YouTube Transcript:
How to introduce yourself in a natural_ advanced way_ (C1+ English)

Hello everyone and welcome to English
with Lucy. I'm Lucy and it's nice to
meet you. Have you ever felt awkward
when it comes to introducing yourself?
Maybe you look online for a video on how
to introduce yourself, but it's at a
very basic level. I mean, introducing
yourself in another language is one of
the first things they teach you. But how
do we introduce ourselves at an advanced
level of English? let's say C1 or even
C2. I'm going to help you today. I'm
going to train you to introduce yourself
in English in a very natural, advanced
way. I'm going to give you lots of
options, so they will definitely apply
to you in your situation. Introductions
are so important. I want to help you get
it right. To help you even further, I've
also created a PDF introductions guide.
You can download this for free. It
covers everything we're going to talk
about in this lesson, plus lots of extra
information. I've included some extra
dialogues, a quiz, and a link to some
secret exercises so that you can put
what you've learned into practice. If
you'd like to download that PDF, just
click on the link in the description
box, or scan that QR code there. Enter
your name and email address, sign up to
my mailing list, and the PDF will arrive
directly in your inbox. After that, you
will automatically receive my free
weekly PDFs, plus all of my other
updates, offers, and course information.
But now, let's get started with the
lesson. So, in this lesson, you're going
to listen to two dialogues. The first
one is going to be fairly simple. You'll
hear two people introducing themselves
at a cheese convention. This is my dad's
dream situation. Later in the video,
you'll hear a much more advanced
version. Hi, I'm Alex. Nice to meet you.
Claire, nice to meet you, too. What are
you doing here? I sell cheese. You? I'm
with the marketing team. Now, I want to
make this clear. There is nothing wrong
with that exchange. In fact, I've had
hundreds of conversations like that, but
today we're focusing on C1 or advanced
English. So, let's learn some more
advanced phrases. So, how do you begin?
You could say, "I don't think we've been
introduced." Or, "I'm not sure we've met
before." You can use these phrases if
you're fairly sure that you haven't met
the person before. They're just polite
introductory phrases. If you want to
introduce someone else, you might say,
"I'd like to introduce my colleague,
Carlson Chang." This is more formal. A
less formal way to do this would be,
"Have you met Julie? She's a mate from
school." Okay. When you introduce
yourself, you need to share your name.
That's probably the most important
thing. It's fine to just say, "I'm
Lucy." But you could expand a little,
especially if you use a shortened
version of your name or you have a
nickname. Here are some phrases to use.
I'm Magdalena, but most people call me
Magda. Or, "My name's Roberto, but I
usually go by Beetto." I go by means I
use this name. or please call me Patty.
It's short for Patricia. Or a longer,
more advanced one, Bartholomew is my
given name, but only my grandmother
calls me that. I've always felt more
like a Bart. You could also inject a
little humor. I respond to William or
Will, but never Bill. Now, let's say you
know you have a mutual connection with
someone. You could say, I'm a friend or
colleague of Kos. You might add, she
speaks very highly of you. This means
that Ko says very nice things about you.
And this is a very flattering thing to
say when you first meet someone. Nearly
everyone loves a compliment. Another
common phrase is I've heard a lot about
you. And the most common responses are
all good, I hope, or should I be
worried? Or don't believe a word of it.
You could also say it's good to put a
face to the name. This means it's good
to finally see the person whose name
I've heard many times. Now, let's say
you might have met someone before but
don't remember clearly. You can say, "I
think our paths have crossed before."
This phrase is perfect when you vaguely
recognize someone but aren't entirely
sure where from. When you cross paths
with someone or your paths cross, it
means you've met by chance at some
point. If you're in a similar social or
professional circle, you could say, "We
must move in the same circles." And if
you're surprised that you haven't met
sooner, you might add, "I can't believe
we haven't crossed paths before." So,
next, you might want to ask someone
where they're from. You could say, "Are
you from around here?" And some
different ways to answer, "Yep,
Portsmouth, born and bred." Or, "Yep, I
was born and raised just around the
corner." These phrases mean you were
born and grew up in a place. Here are
some more. Originally, but I've moved
around a lot. I'm based in Milan at the
moment. Or I grew up here, but I've been
living in Belfast for the past few
years. Or you could say, nope, just
passing through. To pass through means
to stop in a place for a short time
before going somewhere else. Now, let's
say you want to introduce yourself to
someone at an event. You could ask why
are you here? But that is very direct.
So here are some alternatives. What
brings you here today? What brings you
to this part of the world? What brings
you to the conference today? You might
add business or pleasure, for example.
What brings you to the World Coffee
Championships today? Business or
pleasure. And the answer could be
business. I'm with beans, beans, beans.
Or oh, purely pleasure. I'm a bit of a
caffeine addict. Did you hear that
additional detail? I'm a bit of a
caffeine addict. We often add something
about our likes, interests, and hobbies
when we're introducing ourselves. I'm a
bit of a is a common expression used to
soften a statement about ourselves. It
suggests we have a certain trait or
interest, but in a more casual or modest
way. For example, I'm a bit of a foodie.
You might also say, "I guess you could
say, I'm a bit of a bookworm." Or, "I
consider myself a bit of a language
geek." You'll often hear people refer to
themselves as a geek, but I don't
recommend calling someone else that. You
could also say that you have or have got
a soft spot for something or someone. It
means I like it or I like them. For
example, I've got a soft spot for stray
cats and now I have seven at home. Or
I've always had a soft spot for cheesy8s
music. Okay, are you ready for a more
advanced dialogue? Now, you're not just
going to listen. There are some gaps in
this dialogue, so you need to complete
the phrases as we go. Hi, I don't think
we've been introduced. I'm Alexandra,
but I usually bite Alex. What do you
think? Go. I go by Alex. All right,
let's continue. Nice to meet you. I'm
Claire. So, what you here today? Brings.
Did you get that one? I'm with the
marketing team organizing this event.
What about you? Business or?
Business or pleasure? Bit of both. I'm
here on holiday, but I sell cheese back
in London, so I thought I'd pop in. You
know, I think our have crossed before,
actually. Were you at the Cheddar
Together conference in Melbourne? What
about that one? Paths. Our paths have
crossed before. Yeah, I was. We must
move in the
same. So, are you a bit of a cheese
addict, too? Yeah, you could say that.
They move in the
same
circles. Okay, how did you do? I would
love for you to practice introducing
yourself in the comments. Let me know if
you have a nickname you go by. If you
have a soft spot for something, I'll
keep my eyes peeled for your practice
introductions. And with that, we're at
the end of the lesson. Make sure to
download the PDF introductions guide to
refresh your memory of everything we've
covered today and to get access to
another dialogue as well as a quiz and
some secret exercises. The link is in
the description or you can scan the QR
code there. I will see you in the next
lesson.
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