American English Conversation 😲 Expressions for Giving Surprising News

13,849 views ・ 2020-04-09

English with Jennifer


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English with Jennifer.
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Some people love surprises. Others hate them. What kind of person are you? In this
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lesson, I'll teach you some conversational expressions that will
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prepare you for the next time you give or receive surprising news. If you follow
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me on Instagram, you might have seen this before. It's a face roller. I got it for
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less than five dollars, if you can believe it. I've been using it for about
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a year. Maybe not as much as I could, but I use it. I like to think it works. We say
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"if you can believe it" before or after a surprising statement. I got it for less
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than five dollars, if you can believe it. If you can believe it, this thing cost
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less than five dollars. A similar expression is "believe it or not" Believe
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it or not, I think this face roller actually works.
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I believe I've stopped some new wrinkles from appearing. Okay. You're probably
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going to think that I buy a lot of frivolous things, but I want to show you
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one more thing that I recently got. Members of my YouTube channel already
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saw this in a bonus video about posture. It's a posture corrector. Call me crazy,
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but I'm using it to help me stand up straight. Under a sweater no one can see it.
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"Call me crazy" is a fun way to introduce something a
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little shocking. It can be something you did or something you plan to do. Call me
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crazy, but I bought one of those posture correctors. Call me crazy, but I'm going
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to paint the whole house a new color. So here's something you may not know about
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me. When I go to the pharmacy, I love to use coupons. Who doesn't like a
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discount? 25% off everything, 40% off one item. Buy two, get one free. And other good
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deals. I plan very carefully. Then I make one big trip. Would you believe it? I
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can save anywhere between 10 and 40 dollars. I get really excited when I see
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the total price drop down. "Would you believe it?" is a natural way to introduce
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something surprising about yourself or someone else. Would you believe it? I
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saved $40 at the pharmacy! Would you believe it? People are still going to the
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beach during a lockdown. A similar expression is "you're never going to
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believe it." "Going to" reduces to "gonna." You're never gonna believe it. You're
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never going to believe it. I saved $40 today at the pharmacy! So
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here are all the ways to introduce surprising news. Listen and repeat. Try to
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follow my intonation and rhythm. If you can believe it... Believe it or not...
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Would you believe it? You're never gonna believe it, but... Call me crazy, but...
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So, what can you say when you receive surprising news? A friend says, "Believe it
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or not, but I saw Jennifer Lopez at a store!" You don't quite believe that, so
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you say, "No way!" Or maybe you do believe it, but it's still quite unexpected,
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so you say, "Really?"
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Your cousin surprises you with the news that he's just found a box of old family
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photos that must be about 70 or 80 years old. You find this interesting and
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surprising. You say, "Huh. You don't say!"
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We also use "you don't say" sarcastically when the news isn't surprising at all.
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A friend tells you, "Would you believe it? My cousin got a speeding ticket yesterday."
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Your response, "Hmm. You don't say! Isn't that his third speeding ticket this year?"
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Here's a fun task for you. I'll share a few different surprising stories that I
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read about. You can retell the stories to a conversation partner. Use different
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expressions from this lesson. Okay? First story. Believe it or not, this guy
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in South Africa spent almost 80 days in a barrel on top of an 80-foot pole! He
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was alone, but I think he did have his cell phone. Food was sent up to him every
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day. Crazy, right? Second story. Would you
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believe it? This guy in New York City used a drone to get the phone number of
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a cute girl living in the apartment building across from his. He first saw
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her on the rooftop, and after he got her phone number, they started texting. Now
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they're dating. Third story. You're never gonna believe it, but I read about an
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Australian man who managed to save a gecko that was drowning!
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He found it in his drink at a pub, and he saved its life by performing CPR on it.
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Pretty incredible, huh? Do you have an interesting and surprising story to tell?
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Well, now you have some new expressions to share it. If you found this lesson
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useful, please like and share the video. As always thanks for watching and happy studies!
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Thank you to all the members of my
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channel and, you Super and Truly Marvelous Members, look out for the next
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bonus video! Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And try something
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new! Download the apps Kiki Time and Hallo.
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These are more ways I can help you learn English each and every week. And hey!
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Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel. Turn on those notifications.
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