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.
These days, your phone probably doesn’t ring as often as it used to. But that doesn’t mean you have fewer friends. It’s just that they’d all rather text than call.
Wouldn’t you? Sending a text just seems so convenient. You don’t have to waste time talking about things that don’t matter, like how you’re doing and what you’ve been up to. You can get straight to the point.
But not everyone agrees. Some people still appreciate a good old fashioned phone call. Hear Marni and Mason discuss talking on the phone.
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.
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Mason: Have you noticed that as our phones get fancier we talk on them less as phones?
Marni: Yes, I have noticed that, and I have to say, texting on smart phones has revolutionized our way that we have conversations with people.
Mason: Right. It’s like I don’t really want to talk to anybody anymore.
Marni: Right. I just wanna write you this quick message and get my point across, and there you go.
Mason: And not hear all the totally irrelevant things that you have to say, right?
Marni: Exactly.
Mason: Don’t you, though, have like family members or whatever that, you know, are from the older generations, and they keep wanting to actually call and talk to you?
Marni: Well, yes. My parents live out of state, so I do keep in touch with them. I use Skype a lot, but sometimes we just talk on the phone, and I actually still have a land line for that purpose.
Mason: What!
Marni: Because when I do talk to people, I want to talk to them, and I hate talking on cell phones.
Mason: Honestly, I’m imagining just the sound of an old telephone, and that’s so weird to me, because I only have mine on vibrate. Like, I would be really upset if there was a phone ringing off the hook in my house now. That would bother me.
Marni: Yeah. It’s sort of this…it’s kind of fascinating. It’s sort of like a relic of the past. But our ringer’s only on…it only rings three times. And I have to tell you, it doesn’t ring all that often.
Grammar Point
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Discussion
Mason says that he doesn’t talk on his phone very much anymore. He uses it to send text messages or go on the Internet instead.
Marni agrees that it is more convenient to send a text message than to call someone. In a text message, you can get straight to the point and not waste time. But sometimes, Marni still likes to talk on the phone. She likes to keep in touch with her parents, who live in a different state, by talking on the phone.
Marni doesn’t like talking on cell phones. So she keeps a land line in her house for having longer phone conversations. Mason is impressed that she still has a land line, because to most people, land lines are old fashioned. But Marni says she doesn’t use hers very much anymore.
Do you like talking on the phone, or do you prefer to text? Do you think talking on the phone is an old fashioned way to keep in touch?
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