Is it interaction or information?

Slow down. Slow your breathing, and make it deep. You can take a break here. Relax your shoulders, and your jaw. I’m going to tell you stories, and it will be easy, I promise.

Hello everyone. I am happy you are here. This is English Airs, the podcast that gives you effortless accuracy, and you are listening to the tenth episode of season 2. This episode is a bit higher in level, so if you have been following my podcast, you should know that you have made progress! I’m Parya. I have been teaching English for decades and I am talking to you from Tokyo at the moment.

Today, I want to tell you a story: the story of my first night in Japan. My flight was supposed to land at 11:30 at night, and I couldn’t get the key to my place until the next morning. I didn’t care for spending the night at the airport, so I was thinking about what to do the whole flight, which was 13 hours by the way. As we were getting off, the Japanese girl sitting next to me started talking to me. she said her name was Sachiko, and asked me about my plans. I told her what was on my mind: I didn’t know where to spend the night. And you know what? She was so warm and helpful. She told me about a promotion that the airline had, came with me to change some money, and then took me to the shuttle bus that took us to an “Onsen”. She even bought me Jasmine tea while we were there. For my non-Japanese listeners: An “Onsen” means a hot spring. Hotels and places like hotels that have hot springs are also called onsen, and they are amazing! Anyway, we could stay there one night for free and breakfast was included! So, thank you Sachiko! My first night in Japan was a great experience.

Now that I have told you my story, we can get back to the episode: using say or tell. In my story, did you notice that Sachiko and I talked a few times? Let’s review:
“She said her name was Sachiko.”
“I told her what was on my mind.”
and
“She told me about a promotion that the airline had.”
What is the difference? Think about the first example again. She said her name. What is important here: the information she gave me, or the interaction we had? Did you say information? You are right! Now think about the other two examples. I told her something, and she told me something. Here, our interaction is more important, right? If you remember that, it becomes very easy to choose the right one. For instance, whenever you mention two people in the same sentence, it’s best to use which one? Correct! Tell! Like today, I told you about my first night in Japan. I told you a story. So far, I have told you a lot of things! And now, I want you to tell me a few things. Think about yesterday. You talked to some people, right? What did you tell them? I told my friend happy birthday! I’ll give you some time to think, and then give me your answers out loud. Go ahead!

Great job! Oh hey, today is Valentine’s day, so we are going to tell some people we love them, right? You know, in Japan, women give chocolate to people they love. And not only to their partners! To their friends and colleagues, too! What do men do? They give a gift back one month later, and that day is called “White day”. What do you think? Some people say it’s just marketing to sell more chocolate, and some people say it’s a beautiful custom. You noticed, didn’t you? It’s “Some people say” because the information here is more important than who they were talking to, isn’t it? That’s why you also use it when you talk about the media. You know, like “The newspapers say this election is important”, or “The weather forecast says it’s going to snow tomorrow”. Are the newspapers having a conversation with us? Can you talk back and respond to the weather forecast? No, you can’t. So, definitely use say in these situations. Now, tell me a few things that people have said recently. Right now, we are not focusing on who they were talking to. I just want to know what they said. So, think! What did your friend say? Your boss? Your university professor? A colleague? I’m listening!

Well done! That was very good. Before we end this episode I want to ask you a few questions: Do you always tell the truth? Have you ever told a big lie? Can you tell jokes? Are you good at telling stories? Fantastic, thank you! But, why did I ask you these questions? Yes, you guessed right. These are pairs: tell the truth, tell a lie (or, tell lies), tell a story, tell a joke (because a joke is kind of a mini-story, isn’t it?), and finally, tell the time.

Does “say” pair with special words? It does! You say hello, say goodbye, say thank you, and say sorry! If you think about it, it makes sense, right? Hello, goodbye, thank you, and sorry are the important parts, aren’t they? Did you say any of them today? Me? I want to say thank you for introducing the podcast and the YouTube channel to others! Don’t forget to give new answers to the questions when you listen to the same episode again. You can tell me anything. And with that, I want to say goodbye!

Parya out!