Dictations

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SECTION 1

TOPICAL DICTATIONS

Topic One: Meeting People

Dictation 1

Things People Say

Being polite in your own language is natural to you, and you don't usually need to think about it. But how you are polite in one language can be very different from how you are polite in another, and you may need to think about this when you are in Britain.

The most important thing to remember is that people will expect you to be polite in the way that is normal to them. Words and phrases such as "please", "thank you" and "excuse me" are used very often in Britain.

Learning about intonation will also help you to sound authentic when you are talking to people in English. Intonation is the different ways you make your voice rise and fall as you speak. It can show as much about your attitude – happy, bored, angry etc. – as the words you use, so it needs to be suitable for what you are saying. A useful way to learn about intonation is to listen to people in various situations and try to copy them in similar ones.

You might find it interesting to look for differences between your language and English. And it could help you not to make mistakes. Sometimes you may expect that you should say something but find that this is not normally done; when someone thanks you, for example, it's often not necessary to make any reply. In other cases a translation of what you would rather say in your own language may not be the right thing in English... An occasion when you want to speak to a stranger may be an example. The English words "Mr" and "Miss" can't be used without the person's surname. "Sir" and "Madam", however, are only referred to a customer in places like shops and restaurants. So what they often do instead is get someone's attention by saying "Excuse me".

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The words "Hello" and "Goodbye" don't usually cause problems, but there are some variations here, too. In the evening and at night people don't use "Goodnight" to greet each other. It's a way of saying "Goodbye". You may also notice that British people don't shake hands or kiss when they meet as frequently as people do in many countries, though they regularly shake hands when they're introduced. Quite often you'll find that you already have enough English to sound perfect.

Just as it's easier to visit a foreign country if you know something about the language, it's also an advantage to be aware of things people do there. It will help, therefore, if you are ready to tell the customs in your country from those in Britain.

Dictation 2

How Long Have People Been Using Surnames?

"Hey, Shorty!" "Hi, Skinny." "Here comes Blondie." Does it sound familiar to you? It's a perfectly natural way to call people – give them a name that describes them. And that's exactly how names were given originally. A golden-haired girl might be called Blanch (French for "white"); a boy may be named David because it means "beloved".

A first name was all anybody had for thousands of years. Then, about the time the Normans conquered England in 1066, last names or surnames, were added to identify people better. The first name wasn't enough to tell one person from another. For example, there might be two Davids in town, and one of them was quite lazy. So people began to call this one "David do little". And this be­came David Doolittle.

The surnames were originally called "ekenames". The word ''eke" meant "also". And by the way the word "nickname" came from this old word. When people got into the habit of giving a person two names they thought of many ways of creating this second name.

For example, one way was to mention the father's name. If John had a father called William, he might be called John Williamson, or John Williams, or John Wilson (Will's son), or John Wills.

Another good way to identify people with second names was to mention the place where they lived or came from. A person who lived

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near the woods might be called Wood, or if he lived near the village green he might be called John Green.

And then, of course, the work that a person did was a good way to identify him. So we have surnames like Smith, Taylor, and Wright ("wright" means someone who does mechanical work) and many others.