English Listening Lesson: POLITENESS

(upbeat music)

- I'm gonna do a listening activity next, more listening,

but this is specifically about politeness in the UK,

'cause we've looked at dialogues and expressions

and ways of being polite.

But what about politeness in the UK?

We're going to listen to someone

talking about politeness in the UK.

So, I want you to listen and answer this question.

How many examples of polite actions

are mentioned in the talk, right?

So, we'll listen to someone talking

about politeness in the UK.

How many examples of polite actions

are mentioned in the talk?

Okay, let's do it.

- [Narrator] English people, generally speaking,

put great emphasis on politeness

when raising their children.

Children are taught to say please and thank you

for absolutely everything.

We are taught to say sorry,

even if someone bumps into you and it's their fault.

It's common courtesy to ask for permission

for anything and everything.

Oh, yes, and we are taught to queue,

and the biggest sin in England is to jump the queue.

But of course, no one will say anything

if you jump the queue

because everyone is too polite to speak up.

It would be ruder to embarrass the queue jumper

than it is to jump the queue.

We are taught to give up our seat on a bus

for other people who may need to sit down,

and in general to be aware of our Ps and Qs.

Some say this culture of politeness has gone too far.

The British lack sincerity and honesty

with their courteous remarks.

Well, maybe, but, you know,

it's mostly just a way of smoothing social interaction.

It's our social etiquette.

Basically, we fear conflict and want everyone to be happy.

Admittedly, this does result

in a theater of over politeness

when two British people interact.

For example,

"Sorry, is this seat free?"

"Yes, it is. Oh, I'm sorry, I had my bag on it."

"Oh, no problem. Thank you, if you're sure it's free."

"Yes, absolutely. No worries at all."

"I can find another seat."

"No, no, no, really it's fine."

"Okay, if you're sure. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Anytime."

So there you have it, British politeness.

So thank you for listening

and I'm terribly sorry for taking up so much of your time.

- How many examples?

AFakeHecker says six or more. Zoi says seven.

The nirvanaa says nine.

Iwona, eight. Thien Pham, five.

(speaking foreign language)

Let me show you. The answer was six.

And these are they, okay?

The answers are

children are taught to say please and thank you.

So I consider that one, right, not two.

To say sorry, to ask for permission,

to queue, to give up our seat on a bus

and to be aware of our Ps and Qs, our pints and quarts.

Thank you to Brian for that.

So it was six.

I don't know where you got 10 from. Wow.

Maybe you interpreted different things,

but I think those were the six main examples

of polite action, okay?

No worries, no worries.

Let's move on. Now, we're gonna listen again, okay?

Okay, listen again.

Mark the boxes here

that contain the exact words you hear.

When you have a line of three, type BINGO

and the words in the chat.

So for example, if you find out that you get, I dunno,

that you hear politely, speak out and socializing,

that's your line of three.

Just type BINGO and type politely, speak out, socializing

in the chat.

Okay, that's it.

That's why it's called bingo.

They have to be the exact words, right?

If you hear polite, then that doesn't work.

If you hear politely, then yes, it's okay. The exact words.

Okay, so we'll listen again.

Mark the boxes that contain the exact words you hear.

When you have a line of three, type bingo

and the words in the chat.

Let's do it. Let's listen one more time.

- [Narrator] English people, generally speaking,

put great emphasis on politeness

when raising their children.

Children are taught to say please and thank you

for absolutely everything.

We are taught to say sorry, even if someone bumps into you

and it's their fault.

It's common courtesy to ask for permission

for anything and everything.

Oh, yes, and we are taught to queue,

and the biggest sin in England is to jump the queue.

But of course, no one will say anything

if you jump the queue

because everyone is too polite to speak up.

It would be ruder to embarrass the queue jumper

than it is to jump the queue.

We are taught to give up our seat on a bus

for other people who may need to sit down

and in general, to be aware of our Ps and Qs.

Some say this culture of politeness has gone too far.

The British lack sincerity

and honesty with their courteous remarks.

Well, maybe, but you know,

it's mostly just a way of smoothing social interaction.

It's our social etiquette.

Basically, we fear conflict and want everyone to be happy.

Admittedly, this does result in a theater

of over politeness when two British people interact.

For example,

"Sorry, is this seat free?"

"Yes, it is. Oh, I'm sorry, I had my bag on it."

"Oh, no problem. Thank you, if you're sure it's free."

"Yes, absolutely. No worries at all."

"I can find another seat."

"No, no, no, really it's fine."

"Okay, if you're sure. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Anytime."

So there you have it, British politeness.

So thank you for listening,

and I'm terribly sorry for taking up so much of your time.

- I'm terribly sorry.

Great. Okay, excellent.

We got loads of bingos, lots of you.

I'm not sure who was the first. Let me find the first bingo.

The first bingo was Kathy

and she got courtesy.

But what are the others?

Brian, over politeness, bumps into, courtesy.

Oh, not quite.

Negar, bingo, but what are the words?

Oh no, not quite. Not quite.

No bingo. Bumps into is one of them.

Sana says, "Bingo, bumps into, our Ps and Qs."

Oh, who's the first one? Aha.

Lily, bumps into, Ps and Qs, over politeness.

Those three, right?

Those are the ones that you're saying,

bumps into, Ps and Qs, over politeness.

Well done. That was it.

Jaspreet also, well done.

Let me play it one more time to you and I'll just show you

or I'll nod when the answer comes up.

Let's do it.

- [Narrator] English people, generally speaking,

put great emphasis on politeness

when raising their children.

Children are taught to say please and thank you

for absolutely everything.

We are taught to say sorry, even if someone bumps into you

and it's their fault.

It's common courtesy to ask for permission

for anything and everything.

Oh, yes, and we are taught to queue,

and the biggest sin in England is to jump the queue.

But of course, no one will say anything

if you jump the queue

because everyone is too polite to speak up.

It would be ruder to embarrass the queue jumper

than it is to jump the queue.

We are taught to give up our seat on a bus

for other people who may need to sit down

and in general, to be aware of our Ps and Qs.

Some say this culture of politeness has gone too far.

The British lack sincerity and honesty

with their courteous remarks.

Well maybe, but you know, it's mostly just a way

of smoothing social interaction.

It's our social etiquette.

Basically, we fear conflict and want everyone to be happy.

Admittedly, this does result in a theater

of over politeness when two British people interact.

For example,

"Sorry, is this seat free?"

"Yes, it is. Oh, I'm sorry, I had my bag on it."

"Oh, no problem. Thank you, if you're sure it's free."

"Yes, absolutely. No worries at all."

"I can find another seat."

"No, no, no, really, it's fine."

"Okay, if you're sure. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Anytime."

So there you have it, British politeness.

So, thank you for listening

and I'm terribly sorry for taking up so much of your time.

- So polite. There you go.

That was it. That was it.

I'll just go through and you can read

and watch at the same time.

This might just help you with your listening skills.

It is very important when you're listening

to listen as many times as you can.

I know it takes time, but that's gonna help you.

I think when you first listen to try and pick out

the main idea, like the number of actions that were polite

and then picking out individual words,

picking out colocations and building the whole meaning.

So the more you listen, the better, really.

So, one last time, and listening and reading

at the same time is a very powerful exercise

to help you connect the sound with the written word

'cause often they're not the same, right?

So, let's do that one last time. Here we go.

- [Narrator] English people, generally speaking,

put great emphasis on politeness

when raising their children.

Children are taught to say please and thank you

for absolutely everything.

We are taught to say sorry,

even if someone bumps into you and it's their fault.

It's common courtesy to ask for permission

for anything and everything.

Oh, yes, and we are taught to queue,

and the biggest sin in England is to jump the queue.

But of course, no one will say anything

if you jump the queue

because everyone is too polite to speak up.

It would be ruder to embarrass the queue jumper

than it is to jump the queue.

We are taught to give up our seat on a bus

for other people who may need to sit down

and in general, to be aware of our Ps and Qs.

Some say this culture of politeness has gone too far.

The British lack sincerity and honesty

with their courteous remarks.

Well, maybe, but you know, it's mostly just a way

of smoothing social interaction.

It's our social etiquette.

Basically, we fear conflict and want everyone to be happy.

Admittedly, this does result in a theater

of over politeness when two British people interact.

For example,

"Sorry, is this seat free?"

"Yes, it is. Oh, I'm sorry, I had my bag on it."

"Oh, no problem. Thank you, if you're sure it's free."

"Yes, absolutely. No worries at all."

"I can find another seat."

"No, no, no, really it's fine."

"Okay, if you're sure. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Anytime."

So there you have it, British politeness.

So thank you for listening,

and I'm terribly sorry for taking up so much of your time.

- So, there you have it. The British politeness.

A bit of a stereotype, I must admit.

Okay, excellent. Good.

(upbeat music)