English, baby!

Sending Flowers

Date: Jun 08 2007

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Sometimes it’s hard to think of the right gift. You can’t send someone a new telephone to say you’re sorry or a buy someone skis as a get-well gift. But flowers are always a safe bet. Even though it can be expensive, Kevin likes to send flowers.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Kevin

Amanda

Kevin: I really like…and of course I love to receive them…but I really love to send flowers and now it’s so easy because you can just do it online and beautiful bouquets can be there in two days for people.

Amanda: 1-800-flowers.com.

Kevin: Proflowers.com? Totally.

Amanda: Yes. The hard thing about that is you never know what you’re going to get and it’s not as though you can ask the recipient, “How were the flowers? Do you think they were worth 125 dollars?”

Kevin: Well no, but I’ve asked for example to send on Mother’s Day or even on Father’s Day or if it’s a sympathy thing to ask the person, “Were they nice?” I wouldn’t say “Were they worth 100 dollars?” I would say, “Were they nice?”

Amanda: Because that would be tacky.

Kevin: Correct.

Amanda: You know it’s interesting, it seems to be the go-to gift. Doesn’t matter if you’re the girl or the guy, if you screw up, you kind of hurt someone’s feelings, the go-to gift is flowers. So it’s kind of weird if you’re in the office and see flowers on someone’s desk you say, “What did he do?” Or, no offense, “What did she do?” It’s not always the guy.

Kevin: Does it work for you as a…

Amanda: Absolutely not. I pass them to the next person in the cubicle.

Kevin: Great, great. But it’s fun to get flowers.

Amanda: Absolutely, if you’re not allergic.

Kevin: That’s true.

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Discussion

Kevin says that he likes to order flowers online because they arrive so quickly. He and Amanda name a couple of websites where they buy flowers.

Amanda notes that when you order flowers for someone online it’s hard to know if what you sent was worth the price. You never see the flowers, and you can’t ask the person you sent them to if they were worth the money. Kevin says he just asks people he sends flowers to if they were nice.

People often send flowers to say they are sorry. Whenever Amanda sees someone at work with flowers on his or her desk, she assumes that the person’s lover did something wrong. So whenever someone sends her flowers, she gives them to the person next to her in her office.

Have you ever received flowers? Who sent them to you and why? Were they nice?

Comments

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Carla Cristina Fagundes

Brazil

I have already received flowers from my boyfriend. They were really nice :)

I think it doesn’t matter if you receive flowers or a letter or something like this, you get happy because you see the person thought about you and he or she cares about you and wants to please you.

What I like the most is when I receive letters, because I know the person took his/her time to write something to me, it’s not something that I can buy, besides being more personal.

DominikLi

China

I’m glad that I received some flowers when I was just 10 years old.It was sent by one of my friends,in order to give me a surprise in my good day.I just can’t forget the feeling I had when I received them,even though they are the cheapest roses,but I can still feel the warmth between two good friends:D

Irene Forever

Ukraine

I adore both receiving and giving flowers and I have had lots of them during my life:) In Ukraine we love flowers so much and no one holiday is without them. Men like giving flowere to mothers, beloved women and friends. You can hardly find a woman who doesn’t like flowers in my country.

Actually I am made of flowers and perfume. ♥

ray_ray55

Thailand

it’s good if buying flowers by yourself XD

simsim_m21

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

i received flowers from my friend for my brithday ,that’s beautiful…

Erosyu

China

I just send some roses to a girl who i am in love with , it feels good , doesn't it ?

primula

Saudi Arabia

who doesn't like to have a bouquet of flowers as a gift . Unfortunately I've not received a bouquet of natural flowers because flowers in my country can't live more than a couple of days as it's extremely hot over here but usually I do receive a kind of artificial bouquet with sweets and candies but no matter what I like receiving floweres cuz flowers can say a lot of things you might not be able to express in words:) I'm quite sure that flowers are associated with our hearts and feelings that's why they come in different colours and shapes as every colour resembles one of our senses and emotions.

Great topic

daditos_o0

Chile

floweeers

SENHY

China

Oh,what a pity!I've never recived flowers at present.Maybe I'll recive later.

sipat

Chile

i've always received flowers from my husband in many different situations such as birthdays, at hospital when Ihave been operated ( and this counts for many),etc. But he has never sent me flowers to say he's sorry for something he did or said. And this doen't mean he has not done or said things he shouldn't have.

sipat

Chile

wintercherry

Ukraine

Sending flowers is a grate thing! You can make a lot of joy for a person who gets it!

helen2569

China

hmm, its a pity that i have not received a flower from somebody so far, oh, i remember sth, that i did receive a flower, coz i bought sth for my cousin’s marriage, then the sales girl sent each of us(two friends and me)a flower as a gift, lol.