Fun English Lessons

ESL Conversation

A:  AB, what’s going on?   B:  Not much, just taking it easy today.  Work’s been killing me lately.   A:  What do you say we head downtown and grab a coffee at the Starbucks near plaza 66.   B:  I’ve had way too much caffeine lately.  I wouldn’t mind grabbing something to eat though.  Would you be up for that?   A:  It’s a nice day today, so we could get something at Element Fresh near the Portman.  They’ve got a patio so we could sit outside.    B:  Sure, do you want to workout after?   A:  I’ve already gone.  Wasn’t great though.  6 out of 10 at best.   B:  Just come with and do some cardio.  I think you could afford to shed a few more pounds.    A:  We’ll see.  Let’s meet at Element at 2.   B:  K, later.

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Key vocabulary and phrases that are discussed in the podcast:

 

AB:  Friends sometimes call people by their initials just for fun.  My name is Andrew Best so friends of mine might call me AB.

 

What’s going on?  A slang phrase meaning, “what are you doing now?  Or what are your plans for the next while?”

 

Taking it easy:  relaxing, not doing much.

 

Been killing me:  A phrase meaning “causing you a lot of stress”.  You can say, my new job has been killing me.  Or you could say, “The summer has been so hot this year, it’s killing me.”

 

Grab a coffee:  In casual conversation, we sometimes use the verb “grab” for food or drinks.  “Let’s grab a coffee”, means, “let’s go somewhere and get a coffee”.

 

Way too much:  In casual conversation, we sometimes use “way” instead of “far”.  “Way too much”, means, “far too much”.

 

Caffeine:  The drug found in coffee that gives people energy and keeps them awake.

 

Would you be up for that?  A casual phrase meaning, “Do you want to do that”, or “will you do that”.

 

Patio:  A place to sit outside.  Sometimes restaurants and pubs have patios where people can sit outside and eat on a nice day.

 

6 out of 10:  Sometimes people rate things out of 10.  10 out of 10 is perfect.  0 out of 10 is the worst. 

 

At best: Ranking something is subjective, which means that its not always clear what the score out of 10 will be.  If you say, 6 out of 10 at best, it means, 6 out of 10 or even lower than 6 out of 10.

 

Come with:  A slang phrase that means, “come with me” or “come with us”.

 

You could afford to shed a few more pounds:  Sometimes we say “shed a few pounds”, which means, “lose weight”.

 

We’ll see: It means, “I’m not sure yet”.

 

Element:  In the dialogue, I said the restaurant’s name is Element Fresh.  When both people know clearly what is being talked about, people sometimes use short forms.

 

K: Slang and short for “ok”.

 

Later:  When hanging up the phone we sometimes say “later”.  It’s slang and should be used only with friends. 

 

 

 

 

 

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