Good Morning,

To warm up today, we are going to talk about small talk!
Here are some dialogs we used to warm up with:

A: How was your weekend?
B: Great.
A: What did you do?
B: I went shopping in Ginza.
A: What did you buy?
B: I bought a new Issey Miyake coat.
A: What style is your new coat?
B: It's like a hotel bellman's jacket.
A: It sounds like your style . . . crazy.

A: How was your weekend?
B: I had a good time.
A: What did you do?
B: I went to my hometown.
A: What did you do in your hometown?
B: I went to see my mother?
A: How was your mother?
(Was your mother well?)
B: Yes, she was fine.
A: That's nice.
B: Thank you.

A: How was your weekend?
B: It was fun.
A: What did you do?
B: I went our local festival.
A: What kind of festival was it?
B: It was Kashiwa City festival.
A: What did you do?
B: I dressed up my daughter in yukata and took her to the festival.
A: Did you eat cotton candy?
B: No, I didn't, but my kids did.
A: Did you play "katanuki"?
B: No, we didn't, but we did the superball scoop.
A: Did scoop any superballs?
B: Yes, we got six superballs!

A: How was your weekend?
B: It was a very nice weekend.
A: What did you do?
B: I went shopping in Okachimachi.
A: What did you buy in Okachimachi?
B: I bought a TV.
A: What kind of TV did you buy?
B: I bought an LCD television.
A: What size is it?
B: It's a 32-inch.
A: That's great.
B: What brand did you buy?
A: I bought an Aquos.
B: Is it a Kameyama model?
A: Yes, it is.

A: How was your weekend?
B: It was good.
A: What did you do?
B: I went to the movies.
A: What did you see?
B: I saw Die Hard 4.
A: Really? How was it?
B: It was great! It was the best of the series.
A: Really? I'll have to go see it.
By the way, do you recommend any other movies?
B: I recommend Transformers. It's coming out on August 4th!
A: That's great. If I have time, I'll go this weekend.

Good Morning Class,

Today we are talking about movies.

We viewed the trailer for Spiderman 3.

Movie Genres:
suspense/thriller - Dressed to Kill (Brian DePalma)
action - Terminator, Speed
science fiction (Sci-Fi) - E.T., Star Wars, Alien (Ridley Scott), Aliens (James Cameron)
comedy - Mr. Bean, Home Alone
mystery - DaVinci Code, The Usual Suspects, Mystic River
fantasy - Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Legend
love story/romance - Love Story
romantic comedy - You've Got Mail
Musical - Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Chorus Line, West Side Story, My Fair Lady
Drama - Dream Girls
Animation - Lion King, Beauty and the Beast


Spiderman 3 (2 of 8)
What did you think about it?
"It was interesting!"
Who was your favorite character?
The Sandman
What color is Spiderman's normal costume?
red and blue
Why is Spiderman wearing a black suit?

• He has a split personality
• The black costume is his real costume.
• Maybe he started out as a bad guy with the black suit, but later changed his mind. *
  

*Useful Phrase => "I changed my mind"

Die Hard (6 out of 8)
Did you like it?
"Yes, I liked it."
What kind of movie is it?
"It's an action movie."

Babel (3 out of 8)
What did you think?
"It was a little difficult, but interesting."
Who was in it?
Brad Pitt, Kate Blanchett, Rinko Kikuchi, and Yakusho Koji

The DaVinci Code (3 out of 8)
Did you like it?
"It was so-so, but interesting"
Did you read the book? (3 out of 8)
"Yes, I did."

Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (4 out of 8)
Pirates of the Carribean: Deadman's Chest (6 out of 8)
Pirates of the Carribean: World's End (2 out of 8)
Did you like it?
"Yes, we did."
What kind of movie is it?
Comedy and adventure
Who is your favorite character/actor in the movie?
Captain Jack Sparrow/Johny Depp

Homework:
Read, Read, Read!

*Don't forget to input the books you've read on the Extensive Reading Community!

Hi Class,

Here are some small talk dialogs that we did in class today:

A: What are you going to do today?
B: I'm going to do some recruiting.
A: Oh, sounds busy.

A: What are you going to do today?
B: I'm going to attend a meeting and go to dinner with a client.
A: Who is the client?
B: It's a tin manufacturer and container company.
A: What kind of containers do they produce?
B: They produce shipping containers, metal drum containers, and stainless steel containers for chemical manufacturers.

A:What are you going to do today?
B: I'm going to prepare for tomorrow's meeting.
A: What kind of meeting are you preparing for?
B: We are meeting with a company (that we are collaborating with) to create educational programs for junior high school students.
A: That sounds interesting.

A: What are you going to do today?
B: I'm going to visit a client to develop a training program for company freshmen.
A: What kind of training?
B: A training for communication.
A: Sounds fun!

A: What are you going to do today?
B: I'm going to an educational training for market researchers.
A: Oh, sounds hard.

A: What are you going to do today?
B: I'm going to make a tenant list for all the buildings we purchased recently.
A: Oh, sounds fantastic.
B: Well, not so fantastic because we purchased buildings that aren't earthquake-proof and we have to kick out the tenants so we can tear down the buildings.
A: Oh, sounds very severe.

There are three points I'd like you to notice.
First the phrase of the day, "What are you going to do today?"
The answer should start with "I'm going to..."
Lastly, take a look at the different examples of "back channeling" or あいづち:

• Oh, sounds busy.
• Sounds fun!
• Oh, sounds hard.
• Oh, sounds very severe.
• That sounds interesting.

Remember that back channeling is used to keep a conversation going smoothly.
Try some of these English expressions in your next session of small talk.

Have a great week!