13 Jan. 2016

Using Courtesy Expressions

Task 1:

Listen to the conversation between two friends at a community centre. As you listen, fill in the blanks with the courtesy expressions you hear.

Courtesy expressions are phrases that are commonly used in daily interactions. They are used in a variety of social situations to greet people and respond to greetings, to signal the end of conversations, to say goodbye, and to sympathize, apologize, and express and respond to thanks.

Lynn: Hi, Julie. How it’s going?

Julie: Prety good.  How about you?

Lynn: Not bad.

Julie: Listen, thanks so much for referring me to Lorraine Holt. I met with her yesterday and she was very impressed with my resumé!

Lynn: It was my pleasure. I was happy to do it. 

Julie: She’s going to pass my resumé on to someone else she knows who is hiring right now.

Lynn: That’s wonderful, Julie!

Julie: I’ll let you know what happens.

Lynn: Great. I hope you get the job. By the way, how is your cat doing?

Julie: Oh, poor Tiger. He got to the point where he wasn’t eating or drinking so we had to put him to sleep.


Lynn: Oh, Julie, I’m so sorry. Tiger was a wonderful cat.

Julie: Yes, he was. I miss him so much. Anyway, I should get it going.Mark is picking me up and he’s probably in the parking lot. Thanks again for you help.

Lynn: Don’t mention it.

Julie: Have a great weekend.
 

Lynn: you too.

Julie: Bye.


Lynn: Bye.  

Task 2:

Think and write other expressions that you are familiar with for the purposes below.

A.   Greetings & Responding to Greetings	Perfect. /I’m fine. /Pretty good
B.   Responding to Bad News	I’m sorry to hear that.  /Sorry for that. / I’m so sorry.
C.   Signaling the End of a Conversation	It’s time to go, have a nice day./  Time’s up, thank s for everything you done./
D.    Responding to Good News	So glad to hear that./ that’s wonderful./
E.  Responding to Bad News	I’m sorry to hear that.  /Sorry for that. / I’m so sorry.
F.   Expressing Thanks	Thank you. I really appreciate your help./ Thanks so much for….
G.   Saying Goodbye	See you later. /See you./ See you soon.
H.   Requesting a favor	Could you do me a favor?  Would you like to give me a hand? Could you help me?

Task 3:

 Let’s practice hypothetical situations. Imagine you are not feeling well and need to call one of your peers at work to cover for you.

Your talk should include the following details:

·                     Greeting

·                     Stating the purpose of your call

·                     Explaining the situation briefly

·                     Expressing thanks

·                     Closing the conversation

Once you are ready, click on this link and record your “imagined” phone call conversation; make sure not to exceed 2 to 3 minutes.