American Business English
American Business English :
What Are You Good At?
SANDRA : So … what should we do?
JULIE : Well, I like to do arts and crafts, and I’m really good at drawing. What do you think?
SANDRA : Hmm … how about playing a board game? That would be more fun.
JULIE : OK. Let’s play Scrabble! I’m really good at spelling, too!
SANDRA : Oh, yeah? We’ll see about that!
LANGUAGE NOTES :
So … Notice how the “o” sound is drawn out here, combined with the intonation, which shows boredom.
I’m really good at “Really” means “very” and is used to emphasize “good.” It goes before the adjective.
What do you Notice the pronunciation here — it sounds like “Whaddaya.”
Hmm … is used to show that the speaker is thinking. It is also used to show that the speaker disagrees with an idea.
How about is used to make a tentative suggestion. The speaker is introducing an idea and doesn’t want to sound too strong.
Let’s is used to make a strong suggestion. The speaker feels confident about the plan.
Oh, yeah? We’ll see about that! “Oh, yeah?” is used in a joking way to show a bit of friendly competition. Notice the emphasis on “that,” which refers back to “good at spelling.”
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