Communication Events

Welcome to Fastfood English with Cassie.  In today's audio post I talk about strategies for studying English using dialogues and set phrases.  I've also included links to websites with dialogues for eating in restaurants.  Please click on the Read More button below to listen to the show.




Audio Transcript
Welcome to Fastfood English with Cassie.

Sometimes there are situations when the language that happens is very predictable.  For example, when you go to a restaurant you know you will have to speak to the waitress.  And you can guess that you and the waitress will say something like this -

The waitress will say:
Hi, can I take your order?
and you will say:
Yes, I would like a cheese sandwich and a coke. 

We can write this out with blanks for what you want to order and make a script out of it.  

"Yes, I would like a ______ and a _______."

These types of situations, where the language is very predictable,  are called communication events. And restaurants have many of these communication events - when you arrive, when you order, and when you pay.  

The good news is you can think about and prepare for these situations ahead of time.  There are many resources available to help you.  You can find simple practice dialogues and scripts in English Language books and websites.   I will include some links in the show notes for websites that include these short dialogues.  You can also find common phrases in language phrase books available in many bookstores.  

This works for many situations where people talk about the same things over and over again, not just restaurants.  Places like the airports or doctor's offices.  So, if you are going some place take a few minutes ahead of time to think of the communication events that will happen at that place.  This is a strategy you can use for speaking (and studying) English.

Ok, so that was the good news, what's the bad news?  Well, the bad news is real people don't always stick to the script.  They don't always use the exact words from the dialog that you memorized word for word.  And if they say something different from what you are expecting you might quickly become confused.  

My suggestion is - Use the dialogues as a guide to help you get an idea about the language that might be used in the situation but don't get stuck on them.  Learn some useful phrases and vocabulary but be flexible.  Use it as a guide to think about how you would use the language.

Thanks for listening.  This has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com.

Links
www.learnenglish.de - vocab, phrases and dialogues
about.com - dialogues and video
englishlanguageworld.com - dialogue, vocab and practice quiz
www.elllo.org - long audio dialogue