Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 512, Changing the Subject in Conversation.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 512.
© transcript Emily Beynon.
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This episode is a dialogue between Laura and Gaius, talking about common expressions and phrases we use to change the subject, the topic of our conversations.
A very useful episode, I think you will find.
Let's get started.
I think that's all we need to talk about Regarding last month's report.
Let's turn to this month's report, shall we?
I didn't get a copy of it Could someone hand me one?
By the way, I have just one last comment Before we shift our focus to this month's report.
It seems to me that we need more information on how the Duluth office is doing.
Could we ask for more info to be included in next month's report?
I'm sure we can.
Incidentally, Dee is quitting, and Kara will be taking her place.
This is off the record, of course.
Okay, now back to this month's report.
Speaking of personnel changes, did you know that Lee is being promoted to VP next month?
I hadn't heard that, but I'm not surprised.
She's been in line for that job for years.
Okay, we need to get back to this month's report.
Something just occurred to me.
If Lee is being promoted, what will happen to the base ship project?
I think it's being put on the back burner for now.
All right.
Could someone hand me a copy of this month's report?
I don't mean to change the subject, but... I think that's precisely what you're trying to do.
What's the matter with this month's report?
It's not quite finished.
It'll be on your desk this afternoon.
Is that what this tap dance has been about?
All right, we'll talk about it at tomorrow's meeting.
Next time, just give it to me straight, okay?
Our dialogue begins with Laura saying that she thinks that's all they need to talk about.
Regarding last month's report.
We're obviously here in a business meeting and Laura is the boss.
She's telling Gaius that they don't need to talk about the report on what was done last month.
Instead, she wants to talk about this month's report.
So she says, let's turn to this month's report, shall we?
To turn to something is one of the many expressions we'll discuss in this dialogue.
Used to change the subject of a conversation.
It means let's begin talking about something else.
Let's begin to focus on something different.
It's somewhat of a formal expression that might be used by someone who is running a meeting, who is leading a group in a discussion.
Laura says, Shall we?
Shall we is a formal phrase inviting someone to join you in doing what you are doing.
Shall we dance?
Means, do you want to dance with me?
No?
Okay.
Then you go to the next girl, you see.
That was always my strategy.
Laura says that she didn't get a copy of this month's report and asks if someone could hand her one.
To hand someone something means to give something to someone.
It's a polite way of saying, please could you give me this thing or pass me this thing.
Could you hand me that pen please means could you give me that pen, take it and put it into my hand.
Hand has several different meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Gaius says.
By the way, is a phrase used to say that you want to continue talking about something, but add a slightly different topic.
So it's not a completely new subject.
If you say let's turn to the base ship project well, you're saying I want to talk about something completely new.
Usually,
But if you say by the way, you mean that you have something additional to say about the topic you're talking about now, but slightly different than what you were just talking about.
So Gaius says, by the way...
I have just one last comment before we shift our focus to this month's report.
To shift, S-H-I-F-T, your focus, means to begin discussing a new or different topic.
It's similar to to turn to.
Gaius says, on how the Duluth office is doing.
Duluth is a city in northern Minnesota.
Gaia says, could we ask for more info, meaning information, to be included in next month's report?
Laura says, I'm sure we can.
Incidentally, Dee is quitting and Kara will be taking her place.
Incidentally or, if it's pronounced more carefully, incidentally means that you want to add some additional information about the topic that you were just discussing.
Usually that's what it means.
Laura says that Dee is quitting and Kara will be taking her place.
Perhaps Dee and Kara both work in the Duluth office.
So this is an additional piece of information related to the topic they were just discussing.
Then she says, this is off the record, of course.
Off the record means unofficially.
It's a phrase that you use to tell people that the information you are giving them is secret.
It's usually used by government officials or other people who are being interviewed, for example, by a newspaper reporter.
And they don't want something on the record, meaning they don't want something to be recorded, something to be written down.
That's what the record is here.
It's an account of something.
It's a story or details about something.
So off the record would mean I don't want you to write this down or I don't want you to tell anyone else.
I'm telling you.
Laura says, Okay, now back to this month's report.
Gaius however, says Speaking of is a phrase used to show that you want to add more information to.
Thank you very much.
So, for example, if I'm talking about going to New York City on a vacation and my friend has a relative, someone who is part of his family, that lives in New York, after I tell him my story he may say to me, speaking of New York, I have an uncle who lives there, you know.
So he's connecting his topic to my topic.
Gaius says, speaking of personnel changes, personnel refers to the people who work for a company.
Did you know that Lee is being promoted to VP next month?
To be promoted means to get a better job, a job with more responsibility, a job that is higher up in the company.
Laura then says, She, meaning Lee, has been in line for that job for years.
To be in line for means that you are the next person who will get something.
You will be the next person to receive something.
Or you are ready for something to happen.
Many people think California is in line for another major earthquake.
We're in line for, we're waiting for it to happen.
It will happen.
We're next, in other words.
Laura says, okay, we need to get to this month's report.
But Gaius doesn't want to talk about this month's report.
He says, something just occurred to me, meaning I just thought of something.
If Lee is being promoted, what will happen to the base ship project, the name of a project they're working on in their company?
Laura says, I think it's being put on the back burner for now.
To put something on the back burner means to delay something or to stop focusing on something temporarily because it isn't that important.
It isn't that urgent.
Laura is saying that that project will probably be delayed.
Then she says, all right, could someone hand me a copy of this month's report?
Remember she asked for someone to give her a copy of the report at the beginning of the conversation.
Gaius says, I don't mean to change the subject, but...
To change the subject means to change topics, to stop discussing one thing and begin discussing something else.
Laura interrupts him and says I think that's precisely what you're doing, meaning you're trying to change the subject so that we don't talk about this month's report.
Precisely here means exactly.
That's exactly what you're doing.
What's the matter with this month's report, she finally asks.
What's the matter with means what's wrong with.
It's something people use when something isn't working correctly or isn't behaving normally.
You could say it about a person.
What's wrong with your brother?
He seems angry.
Why?
Why?
Or it could be something you use to talk about a machine.
What's wrong with my computer?
It stopped working.
Oh, I poured water on it.
Well, okay, that's why it stopped working.
Gaius says, it's not quite finished, meaning this month's report isn't finished.
He didn't complete it.
It will be on your desk this afternoon, meaning I will give it to you this afternoon.
Laura then says, is that what this tap dance has been all about?
Tap dance normally is a kind of dance where someone has special pieces of metal on their shoes, on the bottom of their shoes, that make noise.
But the expression here means...
That someone is trying to avoid talking about or avoid doing something by talking about something else.
I tap danced around the subject.
I didn't want to talk about it so I talked about other things.
It's a negative expression in the sense that the person isn't being direct.
They aren't going right to the truth.
They're trying to distract you by talking about other things, perhaps.
Laura says, next time, just give it to me straight.
This is the opposite of giving someone a tap dance.
To give it to someone straight means to tell the full truth very directly right away.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I think that's all we need to talk about regarding last month's report.
Let's turn to this month's report shall we?
I didn't get a copy of it.
Could someone hand me one?
By the way I have just one last comment before we shift our focus to this month's report.
It seems to me that we need more information on how the Duluth office is doing.
Could we ask for more info to be included in next month's report?
I'm sure we can.
Incidentally, Dee is quitting and Kara will be taking her place.
This is off the record, of course.
Okay, now back to this month's report.
Speaking of personnel changes, did you know that Lee is being promoted to VP next month?
I hadn't heard that, but I'm not surprised.
She's been in line for that job for years.
Okay, we need to get back to this month's report.
Something just occurred to me.
If Lee is being promoted, what will happen to the base ship project?
I think it's being put on the back burner for now.
All right.
Could someone hand me a copy of this month's report?
I don't mean to change the subject, but... I think that's precisely what you're trying to do.
What's the matter with this month's report?
It's not quite finished.
It'll be on your desk this afternoon.
Is that what this tap dance has been about?
All right, we'll talk about it at tomorrow's meeting.
Next time, just give it to me straight, okay?
There's nothing the matter with this episode's script because it was written by Dr. Lucy Say.
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From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
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English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2009 by the Center for Educational Development.
