Learn how to express agreement and disagreement
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Can You Agree on a Place for Dinner in the UK? David Here. |
| Kellie: Hello. I'm Kellie. |
| David: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to express agreement and disagreement. The conversation takes place at the university. |
| Kellie: The speakers are friends. |
| David: So they will use informal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Phil: The present is bought so now I need a restaurant. |
| Katrina: How about the French restaurant in town? |
| Phil: I don't think so. I don't like that place. It's expensive and the food isn't very good. |
| Katrina: Oh, I liked it when I ate there. Okay, how about cooking something for her? |
| Phil: That's a good idea. It'll be more convenient and definitely cheaper. |
| Katrina: Yeah, I think it'll work. You cooked for her before and it went well, didn't it? |
| Phil: Yeah it did. Actually, I'm a great cook. |
| Katrina: That's not what I remember... |
| David: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Phil: The present is bought so now I need a restaurant. |
| Katrina: How about the French restaurant in town? |
| Phil: I don't think so. I don't like that place. It's expensive and the food isn't very good. |
| Katrina: Oh, I liked it when I ate there. Okay, how about cooking something for her? |
| Phil: That's a good idea. It'll be more convenient and definitely cheaper. |
| Katrina: Yeah, I think it'll work. You cooked for her before and it went well, didn't it? |
| Phil: Yeah it did. Actually, I'm a great cook. |
| Katrina: That's not what I remember... |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: It seems Phil is still trying to please his wife in this lesson. |
| Kellie: Yeah, food is always a good way to do that, but it seems that Katrina disagrees with him on how good his cooking is. |
| David: Giving opinions on something is important, and we’re often asked to do that. |
| Kellie: It can be difficult though, as you’ll probably want to give an honest opinion, but not to the point that it offends people. |
| David: Yeah, sometimes we have to be gentle with our opinions. Even if we want to strongly say “You’re completely and utterly wrong”, it’s best not to say that! |
| Kellie: Yeah, try to be diplomatic! Say something like “I see your point but…” But with friends, sometimes it’s okay to be more blunt. |
| David: I tell my friends that they’re wrong all of the time and they don’t take offence. |
| Kellie: Yeah, it depends on who you’re speaking to. If it’s someone you don’t know well, then always be nicer about it. |
| David: What if you’re really worried about how your opinion will be taken, even if you’re nice about it? |
| Kellie: Then you can do what we call, “sitting on the fence”. |
| David: What does that mean? |
| Kellie: It means you don’t give an opinion either way and just stay in the middle. |
| David: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| David: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kellie: to buy [natural native speed] |
| David: to purchase with money |
| Kellie: to buy[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: to buy [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: town [natural native speed] |
| David: a populated area that is smaller than a city but larger than a village |
| Kellie: town[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: town [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: to eat [natural native speed] |
| David: to consume or ingest by mouth |
| Kellie: to eat[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: to eat [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: convenient [natural native speed] |
| David: easy and comfortable |
| Kellie: convenient[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: convenient [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: to cook [natural native speed] |
| David: to make a meal from raw ingredients |
| Kellie: to cook[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: to cook [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: to remember [natural native speed] |
| David: to recall, to think again |
| Kellie: to remember[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: to remember [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: idea [natural native speed] |
| David: thought, plan, suggestion |
| Kellie: idea[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: idea [natural native speed] |
| David: Next we have.. |
| Kellie: actually [natural native speed] |
| David: as a true fact, really |
| Kellie: actually[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: actually [natural native speed] |
| David: And lastly.. |
| Kellie: something [natural native speed] |
| David: some unspecified thing |
| Kellie: something[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kellie: something [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| David: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kellie: “something” |
| David: meaning "some unspecified thing" |
| David: You hear “something” so often in casual conversation. |
| Kellie: It’s a great word. You can use it for anything that hasn’t yet been specified. |
| David: Like, if you are hungry and want to eat but don’t have anything in particular in mind, you can say “I want to eat something.” |
| Kellie: That’s similar to how Katrina used it in the dialogue. She said “How about cooking something for her?” |
| David: She said that because she didn’t know exactly what Phil should cook. |
| Kellie: That’s right. She wanted to suggest that he cooked, but not what he cooked. |
| David: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Kellie: Sure. For example, you can say.. I'm bored and need something to do. |
| David: ..which means "I’m bored and need to find an activity that I can do." Okay, what's next? |
| Kellie: more convenient |
| David: meaning "this works better and is easier" |
| David: Convenient is an adjective, right? |
| Kellie: Yes. It is used to describe something that is easy and comfortable for us. Like, if you had to travel for work and had a train station only a minutes’ walk from your house. That would be convenient. |
| David: But noisy. |
| Kellie: Probably! We use “more” with an adjective to compare two things. |
| David: So in this case, we can compare what is easier for us. |
| Kellie: We can use it to suggest an alternative when the original idea doesn’t work for us. |
| David: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Kellie: Sure. For example, you can say... it would be more convenient if we could meet at the park by my house. |
| David: .. which means "It would be better for me if we could meet at the park by my house." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: In this lesson, you'll learn how to express agreement and disagreement. We talked about opinions earlier and the dialogue was focused around it, so let’s take a look at how we do it. |
| Kellie: If you want to express an opinion and make it clear that it is an opinion, the most common way is to use “I think”. Start the sentence with “I think” and then add what you think! |
| David: I think that is easy. |
| Kellie: There you go! Often, you need to follow “I think” with “that” and then add a verb. |
| David: I’ll ask your opinion on something. What exercise is good to lose weight? |
| Kellie: Hmm, I think that running is good exercise. |
| David: I think that swimming is good. |
| Kellie: We can also use “Maybe” instead of “I think”. |
| David: Like, “Maybe walking is good exercise”? |
| Kellie: That’s it. To give a negative opinion, just add “do not” or “don’t”. “I don’t think playing football is good exercise”. |
| David: Phil used this in the dialogue. He said “I don’t think so.” |
| Kellie: That’s right, he did! |
| David: Okay, let’s look at something else now. How about the adverb “actually”? |
| Kellie: This is an adverb that can modify sentences. It means “in actual fact,” or “in reality.” It’s commonly used to correct statements. You can use it to correct opinions too. |
| David: How does it fit into a sentence? |
| Kellie: You’ll usually see it at the start of a sentence, and sometimes at the end. Either way, in written English it will be separated by a comma. |
| David: I think we need an example. |
| Kellie: Okay. Earlier, I said “I don’t think playing football is good exercise.” |
| David: I think it is good exercise. |
| Kellie: Me too! Actually, footballers are really fit. |
| David: Ah, you corrected what you said about football. |
| Kellie: Yeah. Let’s try another one. You can correct me. “I think Christmas is in November.” |
| David: Actually, it’s in December. |
| Kellie: Phil used this in the dialogue when he said “I’m a great cook, actually.” |
| David: But I don’t think he is! |
Outro |
| David: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Kellie: Bye. |
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