What to do and say at a supper party

Hi, guys. Welcome back to engVid. My name is Benjamin. Hey. In this lesson, we are going

to be looking at the curious phenomenon of the English supper party or the British supper

party. I'm sure lots of people all over the world have supper parties. I'm going to be

looking at phrases sort of particular to the UK but that you could probably use elsewhere.

Supper party? What? Yeah, so having a meal at someone else's house. If you go and eat

in someone's home, what are some of the things you need to think about? What are some of

the things you need to say? Let's have a look. Let's find out. Just to recap, this is kind

of a cultural lesson but one where you will pick up phrases as well. So, a few things

to consider before you arrive. Take a suitable gift, bearing in mind who invited you. So,

if the person who invited you is a teetotal, doesn't drink, don't turn up with a bottle

of wine. Give them some flowers or chocolate instead. So, thinking about them. What would

they enjoy? Yep. And so, when you come in, "Hi, lovely to see you." Don't say, "Look,

I've got you a present." Yeah, it's just a kind of a subtle bottle of wine, blah, blah,

blah. So, you take your cue. So, you're not in charge of it, so they are the host. So,

if they say, "Oh, come in, come in. Let me take your coat." Then give them your coat,

your jacket. You could ask, "Would you like me to take my shoes off?" But if you see them

wearing shoes, then don't. So, we go on in, and there are some people standing, holding

drinks, eating nuts. And they might say, "Oh, come and meet such and such a person." "Hello.

How do you do?" Yeah. "How are you? Pleased to meet you. My name's da-da-da, or I'm da-da-da.

What did you say your name was?" What did you say your name was? What did you say your

name was? I've produced a lesson on how to remember people's names, so you might want

to refer to that after this lesson. Now, if the host has run off to the kitchen, and people

are standing there awkwardly, then be brave, yeah? Go up and introduce yourself. "Hey,

I'm da-da-da. How do you know - how do you know the person having the party? How do you

know da-da-da, person, name?" I don't know what they're called. And then you need to

keep the conversation going, yep? So, I've produced lessons on small talk as well. You

want to avoid difficult topics and focus on them. Try and understand who they are. But

you might be able to guess the type of person you're going to meet from the person that

invited you. What are they like? Their friends might be similar. So, we stand around, we

talk, we have a drink, we get offered canapes like starter, you know, nibbles, something

to eat, and then we are invited through to the dining room or wherever the table is.

Now, I've said this is a slow race. It's not - first one to sit down wins. It's kind of

the opposite. Like, you have to sort of stand and wait, and you don't want to be the first

one to their chair. So, you've got to find things you can talk to about with the other

person. And you don't sit down until the host kind of sits down. Like, pay attention to

the other people. What are they doing? You might ask the host, "Where would you like

me to sit? Is there anywhere I should sit in particular? Would you like me to sit? Where

would you like me to sit? Where would you like me to sit? Where would you like me to

sit?" Say it. "Where would you like me to sit?" We're sat down. You've got a person

to your left, you've got a person to your right. "Can I pour you a glass of...?" So,

it's nice to give a glass of water, even if they're having a glass of wine. Look after

them. Make sure they have what they need before you have what you need. Talking about British

table manners here. Different nationalities will have different customs. So, "Can I help

you to some salad?" "Can I help you...?" "Can I help you to some salad?" Strange phrase.

Basically means, "Can I put some food on your plate?" Yes? "Can I help you to some...?" But

it's formal. Yeah? If you haven't got something you need, like the salt is over there, and

this food is terrible without salt, you might say, "So sorry, could you pass..." Yeah, you

might put a, "So sorry. So sorry. Could you pass the salt?" "Thanks very much. Thanks."

Anyone else for the salt? No? Okay. I'll just put it there. Okay. Right, we're at the table,

we've got some food. Probably not your place to go cheers. Yeah? Because the host has invited

you. If they're going to make a toast, we call it, a toast when you go cheers, then

that's up to them, unless you know them very well. Right. Eating your food, was it good?

Disgusting? Delicious? What was your verdict? What did you think? Never say it was disgusting,

they'll say, "Anyone for any more?" As in, "Does anyone want more?" Obviously, the answer's

either no or yes, or yes or no. If the answer's no, then still say how delicious the food

was. "That was absolutely delicious. I've done very well, thank you. I simply couldn't.

I simply couldn't eat any more. I'm absolutely full up. I'm full. I couldn't eat another

thing." Or, if you want more, "How could I resist? That was to die for." Yeah? It's an

exaggeration. I would - I would - I would be killed to eat some more of that. I'll have

to ask you for the recipe. I'll have to ask you for the recipe. That's something you say,

it doesn't necessarily mean that ten minutes later, you say, "So, how do you make it?" Yeah?

I don't know. It's - you know, it's a secret. Okay. So, now, we need to look at how to get

out of there. Yeah? We've finished our party, you need to find a way of leaving it to beating

a hasty retreat. Beating. "Out the way. I need to leave. Get out the way." That's - that's

what beating is. "Hasty" means fast. "Retreat" means think of soldiers and they decide, "We've

got to retreat. Retreat." Sorry, getting a little bit silly. How to leave. Right. So,

you could say, "I think we're going to have to make tracks." Tracks? What? You're making

a railway? Railway tracks so that you can leave on a train? No, it's a way of saying

it, right? "We're going to have to make tracks." "I think we're going to have to head - head

home." Head - this is short for "head in the direction of home". So, we're going to get

in the car, which way is home? Ah, we're going to head in the - we're going to head home.

Or we're going to hit the road. Hit the road, Jack. We're going to hit the road. Another

idiom there for leaving. Thank you. Thank you very much. It's been a lovely evening.

So, we put in a positive adjective. It's been an absolute pleasure. It's been - it's been

really good fun. Great to see you. What a delicious trout. What a delicious pudding.

Oh, you are clever. Thank you so much. Okay. And then, probably want to shake the man's

hand and kiss the hostess's hand? No. Cheek. Okay, great. Well, we're there. So, thank

you for watching. I'm now going to beat a hasty retreat, but before I do, I need to

tell you about my website, honeyourenglish.com, in case you need any extra help with your

English. Thank you so much for watching, and until the next time, make sure you do that

quiz, www.engvid.com. See you next time.