M: Hello English learners! Welcome back to EnglishPod! My name is Marco. E: And I’m Erica. M: And we’re bringing you another great elementary lesson today. One that takes place at the office. E: Yes, today we’re gonna teach you some great phrases, so that you can ask people to help you. M: Right. And I think this dialogue is with a new person at the office. E: Uhu. M: So, when you’re new, you always need to ask people for favors. E: Exactly. M: Okay. E: Yeah. M: So, we’re gonna be asking for a favor. E: So, Marco, what exactly is a favor? M: Something that a person does for you. E: Like a small helpful thing. M: Ah, Yeah, a small helpful thing, so… E: Uh. M: You know, like “can you pass me that pencil”. Maybe that’s even a favor. E: Yeah, or… M: Or… E: Maybe, uh, can you pick me up on your way to work. M: Yeah, that’s a favor. E: Uhu. M: Or even lending money… E: Yep. M: To your friend. E: Yeah. M: That’s a favor. E: Yeah. M: So, that’s what we’re gonna be talking about – favors and how to ask for one. E: Cause you always have to do this at work. M: At work, with your friends. E: Uhu. M: With your family. So, let’s listen to the dialogue and then we’ll come back and explain all the vocabulary. A: Um, sorry to bother you, um... my name is Rachel. I’m new here. Can I ask you a favor? B: Hi Rachel, welcome on board. I’m afraid I can’t help you right now. I’m getting ready for a very important meeting. A: Excuse me, but can I bother you for a sec? C: You know what, I’d love to help you, but I’m about to meet an important client. Do you wanna try Sean instead? He sits right over there. A: Sorry to interrupt you Sean, could you do me a quick favor? D: Actually, I’m working on a document that is due in a couple minutes. I really can’t talk to you right now. Sorry about that. A: Geeze! I just want to know where the bathroom is! What’s wrong with you people! M: So, a pretty busy office. E: Pretty unhelpful colleagues. M: Hehe. I know everyone so busy… E: I know. M: They didn’t help this poor girl. E: Yeah, I hope she found the bathroom. M: Hehe. Now, let’s take a look at the language from the dialogue. So, let’s start with language takeaway. Voice: Language takeaway. E: There’s some great language in this dialogue, wasn’t there? M: Yeah, a lot of, uh, interesting phrases and words. Um, the first one that… that I saw that was really interesting is on board. E: On board. M: Welcome on board. E: Well, we’ve got some examples of how this phrase is used. So, let’s listen to them to help us understand the meaning. Voice: Example one. A: Welcome on board, Sarah; if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me. Voice: Example two. B: We need to get a new office assistant on board as soon as possible. Voice: Example three. C: We decided to bring Melissa on board to join the marketing team. M: So, basically it means… E: Welcome to the company. M: Welcome to the company. E: Or. M: The team. E: Yeah. M: Welcome on board. E: So, “on board” is the same as “to the company”. M: I guess also when you get on a ship, they tell you “welcome on board”. E: Yes. That’s where it comes from. M: Or an airplane. E: Yeah-yeah, yeah. M: Welcome on board. Okay, let’s take a look at our next word – about to. E: About to. M: I’m about to. E: I’m about to. M: So, this a great phrase to explain that you’re about to do something. E: I’m going to do this thing really soon. M: Okay, so… so, for example, you can say “I’m about to go out for lunch”. E: Uhu. Or I could say “hey, Marco, let’s go record a show”. M: I’m about to going to a meeting. E: Uhu, exactly. M: Right? E: Yeah. M: About to. E: Going to do something really soon. M: Okay. The next word we have is instead. E: Instead. M: Instead. E: Instead. It means in the place of. M: In the place of. E: Yeah. M: So, for example, if for a dinner I could say “I’ll have the chicken instead of the fish”. E: Uhu. M: Right? E: Or I can say “I wanted to buy a red sweater, but they didn’t have one, so I bought a blue one instead”. M: Instead. E: Uhu. M: Okay. So, in the place of. E: Yeah. M: And our last word for… language takeaway – interrupt. E: Interrupt. M: Interrupt. E: Interrupt. M: So, when somebody interrupts you, they’re coming and… E: The talk to you while you’re doing something or maybe while you’re speaking. M: Or maybe you’re busy… E: Aha. M: And people come and… and… E: Bother you. M: And bother you. E: Yeah. M: Okay. E: So, interrupt. M: Interrupt. Okay, some great words here in our dialogue and now we can listen to it again. This time it’s gonna be a little bit slower… E: And you’ll be able to understand the language a little bit better. A: Um, sorry to bother you, um... my name is Rachel. I’m new here. Can I ask you a favor? B: Hi Rachel, welcome on board. I’m afraid I can’t help you right now. I’m getting ready for a very important meeting. A: Excuse me, but can I bother you for a sec? C: You know what, I’d love to help you, but I’m about to meet an important client. Do you wanna try Sean instead? He sits right over there. A: Sorry to interrupt you Sean, could you do me a quick favor? D: Actually, I’m working on a document that is due in a couple minutes. I really can’t talk to you right now. Sorry about that. A: Geeze! I just want to know where the bathroom is! What’s wrong with you people! M: Okay, so, there’re some great ways that you can ask someone for a favor, right? E: Yeah, we wanna show you some really useful phrases for asking for help. M: So, let’s start with “putting it together”. Voice: Putting it together. E: Let’s listen to some different ways of how you can ask someone for a favor. Voice: Example one. A: May I get you to do me a favor? Can you carry this package and that suitcase for me? Voice: Example two. B: Can I ask you a favor? Can you just finish this report for me? Voice: Example three. C: Could you do me a favor and pass me that file. M: Okay, so, those were great examples of asking for a favor. E: Yeah. M: In our dialogue we heard “Can I ask you a favor”. E: Uhu. But we could also say “Can I get you to do me a favor”. M: Right, can I get you to do me a favor. E: Uhu. M: Also I could say “Will you do me a favor”. E: Will you do me a favor. M: Right. So, those are different ways of asking for a favor. E: Let’s say you want to ask someone for a favor, right? M: Uhu. E: But they’re busy. M: Right. E: So, you’ll need some phrases to help you do this. M: Exactly, you need some phrases to interrupt somebody. E: Aha. M: Right? So, let’s listen to some examples of what phrases you can use to begin to talk to someone. E: Yeah, to interrupt them. M: Okay. Example 1: I hate to bother you, but… I hate to bother you, but… Example 2: I’m sorry to bother you, but… I’m sorry to bother you, but… Example 3: I don’t mean to bother you, but… I don’t mean to bother you, but… M: Okay, so, those are really nice and polite ways of beginning to talk to someone. E: Exactly, they’re really useful at the office. M: So, maybe you wanna talk to your boss, you knock on his door, kind of open it a little bit and say “I’m sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you have time for meeting today”. E: Uhu. Or you could say “I hate to bother you, but do you have time for a meeting today”. M: Exactly. E: Uhu. M: So, those are great ways of starting up a conversation. E: Yep. M: And maybe setting it up to ask for a favor. E: Uhu. M: Right? E: Uhu. M: So, we can combine them. I could say “I hate to bother you, but can you do me a favor”. E: Perfect. M: Right? E: Yeah, really useful. M: So, then… then you can ask someone for a favor. E: Yep. M: Okay, great stuff. So, I guess we can listen to our dialogue again. E: Yeah, let’s listen to our dialogue for the third time and this time I’m sure you’ll understand it a lot better. A: Um, sorry to bother you, um... my name is Rachel. I’m new here. Can I ask you a favor? B: Hi Rachel, welcome on board. I’m afraid I can’t help you right now. I’m getting ready for a very important meeting. A: Excuse me, but can I bother you for a sec? C: You know what, I’d love to help you, but I’m about to meet an important client. Do you wanna try Sean instead? He sits right over there. A: Sorry to interrupt you Sean, could you do me a quick favor? D: Actually, I’m working on a document that is due in a couple minutes. I really can’t talk to you right now. Sorry about that. A: Geeze! I just want to know where the bathroom is! What’s wrong with you people! M: Alright, so, now you have all the vocabulary necessary the next time you need to ask someone for a favor. E: Yes. M: At the office, with your friends, with your family, anyone. E: Well, everyone, we are out of time for today, but remember to visit our website at englishpod.com. M: Exactly, at our website you’ll find the script of the dialogue… E: Uhu. M: And also you’ll find intermediate lessons, upper intermediate and even advanced. E: Yeah, exactly, our website is a great resource for learning. Uh, Marco and I are always there to answer you questions and we also have lots of helpful users, who answer your questions. M: Exactly, so, don’t miss out come to our website at englishpod.com and we’ll see you there. [NOTE: to miss out = to lose an opportunity] E: Until next time… M: Bye-Bye. E: Bye.