Meeting People, Greetings

 

Dear friend, you are a first–year student of the Far Eastern State Technical University. We hope you like the University and your class–mates. But we are afraid that you do not know your class–mates well yet. So, it’s time to get acquainted with them. We shall teach you how to do it in English.

 

Exercise 1. Read some dialogues. They are the examples of formal and informal introduction.

1. — James, may I introduce Harry Smith? Mr. Smith, this is James Richardson.

— How do you do, Mr.Richardson?

1. How do you do, Mr. Smith?

B — Here comes Bill. Do you know him? He is one of my best friends.

— No, I’ve never met him.

— Would you like to meet him?

— Sure.

— Hi, Bill. How are you doing?

— Not bad, thanks. And what about you?

— Fine, thanks. You know, Bill, I’d like you to meet Harry. He is an old friend of mine.

— Hi, Harry, nice to meet you!

— Glad to meet you, Bill.

C — Hello, John. How are you?

— Fine! And what about you? I haven’t seen you for ages!

— Meet my wife, John. Marry, this is my friend John Hicks.

— How do you do, Mr. Hick?

— How do you do, Mrs.Harvey? Nice to meet you?

D — Mum, meet my friend Nick.

— Nice to meet you, Nick. I’ve heard a lot about you.

— Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Smith.

 

Conversational Formulas Introducing People May I introduce Mr.Smith? Allow me to introduce Mr.Smith to you. Let me introduce Mr.Smith. Let me introduce myself, I am David. Meet my friend, doctor Morrison. Possible Replies How do you do? Glad/nice/pleased to meet you.

Exercise 2. Practice the dialogue in pairs. Try to remember the way you can introduce yourself to your friend.

1. Let me introduce myself. My name is Peter. I came from Nakhodka.

2. How do you do, Peter? I am Mike.

3. How do you do, Mike? Is Vladivostok your native town?

4. Yes, I was born here. I hope you like it.

5. Sure.

Exercise 3. Pay attention to the way you can greet a person.

- Hello, how are you?
- Fine,	Thanks.	And you?
- Very well,	Thank you.
- Not too bad.

Note: “How are you?” is not a question about your health. It is a part of the greeting.

Conversational Formulas
Greetings	Possible Replies
How are you?	Fine/ Quite all right, thank you. Poorly/ So-so.
How are you getting on?	Not too bad/ Very well.
How do you do?	How do you do?
How are things?	Pretty well/ Not so well.
Glad to see you.	So am I.

 

Conversational Formulas
Saying Good-bye	Sending a greeting
Good-bye for the present See you later/soon So long I must be off It’s time for me to go I must be going soon I’ve got to go	Give my best regards to … Remember me to …

Exercise 4. Can you introduce:

1. yourself to your class-mate?

2. your class-mate to your old friend?

3. your class-mate to a professor from another country?

4. your class-mate to your parents?

5. yourself to your teacher or your professor?

Exercise 5. Imagine the situation:

Today you and your boy/girlfriend went to the cinema. Suddenly you notice a guy waving to your friend. He is an old schoolfriend of his/her. You introduce each other. Can you dramatize the conversation?

Exercise 6. Reproduce a joke:

1) Didn’t I meet you in Toledo?

2) No, I was never in Toledo.

3) Neither was I. It must have been two other fellows.