Better Speaking Podcast 🗨️🗣️ How to give your opinion

I think it's important for Chinese  football to have some foreign  

players who can give some news about tactic I think to, to Chinese players.

Czech footballer, Vaclav Nemecek using English to talk about being one of the first European players to join a football  

club in China. And also in the program teacher and trainer Richard Hallows is with me again  

to look at what makes Vaclav such an effective user of English as an international language.   

And Richard will also be giving us some more advice on becoming better speakers of English.

Vaclav Nemecek was a leading footballer in his home country. As a talented young player, he played for the top Czech  

Club Sparta Prague. In his mid-20s, he played for leading western European clubs, first in France,  

and then in Switzerland. In 1998 he accepted an offer to play in China for the champion  

club, Dalian Wonder. At the time, this was quite unusual for a professional European footballer  

to join a club in China. In this interview, he talks about the benefits of foreign players playing in China.

I think it's important for Chinese football to have some foreign players  

who can give some news about tactic I think to, to Chinese players.

You are taking football into China. China has played football in isolation for so long.

Yeah, yeah, but, but now I feel that China  

starts to open, to, to open for everything, for economy, for sport. I think it's, it's,

uh, the country who, who is in developing time now.

Vaclav can communicate well in English, but what is it that makes him a good communicator? What's his secret to better speaking?

And with me again in the studio is teacher and teacher trainer Richard Hallows. Hello Richard.

Hello Callum.

Vaclav Nemecek, an international footballer, Richard, but is his use of international English as successful as his football?

I think he's a, it's quite interesting case here.  

His English level is not terribly high, but the way he uses his English, you know, he  

sounds very confident and he sounds, you know, he's a good communicator. Now I think, I think,  

one thing which makes him sound a better speaker than he actually is, is the way he says 'I feel' and  

'I think', so when he's giving his opinion, he sounds, you know, like he's very sure what he wants to say. 

I think it's important for Chinese football to have some foreign players who can give  

some news about tactic I think to, to Chinese players.

You are taking football into China. China has played football in isolation for so long.

Yeah, yeah, but, but now I feel that China  

starts to open, to, to open for everything.

So, 'I feel this, I think that'. Are there other ways that we can express this?

I mean, I think most learners of English learn 'I think' or 'I believe' as, um,  

starting points of giving your opinion, and that's very good, and we use that all the time, but maybe  

our listeners could learn some more ways, develop this a little bit, and sound even more confident.

Okay, well, erm, you have the platform. Let's have some examples.

Well for example, 'I think' is a very

neutral way of giving your opinion and I think 'I believe' is a slightly more formal way, but maybe,  

um, a very informal way is to say 'I reckon'.

'I reckon', right, so how would you use that, for example? 

um I, 'I reckon it's going to rain later'.

Okay, so you could say 'I think it's gonna rain' but 'I believe it's going to rain' would sound a little bit formal.

A little bit, right. So  

that's as you said before. What about if you feel very strongly about something?

Well, if you have a strong conviction about something, you might say something like 'I strongly believe that'.

And is that quite formal?

It's quite formal, yeah. Very strong as well, um, or 'I'm absolutely certain that'

Right, and that's very strong.

Oh, you could maybe, if you, if you don't have a very strong conviction about something, the opposite,  

you might say 'I'm not so sure, but'

Okay, so, so different ways of getting into the, uh, conversation.

So develop a range of, um, ways of expressing your opinion from, you know, being  

very sure, to not sure, being very formal, to very informal.

Okay, well, let's briefly go over those again.

So, ways of expressing your opinion.

We've got 'I think', 'I reckon', 'I believe'. Three very good ones to, to start off with.

Strong opinion? 

Very strong opinion: 'I strongly believe that' or 'I'm absolutely certain that'.

What about if you're not so sure how you feel?

Well, 'I'm not so sure, but, duh-duh-duh-duh-duh'.  

What else would you like to pick out from that, uh, speech?

Okay, well, as well as giving his opinion, 

Vaclav also responds to a question, and he responds with 'yeah' which is not a very good way of  

responding, in fact. I mean, it's okay, it's okay, we understand, but probably better would be something  

like 'that's true, but' or 'that's true, and', depending if he wants to, you know, contrast the point or not.

But you are taking football into China. China has played football in isolation for so long.  

Yeah, yeah, but, but now I feel that China starts to open.

So are there more ways of responding?

Well, yeah, you could also say 'exactly',

if I, you know, I absolutely agree with you, or if I don't really agree I could  

say 'well, I agree up to a point, but', yeah? And maybe if I disagree I could say 'I disagree' but

it's not very natural. Better, 'Oh, come on!'

Right, which is a very natural

Yeah, much more natural, yeah, yeah.  

Tell you what Callum, let's have a little practice now and see if we  

can use, see how many of these different ways of giving opinion and responding we can use now.

Okay.

I'm gonna give you some very controversial statements. [Okay.] I want you to respond.   

Think about what we just talked about using a range etcetera. [Uh-huh.] So, for example, I reckon a woman's place is in the home.

Ooh, I'm absolutely certain that many people would disagree with that.

Okay, maybe a 'Ooh,come on!'  

That might not be quite, um, or how about: I believe football only creates violence.

I agree up to a point, uh, I, I think football can bring a lot of things. Violence is perhaps one of the negative  

things it can bring, so I agree up to a point.

Okay, uh, let's, let's do one final one. How about,  

um, not everyone will agree with me, but I think men should be paid more than women.

Oh come on. Don't be stupid.

Very good. Okay, so there's a whole range of ways of giving opinion and responding.

Okay, I reckon we've done enough of that for, for now, so, uh, let's go back to to Vaclav's, er, English.

Any other points?

Yeah, I think, um, I made the point that I think Vaclav's level of English is  

not terribly high but in fact he is a very strong communicator, so he's using the little English he  

has in a very effective way.

For example?

Well, for example, he says, uh, 'we give some news about tactics', 

uh, which is not a very good structure. I think it should be 'give some advice' or something like that, 

but I understand what he wants, what he wants to say. 

I think it's important for Chinese football to 

have some foreign players who can give some news about tactic I think to, to Chinese players

Another example, he says, um, 'China is a country who is in developing time',

uh, I think it's, uh, the country who, who is in developing time now.

I understand what he wants to say. I think it should be 'a country  

which is developing at the moment', or something like that but I understand. That's the point.  

So he's a very strong communicator, and I think this is a good tip for our listeners, to don't be afraid  

of making mistakes, use the English you have and just try and communicate. It's the way to learn and improve.   

So, if you could summarize those points for us please Richard?

Well, I think the  

first thing is: develop a range of ways of giving your opinion and responding to people's opinion.  

'I think', 'I reckon', 'In my opinion', etcetera. Think about how you can use your vocabulary and your grammar,

it doesn't matter how much or how little you have, as effectively as possible. Think about, number one,  

communicating, and number two, communicating.

Richard Hallows, for today, thank you very much.

Thank you.

I was talking there with Richard about ways of giving opinions. 

Do you use the wide range of expressions that Richard suggested? We asked some learners to  

respond to the same statement that Richard put to me: that women should be paid less than men.

No, I completely disagree with this because women has, women have a lot of things to spend on. 

No, definitely not, no. I think they work harder, especially moms, sometimes they have  

to combine work at home and work in the office. I think they should be paid more. 

No, absolutely not. Everybody is equal.

Not surprisingly perhaps, some strong opinions  

from three female learners of English from Afghanistan, Nigeria and China. They certainly  

know the language of strong disagreement. Now before we go today, if you didn't quite catch  

all of Richard's better speaking tips, don't worry, here's a chance to hear them again.

Using different ways to give your opinion can make you sound more confident and fluent. Begin by using phrases like  

'I think' or 'I believe'. If you use these already, then use other common English phrases to express opinions like 'I reckon'. 

We've got 'I think', 'I reckon', 'I believe', and they're three very good ones to to start off with.

When you're having a discussion with somebody and you want to respond to the person's opinion  

don't just say 'yes' or 'no', use different ways of responding. For example, if you agree you can say  

'exactly', or if you partly agree but partly disagree, you can say 'that's true, but', or you could say   

'Well, I agree up to a point, but', and if you strongly disagree and are speaking informally, you can say 'Oh, come on'.

You could also say 'exactly' if I, you know, I absolutely agree with you or if I don't  

really agree, I could say 'Well I agree up to a point, but'

No, absolutely not. Everybody's equal.

If you want to become a better speaker, you need to practice and use the words you know  

as best you can. Remember what we've said before in this series: the important thing is to try and communicate.

Think about how you can use your vocabulary and your  

grammar, it doesn't matter how much or how little you have, as effectively as possible.

Think about number one, communicating, and number two, communicating.