Learn Gerunds and Infinitives

Intro

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

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• fake it 'til you make it
• gain
• overcome
• get to know

• misleading
• shy
• outgoing
• come out of one's shell

• genuine
• pros and cons

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

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Shyness can be misleading. A shy person might seem unfriendly. In class, teachers sometimes think that the shy students have nothing to say. But even though outgoing people spend more time in the spotlight than shy people, that doesn’t mean shy people aren’t just as interesting and fun. It might just take some time before a shy person can feel comfortable and come out of her shell.

Jason is not shy at all. Amy used to be shy, but she has learned to be more outgoing. Hear them discuss the pros and cons of being shy.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Amy

Jason

Amy:  Are you shy at all, Jason?

Jason:  No.

Amy:  So you’ll just go up to anyone and start a conversation.

Jason:  Pretty much. I know I’m not shy, because I’ve been trying to give people advice about things at times, and I’ll say, “Why don’t you just call that person up and say this?” And they’ll go, “Oh my gosh, I could never do that.”

Amy:  Right.

Jason:  Are you shy?

Amy:  I don’t think I’m shy anymore, most of the time, but when I was a kid, I was really shy. And I kind of had to force myself to get over my shyness.

Jason:  Wow. How did you do that?

Amy:  I think just by doing the kinds of things that you’re talking about, like just forcing myself to do something that would maybe make me uncomfortable, and then just seeing, like, it’s not that bad. Like, you get through it, and it’s fine, and you can kind of fake it ‘til you make it, you know?

Jason:  Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, shyness for the most part is just fear, I guess, and it’s not really fear of anything worth being afraid of, so if you can just force yourself to do it anyway…

Amy:  I think so, and I think when you see what you can kind of gain sometimes by not being shy, then that can kind of help you overcome it if you want to. But there are advantages to being shy too, and to holding back a little bit and waiting until you kind of get to know somebody better before really coming all the way out of your shell.

Jason:  That’s true, especially in our age of social networking and everyone sort of being a performer and a brand. Someone who’s shy can come off as more genuine.

Amy:  Yeah.

 

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Lesson MP3

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