How to talk about a topic intelligently

321,225 views ・ 2014-06-06

Learn English with Rebecca


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

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Hi. My name is Rebecca, and in today's lesson, I'm going to show you how to discuss or how
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to start discussing any subject intelligently. Now, when we start to discuss anything, you
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want to give the listener a frame of reference. We want to give the listener an idea what
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we're talking about. So the expressions that I'm going to show you will do just that; they
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will provide a context to discuss whatever you are talking about. Okay? So let's look
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at some of these common expressions.
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Okay, so I've divided them into three. Okay? I've divided them into three areas because
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they are slightly different in terms of the way they're structured.
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The first one is like this: "From a political point of view," okay? What I'm giving you
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here is just the introduction. Okay? After this comma, you need to say whatever your
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opinion is. But this is to give it a context and to tell your listener that you're going
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to talk about the political side, the politics of it. Okay? "From a political point of view,"
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- you might say - "I believe we need a drastic change in the government." Okay?
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Or: "From an environmental perspective, I think", something. Okay? Now, you don't have
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to use: "I believe", "I think", "I feel", but you can. All right?
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"From a social angle, the people need change."
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"From a psychological standpoint," okay? And then you say whatever you need to say.
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"From a financial viewpoint," all right?
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So you see these expressions and words. Right? "Point of view", "perspective", "angle", "standpoint",
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"viewpoint". I can assure you that if you start speaking using some of these expressions,
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your English will be much, much improved and you'll sound a lot more intellectual as well.
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Okay? Also in your writing, also in academic writing. If you happen to be in university,
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you definitely want to use some of these expressions in your writing. Okay?
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Another technique you can use is this expression: "Technically speaking," all right? And then
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you talk about the technology of it.
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Or: "Philosophically speaking," or: "Professionally speaking," okay? And again, you can take any
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topic. All right? And express it in that way. When we say: "Technically speaking," or: "Philosophically
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speaking," it means when we're speaking about the philosophy of it. Okay? Or when we're
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speaking about it from a professional point of view. Okay? Same idea, different ways of
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expressing it.
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Last one is without: "speaking", just saying this word. "Historically," or: "Spiritually,"
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or: "Educationally," or: "Academically," or: "Personally, I prefer to go to a relaxed movie."
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Okay? Or "funny movie", "I prefer to go to a funny movie rather than a horror movie."
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Okay? So, that's how you can use the word: "Personally," right? Or: "Personally speaking," right?
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So, these are three different ways in which you can discuss anything intelligently or
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give your opinion on something by providing first a frame of reference for your listener.
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If you want to have a little more practice in this, please visit our website: www.engvid.com.
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You'll find a quiz on this, as well as videos on many other topics in English. All right?
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Thanks for watching. Good luck with your English.
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