Arnold Functioning in English

An Intermediate-Plus Review of Everyday Functional English Expressions
1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4835-5031-2
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 127 Seiten

The teaching of English as a second language has been a multi-million dollar business for over 40 years. Companies, as well as individuals, both students and working stiffs, have spent small fortunes struggling with the language to better their prospects, both professionally as well as socially. Isn't it about time we found an economical way to cut out the hard labor and concentrate on the essentials?

Autoren/Hrsg.

Arnold, James

Leseproben

Module 1 INTRODUCTIONS, GREETINGS AND FAREWELLS THANKING PEOPLE AND RESPONDING TO THANKS A. INTRODUCTIONS AND GREETINGS With all functional language, there are different grades of formality. Look at the difference between these two dialogues : 1. A: May I introduce myself? My name is David Ford. B : How do you do, Mr Ford I'm Graham Debbings. A: How d'you do, Graham. And please call me David. B : Thank you, David 2. C: I don't think we've met. My name's Grant, Stephen Grant. D : Pleased to meet you, Mr Grant. My name's Huber. Gerhardt Huber. C: Ah, yes. You're from the Berlin office, aren't you? D: That's right, yes. Here is another dialogue for first meetings that can easily be used at airports meeting a new arrival: 3. E: Excuse me, are you Mr Gimenez from Madrid? F: Yes, that's right. Emilio Gimenez. How do you do ? E: Pleased to meet you Mr Gimenez. My name's John Salmon. F: Ah, yes. It was good of you to come and meet me. E: Not at all. My car is outside if you come this way. F: Thanks. The standard phrase for a first meeting in English is How do you do ? And the standard reply is a repetition of the same phrase How do you do? Mr Ford asks permission to introduce himself with May I … ? but he could also have used a more direct form and said Let me introduce myself. At the end, to reduce the formality, he asks Mr Debbings to call him by his first name. In dialogue 2, Mr Grant approaches Mr Huber with another common phrase: I don't think we've met. Another possibility is I don't think we know each other. Mr Huber's reply is another standard English phrase in introductions and greetings - Pleased to meet you. Other possibilities are: Nice to meet you, A pleasure to meet you or I'm glad to meet you at last. In an informal situation, or with people you have already met before, the dialogues could be: 4. G: Hello again, how are you? H: Fine, thanks, and you? G: Very well, thanks. It's been a long time. H: Yes, it has, hasn't it? G: I'm sorry, I'm not sure I can remember your name. H: (I'm) Paul Trent from DAC Engineering. G: Of course. Now I remember. (I'm) Jim Oliver from PGT. H: Good to see you again, Jim. 5. I: Hi, Jack. How are things? J: Not too bad, thanks. How are you getting on, Mike? I: Very well. We're pretty busy at the moment. J: Yes, this is your peak period, isn't it Notice how the style changes in an informal situation, because in English we don't make any difference between tú and usted, (or tu and vous in French) only having you for both formal and informal situations. In Dialogue 4 the two could simply state their names without the I'm … B. INTRODUCING A THIRD PERSON If we want to introduce a third person, two typical dialogues would be : 6. K: Have you met Mr Mason? Frank, this is John Kenning from Leeds. L: How d'you do, Mr Kenning. I'm Frank Mason from London. M: Hello, Frank. How's business? L: Things are going well, despite the recession. 7. N: Let me introduce my assistant Mary Porter. Mary, this is Ken Vickers from Vickers Tools. 0: It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Porter. P : No, the pleasure's all mine. And, please call me Mary. In dialogue 6 John Kenning is the one who starts using Mason's first name to reduce formality, and follows with a very informal question to open the conversation. When Mary Porter is introduced to Ken Vickers, her boss could also ask • May I introduce … ? or say I'd like to introduce … A standard basic introduction of two people in English is as simple as. "John, this is Mary. Mary, this is John." C. FAREWELLS When it's time to part and say goodbye, we can make polite reference to the future, or in general simply to say what a pleasant experience it was. Look at these dialogues: First formally: 8. ...