About the audio
All the audio on this page comes from the American English voice of your device (text-to-speech). There are no audio files, so every word, line and sentence can play, even the sentences you write.
- Listen as many times as you want. Play one line, the full dialogue, or one word from the vocabulary.
- Hear your own answers. In Personalize, the page reads your sentences, so you hear your own introduction before you use it in real life.
- Build long sentences. In My Script, Listen slowly and the backchaining steps help with long lines and numbers.
- Answer by voice. In Trainer Pro, someone asks you a question out loud. Tap Click & Say and say your answer. The page understands names, numbers and spelling in different forms.
- One voice for each character. Women have female voices and men have male voices, and every character in a dialogue sounds different. If your device has fewer voices than characters, two characters share a voice with a different pitch.
- See what is playing. The button that is playing turns coral with moving bars, and the line is highlighted. Tap it again to stop.
- Change the speed. Use Slow (at the top of the page) to follow the marks, and Normal for shadowing. The dialogues also show ‿ linking: where the end of one word connects to the next (check~it out, next~time, did~you).
- Same spelling, different sound. Some words change pronunciation with their meaning, like live /lɪv/ (I live near the park) and live /laɪv/ (live music). The audio always plays the pronunciation used in the lesson. Phone numbers are read digit by digit, and 0 is said oh.
- Check your pronunciation. Say it uses your microphone to compare your sentence with the script.
Works best in Chrome, Edge or Safari. The voice can be different on each device. No sound? Check the volume and the silent mode of your phone. For Say it, allow the microphone.
Key Vocabulary
Start here. Learn and practice the key words and expressions of this topic before the dialogues.
Tip: on your phone, turn it sideways for Space Quiz.
Vocabulary warm-up
Play before the dialogues. Every game uses all the vocabulary and expressions of this topic and picks new words each time.
Drag across the letters to select a word.
My Script: Introducing Yourself
Your key lines to meet people and talk about yourself. Build each sentence from the end, one piece at a time, then say the full line.
Let's talk
Answer with your teacher. Use the vocabulary and grammar from this topic.
False friends
These words appear in this unit. They look like Spanish words, but they mean something different.
| English | Looks like… | Actually means… |
|---|---|---|
| actually | actualmente | de hecho, en realidad (currently = actualmente) |
| carpet | carpeta | alfombra (folder = carpeta) |
| library | librería | biblioteca (bookstore = librería) |
| embarrassed | embarazada | avergonzado (pregnant = embarazada) |
Cultural note
When Americans meet someone new, they usually say Nice to meet you and answer Nice to meet you too. If you forget a name, What's your name again? is polite and very common.
Questions about age and marital status are personal. In real life, add if you don't mind me asking, and be ready for a joke or a short answer.
Read and pronounce
Listen to the model, tap Say it and say each sentence out loud. Bold words are the strong ones, gray words are soft and quick, and the underlined word carries the main stress. The app checks your pronunciation and marks any word it did not hear clearly.
Nice to meet you too.
I'm from Puebla, Mexico. And you?
I'm a teacher. What about you?
How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?
Is there a pencil on the table?
Hi! I'm Sofía.
Oh, nice! Is this your first party here?
Yeah, a really long day. And you?