Hello.
Weiping?
Nice to meet you.
My name's Sean.
How you going?
This is Grant.
This story is about learning how to water ski.
First, listen for the phrasal verb using 'hold'.
The first thing is you're going to be holding onto this, and then, once the boat starts
to go you'll just rock forward and then we'll slowly stand up from there.
And then you'll be water skiing.
Okay.
There you go, there you go.
I've got you.
You're going to be 'holding onto' this.
To hold on to something is to hold it firmly.
If you don't hold on, then you can't ski.
What does Weiping think about holding on?
Fantastic.
I just hope I can hold onto the rope.
You'll be right.
She hopes she can hold on - she thinks she might not be able to.
What does the instructor say about this?
I just hope I can hold onto the rope.
You'll be right.
You'll be right - this is a common Australian expression used to reassure people that things
will not go wrong.
He could also have said:
you'll be allright or
you'll be ok or even
she'll be right
Now, what's the opposite of hold on?
So, if you don't want to ride any more you just let go.
Okay.
I will do that.
No.
Often.
You've got to hold on for a little while though.
You've got to do it for a little while.
Let go - to release your grip is to let go.
Now listen to what Weiping has to say about the water:
In you get.
It's cold.
She says the water is cold - but it's more than just cold:
It's so cold.
You'll be right.
My God.
Just think of the fun you're going to have when you're water skiing.
I can't stand it.
It's too cold.
She says it's so cold and it's too cold.
So and too are words you can use to emphasise.
Does Weiping manage to water ski?
There we go, there we go, there we go, that's good, good.
Let go, let go, let go.
Yeah, really good!
Almost there.
My feet don't listen to me.
I hardly could manage like control my feet.
And my stomach muscles not strong enough to pull me up.
Almost - she almost managed to stand up.
Now listen to Weiping using was and were:
Did you have fun?
Yes, I very appreciate that you guys are, were so patient with me.
That's all right.
As we said, we do it all the time, so that's normal.
I think I was pretty bad.
No.
She said you guys were so patient and I was pretty bad.
As a general rule you use were with plural subjects such as guys
and was with singular subjects like I.
But you always use were with you, even if the you is one person.
Listen:
Did you have fun?
Yes.
I very appreciate that you guys were so patient with me.
That's all right.
As we said, we do it all the time, so that's normal.
I think I was pretty bad.
No, you were fine.
So guys were patient
I was pretty bad, and
you were fine.
We'll finish with Weiping explaining why she found it hard and using another word to emphasise
how cold the water was - certainly:
Because I didn't grow up with water, I mean like beach,
so it was very hard for me to manage, although I like water, like swimming pools and stuff
but I didn't grow up with waves so, you know, it was so difficult.