The Fly on the Wall is a new listening practice video series! To be a fly on the wall means to listen in on a conversation without knowing the thoughts of the speakers.
With the fun videos in this video series, you'll get to understand phrases and learn how to use them in your own conversations! Enjoy!
The Barber Shop
Barber: So, how would you like your hair today, sir?
Customer: Well, today… I… uh…Well, I don’t have so much. So I figured a… a perm, maybe. I heard about a perm on the radio. Can you give me one of those?
Barber: I could give you a perm, yes. Shall we try it? Perm! That sounds pretty good.
Customer: What, exactly, is a perm?
Barber: A perm… It’s a permanent wave. You know, a permanent wave. And it usually costs for… a man with your head of hair… is… it costs about 20, $25.
Customer: $25?! What if you gave me a haircut first? And then charged me $20?
Barber: That sounds like a very good idea, sir.
Customer: I see.
Barber: But the haircut will cost you $5.
Customer: I see. You know what? I’ll take that perm!
Let’s look at some of the dialogue and examine what’s going on.
“How would you like,” is an excellent expression and can be used when asking questions in many situations.
At the restaurant: “How would you like your eggs?”
At the hotel: “How would you like to pay?”
Travel: “How would you like to visit to Hawaii?”
“I figured…” is just another way of saying, “I was thinking…”
“I figured I could go shopping today.” = “I thought I could go shopping today.”
“I heard about…” is a way of saying that you heard something, but don’t know very much about it. “I heard about the cricket team doing badly this season, but I’ve been too busy to follow them.”
“Shall we,” is a polite way of asking to do something. “Shall we go to the movies together?”
“That sounds pretty good,” is an expression that allows the speaker to be nice and polite while not necessarily agreeing with the listener. Parents often use this when they think a child’s idea isn’t very good. “I was thinking of selling mud sandwiches on the street, mom.” “That sounds pretty good, son.”
“You know,” is a general way of asking for agreement, or confirming in sentences. “I went to that cool restaurant yesterday.” “Which one?” “You know, that one you told me about last week.”
“That sounds like…” is a great expression that can be used in many situations. We use it to express our opinion about something we’ve heard about but haven’t done yet.
“That sounds like fun!”
“That sound like hard work”
“I’ll take…” is an easy way to say you want to buy something.
“I’ll take two drinks, please.”
“I’ll take this hat and these ties.
Have fun trying out the phrases in your own conversations. Remember that to get fluent, you have to practice! Have fun!