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  • Hi, there, everybody. Today, we're doing a general class on having an argument, giving

  • an opinion. Okay? Useful words for giving opinions, agreeing, disagreeing. This is something

  • you have to do in so many walks of life, in so many situations, whether it's with your

  • girlfriend, boyfriend, wife, whether it's with your boss, your mom, your dad. Many times,

  • we find ourselves making a point, saying something, having something that is slightly different

  • to the other person. Okay? It's life.

  • We're going to start with giving opinions. Now, we might start with an adverb like "personally".

  • Okay? Or "frankly". So "person" -- you can see the word "person". When we say "personally",

  • it's about this person; it's about me. "Me, I think this." "Personally, I would say that

  • --." "Personally, I think that --."

  • Now, let's spend today talking about the issue of whether you should give money to the homeless

  • man. "Personally, I think lots of people give money to them." Or, "Personally, I think they

  • need the money." Or, "Frankly" -- this means "honestly". "Frankly, I think charity starts

  • at home." That's a phrase that means, "If I'm going to be kind, I need to be kind to

  • me." "Frankly, I don't want to give them any money." Okay?

  • Now, what I've done here is I've marked which ones are good to use in a work situation and

  • which ones are more informal. So where I have marked, this is good to use at work. "Personally",

  • "I'd say that". But "I reckon" and "if you ask me", these are more casual ways of speaking.

  • "If you ask me, I think the bloke's taking the piss, mate." Okay? "If you ask me, I think

  • the bloke's taking the piss." He's having a laugh. Okay? "I reckon he really needs some

  • coins." Okay? So this is the one you can use at work. "I'd say that you have to think about

  • it and balance the options up." I don't know.

  • What do you think? Have a go now. Personally, I think that -- go on. Give me a sentence.

  • Great. Good work.

  • Now, you've presented your first opinion, and someone is agreeing with you. Let's practice

  • agreeing with someone, okay? "Definitely! I mean, it's so cold in London. You should

  • give some money to them." Okay? "Definite." "Definite" means certain. Okay? It's the same

  • as "certainly". "Certainly" would be very -- too formal, though." Okay? "Definitely.

  • You're right." Or if you like what they're saying, you agree, you could say, "I think

  • so, too. I mean, it must be a difficult life." Yeah? These are all phrases you could use

  • in a work situation. Okay? All of these are good for work. They're not informal ones.

  • "I think so, too. I mean, it's really cold at the moment." "You're right. I mean, imagine

  • not having a home or somewhere to go to the bathroom." "That's a good point. I agree with

  • you." Okay? "I agree. It's really sad that they're living under a bridge." Okay? So these

  • are all ways of agreeing. "Definitely. You're right. That's a good point."

  • Giving opinions, I could say "personally, frankly, if you ask me". These are my informal

  • ones. These are my formal ones. Formal. Good for work. Good for the pub. Great.

  • Now, let's disagree. Let's disagree with Mother. "Yes, Mom. But they don't have any money to

  • spend on a sandwich." Okay? So I'm disagreeing. I think something different to Mom. "You see,

  • I don't agree, Mom. I think it's nice to be generous." Or you could say, "I don't know

  • about that." Okay? Listen to the pronunciation. "I don't know about that." This is how it's

  • spelled, "I don't know", and we say, "I dunno about that." Okay?

  • "Hmm. I'm not sure about that. I'm not certain." It's polite. We're disagreeing. We know that

  • we disagree, but we're polite, so we say, "I'm not sure. I think maybe it's a nice idea

  • to give them 10p." Or "I'm not sure about that. I'm not sure that I like that idea."

  • Okay? You're still disagreeing. It's an English, English way of talking. We're very polite,

  • yeah? Sometimes, anyway. Not the drivers.

  • "I don't go along with you." Okay? If I go along with my friend to the beach, I go along

  • with them. But if I don't go along, no. I think something different. So, "No. I don't

  • go along with you on that. I think blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."

  • "That's a good point, a good argument, but blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." "Surely you

  • can't give all your money to them because then, you would be like them." Okay? "Surely",

  • so you're emphasizing.

  • Now, what do we do once we've given our opinion? We give opinion; we give evidence; we give

  • facts. "Yes, but in winter, it's minus five degrees Celsius. It's very inhospitable. It's

  • a very difficult place to live on the street." And we could exaggerate the rule of three.

  • So if I disagree with giving money to a homeless person, I could say that they have somewhere

  • to live; they're funding a drink problem; and I don't have any money to give them anyway.

  • Or if I'm doing it the other way around, I could say -- rule of three, so I give three

  • points -- "Imagine if you were like them. Wouldn't life be so difficult?" Or, "It's

  • so cold at night, and no one talks to you. You have nowhere to go." Have I made any sense?

  • I do so hope so, kind viewer.

  • Look. We've looked at giving an opinion. We used words like "personally", "I would say

  • that". Look. This is short for "I would say that". "If you asked me, I would say that."

  • It's a polite phrase. Again, "I would say that."

  • We've looked at agreeing. We've said "definitely". "You're right. That's a good point. I agree

  • with you." Okay? You make these little noises, these sounds, and then you make an argument.

  • This is just the start. The start, and then you carry on to give an opinion and reasons.

  • And with the disagreeing, we've had, "Yes but -- reason". "I don't agree because --." Okay?

  • Don't forget to carry on.

  • Becoming more fluent in English is all about increasing the amount of time you spend talking

  • and listening. Don't just give short answers. Give long answers. So right now, we're thinking

  • about giving money to the homeless people. Give me a sentence with "definitely", with

  • agreeing with giving money. "Definitely" -- and then disagree." Okay? You can do that on your

  • own time.

  • So your homework, you're going to do an agree; you're going to do a disagree. And then, you're

  • going to go to www.engvid.com, and you're going to take my quiz. Ten short questions,

  • ten short answers. Okay? Not too difficult. And then, go and subscribe to my YouTube channel.

  • And if you really love me like I know you do, then, you can check out my website, Exquisite

  • English. There should be a link here.

  • Well done. I know you're trying hard. Keep the good work up. Bye!

Hi, there, everybody. Today, we're doing a general class on having an argument, giving

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