This mini episode teaches you about the small talk question “What brings you here today?”
Episode 233 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you about the small talk question “What brings you here today?” Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hi, this is Atena from Iran. And you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 233 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, we are going to talk about a specific example of small talk. Small talk is the kind of conversation you have with strangers. It is often a kind of impersonal conversation. The example that I’m going to talk about today is a little bit different.
And here is the small talk that I’m thinking of. I’m thinking of this question: What brings you here today? What brings you here today?
That’s what: w-h-a-t, brings: brings, you: y-o-u, here: h-e-r-e, today: t-o-d-a-y. What brings you here today?
What do you think this question means? What do you think it means if somebody asks you, “What brings you here today?”
You might think it means something like “How did you get here? Did you come here in a car? Did you take a taxi? Did you take a train? How did you get here?” But that’s not what it means. Let me tell you where you might hear this expression, and then it might start to make sense.
You will usually hear this question in places that you are visiting. For example, you might hear this question at an airport, or you might hear this question in a doctor’s office.
Here is what it means when people ask, “What brings you here today?” What they are asking is, “Why are you here?” When they say, “What brings you here?” what they’re really asking is, “What reason brings you here? What is the cause of your visit? Why are you here?”
You can easily see why somebody at a doctor’s office—a receptionist or a nurse or a doctor—might ask you this question. Because when they say, “What brings you here today?” what they’re really asking is, “What is the problem? What is the problem that made you want to come to the doctor’s office?” And then you might answer something like, “Oh, well, my shoulder has been hurting” or “I’m having trouble sleeping” or whatever your problem is, whatever the reason is that you wanted to go to the doctor’s office.
I think it’s a good idea to be familiar with this question, because if you have never thought about it before—or if you have never learned what it means—it could be a little bit confusing. And now you know what it means if somebody asks you, “What brings you here today?”
Outro
And that’s the end of episode 233 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have any questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions about the podcast, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can use at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Atena recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with another episode, and until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. Goodbye! I’ll see you soon.