English Conversation Skills: How to Concede a Point

I think uniforms are actually a good idea. I wore one when I was in school.

For one thing, you don't have to put any thought into choosing clothes in the morning.

I suppose you have a point, but I think clothing is part of one's self-expression. At that age, kids want to experiment with fashion.

There's nothing wrong with that.

Sometimes when we disagree with another, the best course of action is to agree to disagree.

In this lesson, we'll practice expressions for conceding a point.

That is, acknowledging that someone at least made a logical argument.

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So when we concede a point, we may not like what the other person is saying. We may not share their viewpoint.

But we can admit that they have a point.

That's part of being skilled at conversation.

Let's listen again to that conversation about school uniforms. This time you'll hear the whole conversation.

Try to catch the different ways one can concede a point.

Do you know they're talking about having uniforms next year at my brother's high school?

Lucky I'm not there anymore!

I think uniforms are actually a good idea.

I wore one when I was in school. For one thing, you don't have to put any thought into choosing clothes in the morning.

I suppose you have a point, but I think clothing is part of one's self-expression.

At that age, kids want to experiment with fashion. There's nothing wrong with that.

I can see your point, but they can do that outside of school.

There's enough to distract students while they're in school.

You know, kids can be mean. Some get teased for their fashion choices,

and others gain popularity just because they wear popular brands.

All right, I'll give you that, but kids already feel restricted at school by a lot of rules.

Tomato, tomahto. What you see is restrictive others see as organized. I think uniforms create the right atmosphere.

School isn't supposed to be like your living room or a night club.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

We just see things differently.

Let's review those different ways to concede a point.

Now try to recall some of the expressions. I'll give you a situation and you choose the best response.

What do you say?

What can you say?

What can you say?

So what can you say?

Do you know they're talking about having uniforms next year at my brother's high school?

Lucky I'm not there anymore! I think uniforms are actually a good idea.

I wore one when I was in school. For one thing, you don't have to put any thought into choosing clothes in the morning.

I suppose you have a point, but I think clothing is part of one's self-expression. At that age, kids want to experiment with fashion.

There's nothing wrong with that. I can see your point, but they can do that outside of school.

There's enough to distract students while they're in school.

You know, kids can be mean.

Some get teased for their fashion choices, and others gain popularity just because they wear popular brands.

All right, I'll give you that, but kids already feel restricted at school by a lot of rules.

Tomato, tomahto. What you see is restrictive others see as organized. I think uniforms create the right atmosphere.

School isn't supposed to be like your living room or a nightclub. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

We just see things differently.

That's all for now. I hope you found this lesson useful.

Thanks for watching and happy studies!