Functional Spoken English For All

Greeting - a phrase used when meeting or welcoming someone. Common greetings include “Hello,” “Hi,” “Good morning,” “Good afternoon,” and “Good evening.” “Hi” is friendly and informal. “Good morning” is polite and suitable for a teacher, customer, colleague, or someone meeting you for the first time.

The time of day affects the greeting. Use “Good morning” before midday, “Good afternoon” from midday until early evening, and “Good evening” later in the day. “Good night” is usually used when leaving or going to bed, not when first meeting someone.

A greeting often needs a response:

Speaker A Speaker B

Good morning. Good morning.

Hi, how are you? I’m fine, thank you. How are you?

Hello. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too.

Introduction - words used to tell someone your name or to present another person. The basic structure is:

• “I’m Anil.”

• “My name is Anil.”

• “This is my friend, Meena.”

• “I’d like you to meet Mr Khan.”

“I’m” is the short spoken form of “I am.” Both forms are correct, but “I’m” is more common in everyday conversation. When introducing another person, use “This is,” not “He is” or “She is” as the opening phrase. For example, “This is my colleague, Sara.”

After an introduction, a listener may ask, “What do you do?” or “Where are you from?” Suitable answers are short:

• “I’m a teacher.”

• “I work at Vijethat IIT Foundation School.”

• “I’m from Hyderabad.”

Polite request - a question used to ask for help, information, permission, or an object in a respectful way. The choice of phrase depends on the situation.

“Can you...?” is common and friendly: “Can you open the window, please?” “Could you...?” sounds more polite: “Could you repeat that, please?” “Would you mind...?” is very polite, but the grammar after it is different: “Would you mind opening the window?”

Notice the structure:

• “Could you + base verb...?”

“Could you pass the book, please?”

• “Would you mind + verb-ing...?”

“Would you mind waiting for two minutes?”

• “Can I + base verb...?”

“Can I borrow your pen?”

A base verb is the simple form of a verb, such as “open,” “pass,” “wait,” or “borrow.” After “could you,” use the base verb: “Could you help me?” not “Could you helping me?”

A polite request often includes “please,” although a respectful voice is also important. The listener can respond in several ways:

• Accepting: “Certainly.” “Of course.” “Sure.”

• Accepting with action: “Yes, I’ll do that.”

• Refusing politely: “I’m sorry, I can’t right now.”

• Asking for time: “Just a moment, please.”

Learners should also practise the difference between a request and an instruction. “Close the door” is an instruction. “Could you close the door, please?” is a polite request. In a classroom, teachers can say both forms and ask learners to identify which sounds more respectful.

Short dialogues help learners connect grammar with purpose:

At the school office

A: Good morning. I’m Priya Das.

B: Good morning, Priya. I’m Mr Thomas. Nice to meet you.

A: Nice to meet you too. Could you tell me where Room 4 is, please?

B: Certainly. It’s on the first floor.

A: Thank you very much.

B: You’re welcome.

The dialogue contains a greeting, two introductions, a request, an answer, and thanks. Ask yourself: Which phrase shows respect? “Could you tell me...” Which phrase closes the exchange? “You’re welcome.”

A practical teaching sequence is to let learners underline the greeting once, circle the introduction, and box the request. Then pairs replace one detail, such as the room number or the person’s name. This keeps the structure stable while giving learners fresh speaking practice.

The main takeaway is that functional English is not only about correct grammar. It is about selecting a clear phrase for a real purpose and using it with an appropriate level of politeness.

Worked Example: Building a Complete First Meeting

Consider this situation: A learner named Arjun meets a visitor at the school reception desk at 10:30 a.m. The visitor needs directions to the science room. Arjun must greet the visitor, introduce himself, ask the visitor’s name, and respond to the request.

• Identify the time and setting.

It is 10:30 a.m., so “Good morning” is suitable. The school reception desk is a polite, semi-formal setting, so “Hi” alone may sound too casual for the first meeting.

• Choose the opening greeting.

Arjun says, “Good morning.” The visitor can reply, “Good morning.”

• Introduce the speaker.

Arjun uses “I’m Arjun,” a short and natural spoken form of “I am Arjun.” He could also say, “My name is Arjun.”

• Ask for the visitor’s name politely.

“May I know your name, please?” is polite and clear. In less formal conversation, “What’s your name?” is possible, but the longer form is more suitable at reception.

• Respond to the visitor’s introduction.

If the visitor says, “I’m Ms Patel,” Arjun says, “Nice to meet you, Ms Patel.” The visitor may answer, “Nice to meet you too.”

• Listen to the visitor’s request.

The visitor asks, “Could you tell me where the science room is, please?” The phrase “Could you” makes the request polite, and “tell” remains in the base form.

• Give a short direction.

Arjun answers, “Certainly. Go straight and turn left. The science room is next to the library.” The answer gives two clear actions and one location.

• Close the exchange politely.

Ms Patel says, “Thank you.” Arjun replies, “You’re welcome.”

The completed dialogue is:

A: Good morning.

B: Good morning.

A: I’m Arjun. May I know your name, please?

B: I’m Ms Patel. Nice to meet you.

A: Nice to meet you too.

B: Could you tell me where the science room is, please?

A: Certainly. Go straight and turn left. The science room is next to the library.

B: Thank you very much.

A: You’re welcome.

Final result: Arjun uses a suitable greeting, a clear introduction, one polite request response, and a respectful closing in a nine-line conversation.

For role-play, give one learner the role of Arjun and another the role of Ms Patel. After the first practice, change only the destination: “Room 6,” “the staff room,” or “the computer lab.” Then change the request from directions to permission: “Could I use the phone, please?” This controlled change helps learners practise meaning without losing the sentence pattern.

Notice the thinking process: time decides the greeting, the setting guides the level of politeness, and the purpose decides the request form. When learners make these choices consciously, their speech becomes clearer and more natural.

Guided Practice and Answer Key

1. Choose a suitable greeting for each situation.

a. You meet your teacher at 8:45 a.m.

b. You meet a close friend after school.

c. You leave a colleague at 9:30 p.m.

Hint: Check the time and the relationship. Remember that “Good night” is normally used when leaving.

2. Complete the introduction.

“Hello, I ____ Neha. This ____ my brother, Ravi.”

Hint: Use the correct forms of the verb “be”: “am” or “is.”

3. Make the request more polite.

“Give me your notebook.”

Hint: Begin with “Could you” and add “please.” Use the base verb after “could you.”

4. Write a suitable response.

A: Would you mind closing the door, please?

B: __________________________

Hint: You may accept with “Certainly” or refuse politely with “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

5. Role-play a first meeting at the school library.

Learner A is a new student. Learner B is the librarian. Include a greeting, an introduction, a request for a book, and a polite closing. Use the book title Basic Science Today.

Hint: Useful phrases are “Good afternoon,” “I’m...,” “Could you help me find...?” and “Thank you.”

Answer Key

• a. “Good morning.” b. “Hi.” c. “Good night.”

• “I am Neha. This is my brother, Ravi.”

• “Could you give me your notebook, please?”

• Accepting response: “Certainly.” Refusing response: “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

• One possible dialogue: “Good afternoon. I’m Kavya.” “Good afternoon. I’m the librarian.” “Could you help me find Basic Science Today, please?” “Certainly. It is on Shelf 3.” “Thank you very much.” “You’re welcome.”

For a final classroom check, pairs perform one dialogue without reading every word. Listen for three points: the greeting fits the situation, the introduction uses “I’m” or “My name is” correctly, and the request uses a polite structure. A learner does not need a long speech to communicate well. A few accurate phrases, spoken clearly and respectfully, can open a conversation and keep it moving.

Introduce layout tasks and learning objectives

A clear page layout makes spoken-English materials easier to use in class and quicker for learners to practise aloud. Here you’ll learn how to design consistent headers, footers, page numbers, and basic page formatting for the chapter "Greetings, Introductions, and Polite Requests" so every teacher can print or project clean lesson pages that guide speaking practice. This connects directly to the lesson content already written: tidy layout highlights greetings, introductions, and request phrases so students can find and rehearse them quickly.

Learning Objectives:

• Create a consistent header and footer for "VIJETHAT IIT FOUNDATION SCHOOL" lesson pages.

• Apply simple page layout rules (margins, font sizes, phrase cards) to support spoken activities.

You’ve got this - small layout choices save time in the classroom and make spoken practice smoother.

Explain the main layout and formatting concepts

Header - a short line at the top of each page. Use: school name on the left (“VIJETHAT IIT FOUNDATION SCHOOL”), chapter title in the centre (“Greetings, Introductions, and Polite Requests”), and a small lesson code on the right (e.g., GIP-01). Keep the header height about 0.5 inches (12 mm) so it’s visible but not crowded.

Footer - a narrow band at the bottom. Place the creative material name or book title on the left (“SpeakSimple: Functional Spoken English”), the page number in the centre, and the year or edition on the right. Footers help learners flip back to other chapters when practising role-play.

Page numbers - use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3). Centre in the footer for easy reference during pair work: “Page 12” helps a teacher say, “Open to page 12 and practise phrase card A.”

Margins and spacing - 1 inch (25 mm) outer margins, 0.75 inch (19 mm) inner margins for bound copies. Line spacing 1.15 for main text and 1.5 for dialogues or activities to give room for teacher notes and learner writing.

Font choices - a readable sans-serif for headings (e.g., Calibri or Arial, 14-16 pt) and a serif or sans-serif for body text (e.g., Times New Roman or Calibri, 11-12 pt). Use bold for phrase cards and italics for teacher prompts. For screens, increase body text to 13-14 pt.

Phrase cards and boxes - present key functional phrases in boxed panels (light pastel background). Use a single consistent colour palette across the book (three colours: navy for headings, teal for boxes, soft grey for teacher notes). This consistency helps learners scan for greetings, introductions, and requests during timed pair drills.

Accessibility - ensure contrast (dark text on light background), leave 12-14 pt for learners with low vision, and avoid all-caps for long sentences. You can include optional printable phrase cards sized 9 cm x 6 cm.

Worked example: design one lesson page step by step

• Decide page purpose: a single printed page for a 10-minute role-play activity on polite requests.

• Set the page size: A4 (210 x 297 mm). Apply margins: 25 mm all around except 19 mm inner margin.

• Build the header: left - “VIJETHAT IIT FOUNDATION SCHOOL” in 10 pt navy; centre - “Greetings, Introductions, and Polite Requests” in 14 pt bold; right - “GIP-01” in 10 pt.

• Create the main body: title line “Polite Request Practice” (12 pt teal), then dialogue lines with 1.5 spacing in 12 pt body text. Insert a boxed phrase card (teal background, 9 pt white text) containing “Could you + base verb...?” sized to occupy 60 mm height.

• Add footer: left - “SpeakSimple” 9 pt; centre - page number “12” 9 pt; right - “2026 Edition” 9 pt.

• Export: save as PDF for print and as PNG for projection. Final result: a single A4 lesson page with a readable header/footer, a boxed phrase card, ample spacing for speaking notes, and consistent colour cues.

Final result: a printable, teacher-ready lesson page that shows the school brand, supports quick scanning during class, and highlights the polite-request pattern in a boxed phrase card. You’ll notice students pick up the target language faster when the page is uncluttered - you’ve made practice easier.

Practice questions and answer key

• Create a header for a worksheet on "Introductions" that includes the school name, chapter code, and date. Hint: keep the header height ~12 mm and use three aligned elements (left, centre, right).

• Design a footer that helps pairs find pages quickly during role-play (what three items would you include?). Hint: think about navigation and version control.

• Choose two colours for headings and phrase boxes and explain why they work together for visibility. Hint: pick high contrast and limit to two main colours.

• Arrange a phrase card for “Would you mind + verb-ing...?” that fits a 9 cm x 6 cm printable card. Which font size and background contrast will you use? Hint: test for legibility at arm’s length.

Answer Key (short):

• Example header: left “VIJETHAT IIT FOUNDATION SCHOOL”, centre “Introductions”, right “GIP-02” in a 12 mm band - this fits A4 and prints well.

• Footer: left - book title, centre - page number, right - edition/year - this helps navigation and tracking.

• Twocontrast colours: navy headings + teal boxes; both are dark on light backgrounds so text reads clearly at a distance.

• For the 9 cm x 6 cm card use 11-12 pt bold for the phrase line on a teal background with white text; this remains legible when held in hand. Use 2-3 mm padding inside the box so words don’t touch the edge.

Brief closing note: once you apply these small layout rules across several lesson pages, the whole unit feels like a single teaching tool - consistent headers and footers help students and teachers find phrases fast, phrase cards focus spoken practice, and clear spacing leaves room for classroom notes. Try one designed page this week and you’ll notice how much smoother pair work runs - you’ve got this.

End of chapter one. 4 more chapters in the full book.