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Get a Life

Learn the present progressive

Date: Apr 19 2011

Themes: Soap Opera, Work

Grammar: Present Progressive Tense

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Intro

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

Go Super to Listen

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

Go Super to Listen

What makes you who you are? Is it your job? That’s part of it. But other important parts of your identity are your family, your friends and your hobbies. If you spend too much time on one of those things and ignore the others, you’re likely to get depressed. You’ll start to feel like you have no life.

If someone says “you have no life,” it means they think your life isn’t very interesting or varied. It’s a mean thing to say to someone, but after working long into the night at the office, Marni may need someone to tell her to get a life.

3. Watch - Watch the video without reading the dialog.

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

Marni

Mason: Long day. Phew. Marni, what are you doing here so late?

Marni: Oh, you know, I’m just trying to get caught up on some reports and things like that.

Mason: Yeah? That sounds boring.

Marni: Well, you know, it’s gotta get done and I take my career very seriously.

Mason: You have hobbies, right?

Marni: Oh, sure. I have a lot of hobbies.

Mason: Like what?

Marni: Oh, I’m on an ice dancing team. Those are my skates there.

Mason: Oh, with the plant in it?

Marni: Yeah. Uh-huh.

Mason: So, when was the last time you did the ice dancing thing?

Marni: Maybe 2009?

Mason: Uh-huh.

Marni: Um, I’m in a book club! And we’re meeting tomorrow, actually.

Mason: For that book?

Marni: Yeah!

Mason: ...that looks totally brand new and unopened.

Marni: Well…Alright, busted. It is.

Mason: I know you’re my boss and everything, so I hope you don’t take this the wrong way.

Marni: OK.

Mason: But it sounds like you need to get a life. There is more to life than your job, right? I mean last weekend alone, I went BASE jumping, I took a little trip down to Africa to build a house for some under-privileged children…

Marni: What?

Mason: ...did a little homebrewing in my garage. Clogging with my troop.

Marni: Clogging? Maybe you’re right. I might need to get out a little more.

Mason: I tell you what. Step number one to Marni getting a life: beers. Right now. Let’s go.

Marni: I don’t know. I gotta get this report done.

Mason: This is what life is, Marni. It’s calling you. Embrace it.

Marni: OK. If you’re sure. Let me just finish up one more thing. Give me five minutes.

Mason: No. No.

Marni: No?

Mason: No. Come with me.

Marni: OK.

Mason: It’ll be OK.

Marni: OK. OK, but I should…OK.

Grammar Point

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Discussion

Go Super to Listen

Mason, the office janitor, is cleaning late at night and discovers that Marni is still at the office working. He asks her what she likes to do outside of work.

Marni says that she does ice dancing. But Mason notices that her skates are being used to hold a plant. She says she’s part of a book club, but Mason discovers that she hasn’t read the book for her meeting tomorrow. He thinks that Marni has no life. He tells her all the interesting things he does and suggests that she get a life.

Since she needs to do something fun in order to get a life, Mason wants to take Marni out to get a beer right then. She tries to stay and keep working, but he makes her leave.

Do you know anyone who needs to get a life?

Comments

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swimfun

Morocco

According to Isllam, we should take advantage of our youngness before we got old, our health before sickness, our life before our death,

julito

Argentina

My guess is that Marni`s romantic life "sucks". Although he is young , intelligent, pretty , her lives revolves around the office , working night shifts. Get a life Marni.

anahid goddess

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

Many people needs to get a life But people needs money more than it . becuse if there are money so evrybody know that how they get a life ? Althuogh sometimes there are people that they have money but they dont know how get to life . Im sorry for them . Now e baby is one things for our that we get to life for education, trip ,find friend &.........

You shuld get to life .Have a good time .

Lalela

Italy

kokoboko you said: "have a dream, get a life"!

This is really a beautiful sentence and I agree with you in the sense that dreams are important to encourage everyone in doing something with our own life, but I think this is not enough to "get a life".

Aspirations are not the only thing we need to live fully a life, different experiences can enrich ourselves and make fruitful the time we have.

Anyway I found your post really interesting.

SÉRGIO

Brazil

Nice expression!

vivasouhila

Algeria

i need the link of the video plz :)

Patricialli

Mexico

I have no job right now ,no school ,no hobbies just all day at home taking care of my kids soooo i m definately need to get a life :/

javier armando

Peru

I guess this could be my case cos I mostly spend my days at home and attempting to collegue during week .I need to do out of routine things to make my life more interesting.

murad ali

Yemen

me too

jean___michel

Brazil

Sure!!! Me!

Lalela

Italy

I know lots of people who work so much that they have no time for anything else…and I have to say that sometimes it has happened to me too…but fortunately not for a long period.

Having a life is important, one must be able to organize his/her own life in order to go out with friends, go out for a walk and do whatever s/he wants to do, otherwise one risks to go crazy and waste one's life.

misael181

Mexico

I thing this can happen us,!

Enanre

Brazil

If one is used to drink beer, it is ok. But, to start drinking beer in order to have life, it ia wrong. We mut train our bodies for physical exercises. This is good to health and makes us to love life. It is necessary to know what to eat and drink in order also to have a happy life.

trailo_hathanh

Viet Nam

Me, sometime I busted how boring my life is and I need to get a new life. Everyday do the same thing, work the same job nothing new. It is really boring.

Kotisha

Russian Federation

People who are too addicted to the Internet need to get a life!!! Usually they don`t have enough time to meet their friends, to spend time with their families, to go in for sports and so on…Actually they have no life…