Speaking Skills: Anecdotes

Speaking Skills: telling anecdotes

Introduction

Jack: Hello my name’s Jack

Rowan: My name’s Rowan

Rich: and I’m Rich and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast.

Jack: In the Premier Skills English podcast, we talk about football and help you with your English.

Rowan: Don’t forget you can find the transcript for all our podcasts on the Premier Skills English website.

Rich: In this week’s roleplay, you’ll hear the three of us talking about disastrous journeys.

Jack: You’ll hear Rich and me hosting a phone-in on our radio station: Radio UK. We’re going to talk about some embarrassing moments when travelling and things that went wrong. We then ask listeners to call in and tell us their experiences.

Rowan: This week we’re going to focus on grammar and vocabulary as we look at language we can use to tell anecdotes. Anecdotes are short stories that are about real events and people and are usually spoken. Anecdotes are often funny and interesting.

Rich: We’ll look at some phrases we often use to interrupt others to start telling an anecdote and we’ll also see how we can use the past continuous when telling an anecdote.

Rowan: Your task this week is to tell an anecdote about a journey or trip that you have been on and the things that either went right or went wrong on this trip.

Rich: If you are listening to us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or any other podcast platform, you should also check out our website.

Jack: On the Premier Skills English website, you’ll find the transcript, examples and activities to help you understand the language and a task for you to complete with other listeners.

Rowan: Before we do the roleplays let’s look back at last week’s football phrase.

Last week’s Football Phrase

Rich: OK, our football phrase. If you’ve not listened to the podcast before, every week we set our listeners a challenge. We explain a football phrase or word and you have to guess what it is.

Jack: When you know the answer, go to the podcast page on the Premier Skills English website and write the word or phrase in the comments. If you’re correct we’ll announce your name on next week’s podcast.

Rowan: Thanks for all your answers and guesses last week. The first listener with the correct answer was Marco Zapien from Mexico - well done Marco!

Rich: Congratulations also go to MoBeckham and HSN from Turkey. It was a very difficult phrase last week so well done to all three of you.

Jack:  Later on, at the end of the podcast, we’ll tell you the answer to last week’s football phrase but we’re going to give you one more chance to guess now. Are you ready?

Rowan: Last week’s football phrase was to *** *** *** ****. This phrase basically means to do something for the first time in a competition. It’s usually used when a player or team is on zero goals or points and they get their first goal, point or win in a competition. Sometimes it takes time for a player or team to adapt to the Premier League and they might not *** *** *** **** straight away.

Rich: Last week’s podcast was about food and the environment, and we asked you how much you know about where your food comes from, and we had lots of interesting answers and comments.

Jack: Rodrigo from Brazil told us that he wouldn’t give up meat, but he does buy meat and vegetables that are locally sourced.

Rowan: HSN from Turkey thinks it’s a good idea to cut down on the amount of meat we eat, and Kazu from Japan agrees and also likes to support local farmers which reduces food miles.

Rich: And Vic from Mexico shared an anecdote about how he used to go to one famous coffee house but after he learned more about this company, he started to go to a local coffee shop instead which supports local producers in Mexico.

Jack: It was really nice to see you using the vocabulary we used in the podcast when giving your answers and opinions.

Rowan: If you haven’t heard this podcast and you want to learn some phrases connected to food and the environment it’s called The Environment: Food ... and you can find it on the Premier Skills English website or on Apple Podcasts.

Introduction to roleplay 1

Rich: As we said earlier, in this week’s roleplay you are going to hear part of a phone-in from a radio station called Radio UK.

Jack: The topic is disastrous journeys - things that went wrong on your way to work, on the way back from a football match or while on holiday - things like that.

Rowan: You’re about to listen to the first part of the roleplay and while you listen, we want you to answer two questions.

Rowan: Question one is: What strange thing did Jack do on his way to work?

Jack: Question two is: What happened to Rich’s grandad?

Roleplay 1

Rich: You’re listening to Radio UK and now it’s time for our weekly phone-in where you - our listeners get the chance to have your say.

Jack: And this week’s phone-in is all about disastrous journeys, isn’t that right, Rich?

Rich: That’s right, Jack. Disastrous journeys, terrible trips, calamitous excursions - we want to hear about all of them.

Jack: You won’t believe this, but I had a disastrous journey just this morning on my way to work.

Rich: What a coincidence! What happened?

Jack: I was running a little late because I stayed up to watch the match last night and you’ll never guess what happened this morning ... I managed to put on different shoes.

Rich: You’re kidding! Two left shoes or two right shoes?

Jack: The shoes were on the right feet, but I was in a rush, and I didn’t notice that I’d put a shoe on my right foot and a trainer on my left.

Rich: No way! You didn’t notice?

Jack: No, it was so embarrassing - I didn’t notice until I was standing at the bus stop and then, this is 100% true, this kid who must have been about seven starts pointing at my feet and laughing. Anyway, I had to go home and change of course and by the time I’d got back I’d missed the bus and that’s why I was nearly late.

Rich: You were nearly late, but you weren’t. Not sure there’s much of a story there - sorry. Funnily enough, that actually reminds me of a story that my gran told people for about forty years.

Jack: Go on then let’s hear it.

Rich: I must have heard this story about thirty times whenever the topic of trains came up. She’d talk about one time her husband, my grandad, was on a train from Manchester to Birmingham. She’d always say how hard he’d been working and that he fell asleep on the train.

Jack: Oh no! Did he miss his stop? That certainly would have been a disastrous journey.

Rich: No, he didn’t, oddly enough, although that of course would have been a better story. He woke up just before Birmingham and got off just as he had planned. My gran would always chuckle and say he could have ended up in London.

Jack: Really? I hate to be rude Rich but that is a terrible story.

Rich: I know but funnily enough I don’t think anybody ever pointed that out. We just smiled politely.

Jack: Today’s big headline is MAN TAKES TRAIN AND ARRIVES AT CORRECT DESTINATION!

Rich: I know. I know. So, on this week’s phone-in we want to hear about some real disastrous journeys.

Jack: None of this I was nearly late, or I nearly missed my stop. We want to hear about things that really went wrong. We want to hear about terrible train journeys, tortuous taxi trips or blunders on a bus ride.

Rich: The lines are now open, so pick up a phone and give us a call.

Language Focus 1

Rowan: Before the roleplay, we asked you two questions. The first question was: What strange thing did Jack do on his way to work?

Rich: Well, the answer is that somehow Jack managed to put on different shoes on his way to work. He then had this fashion disaster pointed out to him by a seven-year-old child. How embarrassing!

Jack: I don’t know how it happened, I’ve never done it before, but it wasn’t that embarrassing.

Rowan: A funny anecdote to tell people about though. The second question was: What happened to Rich’s grandad?

Jack: Well, the answer is that he got on a train where he was supposed to get on, had a little nap, and then got off the train where and when he was supposed to get off.

Rich: Sorry, gran, but this really is a terrible anecdote.

Rowan: Let’s move on to some language and I’d like to look at a few phrases we use when we interrupt people to start an anecdote. Remember an anecdote is a little story about real life.

Rich: Listen to this part of the roleplay again:

Jack: You won’t believe this, but I had a disastrous journey just this morning on my way to work.

Rich: What a coincidence! What happened?

Jack: I was running a little late because I stayed up to watch the match last night and you’ll never guess what happened this morning ... I managed to put on different shoes.

Rich: You’re kidding! Two left shoes or two right shoes?

Rowan: In this clip, Jack interrupts Rich because he has an interesting story to tell to the listeners - an interesting anecdote.

Jack: Yes, and I wanted to start my anecdote with a bang, so I used a phrase to tell people that this story is going to surprise and amaze them.

Rich: Jack said, You won’t believe this, but to alert the people listening that this is going to be a surprising and amazing piece of information or story.

Rowan: Jack uses a similar phrase later in the clip when he says you’ll never guess what happened this morning.

Jack: Both of these phrases are being used because I have something surprising to say.

Rich: I think it’s also useful to look at phrases we use to respond to this kind of surprising news or information. In this clip, I say you’re kidding! This reaction shows surprise or disbelief.

Rowan: We can use other phrases to react in this way such as you’re joking, I can’t believe it, no way, for real or are you serious?

Jack: Let’s listen to another clip from the roleplay because Rich used another couple of phrases that I’d like to take a look at.

Rich: You were nearly late, but you weren’t - not sure there’s much of a story there - sorry. Funnily enough, that actually reminds me of a story that my gran told people for about forty years.

Jack: Go on then let’s hear it.

Rowan: I can guess that the phrase you want to look at here is funnily enough. Am I right?

Jack: Yes, it is funnily enough. This phrase is an idiom and again it’s connected to surprise. We use it when we expect what we say to be surprising to the listener.

Rich: I think this phrase is quite difficult to use naturally in conversation. Let’s listen to another couple of examples:

Rowan: I haven’t seen Tom for years.

Jack: Funnily enough, I saw him at the match a couple of weeks ago. It was the first time I’d seen him since we were at school.

Rich: Let’s go out for a curry tonight.

Rowan: Funnily enough I was thinking the same and I booked a table this morning.

Jack: So, this phrase funnily enough is used to introduce some surprising news in response to what another person says.

Rich: There are a number of similar phrases that are used in the same way such as: oddly enough, strangely enough and curiously enough.

Rowan: A final phrase that I’d like to look at is that reminds me of. In the clip, Rich said, that actually reminds me of a story that my gran told people.

Jack: To remind someone of something is a phrasal verb that means to make someone think of something. In the roleplay, I shared an anecdote about my disastrous trip to work and this reminded Rich of the anecdote about his grandad. It made him think of something similar.

Rich: Again, this phrase can be used to interrupt others to start an anecdote … ah that reminds me of the time … ah that reminds me …

Rowan: OK, I think it’s time to get back to our phone-in on Radio UK but if you want to look at this language in more detail there are more examples and activities on the Premier Skills English website.

Introduction to roleplay 2

Rich: You’re about to listen to the second part of the roleplay. You’re going to hear from our first caller on the phone-in, Rowan from Cardiff.

Rowan: While you listen, we want you to answer a question.

Jack: The question is: Why didn’t Rowan get to watch the match?

ROLEPLAY 2

Rich: Welcome back to Radio UK and let’s go straight to the phone lines. I believe that we have Rowan from Cardiff on line one. Hello Rowan.

Rowan: Hello there. Am I on the radio?

Jack: Yes, yes you are. You are live on Radio UK. I’ve been told you want to tell us about a disastrous journey following Cardiff City Football Club.

Rowan: Haha, yes, I do. I’ve been following Cardiff home and away for over twenty years and I want to tell you about the only match I’ve ever missed.

Rich: The floor is yours, Rowan.

Rowan: It was Cardiff against Newcastle and, as you know, the two cities are hardly close with Cardiff in southwest Wales and Newcastle up in the northeast of England.

Rich: A massive journey - and a lot of planning involved I imagine.

Rowan: Yes, it was a cup game and an early kick-off which didn’t make things easier, but I was determined to get to the match - I don’t think I’d missed a match in nearly six years at that point, so I wasn’t going to start now even though my friends were giving it a miss. I was going to have to get to London on the Friday, stay overnight and then get to Newcastle the following morning.

Jack: So, a long and complicated journey but why was it a disastrous one?

Rowan: Well, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I had to get a bus into town to get the train to London and it was packed. I’d stupidly sat at the back of the bus and while I was trying to get off, the bus set off, so I missed my stop. I had to walk ten minutes back to the station and ended up missing the train to London.

Rich: Not a good start to the trip.

Rowan: No and it only got worse. As I was buying tickets for the next train, I realised that I’d left my bag on the bus - it had my purse, my phone and my match ticket in it. 

Jack: No way! What a disaster! Did you get it back?

Rowan: Well, luckily enough, the bus station is near the train station and my cousin who works there was working that day and got my bag back - it’d been handed in by the driver.

Rich: Some luck at last.

Rowan: Yes, but by this time I was on the last train to London, and I ended up arriving at the hotel really late. I’m pretty sure the porter was sleeping because the hotel door was locked, and I was banging on it for about half an hour before he eventually answered.

Jack: But you eventually got some sleep?

Rowan: Yes, but only about four hours and I was dreaming about Cardiff lifting the FA Cup when my six o’clock alarm went off. I needed to get to the station for half-past. I was hoping to get more sleep on the train to Newcastle but the guy next to me was snoring his head off.

Rich: So, you made it?

Rowan: Yes, I made it to Newcastle …

Jack: It sounds like there’s a but coming …

Rowan: You really aren’t going to believe this, but I’d made an awful mistake. I know it was a cup game and I wasn’t expecting a big crowd but there wasn’t anybody around at all.

Rich: The match had been postponed?

Rowan: No - much worse than that - we were playing at home - in Cardiff!

Jack: Oh my god! You cannot be serious!! That is so … that is so embarrassing. What a disaster!

Rowan: I know. I still go a little red in the face when I speak about it.

Rich: Well, it’s a good job we’re on the radio Rowan and thanks ever so much for your call. Our next caller is Trevor from Tunbridge who is going to tell us about a 48-hour bus drive with a gaggle of geese.

LANGUAGE FOCUS 2

Jack: Before the roleplay we asked you a question. The question was: Why didn’t Rowan get to watch the match?

Rowan: Well, after all the problems I had getting to Newcastle I then found out that I had made an awfully embarrassing mistake. The match was in Cardiff and wasn’t in Newcastle at all.

Jack: And we’re actually not going to tell you if this is a true story or not just to save Rowan’s embarrassment.

Rich: In the roleplay, Rowan used lots of examples of the past continuous while she was speaking about her disastrous journey. 

Jack: You've just used the past continuous there, Rich, "while she was speaking about her disastrous journey", "was speaking" is the past continuous.

Rowan: Yes, it is. We create the past continuous with the verb to be in the past: was or were and then add a verb in the I-N-G -ing form.

Rich: We can use the past continuous for a number of reasons: to talk about something that happened for a long time or constantly for a period of time in the past.

Jack: Rowan said that the man was snoring on the train so she couldn't sleep.

Rowan: We can use the past continuous to talk about what you were doing at a specific time. Who was Raheem Sterling playing for in 2015? He was playing for Liverpool in 2015.

Rich: We're going to concentrate on a third use of the past continuous. We want to look at how it is used together with the past simple to describe something that was happening when another action interrupted it. Here’s an example of how it usually works:

Jack: What was happening?

Rowan: I was watching TV.

Jack: Then what happened.

Rowan: My phone rang.

Jack: Rowan was watching TV when her phone rang. Her phone interrupted her watching.

Rich: There were a lot of examples of this use in the roleplay. Have a listen to this part of the roleplay again and listen for how the past simple interrupts the past continuous:

Rowan: Yes, but by this time I was on the last train to London, and I ended up arriving at the hotel really late. I’m pretty sure the porter was sleeping because the hotel door was locked, and I was banging on it for about half an hour before he eventually answered.

Jack: But you eventually got some sleep?

Rowan: Yes, but only about four hours and I was dreaming about Cardiff lifting the FA Cup when my six o’clock alarm went off. I needed to get to the station for half-past. I was hoping to get more sleep on the train to Newcastle but the guy next to me was snoring his head off.

Rich: In this clip, you can hear lots of examples of the past continuous, but did you hear which of the examples were of the past continuous being interrupted by the past simple?

Rowan: There were two examples, and they were:

Jack: I was knocking on the door when the porter answered.

Rich: I was dreaming when my alarm went off.

Rowan: In this week's task, we want you to include some similar sentences to these.

Jack: And if you want to practise the past continuous in more detail, we have activities on the Premier Skills English website and some more resources for you to look at.

TASK

Rowan: This week’s task is to tell us an anecdote about a journey that you have been on.

Jack: It could be a disastrous journey like Rowan’s journey from Cardiff to Newcastle or more like my embarrassing trip to work when I put on the wrong shoes.

Rich: Think about what went wrong. Was it a problem with transport? Did you break down? Did you go to the wrong place?

Rowan: Did something embarrassing happen? Were you late? Was there a problem with the weather or maybe there was a problem with the people you were travelling with?

Jack: Or, if you prefer, you could be more positive and tell us about a brilliant trip that you have been on. What’s most important is that you tell us something funny or interesting and that you try to use some of the phrases that we have introduced in this podcast and some examples of the past continuous.

Rich: Write all your anecdotes in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website or on Apple podcasts if that’s where you listen to us.

Football Phrase

Rowan: It’s time for this week’s football phrase. Have you got one, Jack?

Jack: I have. This week’s football phrase is ***** ** *****. This week’s phrase sounds more like a hard rock or metal band than a football phrase, but this phrase describes when a number of high-quality teams are put together in a competition and only some of them can qualify. In EURO 2020, France, Germany, Portugal and Hungary were put together in what was called the ***** ** *****.

Rich: There were some very exciting matches between those four. Let’s see who can get the phrase right this week. If you are still wondering what the answer was to last week’s football phrase it was to get off the mark.

Rowan: If you have a football phrase that you would like us to use in the podcast, just get in touch and let us know.

Jack: Right, that’s all we have time for this week! Don’t forget to write your answers to our questions and make a guess at our football phrase in the comments below. If you get it right, we’ll announce your name on next week’s podcast.

Rich: If you have a question for us about football or English you can email us at premierskills@britishcouncil.org

Rowan: or you can leave your questions and comments on the website in the comments section or on our Facebook page.

Jack: or you could give us a rating and a fantastic review on Apple Podcasts.

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football!