Shadowing Practice: English Greetings and Introductions - Spoken English - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
Hello. Hi. What's your name?
2
My name's Kasia, and you are?
3
My name's Olivier.
4
Nice to meet you.
5
And you. What are we doing in this lesson?
6
We're going to talk about greetings and introductions in English.
7
Hi. I'm Olivier.
8
Welcome to Oxford Online English.
9
What’s the first word you learned in English?
10
Probably 'hello', right?
11
'Hello' is the most basic way to greet someone in English.
12
There are many different ways to greet people and introduce yourself in English.
13
In different situations, you’ll need to use different words and phrases to greet people or make introductions.
14
In this lesson, you can learn about greetings and introductions in English and see which language you should use in different situations.
15
Imagine that you’re on a business trip, and you’re meeting some important clients for the first time.
16
Or maybe you work in service, for example in a hotel, and you need to talk to guests and customers.
17
In these situations, you’ll want to use more formal language.
18
Good morning!
19
You must be Olivier.
20
Yes, good morning!
21
I’m sorry, and your name is…?
22
My name’s Kasia.
23
Very nice to meet you.
24
Welcome to Madrid!
25
Thank you. How are you today?
26
Very well, thank you, and yourself?
27
I’m good, thanks for asking.
28
This dialogue uses more formal language.
29
Can you see what makes it formal?
30
First, I started by saying good morning.
31
The greetings good morning, good afternoon and good evening are quite formal and are generally only used in formal situations.
32
There’s one exception: you can sometimes use good morning informally with people you know.
33
However, it’s common in this situation to simply say 'morning'.
34
Can you see any other examples of formal language in this dialogue?
35
There are many.
36
Firstly, I asked Kasia’s name by saying, and your name is…?
37
This is more formal than asking what’s your name?
38
After she introduced herself, Kasia said very nice to meet you.
39
Saying nice to meet you is neutral—neither formal nor informal.
40
However, adding very makes it sound much more formal.
41
One word can make a big difference!
42
I introduced myself with a full sentence: My name’s Kasia.
43
When speaking less formally, you’d use a shorter introduction, like I’m Kasia or just Kasia.
44
After I introduced myself, I said Welcome to Madrid.
45
Does this sound formal or informal to you?
46
It’s quite formal.
47
Do you know why it's formal?
48
Again, it’s a small change which makes a big difference.
49
Saying welcome by itself is neutral—it’s not formal.
50
However, adding to and a place makes it sound much more formal.
51
So, if you say, Welcome to our office! that sounds formal, while if you just say, Welcome!
52
it doesn’t sound so formal.
53
It’s common when greeting someone in English to ask some kind of how are you question.
54
Do you remember what Kasia asked me?
55
She asked How are you today?
56
Again, one word makes the difference—do you know which one?
57
It’s today.
58
Asking how are you is neutral.
59
Adding today makes it sound more formal.
60
My answer, Very well, thank you, also sounds quite formal.
61
If I was speaking more neutrally, I’d say something like, Well, thanks.
62
Adding very and saying thank you instead of thanks makes it sound more formal.
63
Finally, Olivier asked me how are you back.
64
Do you remember how he did it?
65
He asked, and yourself?
66
This is more formal than asking and you?
67
I replied and said thanks for asking.
68
You wouldn’t say thanks for asking in a more informal situation.
69
So, you’ve seen here how small changes can make a big difference to how formal your language sounds.
70
Remember that formality doesn’t just depend on the words you use; other things like tone of voice and body language are also important.
71
Next, let’s look at how to handle greetings and introductions in a neutral way.
72
‘Neutral’ means neither formal nor informal.
73
For example, imagine you’re at work, and you meet a new colleague.
74
You’re the same age and you’re in the same department.
75
This is an example of a neutral situation.
76
You don’t need to be very formal, but you also wouldn’t want to sound too casual.
77
Hello! Hello!
78
Are you Olivier?
79
Yes, that’s right.
80
What’s your name?
81
Kasia. Nice to meet you.
82
And you. How are you?
83
Fine, thanks, and you?
84
I’m good, thanks.
85
First, compare this dialogue to the formal one from part one.
86
They follow the same pattern, but this dialogue is much less formal.
87
Can you see the differences?
88
First, we started with a neutral greeting, hello.
89
You can use hello in any situation.
90
Then, I asked Olivier his name with a simple question, What’s your name?
91
Hello, what’s your name… pretty easy, right?
92
That’s because neutral language is generally the simplest language.
93
If you compare the two dialogues, you can see that this neutral dialogue is shorter than the formal dialogue you saw in part one.
94
This is very common: formal language is often longer and more complex.
95
Neutral language is short and simple.
96
You can see this throughout the dialogue: we use the basic words and phrases that you probably learned in lesson one of your English classes at school: nice to meet you; how are you; fine, thanks; and so on.
97
Okay, so now you’ve learned about the differences between formal and neutral greetings and introductions.
98
What about informal greetings and introductions?
99
Informal greetings and introductions are useful if you know someone well, or if you’re meeting someone in a casual situation.
100
For example, if you’re hanging out with some friends, and your friends introduce you to one of their friends, you would probably use informal language.
101
Let’s see how this works: Hi!
102
Hey! Olivier?
103
Yeah. Your name?
104
Kasia. Good to meet you.
105
You too. How you doing?
106
Yeah, not bad.
107
You? Pretty good!
108
So, what do you notice here?
109
The first thing you can see is that the dialogue is even shorter than the neutral dialogue you saw in part two.
110
We both used a lot of short questions and sentences.
111
For example: Olivier?
112
Your name? How you doing?
113
You? These are fine in informal speech, and native speakers often shorten sentences and questions like this.
114
However, you wouldn’t do this in a more formal situation.
115
There are also several phrases which you wouldn’t use in a more formal setting, such as: Hi/Hey Yeah Not bad Pretty good These are all good words and phrases to use in an informal situation.
116
At this point, you could go back and review the three dialogues.
117
Each dialogue has exactly the same structure—only the language is different.
118
See how you can use different words and phrases to greet people and introduce yourself with different levels of formality.
119
Okay? Let’s look at one more thing.
120
When you’re making introductions, you might also need to introduce another person.
121
Let’s see how you can do that in formal, neutral, or informal ways.
122
Here’s a very formal introduction.
123
Let me introduce my colleague, Kasia.
124
Here’s another very formal way to introduce someone: May I introduce my colleague, Olivier?
125
What about neutral introductions?
126
This is Kasia.
127
Here’s another way to make in introduction using neutral language.
128
Have you met Olivier?
129
Finally, what about informal introductions?
130
In informal situations, you might not introduce people at all.
131
You might just let them introduce themselves, or you might prompt them to introduce themselves by asking something like: Have you guys met?
132
Do you two know each other?
133
If you want to make an informal introduction, the most common way is just to say the two people’s names, then say them again in reverse.
134
For example, imagine you’re introducing two people called John and Emma to each other.
135
You could say: John, Emma.
136
Emma, John.
137
So now, you should understand how to greet people and introduce yourself or someone else in different situations.
138
Do you want more practice with this topic?
139
Check out the full version of this lesson on our website: Oxford Online English.com.
140
See you next time!
141
Thanks for watching!
Why practice speaking with this video?
Practicing your speaking skills in English is crucial for building confidence and fluency. The video "English Greetings and Introductions" offers a structured framework for learners to understand various greeting contexts. By engaging with this content, you can improve your ability to communicate effectively in both formal and informal situations. For instance, learning how to introduce yourself correctly can enhance your interactions during important meetings or social gatherings. Using a method like shadowspeak, where you repeat phrases after the speaker, helps solidify your pronunciation and intonation, leading to better overall communication skills.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
This lesson provides several key grammatical structures and expressions that are useful for initiating conversations. Here are a few examples:
- “What’s your name?” - This is a common informal way to ask someone for their name. It’s direct and friendly.
- “My name’s…” - This is a simple way to introduce yourself and can be used in most situations.
- “Nice to meet you.” - A polite expression that can be used similarly in both formal and informal settings. Adding “very” before it makes it more formal.
- “Good morning/afternoon/evening” - These are formal greetings, and using them appropriately can make a positive impression.
- “Welcome to…” - This phrase not only offers a greeting but also helps set the tone for the interaction, especially in formal contexts.
Mastering these structures through practice and repetition, as featured in the video, can significantly enhance your speaking capabilities, particularly when using shadow speech techniques.
Common Pronunciation Traps
As you practice the dialogues from the video, pay attention to certain words and phrases that may present pronunciation challenges:
- “Good morning” - The phrase contains subtle intonation patterns that can change its formality and appropriateness in various contexts.
- “Welcome” - Be cautious of your stress on this word; emphasizing the second syllable can make it sound overly formal.
- “Name” - Ensure you articulate the vowel sound clearly; many learners tend to blend it with surrounding sounds.
- “Mister” - When using titles, enunciate clearly to avoid sounding unclear or ambiguous.
Incorporating shadowing practice through resources such as a shadowing site will help you effectively manage these tricky pronunciations, making you sound more natural in conversations.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.