Conversation Skills - Giving your opinion

TRANSCRIPT

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.

[dukenukem]

People going Usa, Malta, or canada to learn english and they are spending so much money... i really don't need to go usa or canada... i can learn english on this way... this is the best channel on youtube... Thanks Ronnie.

[claudetteearle]

I'm an English language teacher and I think you're brilliant! Great sense of humour too!

[blackpanther]

"Whats the hell does "so-so" mean?" 🤣🤣🤣
You're so funny and explain so understandable!!! Thanks a lot!

[BahjaAhmed-gj]

I used to watch your videos back in 2012/13 because my dad had them stored on a large drive. They taught me so much during that time. I'm truly grateful to my dad for making those videos accessible to me and to my siblings... tnx Dad:)

[jackiekang]

Your teaching is humorous and easy to understand. It make my learning so much fun! Thanks Ronnie!

[ricardopalacios]

This class was really interesting in the good way. Ronnie, you are a great teacher.

[Lucyrocks]

Hey Ronnie! I super enjoy your lessons and have them as inspiration for teaching my Brazilian buddies...thank you for being such a cool teacher. Best from Brazil!

[jpk]

An excellent teacher, it's always a pleasure watching your lessons without get bored :) .. that way you teach its unique! Keep going !!

[elenalevasheva]

Thank you for the lesson. The lesson is just great again. All your lessons can be watched endlessly and you don't need to watch anything else.

[lalc]

This video was so interesting and helpful because I used to give short opinions. I really understand the importance of detailed feed back. Your teaching style is always attractive. Thanks.

[williamraysv]

I love the way that you teach your lessons 😄

[The]

I really liked it, it was interesting and shows us why our opinion could be the main point to improve the conversation, the hardest for who is learning English. Thank you so much. You are a great teacher.

[rodrigosantanna]

Hi Ronnie! I´ve loved your videos that much! I started to watch them this week while I was looking for extra information to a job interview, since then I watched a lot of videos and up to now I don´t know what is my favorite one! Please, keep sharing your knowledgement with us. You´re very cool and funny! Hugs from Brazil...

[Mindsket]

Hi, Ronnie!
I'm from the Dominican Republic.

I really like your class because I was learning some many words, her class is so amazing for real. I've been studying for 1 year, I love so much.
thanks for all the words.

[esegungor]

I have never seen a teacher like Ronnie. Ronnie is the best teacher in the world!

[LuisGonzalez-dmwj]

I love her because she always explain in English.

[khasavanhluanglath]

Thank you so much Ronnie you made me understand your lessons very well and your other lesson is very good for me
and your explanation in each lessons pretty clear for me, I can use the knowledge from your lesson in my real class in college and real life
You are the best teacher

[karinadyaharumimansari]

this is good video to watch! I'm as the Indonesian people who little bit speaks English well, have learned through this video and I believe would increase my English easily. Thanks for this video. 

[aidavilimiene]

You are the best english teacher which I ever saw. You are talking about things which are not written in the books. Thank you a lot:)

[fjorgenews]

You are my favorite teacher around the world! You're funny, naturally and you have one excellent way to teach. Congratulations.