Podcast: How prepared were you?

By Ana | Podcast Inglês Online

Oct 04
Inglês - Podcast How prepared were you

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Hi, everybody! How’s it going?

Hoje eu vou falar sobre uma construção muito comum no inglês. Primeiro eu vou dar exemplos de como essa construção é usada para dizer, aproximadamente, as frases abaixo na língua inglesa:

Você se preparou? / Quanto você se preparou?

E daí, mais exemplos de como dizer coisas assim: Não dá pra acreditar como isso aqui é caro!

Transcrição

Hi, everybody! What’s up? It’s been a week since my last podcast – I’ve been traveling and I just got back so today we have a new episode of the inglesonline podcast. To download or just listen to other episodes and download transcripts, go to inglesonline.com.br and click Podcast Inglesonline. Today we’re gonna talk about a very common way to say, in English, things we say in Portuguese like these: “Você tá bem preparado ou mal preparado?” or “É incrível como ele é inteligente!” Just keep listening and you’ll get a better idea of what I mean.

Let’s start with this little story: suppose Johnny is a high-school student and he has a Geography test tomorrow, OK? So John has been studying for a few days but he still feels insecure about the test, unfortunately. He asks his father “Dad, do you think I’ll do well on the test? What do you think, dad?” And his father says “Well, it depends. It depends on how prepared you are for the test, and it also depends on how difficult the test will be”.

Again, Johnny’s dad says “It depends on how prepared you are for the test, and it also depends on how difficult the test will be”. So let’s break it down: “it depends on how prepared you are”. What does that mean? In Portuguese we would say something like “Depende se você está bem preparado ou não” or “Depende do quanto você está preparado”. Johnny’s father might ask him “Did you study a lot? Or did you just read your book superficially? How prepared are you?”

And Johnny might answer “I’ve studied a lot in the past few days. You can ask me anything about Geography and I’ll give you the correct answer. I’m very well prepared”. So, in this case, how prepared is Johnny? Very! He’s very well prepared, actually.

So here’s something else you could ask Johnny: on a scale of 1 to 10, how prepared are you? Johnny thinks he is very well prepared, right? He said he studied a lot in the past few days, and he knows the answer to any question you might ask him. So the answer is “10”. On a scale of 1 to 10, how prepared is Johnny? He’s a 10. He is very, very well prepared.

So Johnny’s dad also said “It depends on how difficult the test will be”. It depends on how difficult the test will be. How difficult will the test be? We don’t know. Only the teacher who created the test knows. It may be a very difficult test, or it may not be difficult at all… it may be very easy, who knows? At this point, only the teacher knows how difficult the test will be.

So this is what people mean when they ask you “How difficult was the test?” They wanna know if the test was very difficult, or if it was just a little difficult, or maybe not difficult at all. When someone asks you “So, how good was the movie? Did it measure up to the hype?”, this person is asking you if the movie was very good, or just good, or maybe not good at all. How good was the movie? So think about the last time you took an exam. How prepared were you? Very prepared, or not prepared at all? How difficult was the exam? Very difficult, or not at all? Think about the last meal you ate. How good was the food? Think about the last movie you watched. How good was it? Very very good, or not good at all?

And here’s something English speakers say a lot when they have a strong opinion about something: “Can you believe how awful that hotel was?” So, how bad was the hotel? Very, very bad, right? It was awful in this person’s opinion. This person is asking you “Can you believe how awful that hotel was?” Someone else might say “I can’t believe how beautiful this place is”. So, in this person’s opinion, this place is very beautiful. It is so beautiful that he or she can’t believe it. They can’t believe how beautiful this place is. Here’s another one: ” I can’t believe how expensive that sandwich was!” So that  sandwich was not cheap. It was very expensive… it was so expensive that your friend can’t believe how expensive it was.

So tell us: how fluent are you in Portuguese? Very fluent, or not at all? How prepared were you last time you took an exam? Talk to you next time!

 

Key expressions

  • How prepared are you?
  • I can’t believe how awful this is

Glossary

let’s break it down = vamos por partes

measure up to the hype = foi tudo isso que estavam dizendo

Ana
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Luis 25/10/2011

I’m very fluent in Portuguese, because I’m a native, I’m from Brazil!

Viviane 10/10/2011

I loved your blog! First time here and I feel that is not be the first. Thanks!

Welligion Meireles 07/10/2011

Hi Ana,
I very fluent In Portuguese because i am a native speaker. However i am not In English. Then, i like listem your podcasts because this: i learn so much!

cristiano 07/10/2011

Hi Ana very good pod cast I enjoied one more time it is improving my english
thks a lot

Ailson 06/10/2011

Very good the post. I think that with u posts we will get the best of english: the people speaking. Kisses 2 you Ana and good luck 4 the english language students!

Now says: my written english is good? is getting better?

Antonio Ricardo 05/10/2011

If am i fluent in portuguese? I guess so. hahaha Im a native portuguese speaker. I just need to catch up with the new spelling agreement which is driving me crazzzy hahaha But i think im not the only one.

Ana Luiza 05/10/2011

Rafael and Roberto – like we need to know grammar rules to be fluent! Grammar can be a supporting tool, but that’s it…

João Geraldo – vá na barra lateral e clique em “Como Ter Progresso na Fluência”

Adir, Diogo, Nivaldo, Marilene – thanks for your comments!! And stick around (fiquem por aqui) for more podcasts.

Marilene Potenza 05/10/2011

HI Ana,

Thanks a lot for this Podcast, it has helped me a lot.
I´m very happy becase I can understand you very well; you are vey competent, congratulations.

Nivaldo Leôncio 05/10/2011

Hi, Ana Luiza

I’m very,very fluent in portuguese. I’m not so fluent in english but I think I’m getting better and better.

Roberto Peixoto Joele 05/10/2011

hey Ana, how is it going?
Good podcast, I loved it! So, I’m sure I’m fluent and Portuguese, with a mix of accents from Sao Paulo, Belém and some from Portugal! hehe.. but it doesn’t matter. Like Rafael, I’m not the best guy in grammar, but I know how to speak properly.
Thanks for one more podcast and I’m looking forward to the next one!
Bye and all the best!

Diogo 04/10/2011

My last exam that I done it was at 2009 and I was the first in it, for this I won a post graduate in my ex college. I’m not sure if I was very prepared, but I alwasy stutied very much when I was studying and the result it was great, very rewarding. Thanks for more this podcast.

joão geraldo 04/10/2011

Oi, Ana, bom dia, gostaria de perguntar, porque que a gente ouvindo o idioma inglês, conseguimos entender somente algumas coisas ? e se p/ aprender inglês fluentemente, primeiro precisamos aprender a gramática do idioma ? verbos, etc….

aguardo resposta.

Rafael 04/10/2011

Hi, Ana! Thanks a lot for the podcast.

I am fluent in Portuguese, but I don’t know ALL the grammar rules. So, on a “1 to 10” scale, I think I’m a 9.

Last time I took an exam I was very well prepared, otherwise my advisor would’ve killed me!

Adir Ferreira 04/10/2011

Great podcast, Ana!

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