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  • Hello. Welcome to the lesson of giving your opinion. My name is Ronnie. Do me a favor.

  • Go to YouTube. Go to my page, EnglishLessons4U, and subscribe to my channel. Watch out for

  • imitators. I'm the real deal. Be careful. I'm going to teach you guys how to give your

  • opinion. Now, you might think, "Ronnie, I already know how to give my opinion." If someone

  • says, "Hey, do you like pizza?" And I say, "It's so-so." Your opinion is "so-so"? Guess

  • what, that's a really bad answer. So I want to teach you some techniques to continue a

  • conversation when you have to give your opinion. This happens all the time. Maybe you went

  • to a new restaurant or you saw a movie or you went to a new pub or bar or restaurant

  • and you want to tell people, "Oh, my god, it was great! I went to the new restaurant

  • that opened up." And your friend says, "How was it?" And you say, "Okay." What kind of

  • answer is "okay"? Was it good? Was it bad? Did you get diarrhea? Did you like it? What

  • did you eat? So when someone asks you your opinion, instead of giving short, one-word

  • answers -- "Yes." "I liked it." "It was great." -- you need to expand, and you need to give

  • more information. Here is a list of things that you should not

  • say when someone asks your opinion. -"So? How was the movie?" -"So-so." What the hell

  • does "so-so" mean? "So" means "yes" and "no" at the same time? If someone said to me, "It's

  • so-so", I think it's bad. Don't say that. Maybe your friend and you saw the same movie,

  • and someone asks your friend, "Hey, how was the movie?" Your friend said, "Well, it was

  • a little boring, and there wasn't a lot of action. I didn't really like it that much."

  • The conversation naturally would go to you, and you'd go, "Same." Same what? Please don't

  • do this. It's so frustrating when you're trying to have a conversation with someone. Don't

  • say "same". You are an individual. Please give the person your opinion. You can say

  • something like, "Well, I agree. It was boring, but..." -- add your own spice of life; add

  • your own opinion. So instead of saying "same", you can say, "I agree", and then add your

  • information. The next one. Now, if you're a little shy,

  • and someone offers you something, for example, "Would you like to have free English lessons?"

  • "Sure" is a good answer. But if you're giving your opinion, for example, "Did you like the

  • new restaurant that you went to last night?" "Sure." "Sure" is a really, really bad answer.

  • What, again, you want to do is expand in your answer.

  • This is the worst thing you can say if someone asks you your opinion or if they ask you a

  • question about something. As an example, someone might say, -"Ronnie, are you from Canada?"

  • -"Of course." "Well, excuse me for asking." You only are going to use "of course" if someone

  • has asked you a very, very stupid question or a question that they already know the answer

  • to. As an example, you could say, "Ronnie, you're from Canada. Do you have red hair?"

  • And I'd say, "Of course I do. You can see it." So when you answer "of course", it does

  • not mean the same as "yes". "Of course" is a very, very rude way to answer someone's

  • question if they ask you something. So please be very careful of this. "Are you enjoying

  • your English lessons?" "Of course!" Good answer. "Maybe." "Do you like Ronnie, teacher?" "Maybe."

  • Maybe? What does "maybe" mean? So "maybe", "sure ", "same", "so-so" -- garbage. Don't

  • use them. "Maybe" -- are you not going to tell me the answer? Is it a secret? Don't

  • say "maybe". Another one that a lot of you guys say is

  • unnecessary unless you want to exaggerate something. So let's say, again, that you went

  • to a new pizza shop, and you ordered some really spicy pasta -- at a pizza store. That's

  • okay. So you get the pizza or the pasta; it's really spicy, and you eat it, and your friend

  • goes, "Hey how's your spicy pasta?" You're going to say, "It's spicy." You do not need

  • to say, "It's spicy for me" because you are the one talking. So you can just say, "It's

  • spicy." Now, the way that we would use this correctly is to exaggerate something. Example:

  • If you're having pasta that's really, really spicy, and your friend is having the same

  • pasta dish, maybe your friend is eating it and goes, "This is not spicy for me." You're

  • exaggerating that one is spicy and one isn't. So you're eating it; you're dying; you're

  • crying; your face is turning red; you say, "God, this is spicy." Your friend's, like,

  • "This isn't spicy for me." So you're exaggerating your point. Be careful about this one.

  • So these ones: Don't use them. This one: Only if you're exaggerating a point.

  • These -- are the good ones. These are the good guys. These ones don't exist anymore.

  • Sometimes, people ask you a conversation or ask you a question in a conversation that

  • you have never even thought about before in your life. Instead of you saying, "I don't

  • know", you're going to do things like this: "I don't know, but let me think." As an example:

  • "Do you think that in Canada, we should have drinking allowed on the streets?" Because

  • in Canada, in Ontario, it's illegal. You cannot drink alcohol in the streets. Maybe in your

  • country you can drink everywhere -- you're lucky -- and you've never thought about this

  • concept of not being able to drink somewhere, so it's a new idea. The police are coming

  • to get me. They know that I have been drinking in the streets. Here they come.

  • They didn't catch me. I've still got my Canada Dry. So if you have ever been thinking about drinking

  • in Canada, you're more than welcome to drink Canada Dry. It's pop -- soda pop. This is

  • not a beer unfortunately. If you'd like to buy me a beer, I wouldn't mind. So if you

  • have to give your opinion on something, and you have never thought about it before, you

  • can say, "I don't know, but let me think... I think drinking in Canada should be allowed

  • on the street." This gives you enough time to think about your opinion. Instead of saying,

  • "I don't know" and ending your conversation, you're going to actually give yourself time

  • to think about it. You can even say this: "I've never thought

  • about that before, but..." -- and again, you're going to have time to think about your opinion.

  • This is a doozy: if someone asks you something that you don't want to tell them the truth

  • about. For example, maybe you go to your friend's house for dinner, and your friend makes you

  • a dinner that you didn't really like. You don't want to tell the person that the dinner

  • was "so-so" or "sure, I liked it" or "maybe I liked it" or "of course I liked your dinner".

  • You can use this: "It was interesting." -"How was the movie last night?" -"Well, it was

  • interesting." This phrase is very, very useful. "Interesting" usually has a positive meaning.

  • It usually means something that you think made you think. We can say this. So, "Wow,

  • that was an interesting topic you talked about." But when it's -- you're asked about your opinion

  • of something, if something is "interesting", it kind of means that you didn't like it.

  • Please be careful when you use this because you better know that engvid.com is interesting

  • and not "interesting". Be careful. It has two meanings. But depending on how you deliver

  • it, it can be good. Good example: -"How was the dinner?" -"It was interesting." People

  • think that it was positive. If your facial expression and your intonation is, "It was

  • interesting", they're going to know something is wrong. So words and facial expression -- be

  • careful. Sometimes they're positive; sometimes they're negative.

  • The next time someone asks you your opinion in a conversation, please do not give one-word

  • answers or these crazy, stupid, really, really bad answers. Please try and give your opinion.

  • If you need time to think about it, you can use these expressions.

  • Tell me what you think of this video, and be honest. Bye.

Hello. Welcome to the lesson of giving your opinion. My name is Ronnie. Do me a favor.

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