the other person how you’re feeling; if you’re angry, sad or… just like in any other language.

Yeah, that’s true. So, I mean, uh, using a phrase like do you mindis a great phrase, but make sure you keep up positive tone in your voice.

Hehe. Exactly. So now that we’ve talked about all these great things we can listen to the dialogue a third time, but it’ll be at its normal speed.

So, I know that in different countries there’re different habits about watching movies.

Yeah, that’s definitely true. Erica, what’s it like in Canada?

Well, in Canada it’s really common to eat popcorn and candy and, uh, maybe chips while you’re watching a movie, but if your phone rings in the movie theater this is a big problem.

Hehe. I imagine it is. I mean I would be upset also.

What about in Ecuador?

Well, in Ecuador and in South America usually people can bring infood from the outside.

Really?

Yeah, so, it’s not really uncommon depending on the city, um, to find people bringing in chicken or some sort of like really smelly food.

No way.

Hehe. So, you get either really hungry or really upset, but that’s what happens.

You know, I used to live in Switzerland and in Switzerland you would have to eat before you watch the movie. There was no popcorn, no soda, no candy inside the movie theater. Can you imagine that?

I could not live with that, because the whole purpose of going to the movies is to have some popcorn and relax and have a good time.

You can’t have a movie without popcorn.

Exactly.

Okay, so, we’ve talked a lot about how to ask someone to be quiet today. And I hope that you’ll go out and try a few of these phrases in your daily life.

Yes, and I hope also that you visit our website at englishpod.comand leave all your questions and comments.

Marco and I are there everyday, so, we’ll be happy to answer your questions, but until next time…

Bye!

Good bye! ***