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 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 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 think 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.