Quick Fix 2 — 5 Radio Program 5302-5305

Quick Fix 2 — Radio Program 5302

Here's another common problem with English. This time it's the expression ‘of course’. The problem with this expression is that some people use it when it's not appropriate.

When I first started at KGRE I asked Kevin the following question:

Cheryl:	‘Have you ever been to Jakarta?’
Kevin:	‘Of course! I often go there for AusAID meetings.’

He said ‘of course’ because I should have known the answer to that question. In other words, the answer was obvious. He's the manager of KGRE so ‘of course’ he's been to Jakarta many times.

However, many people use ‘of course’ instead of ‘yes’. They use it too often, and their English doesn't sound natural. Here's a good example of how to use ‘of course’.

Sue:	‘Cheryl, do you know the capital city of Canada?’
Cheryl:	‘Mmm… It think it's Ottawa.’
Sue:	‘That's right. Do you know the capital city of France?’
Cheryl:	‘Yes, it's Paris.’
Sue:	‘That's right. Now, do you know the capital city of Australia?’
Cheryl:	‘Of course I do! I'm Australian. The capital city of Australia is Canberra.’

So, now you know when to say ‘of course’ — only when you think the answer is obvious. Try not to use it too often, and your English will sound more natural.

Quick Fix 3 — Radio Program 5303

Sometimes people use the word ‘Why?’ when it isn't necessary. Here's an example of incorrect English.

‘I didn't go to school today. Why? Because I was sick.’

That's incorrect. It's not necessary to use the question word ‘Why?’ when we give a reason for something. We should say,

‘I didn't go to school today because I was sick.’

Or:

‘I failed my English exam because I didn't study.’

Here are some more examples.

‘My niece wants to be a teacher because she likes children.’

‘He didn't buy the green shirt because it's too expensive.’

‘We didn't go to the beach yesterday because it was raining.’

Now look at this short conversation to see the word ‘Why?’ used correctly. Kevin and Sue are talking in the office.

Kevin:	‘Sue, could I borrow your motorbike please?’
Sue:	‘Yes, but why?’
Kevin:	‘Because I need to go to the bank, but mine has a flat tyre.’
Sue:	‘Okay. Here's the key.’

So, when we ask ‘Why?’ it's to get some information from another person. We don't ask ‘Why?’ and then answer our own question.

Quick Fix 4 — radio program 5304

In this Quick Fix series we're talking about common mistakes. So far we've talked about the word ‘ever’, the expression ‘of course’ and the word ‘why’. They're things that learners of English in Indonesia often have a problem with.

But first today I want to talk about the word ‘follow’. Sometimes people say ‘I'd like to follow a computer course during the holidays’, but this is incorrect.

In English when we talk about a course we can say:

‘I'd like to do a computer course during the holidays.’

‘I'm doing a French cooking course this year.’

‘I spent a month in Yogya doing an Indonesian language course.’

So, remember that we do a course, we don't follow it.

Another problem is the word ‘actually’. Some people use it too often, when it's not appropriate. We should use ‘actually’ when we want to correct some information that's wrong or provide more complete information.

Look at this conversation between Sue and Adi.

Adi:	‘Hi Sue. I heard you're going to Kalimantan for a holiday. You're lucky. I'd love to go there.’
Sue:	‘Actually, I'm going there to work. I'll be doing three teacher workshops in three days!’

Sue uses the word ‘actually’ to correct some information that's wrong.

Here's another example of how to use ‘actually’.

Sue:	‘Cheryl, how far is it from Jakarta to Darwin?’
Cheryl:	‘Mmm, about 2,500 kilometers I think.’
Kevin:	‘According to this Qantas magazine it's actually 2,723.’

Kevin uses the word ‘actually’ to provide more complete information.

Quick Fix 5 — radio program 5305

In this Quick Fix we're going to look at some words that people often use incorrectly. The first one is ‘program’. One day I was talking to a teacher about her holidays. Her answer is incorrect.

Cheryl:	‘What are you going to do during the holidays?’
Tjok:	‘I have a program with my friends. We're going to the beach.’

Listen again. This time her answer is correct.

Cheryl:	‘What are you going to do during the holidays?’
Tjok:	‘I'm planning to go to the beach with my friends.’

Here's another example of incorrect English.

Cheryl:	‘Would you like to come to my place tomorrow?’
Tjok:	‘Thanks. I'd like to but I already have a program.’

Listen again. This time the English is correct.

We don't use the word ‘program’ when we're talking about our plans. Let's look at better English again.

Cheryl:	‘What are you going to do during the holidays?’
Tjok:	‘I'm planning to go to the beach with my friends.’
Cheryl:	‘Would you like to come to my place tomorrow?’
Tjok:	‘Thanks. I'd like to but I already have plans.’

The second word is ‘refreshing’. In English we usually use that word to describe something that makes us feel fresh again when we're hot or tired. Iced tea is very refreshing. A cold shower is refreshing when we've been working in the garden on a hot day.

But when you talk about what you're doing you don't use that word. You use the word ‘relaxing’. Here's an example. This is a phone call.

Cheryl:	‘Hello.’
Sue:	‘Hi Cheryl, this is Sue.’
Cheryl:	‘Hi.’
Sue:	‘What are you doing today?’
Cheryl:	‘I've been really busy lately so I'm just relaxing today. I might go for a walk on the beach later.’

So now you know that sometimes you should use ‘plan’ instead of ‘program’ and ‘relaxing’ instead of ‘refreshing’.