Full video

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Hello everyone and welcome to English

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with Lucy. I'm Lucy and it's nice to

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meet you. Have you ever felt awkward

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when it comes to introducing yourself?

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Maybe you look online for a video on how

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to introduce yourself, but it's at a

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very basic level. I mean, introducing

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yourself in another language is one of

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the first things they teach you. But how

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do we introduce ourselves at an advanced

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level of English? let's say C1 or even

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C2. I'm going to help you today. I'm

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going to train you to introduce yourself

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in English in a very natural, advanced

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way. I'm going to give you lots of

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options, so they will definitely apply

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to you in your situation. Introductions

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are so important. I want to help you get

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it right. To help you even further, I've

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also created a PDF introductions guide.

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You can download this for free. It

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covers everything we're going to talk

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about in this lesson, plus lots of extra

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information. I've included some extra

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dialogues, a quiz, and a link to some

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secret exercises so that you can put

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what you've learned into practice. If

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you'd like to download that PDF, just

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click on the link in the description

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box, or scan that QR code there. Enter

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your name and email address, sign up to

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my mailing list, and the PDF will arrive

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directly in your inbox. After that, you

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will automatically receive my free

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weekly PDFs, plus all of my other

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updates, offers, and course information.

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But now, let's get started with the

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lesson. So, in this lesson, you're going

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to listen to two dialogues. The first

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one is going to be fairly simple. You'll

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hear two people introducing themselves

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at a cheese convention. This is my dad's

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dream situation. Later in the video,

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you'll hear a much more advanced

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version. Hi, I'm Alex. Nice to meet you.

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Claire, nice to meet you, too. What are

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you doing here? I sell cheese. You? I'm

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with the marketing team. Now, I want to

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make this clear. There is nothing wrong

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with that exchange. In fact, I've had

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hundreds of conversations like that, but

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today we're focusing on C1 or advanced

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English. So, let's learn some more

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advanced phrases. So, how do you begin?

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You could say, "I don't think we've been

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introduced." Or, "I'm not sure we've met

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before." You can use these phrases if

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you're fairly sure that you haven't met

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the person before. They're just polite

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introductory phrases. If you want to

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introduce someone else, you might say,

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"I'd like to introduce my colleague,

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Carlson Chang." This is more formal. A

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less formal way to do this would be,

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"Have you met Julie? She's a mate from

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school." Okay. When you introduce

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yourself, you need to share your name.

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That's probably the most important

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thing. It's fine to just say, "I'm

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Lucy." But you could expand a little,

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especially if you use a shortened

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version of your name or you have a

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nickname. Here are some phrases to use.

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I'm Magdalena, but most people call me

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Magda. Or, "My name's Roberto, but I

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usually go by Beetto." I go by means I

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use this name. or please call me Patty.

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It's short for Patricia. Or a longer,

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more advanced one, Bartholomew is my

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given name, but only my grandmother

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calls me that. I've always felt more

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like a Bart. You could also inject a

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little humor. I respond to William or

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Will, but never Bill. Now, let's say you

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know you have a mutual connection with

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someone. You could say, I'm a friend or

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colleague of Kos. You might add, she

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speaks very highly of you. This means

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that Ko says very nice things about you.

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And this is a very flattering thing to

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say when you first meet someone. Nearly

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everyone loves a compliment. Another

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common phrase is I've heard a lot about

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you. And the most common responses are

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all good, I hope, or should I be

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worried? Or don't believe a word of it.

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You could also say it's good to put a

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face to the name. This means it's good

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to finally see the person whose name

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I've heard many times. Now, let's say

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you might have met someone before but

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don't remember clearly. You can say, "I

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think our paths have crossed before."

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This phrase is perfect when you vaguely

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recognize someone but aren't entirely

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sure where from. When you cross paths

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with someone or your paths cross, it

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means you've met by chance at some

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point. If you're in a similar social or

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professional circle, you could say, "We

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must move in the same circles." And if

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you're surprised that you haven't met

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sooner, you might add, "I can't believe

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we haven't crossed paths before." So,

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next, you might want to ask someone

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where they're from. You could say, "Are

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you from around here?" And some

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different ways to answer, "Yep,

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Portsmouth, born and bred." Or, "Yep, I

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was born and raised just around the

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corner." These phrases mean you were

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born and grew up in a place. Here are

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some more. Originally, but I've moved

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around a lot. I'm based in Milan at the

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moment. Or I grew up here, but I've been

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living in Belfast for the past few

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years. Or you could say, nope, just

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passing through. To pass through means

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to stop in a place for a short time

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before going somewhere else. Now, let's

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say you want to introduce yourself to

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someone at an event. You could ask why

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are you here? But that is very direct.

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So here are some alternatives. What

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brings you here today? What brings you

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to this part of the world? What brings

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you to the conference today? You might

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add business or pleasure, for example.

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What brings you to the World Coffee

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Championships today? Business or

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pleasure. And the answer could be

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business. I'm with beans, beans, beans.

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Or oh, purely pleasure. I'm a bit of a

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caffeine addict. Did you hear that

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additional detail? I'm a bit of a

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caffeine addict. We often add something

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about our likes, interests, and hobbies

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when we're introducing ourselves. I'm a

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bit of a is a common expression used to

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soften a statement about ourselves. It

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suggests we have a certain trait or

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interest, but in a more casual or modest

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way. For example, I'm a bit of a foodie.

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You might also say, "I guess you could

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say, I'm a bit of a bookworm." Or, "I

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consider myself a bit of a language

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geek." You'll often hear people refer to

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themselves as a geek, but I don't

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recommend calling someone else that. You

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could also say that you have or have got

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a soft spot for something or someone. It

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means I like it or I like them. For

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example, I've got a soft spot for stray

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cats and now I have seven at home. Or

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I've always had a soft spot for cheesy8s

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music. Okay, are you ready for a more

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advanced dialogue? Now, you're not just

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going to listen. There are some gaps in

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this dialogue, so you need to complete

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the phrases as we go. Hi, I don't think

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we've been introduced. I'm Alexandra,

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but I usually bite Alex. What do you

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think? Go. I go by Alex. All right,

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let's continue. Nice to meet you. I'm

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Claire. So, what you here today? Brings.

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Did you get that one? I'm with the

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marketing team organizing this event.

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What about you? Business or?

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Business or pleasure? Bit of both. I'm

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here on holiday, but I sell cheese back

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in London, so I thought I'd pop in. You

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know, I think our have crossed before,

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actually. Were you at the Cheddar

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Together conference in Melbourne? What

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about that one? Paths. Our paths have

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crossed before. Yeah, I was. We must

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move in the

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same. So, are you a bit of a cheese

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addict, too? Yeah, you could say that.

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They move in the

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same

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circles. Okay, how did you do? I would

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love for you to practice introducing

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yourself in the comments. Let me know if

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you have a nickname you go by. If you

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have a soft spot for something, I'll

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keep my eyes peeled for your practice

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introductions. And with that, we're at

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the end of the lesson. Make sure to

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download the PDF introductions guide to

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refresh your memory of everything we've

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covered today and to get access to

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another dialogue as well as a quiz and

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some secret exercises. The link is in

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the description or you can scan the QR

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code there. I will see you in the next

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lesson.

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