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Hello, my name's Benjamin.
I'm a lost tourist in London, and I don't know where to go.
I'm going to talk to the ticket man in the London Underground and see if he can help me.
"Hello, Mr. ticket man. I would like a ticket to Piccadilly."
The man starts talking to me: "Blah, blah, blah."
He asks me a question.
I don't know what to say, so I need to make a noise. "Ah."
These are noises that give you time to think about your answer.
"Ah, I would like a ticket, please, to Piccadilly Circus."
Or, I could say, "Urgh, I want a ticket please."
Or "Urm, I, I want to go to --."
Or the other one would be, "Mmm, I want a ticket." Okay, good.
So then, my ticket man says, "No problem. That will be four pounds fifty, please."
I then say, "You know, I think that's a little bit expensive, a bit expensive."
So these are all phrases for expressing an opinion - if I think that's too big a price.
So I could say, "You know, I think that's too expensive."
Or, "I mean, I only really want to go one stop, half a mile. You see, I've only got four pounds. Then, I can't eat."
Or, "Well, maybe you could give it to me for a little less."
Or, "The thing is, Mr. ticket man, I need to go there as well."
These are all expressing an opinion to the ticket man, okay?
So, one last way of expressing an opinion.
I could say, "Well, it's like this: You see, I want to go to Piccadilly, but I can only give you two pounds."
Okay? All ways of saying, of giving an opinion, of starting "I want, I need," okay?
The ticket man thinks, and then he says, "Well, for three pounds, I can give you a single. Is that what you want?"
"A single? What is a single?"
These are all phrases for when I need to think about my answer.
So I could say, "Mmm, let me see. A single?".
And then I repeat the question he has given to me. Okay?
Or I can say, "Um, now, let me think. That might be a good idea."
Or, "Just a minute. I'm going to ask my friend."
Or, "Hang on, sir. I need to look in my guidebook to find out."
Or, "That's a really interesting question."
Now, the thing about this phrase here, "It's a really interesting question," it's better maybe in school or university, probably not very appropriate for the London Underground.
But it's a good phrase to remember, anyway.
Or I could say, "I'm not sure about that. Um, maybe. Could you tell me more?".
And then, the ticket man says, "Of course I can tell you more, but you must watch the next video in EngVid."
See you soon. My name is Benjamin.
Thank you.