English, baby!

Manners

Date: Sep 18 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.

American mothers always say, “Mind your manners” when their kids snap at someone. A good parent raises kids who are polite. Kids who chew with their mouths closed and don’t make a mess when they’re eating. Kids who say “please” and “thank you” when it’s appropriate and don’t speak too loudly.

Amanda’s parents made sure she grew up to be polite. Mason’s parents tried really hard but…well, read for yourself…

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.

Mason

Amanda

Mason: Amanda, when we were out the other night, I was kind of noticing, this is a weird thing, but, you have great manners!

Amanda: Thanks. I was raised that way.

Mason: Where did you learn? Did your parents just teach you?

Amanda: My parents. They beat it into me to always be polite…

Mason: Are you serious?

Amanda: ...that rudeness was the sin of all sins.

Mason: Obviously my parents didn’t do their job because…I’m not kidding…when I was in like 5th grade, they sent me to a manners class.

Amanda: Oh, etiquette, right?

Mason: Yeah, it was like etiquette. It was the old sort of finishing school brought into the 20th century.

Amanda: I actually thought those were only for girls.

Mason: So did I! It was called Spit, Polish and Shine.

Amanda: Okay. What was the one take away for you?

Mason: I’m proud to say…I failed!

Amanda: You’re proud to say you failed?

Mason: I did.

Amanda: Oh.

Mason: But they tried to teach us…the butter spoon...and this knife and that five forks and there was…

Amanda: I suppose there’s different families of manners, but that’s kind of being…what, proper? Versus being not rude and considerate.

Mason: Then there’s holding the door open and saying “bless you” when someone sneezes.

Amanda: Absolutely. Not making your wife sleep in the wet spot.

Quizzes

Go Super to take Quiz

Lesson MP3

Go Super to download full lesson MP3

Go Super to Ask Ebaby! teachers your questions!

The iTEP^® test

Sponsored by

Schedule an iTEP^® test and take the official English Practice Test.
Take Now >

Discussion

When Amanda and Mason were out together recently, Mason noticed that Amanda has really good manners. She says that her parents beat it into her, which means they were really serious about teaching her manners.

Mason’s folks, however, had to send him to an etiquette school, which he failed! But what they were trying to teach him there was a lot of fancy customs, like which size fork to use for which course of a meal. Amanda says that that stuff isn’t as important as just generally being considerate. You know, not making your wife sleep in the wet spot.

Wait, what?! What is she talking about?

We have no idea.

Do you have good manners? What’s considered to be good manners in your country?

As Mason mentioned, it’s polite to say “bless you” when someone sneezes. What do people say in your country?

Comments

< Previous
41 through 43 of 43
1 2 3

cancerh236

Viet Nam

yaa..when someone sneeze ..we will say something like live long and prosper..

starfighteradara

Philippines

I think manners are very important. Rudeness is something that offends and hurts people. However, I think manners are not necessarily about rules but more about compassion, kindness, and humility. If you go to a foreign country and you make a mistake with using eating utensils, apologize to your hosts and humbly ask them to teach you the right way. I think manners come from a generosity of spirit and a sense of respect and equanimity for all. In my country, it's considered good manners to always offer food when someone visits you. Although this can be overdetermined sometimes, I think, on the whole, it's a gesture of compassion.