Conversation Skills - Giving your opinion

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.

Sometimes, people ask you a conversation or ask you a question in a conversation that

you have never even thought about before in your life. Instead of you saying, "I don't

know", you're going to do things like this: "I don't know, but let me think." As an example:

"Do you think that in Canada, we should have drinking allowed on the streets?" Because

in Canada, in Ontario, it's illegal. You cannot drink alcohol in the streets. Maybe in your

country you can drink everywhere -- you're lucky -- and you've never thought about this

concept of not being able to drink somewhere, so it's a new idea. The police are coming

to get me. They know that I have been drinking in the streets. Here they come.

They didn't catch me. I've still got my Canada Dry. So if you have ever been thinking about drinking

in Canada, you're more than welcome to drink Canada Dry. It's pop -- soda pop. This is

not a beer unfortunately. If you'd like to buy me a beer, I wouldn't mind. So if you

have to give your opinion on something, and you have never thought about it before, you

can say, "I don't know, but let me think... I think drinking in Canada should be allowed

on the street." This gives you enough time to think about your opinion. Instead of saying,

"I don't know" and ending your conversation, you're going to actually give yourself time

to think about it. You can even say this: "I've never thought

about that before, but..." -- and again, you're going to have time to think about your opinion.

This is a doozy: if someone asks you something that you don't want to tell them the truth

about. For example, maybe you go to your friend's house for dinner, and your friend makes you

a dinner that you didn't really like. You don't want to tell the person that the dinner

was "so-so" or "sure, I liked it" or "maybe I liked it" or "of course I liked your dinner".

You can use this: "It was interesting." -"How was the movie last night?" -"Well, it was

interesting." This phrase is very, very useful. "Interesting" usually has a positive meaning.

It usually means something that you think made you think. We can say this. So, "Wow,

that was an interesting topic you talked about." But when it's -- you're asked about your opinion

of something, if something is "interesting", it kind of means that you didn't like it.

Please be careful when you use this because you better know that engvid.com is interesting

and not "interesting". Be careful. It has two meanings. But depending on how you deliver

it, it can be good. Good example: -"How was the dinner?" -"It was interesting." People

think that it was positive. If your facial expression and your intonation is, "It was

interesting", they're going to know something is wrong. So words and facial expression -- be

careful. Sometimes they're positive; sometimes they're negative.

The next time someone asks you your opinion in a conversation, please do not give one-word

answers or these crazy, stupid, really, really bad answers. Please try and give your opinion.

If you need time to think about it, you can use these expressions.

Tell me what you think of this video, and be honest. Bye.