Notes on Vocabulary
1. ditched class: intentionally missed class
2. setting yourself up to fail: doing (yourself) what is necessary to
cause failure
3. . . . so that doesn't matter: . . . so that isn't important.
4. What's the big deal about missing some classes?: What's so
important about missing some classes?
5. out of status: not meeting the requirements to keep your visa
status
Notes on Usage
1. You wanted to see me?
The student changes a statement to a question by using question (rising)
intonation, not by using an auxiliary verb (did).
People often use this kind of question in conversational language to suggest
that they think a statement may not be true or accurate. (The student means
something like "Is it true that you wanted to see me?" By using this kind of
question, the student also suggests that she thinks there's no real reason
for the advisor to want to see her.)
2. About what?
"Reduced" questions are also very common in conversational language. The full
form would be something like "What do we need to have a serious talk about?"
or "About what do we need to have a serious talk?"
3. Your attendance--or rather lack of it
"Reduced" answers are much more common than full answers in conversational
language. The advisor means "We need to have a serious talk about your
attendance--or rather, your lack of attendance."
4. OK, so . . .
Both OK and so are used very frequently in conversational language. Here, the
student uses "OK, so . . ." to show that she admits that she's missed class a
few times.
5. A few times?
A "reduced" answer; the advisor means something like "What do you mean by a
few times?" By using "a few times," the student suggests that she
hasn't missed class enough times to cause a problem. By questioning "a few
times" (shown by the advisor's emphasis on "few"), the advisor is saying that
there have been many absences, not just a few.
6. Oh, come on.
This expression is used to show that what has just been said is unreasonable
or illogical. The student doesn't understand why missing some boring classes
is setting herself up to fail.
7. So?
This one-word question is used when one doesn't understand the relationship
or consequence that follows from what has just been said. (The student means
she doesn't understand the relationship between missing classes and her
student visa.)
8. gonna
There are many "relaxed" pronunciations of commonly used phrases (for
example, "hasta" or "hafta" for has to or have to, "wanna" for want to,
"woulda/coulda/shoulda/mighta" for would've/could've/should've/might've).
These forms are very common in spoken English, but they're not acceptable in
most written work.
9. Turn me in to . . . ?
A "reduced" question: "Are you going to turn me in to . . . ?"
10. Like what?
A "reduced" question: "What will the 'something else' be like?" ("What kind
of thing are you going to do?"
11. Like faxing your father
A "reduced" answer: "[I'm going to do something] like faxing your father."
(The advisor plans to send a fax to the student's father to tell the father
that the student hasn't been attending class.)
