LESSON NOTES

Lower Intermediate S1 #5
Opening a Conversation: Part 2

CONTENTS

Dialogue - English
Main
Vocabulary
Sample sentences
Vocabulary phrase usage
Grammar
Cultural insight

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DIALOGUE - ENGLISH
MAIN

1. Mike : Hello, Mr. Smith.

2. Boss : Hey there, Mike. How are you?

3. Mike : I'm fine. How are you?

4. Boss : I'm good. Did you have a good weekend?

5. Mike : Yes, I did. My wife and I went to the beach.

6. Boss : Sounds great. How is Susan, by the way?

7. Mike : She's doing well.

8. Boss : Tell her I said hi.

9. Mike : I will, thank you.

VOCABULARY

Vocabulary English Class

beach area close to the ocean covered in sand or small rocks noun

wife the female partner of a married couple noun

weekend the end of a week, Saturday to Sunday noun

to tell to make known, to say verb

by the way (American) phrase to change the topic phrase

doing well phrase meaning to be fine phrase

SAMPLE SENTENCES

An image of a sandy beach flitted through my I always forget my towel when I go to the beach.
mind when I saw the travel agent.

His wife left him for a younger man. He should bring his wife to the company party.

"I have to finish my extra work at home this "I hope to have a very relaxing weekend."
weekend."

He ruined the surprise by telling her. I forgot to tell you where to meet me.

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 This week, I’m going to a party. By the way, did I heard about the news, by the way.
you hear about the party happening next week?

By the way, how is your mother? She was doing well after her initial scare.

Last time I saw him, he was doing well.

VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE

The first phrase we'll look at is "did you have a good weekend?" This is a common question that we can
ask on Mondays. We use it to start a friendly conversation with someone and it doesn't necessarily
require a detailed answer, although the conversation may continue. We can use it among colleagues and
friends.

The second phrase we'll look at is "by the way." We use this phrase when the speaker wants to change
the topic of the conversation. We can use it at the end of a sentence as in the dialogue or we can use it
at the beginning, as in "By the way, when is our next day off again?"

GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson Is Reviewing the Simple Past Tense.
"Yes, I did. My wife and I went to the beach."

Let's review the simple past in this lesson by using some examples from the dialogue along with some
general ones. First, let's take a look at these sentences.

1. "Yes, I did."
2. "My wife and I went to the beach."

In the first sentence, Mike uses the simple past because he is talking about his weekend that has
finished. He continues using the simple past when he mentions his weekend activity because it is an
action that he has completed. Notice that both of these verbs are irregular past tense verbs.

Here are some general examples of both regular and irregular past tense verbs.

For Example:

1. "I worked hard until midnight."

2. "She replied to my e-mail very quickly."

3. "He planned the perfect crime."

4. "She ate the juicy apple."
5. "I drove the car home."

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CULTURAL INSIGHT
Small Talk in America

What the two speakers in the dialogue are doing is having small talk. Small talk is a light conversation
about unimportant things. People have small talk just for the sake of communicating with one another.
The topics of small talk are usually the same most of the time. Topics can be anything from weekend talk
to chatting about current news, traffic, or weather.
 

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