Learn English Conversation - English Today Beginner Level 4 - DVD 4

hello and welcome back again to English today this is DVD four of the beginner level and in this DVD you will see two more episodes of our story that's life and then in our special TV programs you see a business debate about work-life balance followed by a discussion about speed-dating then in the grammar section we'll study the present continuous and its uses and how to express a planned future okay so enjoy yourselves for school hi Alice what are you doing I'm just relaxing a bit watching some TV what's on I'm watching the news hmm so what's happening in the world the usual politicians are trying to pretend they know what they are doing Alice you are such a skeptic that's the way I am what's that it's a book I'm reading what's it about it's a story about a woman a young woman who can't stand her father that sounds interesting yes it's not that bad Alice what's wrong you want to talk about it no I'm so tired now I'm going to bed good night night hello again and welcome back to english today for some more English now in that last episode of That's Life did you notice that Anne said what are you doing and Alice said oh I'm just relaxing I'm just relaxing I'm watching TV now they were using the present continuous tense and that is a tense that we use to describe something which is happening now at this very moment okay now I want to practice that with you so you watch me and tell me what I'm doing okay so this hmm what am i doing what am i doing I'm reading exactly I'm reading now this what am i doing hmm I'm relaxing I'm relaxing now what am i doing our summers really loved him yeah yeah I'm phoning or I'm calling I'm phoning next this mmm what am i doing okay I'm writing I'm writing good next what what am i doing hmm what am i doing I'm listening to music listening to music okay this one what am i doing like an I'm cleaning the table cleaning the table now you what are you doing at the moment well you're listening to me and you're watching television for example and you're learning English okay now my boyfriend remember my boyfriend what's he doing well at this time he's sleeping because it's in the morning he's sleeping what about my dog Sookie she's probably sleeping - she's sleeping all the time so she's sleeping - I'm the only person who's not sleeping we what are we doing well I'm asking you questions and you're thinking of answers to my questions okay so that's the form the form isn't difficult let's go to the screen and see it see how we make up the present continuous now in the positive sentence we use the verb to be so I am you are he is she is it is we are you are they are and then we take the verb and we add I M G to the verb so it becomes in the positive form I'm reading now notice I am is contracted as always and we say I'm reading your learning contraction you are you're learning he's relaxing she's working it's raining we are listening you're talking and they're eating ok so the verb to be contracted then the infinitive of the verb plus ing not too difficult so look at the question form now the question form is easy what we do is we change the position of the subject and the verb to be so it becomes where am i working this month where are you staying what is he reading this week what is she doing now what is it eating like the dog who are we playing who are you visiting and who are they working with all right and then the negative remember the negative of the verb to be we need it here so we say I am NOT becomes I'm not working you are not becomes you aren't and a contraction you aren't sleeping he isn't concentrating she isn't cooking it isn't snowing we aren't going out you aren't watching TV and they aren't studying so this is the present continuous tense that we use to describe an action happening now at the moment a very important tense and we will definitely come back and look at more of that all right good thank you and I'll see you again soon bye what are you doing I'm connecting to the internet because I need to send an email who are you sending an email to to my boss in America he needs the weekly report immediately why because he has a meeting with the shareholders tomorrow morning what's happening with the laptop the internet connection isn't working very well sometimes it happens with my computer too look do you have a suggestion usually Peter lends me his computer what he's Peter at home no I think there's only Sharon okay I'm going anyway Anne has daggers for Sharon doesn't she things are beginning to heat up now did you notice that they used the present continuous a lot a lot of things were happening at that moment with Jack getting on the internet having problems with his computers asking Peter for help etc I want to tell you something about when we use the present continuous because there are two occasions to start with first when we describe something happening right now for example we are learning English but then we use the present continuous to describe an action happening around the present I could say for example at the moment I'm doing yoga which doesn't mean at this very moment but at this point of time in this month for example okay so at the moment which is around the present I'm doing yoga one use and the other is now we are learning we are studying English okay so that's interesting let's look at the screen that some examples about that okay so present continuous asking or telling about something happening now at this present moment in time okay so the examples I'm teaching now you're listening now he's learning at the moment okay and the other example is when you are speaking about something happening around the moment so we're studying English for example this month or she's reading a new book this week or they're working on the project this week so you see the slight difference between the two that's important now let's go back to that's life and listen again to how they use the present continuous and then I have something else to tell you about it after ok so see you later bye yes I am listening to you yes I'm listening who is she talking to um I don't know I guess it's her father just a moment what do you want nothing it's four o'clock in the morning is everything all right Alice it's none of your business excuse us sorry to interrupt listen I know it's late I'm sorry but I'm talking to my father he's in Boston now it's nine o'clock then what what do you want I'm not tired anymore neither am i what about eating something mom I don't know I'm not really hungry I'm going on the internet to chat with a friend in Italy would you like to join me now that I'm not sleeping anymore would you like to see him how I have pictures of him on my computer and do you know why he can see you two with the webcam what oh my gosh no please I'm horrible now but no you're not and besides he might be interested why do you think I need a boyfriend I think we know what Ann needs don't we now I have one more thing to do with you related to the present continuous and that's the spelling of the present continuous and to do that let's go to the screen because it's easier to see things written the present continuous for example I am talking now to forum talking what we usually do is we take the verb like talk and we just add I n G for the majority of verbs we do that look at the examples talk talking work at ing working start starting now as ever there are exceptions in the English language what are they well all verbs that end with the letter e are exceptions look what happens have for example ends with E you eliminate the e and you add I n G so have becomes having without the e okay other examples are live living dance dancing make making okay so all verbs which end in E you eliminate the e and add ing then another group which is important is a group where the verbs end with a consonant vowel consonant what does that mean well give me example of let's have the example of stop now stop is sto P so the end of the verb is t.o.p okay so it's consonant vowel consonant yeah so with these verbs we double the last consonant and it becomes stop stopping now notice that in English pronunciation when there is a double consonant we don't hear it in the pronunciation so for example we don't say stop ping or swim okay not like other languages so the pronunciation stays the same but we double the consonant examples are stop stopping plot plotting swim swimming get getting alright so those are the different ways of spelling the present continuous tense verbs great well now you are experts about the present continuous so keep practicing it and I really look forward to seeing you in the next lesson bye fine I'm looking forward to seeing you bye bye oh my god okay guys don't panic what we have to be strong and try to keep calm what are you talking about she's coming tomorrow morning hey who for God's sake I'm Mary the owner of the flats so what your auntie what's so terrible about her let me explain imagine me in 50 years you mean you old with your manias your cleaning obsessions oh my god okay okay don't panic hey so what do we have to do let me see what do you have scheduled for today well today is a busy day I have to finish my painting no way painting means brushes colors dirt and mess everywhere as for me let's check my datebook date book I don't believe it you mean you don't have a PDA please Alice I have a program on my laptop I don't need a PDA is well I'm just surprised that's all you're usually highly technological that's not entirely true I like to use paper and pen as well okay leave it guys let's go straight to the point what's on your schedule today I'm meeting a client from four to five and then I'm going to the mall why are you going to the mall I want to buy a new modem for my PC a modem that's not exactly business yes well there's something wrong with mine okay maybe it's not that important I can go tomorrow morning that's very kind of you jack well let me see I've got a list with all your duties here but what is it it's always with me for emergencies you know just like this one jack at your orders general you have to clean up the kitchen you're washing the dishes cleaning the oven and the fridge the burners and the basin oh and finally you have to sweep and mop the floor I'm ready mmm oh and obviously you have to clean your bedroom - sounds exciting Alice you have to clean the living room you have to throw all these magazines out put all the CDs in order clean up the carpet and dust the furniture do I have to mop the floor as well of course as for me I'm cleaning the bathroom and all the windows well I want you both in the living room at half past six for a detailed report okay yes hello again and welcome back to english 2-day your live television program about the English language now an is really panicking in that life isn't she did you notice how they were using the present continuous but referring to the future that's interesting isn't it we haven't learned that yet present continuous for the future well in fact we use the present continuous when we're talking about future plans and in that life in that episode we heard and say she's coming tomorrow she's coming tomorrow that her aunt now that's a plan it's a plan and then says to Jack what's on your schedule today what's on your schedule and Jack says I'm meeting a client from four to five and then I'm going to the mall now those are both plans so let's look at how we can use the present continues also for plans we often use it when we describe what we have in our week what we've arranged for our week so in our diary not agenda remember diary so let me tell you next week well next week on Monday mmm I'm going to the dentist I'm going to the dentist that is not very nice number two let's look Tuesday Tuesday I'm staying at home okay I'm staying at home that's okay Wednesday ha Wednesday I'm having dinner with friends that's really nice that's Pleasant Thursday on Thursday I'm teaching some Chinese students that'll be different interesting on Friday I'm listening to my boyfriend he's playing in a concert so that'll be great and then on Saturday and Sunday I'm going to the coast to spend a relaxing weekend that's not a bad week you what about you what are you doing you notice when I ask you the question I use the present continuous because I want to know your plans what are you doing and also my boyfriend I could say what is he doing what's my boyfriend doing this Saturday well unfortunately he's playing in a jazz festival in Berlin and I can't go so never mind all right so let's look at the summary now of the present continuous on the screen because it's very interesting all the different uses so we said we use the present continuous to express actions happening now at the moment okay remember that she's doing her homework now they're playing basketball at the moment all right so that's now then we said we use the present continuous to describe actions around this moment in time for example she's studying Spanish this month or we're going to do yoga we're doing yoga this week so around the present time and this lesson we learned present continuous for a planned future a programmed future okay so I'm going to the dentist this afternoon that's a plan it's a schedule Jack's meeting a client that's a plan aren't mary is coming tomorrow and the question what are you doing tomorrow we're flying to New York all right so important that have a look at that episode again and listen for the present continuous used in the future and also listen for something else which Ann uses she uses often in the verb have to for duties and responsibilities because we're going to study that together alright great I'll see you soon bye hmm fine I'm looking forward to seeing you bye bye oh my god okay guys don't panic what we have to be strong and try to keep calm what are you talking about she's coming tomorrow morning hey who for God's safe I'll marry the owner of the flats so what your auntie what's so terrible about her let me explain imagine me in 50 years you mean you old with your manias your cleaning obsessions oh my god okay okay don't panic hey so what do we have to do let me see what do you have scheduled for today well today is a busy day I have to finish my painting no way painting means brushes colors dirt and mess everywhere as for me let's check my datebook date book I don't believe it you mean you don't have a PDA please Alice I have a program on my laptop I don't need a PDA as well I'm just surprised that's all you're usually highly technological that's not entirely true I like to use paper and pen as well okay leave it guys let's go straight to the point what's on your schedule today I'm meeting a client from four to five and then I'm going to the mall why are you going to the mall I want to buy a new modem for my PC a modem that's not exactly business yes well there's something wrong with mine okay maybe it's not that important I can go tomorrow morning that's very kind of you jack well let me see I've got a list with all your duties here but what is it it's always with me for emergencies you know just like this one jack at your orders general you have to clean up the kitchen you're washing the dishes cleaning the oven and the fridge the burners and the basin Oh and finally you have to sweep and mop the floor I'm ready oh and obviously you have to clean your bedroom too sounds exciting Alice you have to clean the living room you have to throw all these magazines out put all the CDs in order clean up the carpet and dust the furniture do I have to mop the floor as well of course as for me I'm cleaning the bathroom and all the windows well I want you both in the living room at half past six for a detailed report okay yes I don't know about you mr. monkey booth is something I just can't stand his clean in the house just awful you oh hello camera one how are you I was just talking to mr. monkey about what they're doing in that life cleaning the house can't stand it now did you see an organizing everybody responsibilities duties well she was using some language that I want to study with you now did you hear these sentences Jack said so what do we have to do and an replies to jack you have to clean up the kitchen you have to sweep and mop the floor and you have to clean your bedroom like a child yeah and Alice she says she says she has to clean the living room she has to throw all the magazines out and she has to put the CDs in order like organize them and this is the use of the verb half to plus the infinitive talking about duties and responsibilities so let's look at other situations using half - for example um I have a very important responsibility in my life and you know who that is yeah Sookie you know it's a great responsibility if you have a dog let me tell you about it for example I have to take her for a walk at least twice a day I have to feed her give her food what else I have to keep her company too because when she's alone she often box you know box around so I have to keep her company what else um oh yeah if I go on holiday I have to find her kennels kennels is like a hotel for dogs so that she is looked after so she's a great responsibility I think of my boyfriend now he's a professional jazz musician and he has responsibilities for example he has to practice at least four hours a day he has to learn new songs what else he has to attend master classes for example and he has to work at night now what about you I'm sure you have responsibilities and duties what do you have to do you have families maybe and also you're learning English so you have a responsibility towards learning the language for example you have to learn new bank vocabulary and that takes memory so vocabulary you have to practice speaking practice listening and you have to dedicate time to learning the language okay so that's have to and I want to look at that with you now on the screen because it's a very interesting verb and when you want to talk about your responsibilities and duties this is the verb to use now so have to for daily responsibilities and obligations now we use the verb have which is conjugated I have you have he has she has it has we have you have they are have sorry then we add to half - ok that's very important then we add the infinitive so an example I have to use a computer at work now did you hear my pronunciation I have to notice I don't say be I say F have half it becomes half to have the two becomes in pronunciation have to have two okay so I have to use a computer at work she has to write a report third person has okay she has to write a report he has to answer emails alright we have to we go back to the pronunciation with F we have to pay taxes unfortunately they have to go to meetings which is sometimes boring have to okay duties responsibilities good now the examples of questions are do you have to speak English we use the auxilary do very important it's like the verb half so do you have to speak English how often do you have to travel for example what language does she have to learn and where do we have to go so remember use the auxilary do and does so that have to when we're speaking about obligations and responsibilities and we have a lot of them in life so it's an important verb great let's go back and see how the cleaning is going terrible mr. monkey cleaning see you soon bye well done guys I'm proud of you neat and clean rather stressful I know but at last the flat is perfectly clean yes but now it's us that needs to be cleaned excuse me hello I'm Mary everything is ready for your arrival I'm picking you up at the airport tomorrow it what really oh I understand what a shame oh no no not a problem at all I hope you get well soon right Oh bye so what Oz Mary isn't coming anymore she's gotta go hey guys I've got the part oh but what's happening here nothing special congratulations Peter hello and welcome back to english today the only live TV program where you can learn the English language and let me tell you what happens here well there are a lot of sound technicians cameramen technicians everywhere helping me make this program for you and it's great it's a real pleasure to teach you now in this lesson I want to do a general revision of the present tenses just to be sure that you've understood everything we've learnt so far okay now do you remember him mr. dinosaur do you remember him dinosaur he represents the simple present tense and when we use it do you remember let's check that mr. dinosaur dinosaur these letters represent the beginning of frequency adverbs do you remember them let me remind you O is often so I often drink coffee in the morning what about this a good always great I always get up at half past six in the morning this one usually this one really rarely difficult pronunciation this one sometimes great this one never okay and this one here D every day so remember dinosaur this is when we use the simple present for habitual actions actions that repeat themselves with the frequency adverbs now do you remember also him mmm mr. snake he is to remind you about third-person I like you like he likes she likes it likes often we forget to put the s on the third person he's here to remind you and also the auxiliaries does- doesn't okay so mr. dinosaur mr. snake simple present great then we learned the present continuous that for example I am learning we learnt that the present continuous has three uses do you remember here they are now something happening now we're learning English now then at the moment something happening around the present at the moment I'm learning yoga for example and then for a future plan tomorrow I'm going to Paris so the three uses of the present continuous all right great let's go to the screen and check those once more so we said simple present is when we talk about activities or routines which take place on a regular basis mr. dinosaur mr. snakes are examples he goes to work every day mr. snake she gets up at seven o'clock and the question where do you live so auxiliaries do does doesn't don't okay great then the present continuous we used it for something happening now at the moment and in the future so the examples are I'm reading an Italian affair this month for example they're cooking dinner now and she's meeting with Jack tomorrow okay so you really are truly experts about the present tense now so keep practicing that keep using it and then it'll really go into your heads and I look forward to seeing you and to teaching you some more things about the English language very soon so take care by good evening and welcome to another edition of let's talk in the studio with me this evening are our commentators Murray and Tom welcome hello hello well what's the subject of our debate this evening we're talking about the work-life balance Wow sounds interesting what exactly does the expression work-life balance mean well work-life balance it's about enjoying a good quality of life without working too much yes it's important for people to have some control over when where and how much they work in other words we are talking about the importance of not working too much exactly Eric today for many people work is the only thing they think about we have no time for family no time to relax and no time for ourselves you're right Marie and of course today with the internet and mobile phones it's possible for people to work 24 hours a day from home from the car from anywhere hmm that's true but you need to have a job to live of course but work isn't the only important thing in life workers today are tired and feel stressed yes people are working long hours do you know that 30 percent of UK workers take work home in the evening and at weekends really hmm in the evenings and at weekends that's a lot of work yes it's a real problem for our quality of life I mean right and there are also problems at work for mothers with young children and workers who look after ill or old family members of course are there any solutions to these issues well companies are looking for solutions they're studying new ways of working what are these new ways of working for example companies can introduce flexible working hours I mean workers start work early and finish work early or start work late and finish work late or they can encourage home working workers can use the internet and work from home that way they save time as they don't travel to the office interesting solutions and what about part-time work yes this is another way of solving the problem of too much work workers can work two or three days a week so there are ways of finding a good work-life balance we need to put them into practice that's right Eric ok so remember don't work too much a good work-life balance is important for the individual for the company and for society thank you to our commentators thank you thank you and goodbye and see you again soon for the next edition of let's talk let's have a closer look at the expressions from our debate about work as Marie and Tom just said many people work too much so they are stressed and tired do you work long hours to work long hours means you work a lot of hours in a day a lot of people take work home this means if you don't finish your work in the office you take it home and finish it there can you take work home in your job this is different from home working home working means you work from home you have a computer at home with internet acces and you do your job at home flexible working hours means you don't work from 9:00 to 5:00 every day you work 8 hours a day but you can decide when you start and finish part-time work means you don't work every day perhaps just 2 or 3 days a week or only in the morning if you work part-time then you have a part-time job full-time work means you work eight hours a day five days a week you work full-time you have a full-time job notice how we say in the morning in the afternoon and in the evening we use in four parts of the day but we say at night and we say at weekends in American English you can also say on weekends let's take a quick look before we finish at some vocabulary a mobile phone is the phone you can take everywhere with you in American English it's called a cell phone and in British English it is a mobile phone our company is a business or organization where people work and a worker is someone who works in an office or factory notice this work comes from the verb work plus a in English it is common to add a to a verb to form the name of the person who does it for example teach plus a equals teacher sing plus a equals singer and play plus a equals player like football player that's all there's time for now I'll see you next time bye bye hello everyone and welcome to let's talk this Saturday evening debate with our two commentators Tom and Marie good evening hello Tom and Marie tonight I'd like to hear your thoughts on on these new ways for people to meet their ideal partner what do you mean Eric well a friend of mine is going to a speed-dating event next week and he wants me to go with him well I don't know what to do I'm curious I'd like to try but come on Eric no buts you have to go be datings great fun and even if you don't find your soulmate it's an interesting way to spend an evening that's true speed-dating is really popular at the moment it's a great opportunity to meet people sometimes very interesting people yes and sometimes you can fall in love I know a guy who married a girl he met speed-dating hmm this speed-dating sounds interesting I'm single you know but how does it work perhaps you can explain this to our viewers too I'm sure people would like to know exactly how speed-dating works I'd certainly like to find out well speed dating events usually take place in nightclubs or pubs the participants have a number and they sit around tables the men are on one side the women are on the other side then the fun starts you have four minutes to ask your questions only four minutes remember the other person asks questions too then you move to the next table and ask your questions again mmm what kind of questions can I ask anything you like for example what's your name how old are you what are your interests the kind of questions that you ask when you meet somebody for the first time and what happens next well you write down your thoughts about the person the person facing you does the same thing at the end of the event you give your thoughts about the people to the organizers what do you mean my thoughts it's easy you select the people you'd like to meet again the organizers then add your decisions to their website and then what happens the next day you go to their website and read the results Oh what results well if you select a person and that person selects you you can meet again now it's time for a slow date Wow it sounds really interesting and fun too well I think I'll go with my friends next Wednesday to that speed-dating thing would you like to try speed dating well now it's time to say goodbye to our commentators - tom and marie goodbye all right goodbye Eric goodbye and goodbye to you and see you again soon in our next edition of let's talk well the speed dating sounds a little crazy but fun so I think I'll go as Marie said I don't think I'll find my soulmate but I'll definitely meet a lot of people a soulmate is the perfect person for you in other words your ideal partner the best person to spend your life with do you have a soulmate here are some other useful expressions and words to talk about affairs of the heart for example a date is a meeting with a special person we say go on a date or I've got a date with somebody for example I've got a date with Lucy if you do have a boyfriend or a girlfriend then you are in a relationship you say I'm in a relationship when you fall in love with someone you like the person a lot it's a wonderful feeling and beautiful things happen and you say you are in love with that person and if you are in love with a person you may decide to marry them in a church or a town hall when you marry you form a legal union with a person forever and you say I'm married but it doesn't always last forever people sometimes divorce they separate from the person they marry so they are divorced and they say I'm divorced do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend are you single well if you're not in a relationship then perhaps you would like to try speed dating one day - that's all for me for now see again soon you

Channel: Daily English Conversation

Views: 1,610,437

Keywords: english today, english for today, english today dvd, english to day, today english, english today dvd 1, english today download, download english today, dvd english today, english today 26 dvd, english conversation, learn english, learn english conversation, english today dvd 4

Id: l-3WrJxndVc

Length: 54min 29sec (3269 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 21 2015