Lesson 2: Describing Things, Formal and Informal Greetings

Review: Pronunciation Practice “Sh” and “S” Tongue-twister (绕口令): She sells seashells by the seashore. I saw Susie sitting in a shoeshine shop.

四是四 十是十 十四是十四 四十是四十

Pronunciation Practice s soft th z hard th sink think zee thee sank thank Zen then face faith breeze breathe souse south seas seethe

Pronunciation: Jazz Chant Sally speaks Spanish, but not very well. When she tries to speak Spanish, you really can’t tell what language she’s speaking or trying to speak. The first time I heard her, I thought it was Greek.

Review: Open and Closed Questions: Do/Did/Does Is/Are Has/Have Was/Were Who What (do you think about..) Where Why When How (do you feel about…) What do you think about… ? What is your opinion of…. ? How do you feel about… ?

Homework Check: Open Questions You were supposed to prepare and practice 5 open questions that you could ask a foreigner. In groups of 2 or 3 people, read your open questions to each other. The other person can pretend (装作) to be a foreigner, and answer your questions.

Game: Get to know your classmates! Find one classmate’s name for every question on the sheet by asking only OPEN questions. You can only use a classmate’s name ONCE (1 time). You must write down your classmate’s name yourself. (useful question: “How do you spell your name?”)

Practice: Introducing Your Classmates Answer patterns: 1. My name is _______. 2. I am from (city), Fujian. 3. My mother is a _______ and my father is a _______. 4. I have _____ brother(s) and _____ sister(s). 5. I like to ________ Question patterns: 1. What is your name? 2. Where are you from? 3. What do your parents do? 4. Do you have any brothers or sisters? 5. What do you like to do?

Listening Game: “Simon says:….”

Formal and Informal Greetings Whole words, longer sentences Titles (Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss, Dr., Prof.) and family names 3. Polite language (like “Thank you”) Informal 1. Contractions, short forms & sentences 2. No titles, first names only 3. Doesn’t require polite language

Dialogue #1 Jane Smith: Good morning, Zhang Li. How are you doing today? Zhang Li: I’m fine, Mrs. Smith. And you? Jane Smith: Very well, thank you. It’s nice to see you. Zhang Li: It’s nice to see you, too.

Dialogue #2 Susan Martin: Hi! How ya doin’? Zhang Li: Pretty good. How about you? Susan Martin: Not bad. Nice to see you again. Zhang Li: Nice to see you, too.

Formal Informal Hello! Hi! Good morning/afternoon/ evening! How do you do? How ya doin’? How are you doing (today)? How are you? How have you been? How’ve you been? How’s it going? Fine. Terrific/Great! Very well, thank you. Good/Pretty good. Not bad. Okay. Not too good. Terrible.

Formal Informal And you? How about you? It’s a pleasure to see (meet) you. Pleased to meet you. It’s very nice to see (meet) you. Nice to see (meet) you. It’s an honor to meet you. Good to see (meet) you.

Formal and Informal Greetings - Practice In groups of 2 or 3 people, make up and practice dialogues for the following situations: * worker and boss * student and student * student and store clerk * Chinese Premier and U.S. President

Homework   1. Practice pronunciation exercises (s, z, soft th and hard th) 2. Practice formal and informal greetings 3. Write down the names of as many occupations or jobs you can think of (e.g. doctor, worker).

Describing Things 1. What color is it? (It’s [color]. ) 2. What shape is it? (It’s [shape].) 3. What size is it? (It’s [size].) 4. What’s it made of? (It’s made of [material].) 5. What’s it for? (It’s for (verb+ing) [what].)

size shape color material microscopic round, circular red wood minute square pink leather tiny rectangular purple metal (gold, small triangular orange silver, steel) little flat yellow plastic medium-sized gold rubber 3-dimensional green paper big oblong blue cardboard large cylindrical brown glass huge conical black concrete enormous spherical white brick gigantic gray (grey) clay silver cloth (wool, cotton, silk, polyester) ceramic (china) stone

Exercise: 20 Questions In your groups of 3 or 4 people, one person will think of an object. The rest of the group must take turns asking closed questions until the group discovers what it is, or up to 20 questions. The person may only answer by saying “yes” or “no”. Example Questions: * Is it a living thing? A nonliving thing? * Is it bigger than a car? Smaller than an apple? * Is it red? Black? Multi-colored? * Can it be eaten? * Is it made of paper? Stone? * Is it used by students? Doctors? * Is it used in a school? Hospital? * Is there one in this classroom?