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  • Hi. My name is Benjamin. Have you ever had a problem when you didn't quite have the words to say to someone when talking in English?

  • I have that when I'm trying to speak French.

  • So in one of my earlier lessons, I was talking about trying to buy a train ticket in London.

  • Imagine that the man says back to me, "Where do I want to go?"

  • I don't know the name of the train station, so I say,

  • "It sort of -- it's sort of got a big wheel. It's got a big wheel, and it's in London.

  • It's like -- it's, like, in the middle of the map.

  • It's kind of busy, busy place in the middle of London."

  • Trying to describe. So I can use "sort of"; I can use "like"; and I can use "kind of" and then try and describe it. Okay?

  • So the man, he then says to me, "Do you mean the airport, son?"

  • And I'm like, "No. No. Not the airport. I want to go to -- I can't remember the name. No, actually..."

  • So these are all ways of showing a different opinion.

  • "Actually, no. It's in the middle of London. It's by a big river. The river Thames."

  • Or I could say, "as a matter of fact, no. I don't want to go to the airport."

  • Or, "To be honest, I want to stay in the center. It's Zone 1."

  • Okay? Or a very similar way of saying "to be honest" would be "to be frank".

  • It means "honest" as well. So I could say, "To be frank with you, I want to go to the place with the big wheel and the river."

  • Okay? Or, "In fact, I really want to go to the place with the national theatre."

  • Okay? Or last one, "The fact of the matter is I'm not going to the airport now."

  • Okay? These are all ways of showing opinions.

  • "Actually", "as a matter of fact", "to be honest".

  • This one is really juicy, nice one, "the fact of the matter is".

  • You'll sound very important if you say that.

  • So the man, he still doesn't understand.

  • What else do I have to say to him to get him to understand me?

  • So I could say, "Well, how shall I put it? Uh, it's got a huge wheel."

  • Or, "What's the word I'm looking for? Um..." It's "Waterloo", by the way.

  • Or, "How can I explain this? It's on the black train line. It's on the northern line. It's right in the middle."

  • Okay? Similar to there -- other ways of, kind of, explaining it, trying to find the meaning.

  • The trainman, he's getting very annoyed with me, and he starts shouting at me, so I take cover.

  • That was a very nasty thing to say. I'm now very upset with this man.

  • These are little introductions to threats, to arguments, to entering an argument. Okay?

  • "What's the best way to put this? You are very unhelpful. You are an idiot."

  • Or less aggressive, I could say, "What I'm trying to say is you are a bad ticket man, and I just want to go to my favourite place in London."

  • Or, "Now, let me put it this way. If you continue, I will go to your boss."

  • Okay? So these are little pauses while I think of what I'm going to say next.

  • "What's the best way to put this?" To put. "To put", there, means "to say".

  • What's the best way to say this?

  • "What I'm trying to say is..."

  • And "now". "Now" is quite a control word. If I say "now", then I have the control of the conversation.

  • Over to here.

  • Brian, my ticket man, now starts yapping, talking. So I need him to stop. Okay?

  • So I say, "Now, look here, Brian. I want my ticket."

  • Or, "Right, then, Brian. That's great, but..." Okay?

  • Or -- Brian is still talking.

  • I say, "Okay. That's fine, Brian, but I just want to go to --" and now, I remember. I remember. "Waterloo, the place with the big wheel and the river. Thank you."

  • So these are all ways of thinking about what you're saying, and then you say it. Okay?

  • Great. Thanks for watching the video, and do take part in the quiz. Bye.

  • I'm off to Waterloo.

Hi. My name is Benjamin. Have you ever had a problem when you didn't quite have the words to say to someone when talking in English?

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