Lesson 53
The Messenger
Level: Intermediate
Lesson contents:
- "How long have...?" (Present Perfect).
- Review of Present Progressive.
- What does he do? He delivers....
- Expression "It pays the bills." as unenthusiastic reply.
- Wanna for want to.
- "Peace" as a good-bye.
Always watch the video several times without subtitles first. Train your ears! Your pronunciation will be much better if you follow this simple rule.
Exercises for this lesson:
- What does a messenger do?
- How long has he been a messenger?
- The job "pays the bills".
- I "wanna" get on the radio
- Extensive Dictation Exercise
How to do the lessons:
- Watch the video without subtitles.
- Do all the Exercises.
- Come back to this page.
- Watch the video with English Subtitles. Use the Pause button. People speak fast!
Problems? See general support or ask your question here.
Teachers:
On the day that we ran into The Messenger, "What are you doing?" was on our list of questions. James Jackson appeared suddenly behind Lizzie, the interviewer, and she found a perfect situation to ask "What are you doing right now?" She forgot to ask James "What is your name?" and we only found out after we turned off the camera and asked him to sign the release form. He was extremely gracious. We invited him to lunch and we all ate NYC Hot Pastrami sandwiches with lots of sauerkraut and giant pickles (again) despite the fact that he would be a bit late for his current delivery.
He was a perfect interviewee as far as I'm concerned. And I wanted to keep in touch with him. After we finished lunch, he gave us his email address because I intended on calling in some favors from a friend who might have been able to help him get into the radio business, but it never materialized.
I love the way people remain themselves and answer our questions sincerely. Before beginning an interview, we usually explain that we are interviewing in order to help English language learners to learn real English. Everyone thinks that this is a most valid reason to devote 5 or 15 minutes to our project. Some interviewees actually worry about the quality of their speech. But James had no time to take this into consideration. I don't think it would have mattered anyway in his case.