This video is full of mistakes. One person has problems with grammar, others with pronunciation, spelling, proverbs... So it's difficult to find one single sentence which is correct. After listening to the video get this script and try to correct the mistakes. Choose the right task for you according to your level. Check your answers with the key at the end of this activity sheet.

Notes about advanced question tags: the correct question tag for "I am" is "aren't I" because "am not" has no contraction. For suggestions, the question tag is "shall we?" or simply "ok?". For commands, the question tag is "will you?"

EASY TASK= Underline the grammar mistakes you find. Correct the wrong question tags (are you?, isn't it?, etc)

MEDIUM TASK= Write the correct version of the script, correcting all the mistakes. Be careful with the spelling mistakes because they sometimes look correct English but they are wrong because it doesn't fit in the context. You can also correct the stress mistakes (they are marked with capital letters)

ADVANCED TASK= Produce a correct version of the conversation as in the medium task. Correct the spelling mistakes of the black guy and see if you understand the literal sense of many of his mistakes. See if you can identify the fragments of proverbs they use here and what would be the correct version and the meaning for each one of them (you can provide the equivalent proverb in your own language). Also, underline all the colloquial English phrases and mark the ones you can't understand to look it up at the explanations section.

SCRIPT

- Hey, aren't we all in the same English course?
- Oh yeah, how's it going?
- Uhm, not bad, except I sometimes have trouble with my grammar, isn't it? I mean, sometimes I perfect but other times I don't, won't they?
- See, I'm alright with my grammar, my problem is spilling. I can't spill to save my loaf
- Yeah?
- Yeah. I have to rely on my spill chock on my compluter.
- Why you don't look at it this way: you can lead a horse to water but you can't eat it too. You know what I'm saying?
- No, no. Not really.
- Oh, I think that she sometimes has trouble mixing metaphors, aren't she?
- Yeah. Sorry guys, I'm always crying over spilt chickens before they're hatched.
- It's alright for you all. I've got a very small vocabulary.
- What's that like?
- It's alright for you all. I've got a very small vocabulary.
- That's ok. I have problems with my "emphAHsis".
- Your "emphahsis"?
- Yes. My emphAHsis on different parts of the sentEnces. In my job that can cause a lot of awkwArdness.
- What do you do?
- I'm a speech therApist.
- A peach therapist that can't spike pripperly! I'm surprised your boss hasn't sucked you.
- It's alright for you all. I've got a very small vocabulary.
- Can I make a sUggestion? Why don't you purchAse a dictionAry? You'll save yourself a lot of embarrAssment.
- I'll tell you what, why doesn't we all try studying together, isn't it? How doesn't next week sound, didn't we?
- Grape idea!
- FabUlous!
- Yea, you give them an inch, it's worth two in the bush.
- It's alright for you all, I've got....
- Shut up, isn't it?

KEY

(corrections in blue, colloquial phrases underlined, proverbs numbered and corrected at the end)

- Hey, aren't we all in the same English course?
- Oh yeah, how's it going?
- Uhm, not bad, except (that) I sometimes have trouble with my grammar, don't I? I mean, sometimes I am perfect but other times I'm not, aren't I?
- See, I'm alright with my grammar, my problem is spelling. I can't spell to save my loaf
- Yeah?
- Yeah. I have to rely on my spell-check on my computer.
- Why, you know, look at it this way: you can lead a horse to water (1) but you can't eat it too (2). You know what I'm saying?
- No, no. Not really.
- Oh, I think that she sometimes has trouble mixing metaphors, doesn't she? [or: hasn't she?]
- Yeah. Sorry guys, I'm always crying over spilt chickens (3) before they're hatched (4).
- It's alright for you all. I've got a very small vocabulary.
- What's that like?
- It's alright for you all. I've got a very small vocabulary.
- That's ok. I have problems with my "EMphahsis".
- Your "emphahsis"?
- Yes. My EMphasis on different parts of the SEntences. In my job that can cause a lot of AWkwardness.
- What do you do?
- I'm a speech THErapist.
- A speech therapist that can't speak properly! I'm surprised your boss hasn't sacked you.
- It's alright for you all. I've got a very small vocabulary.
- Can I make a suggestion? Why don't you PURchase a DIctionary? You'll save yourself a lot of emBArrassment.
- I'll tell you what, why don't we all try studying together, shall we? How does next week sound? [no question tag here]
- Great idea!
- FAbulous!
- Yea, you give them an inch (5), it's worth two in the bush (6).
- It's alright for you all, I've got....
- Shut up, will you?

PROVERBS:

1- You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.
2- You can't have your cake and eat it.
3- Don't cry over spilt milk.
4- Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.
5- Give them an inch and they'll take you a mile.
6- A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

EXPLANATIONS

TROUBLE= Problems.
I MEAN,= A phrase we use in conversations when we want to add an explanation of what we just said.
I'M ALRIGHT WITH...= I don't have any problems with...
LOAF= A loaf of bread (a metaphor for money)
TO SAVE MY LOAF= (expression) To make money.
RELY ON= Trust.

WHY= This is not an interrogative word, it means the same as "Well...", so it means nothing, just a conversation filler.

,YOU KNOW,= Another conversation filler, it doesn't really mean anything, but it gives you an extra second to think of what to say next. In this case she needed two extra seconds because she uses two conversation fillers together ;)
YOU CAN LEAD A HORSE TO WATER...= The proverb says "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink". It means "you can advise or push people to do something, but they'll only do it if they want to (you can't force them)"
YOU CAN'T EAT IT TOO= The proverb says "You can't have your cake and eat it too" (talking about things that will disappear if you use them), which means "you can't use something up and keep it" (if you use it, it's gone; if you don't use it, you can't enjoy it). For example, if you have money you can either keep it or spend it to buy things, but if you spend it on things then you can't complain about not having that money anymore.
YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING?= A very common conversational phrase to check understanding = Do you understand me?
METAPHORS= Here it means "proverbs", but a metaphor, in general, is anything which stands for something else. For example, a red heart is a metaphor for "love" and a white dove is a metaphor for "peace".
I'M ALWAYS CRYING OVER SPILT...= The proverb is "Don't cry over spilt milk", which means "if something went wrong and you can't do anything about it, just forget about it because worrying now is useless".
...CHICKENS BEFORE THEY'RE HATCHED= The proverb is "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched". HATCH is to break out of the egg (when chicks are born), so if you have an egg and the bird inside hatches, it breaks the crust of the egg and comes out. This proverb comes from an old European story (of Indian origin: Panchatantra) where a milkmaid was taking her pail of milk to the market and on her way she thought she would sell the milk and with that money she would buy some eggs and when the eggs hatched she would feed the chicks and then sell them to buy a pig... and she was planning to buy more and more things until she would finally be rich, but she was so raptured in her daydreaming that she didn't see a stone on the path, tripped and her pail of milk fell and all the milk was spilt. She felt so miserable and started to cry because she now had lost all her riches and was poor again (so here we also have the origin of our previous proverb: "don't cry over the spilt milk).
(you can read the story of the milkmaid below)

WHAT'S THAT LIKE?= Is it difficult to live with that? Is that a big problem?
EMPHASIS= When you put emphasis on something you bring it out to notice because you want people to know it's important. If we are talking about pronunciation, to put emphasis on a syllable means to stress it, to pronounce it louder than the others (every word with more than one syllable is stressed, but if you stress the wrong syllable it's difficult to understand, and sometimes impossible).
AWKWARDNESS= Embarrassment. If a situation is awkward you feel very uncomfortable.
A SPEECH THERAPIST= A doctor who tries to help people (children and adults) when they have problems to speak properly.
SUCKED YOU= (coll.) He has problems with spelling so here he means "sacked you", which means "fired you". If your boss sacks you or fires you or kicks you out, you lose your job. But the verb "suck" means to use your tongue and/or lips to lick something (for example a lolly-pop or an ice-cream).
PURCHASE= (formal) buy.
I'LL TELL YOU WHAT,= A phrase we often use in conversation when we want to get people's attention towards what we're going to say next.
HOW DOES NEXT WEEK SOUND?= Do you think (studying together) next week would be a good idea?
YOU GIVE THEM AN INCH= The proverb says "Give them an inch and they'll take you a mile". It means, "sometimes if you are generous with somebody, they take even more from you (so they take advantage of you)".
1 inch = 2.5 centimetres
1 mile = 1.6 kms
IT'S WORTH TWO IN THE BUSH= The proverb says "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" = it's better to have one bird in your hand than to have two birds in the bush. If you have caught one bird and you let it go because you see more birds over there and you want to catch them, maybe you won't be able to catch them and you'll lose the one you have, so it's better to keep what you have and not risk it in the hope of getting more, because you can go empty-handed and lose everything. So this proverb says: be contented with what you have and don't risk it.
SHUT UP= A colloquial and/or rude way of saying "be quite" (it depends a lot on the intonation you use).

THE MILKMAID AND HER PAIL

A Milkmaid had been out to milk the cows and was returning from the field with the shining milk pail balanced nicely on her head. As she walked along, her pretty head was busy with plans for the days to come.

"This good, rich milk," she mused, "will give me plenty of cream to churn. The butter I make I will take to market, and with the money I get for it I will buy a lot of eggs for hatching. How nice it will be when they are all hatched and the yard is full of fine young chicks. Then when May day comes I will sell them, and with the money I'll buy a lovely new dress to wear to the fair. All the young men will look at me. They will come and try to make love to me,-but I shall very quickly send them about their business!"

As she thought of how she would settle that matter, she tossed her head scornfully, and down fell the pail of milk to the ground. And all the milk flowed out, and with it vanished butter and eggs and chicks and new dress and all the milkmaid's pride.

Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.