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Not so outgoing, I take my time to make new friends

My daughter has made friends, but my son is quiet  - he doesn’t like mixing with people very much. He’s a normal teenager.

I make friends easily.

Anti-social – very bad person – maybe causing problems

wimpy – weak / not strong – frightened of things. ( not a very nice thing to say) – negative.

Bullying

‘Alrightmate!’

two-faced - someone who says one thing to you and one thing behind you!

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(Image: Getty)

Introduction

Neil and Georgie have a real conversation in easy English about their friends. Learn to talk about your friends and why they are important.

Vocabulary

keep in touch with or stay in touch with

speak to or see someone regularly
a few
more than two, but not many

informal words for friends

Transcript

Georgie
Hello! Welcome to Real Easy English from BBC Learning English. I'm Georgie.

Neil
And I'm Neil. We're here to help you improve your English with a real conversation in easy English.

Georgie
If you want to read along, you can find a text version of this podcast at bbclearningenglish.com.

Right, let's start the show. How are you today, Neil?

Neil
I'm very well, thank you, Georgie. What are we talking about in this episode?

Georgie
Today is all about friends. We'll talk a bit about our friends and why they are important.

Neil
Great, let's get started.

Georgie
So, Neil, do you have a lot of friends?

Neil
Yes, I do have quite a few friends. How about you?

Georgie
Yes, I also have quite a lot of friends. I've lived in different places, so I have made friends in lots of different areas and times of my life.

Neil
So, Georgie, you said that you have lived in lots of places, and I know you have lived in Spain. So, do you have lots of friends in Spain?

Georgie
Yes, I have a few friends in Spain. But now that I live in London, it's quite difficult to stay in touch with them. But, actually, one of them is coming to visit this weekend.

Neil
Ah! So you try to keep in touch with some of your friends. That means to keep contact with them, to make sure that you stay friends by speaking to them.

Georgie
Yes, exactly. And if you have a lot of friends, it can be difficult to stay in touch with so many.

What do you like to do with your friends, Neil?

Neil
Well, I like to talk to them, mainly. So, I like to meet them maybe in a pub or restaurant, or we go to a sports match sometimes and we... and we talk there and have a good time.

Georgie
That sounds nice.

Georgie
Yes, I'm the same. During the week I think a nice plan is to go out for dinner with friends. At the weekends I like going for a walk or getting a coffee with friends.

Neil
You can do both of those at the same time!

Georgie
Yeah. That's right. Sometimes I meet friends, we get a coffee to take away and then go for a walk around the park.

Neil
And are you happy about the number of friends you have? Or would you like to have more or fewer?

Georgie
I always like making new friends. If you start a new hobby or you move to a different place there are always more people and new people to meet. I like making friends. What about you?

Neil
Yes, but I like to see my old friends and if I make new friends, I know it's something that happens slowly and that's OK.

Now we have used this word friends a lot, but there are other words for friends too aren't there?

Georgie
Yes. One is mate. I use mate a lot. We also use pal. So sometimes I refer to my friends that are girls as gal pals.

Neil
Gal pals. That's a nice expression.

Georgie
So, Neil, why are friends important to you?

Neil
Ah, yes, good question! Friends are important I think because you can be yourself with your friends. You don't have to pretend if they're good friends because they know you as you are. And that's not the same everywhere you go in life.

Neil
Let's recap the language we learned during the conversation.

Georgie
We learned mates and pals, which are other words for friends.

Neil
We heard keep in touch with, which means see or speak to someone regularly. We also say stay in touch.

Georgie
And a few, which means more than two, but not many. So I have a few friends in Spain, but not many.

Neil
Thanks for listening to Real Easy English. Visit our website for more activities and courses to help you with your English: bbclearningenglish.com.

Georgie
Next time, we'll talk about holidays and places we would like to go.

Neil
See you then, goodbye.

Now try this...

Learn some phrasal verbs for friendship here.

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BBC Learning English - Real Easy English / Talking about friends

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Tell me about your best friend

What does s/he look like?

What does s/he like doing?

Write sentences about your friend.

Use present simple; she has.. etc

Use like + ing

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Write about your friend

Describe your friend in present tense

Use past simple for a special time in the past or how did you meet her.

use and but because

use like + ing

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Write about your friend.

Use present perfect - I've known her since...

Use past simple to tell a story about someting you did in the past.

Use and but because

Write no more than 100 words