0:01

Are you having a hard time following

0:04

conversations in English?

0:07

Don't worry. Today, I'll

0:09

show you some expressions that

0:11

you can use confidently. In

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situations where It isn't easy

0:16

to follow a conversation.

0:19

Welcome to Speak English Now

0:21

podcast. With your host, Georgiana.

0:24

The podcast that will help you to speak

0:26

English fluently with no grammar

0:28

and no textbooks.

0:30

Hi. I am Georgiana, your

0:33

English teacher and founder

0:35

of speak english podcast dot

0:38

com. My mission

0:40

is to help you speak

0:42

English fluently.

0:44

Do you know

0:46

how you can help me?

0:48

You can share the podcast with

0:51

your friends and family. Tell

0:53

them to go to speak english podcast

0:56

dot com. and get my

0:58

free mini course. That would

1:01

mean a lot to me.

1:02

Thanks.

1:04

Oh, by the way, Remember

1:06

that you can check out the transcript on

1:09

my website. Speak

1:11

english podcast dot com

1:14

slash podcast. Okay.

1:18

Let's get started. When

1:21

we learn a new language, We

1:23

are eager to practice speaking

1:25

with another person. But what

1:28

happens when the conversation is

1:30

difficult for some reason? it's

1:34

hard to keep up or

1:36

follow what they tell us.

1:38

Or If

1:39

you are in a conversation

1:42

with people who speak very

1:44

fast and you can't hear

1:46

those words at all, or

1:48

you don't recognize them, you

1:50

feel uncomfortable. Although,

1:54

you may be embarrassed, to interrupt

1:56

in these situations, you

1:58

can politely say that you don't

2:00

understand what they have said.

2:03

So today, I will show

2:05

you some expressions. You

2:07

can use confidently in

2:10

situations where it easy

2:12

to follow a conversation. Let's

2:16

get started.

2:18

Number one,

2:20

asking for clarification.

2:24

You could say something like Sorry.

2:28

I'm afraid I don't follow,

2:31

or I'm afraid I don't

2:33

follow you. By using

2:35

this expression, you

2:37

are suggesting that you must

2:39

have it reexplained or

2:41

explained differently. Examples.

2:46

Sorry,

2:47

I don't follow you. What

2:49

exactly do you want

2:51

me to do next? Another

2:55

example, do

2:57

you understand? No.

3:01

I'm afraid I don't follow. Here

3:05

are some more phrases to

3:07

ask for clarification. I'm

3:10

not entirely sure what you mean.

3:13

Could you explain it again?

3:16

Or

3:17

could you please say that a little

3:19

slower?

3:21

or,

3:23

sorry,

3:24

that went straight over my

3:26

head. Could you explain

3:28

it differently? Number

3:31

two. What to do

3:33

when someone asks for your opinion?

3:37

If someone asks for your

3:39

opinion on a topic for

3:42

which you feel unprepared, You

3:45

can use the following phrases.

3:49

It's hard to express my ideas

3:52

about this topic in English. but

3:54

I'll try my best.

3:57

Or

3:59

it's

3:59

really fascinating listening

4:02

to you talk. But to be

4:04

honest, I don't know much

4:06

about this topic.

4:10

Number three, What

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to say when you want to end

4:14

the conversation? You

4:16

can say, this

4:18

is a little beyond me.

4:22

By using this expression, you

4:24

are ending the conversation. You

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are not asking for clarification. You're

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saying that the conversation is

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too difficult for you.

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Let's hear an example. I'm

4:40

sure it's fascinating what

4:42

you're saying, but I have

4:44

to admit that it's beyond

4:46

me.

4:50

I hope you're enjoying yourself. These

4:53

expressions can be very useful

4:55

when we find ourselves in difficult

4:58

situations and have to

5:00

ask for clarification. If

5:04

you want to know how to speak

5:06

English using the proper

5:08

techniques, Visit

5:10

speak english podcast dot

5:12

com and subscribe to

5:15

my mailing list. I

5:17

will send you my five day

5:19

video course. So

5:22

you can learn how to

5:24

speak English fluently once

5:27

and for all, and it's

5:29

completely free.

5:30

Now,

5:33

it's time for you to learn grammar

5:35

and context. with a point

5:37

of view story. I'll

5:39

tell you a short story more

5:42

than one time. Every

5:44

time I'll change a grammar

5:46

point. I can

5:48

change the tense or the

5:50

person. This way,

5:53

you'll notice that changes in

5:55

context. Come

5:57

on. Let's get started.

6:01

So last week, I

6:03

listened to the latest Speak

6:05

English Now podcast episode.

6:08

and wrote down six

6:10

of my favorite expressions in

6:12

a notebook. The

6:15

problem is that I did

6:17

not listen to the episode enough

6:19

to learn how to use the expressions

6:21

in context. And

6:24

since I'm not willing to

6:26

listen to the same episode again,

6:29

I decided I'm ready to

6:31

use them in a conversation. Yes.

6:36

I have not mastered the expressions.

6:39

But I came up with a cool idea.

6:42

I numbered the expressions and

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rolled a die in the middle

6:47

of the conversation. I

6:50

use the expressions depending

6:53

on the number on the die.

6:56

As you imagine, this

6:58

created all kinds of

7:00

funny situations. And

7:03

since I wanted to practice, I

7:06

went to an English speaking restaurant

7:08

for lunch yesterday. When

7:12

I walked in, the receptionist

7:14

said, hi. And

7:16

after rolling the die, I replied.

7:20

It's fascinating listening

7:22

to you talk. But to

7:24

be honest, I don't know

7:26

much about this topic. Next,

7:30

when the waiter asked me to follow

7:32

him, I took

7:34

the opportunity to roll

7:36

the die again and replied

7:39

to the waiter. I'm

7:41

sorry. I don't follow

7:43

you. Later,

7:46

I order some coffee. And

7:49

when the waiter asked, if

7:51

I wanted sugar in my coffee,

7:54

I rolled the dice again and

7:56

answered. It's

7:58

quite hard to express my

8:00

ideas about this topic

8:02

in English, but I'll try

8:04

my best. People

8:07

at the restaurant didn't

8:09

know what to think of me.

8:12

Some thought I was a madman.

8:15

If you ask the waiter's opinion, he

8:18

would probably say, it's

8:20

beyond me.

8:24

Okay. Let's listen

8:26

to the same story in

8:28

the future tense.

8:31

Two years from now, Tony

8:34

will be an English learner.

8:36

who will want to use

8:39

new English expressions. After

8:43

listening to the latest episode,

8:45

of the Speak English Now podcast,

8:48

he will write

8:50

down six of his

8:52

favorite expressions in a

8:54

notebook. The problem

8:57

is that Tony won't

8:59

listen to the episodes enough

9:02

to learn how to use them in

9:04

context. Since

9:07

he won't listen to the

9:09

same episode again, he'll

9:11

decide that he is

9:13

ready to use them in a

9:15

conversation. And

9:18

even though he won't master

9:20

the expressions, Tony

9:22

will come up with an idea.

9:26

A crazy idea. he

9:29

will number the expressions and

9:31

roll a die in the middle

9:33

of the conversation. In

9:36

this way,

9:37

Tony will use the expression

9:40

that the die indicates.

9:43

As you can imagine, this

9:46

will create all kinds

9:48

of funny situations. Since

9:51

he's going to want to practice, he

9:54

will have lunch at an

9:56

English speaking restaurant. When

9:59

he enters,

9:59

the receptionist will

10:02

greet him. And

10:03

after rolling the die,

10:05

Tony will respond. It's

10:09

fascinating, listening to

10:11

you talk, but to

10:13

be honest, I don't

10:15

know much about this topic.

10:18

Next,

10:19

when the waiter asked to

10:22

follow him, Tony will

10:24

take the opportunity to roll

10:26

the die again and

10:28

reply to the waiter I'm

10:31

sorry. I don't

10:33

follow you.

10:35

Later, Tony

10:36

will order some coffee.

10:38

And when the waiter asks

10:41

if he wants sugar in his

10:43

coffee, Tony

10:46

will roll the die again and

10:48

reply. It's quite

10:51

hard to express my

10:53

ideas about this topic in

10:55

English, but I will try

10:57

my best. The

10:59

people at the restaurant won't

11:02

know what to think of

11:04

Tony. Some

11:06

will think he's a

11:08

madman. If you

11:10

ask my opinion, I'll

11:12

say, It's beyond me.

11:17

Okay. That's the end of

11:19

this short exercise.

11:21

Notice that the changes

11:23

between grammar points are

11:25

subtle, but important. My

11:29

suggestion is that you

11:31

avoid memorizing grammar

11:33

rules. It's

11:34

better to see the changes

11:37

in the proper context. And

11:40

with a story, it is much

11:43

easier to remember all

11:45

this. It is one

11:47

of the techniques that

11:49

I use in my premium courses.

11:52

I recommend you

11:54

to take a look at Speak

11:56

english podcast dot

11:58

com slash

11:59

courses.

12:03

Okay.

12:03

We have reached

12:05

the end of this episode.

12:08

Repetition will help you

12:10

improve your English fluency.

12:12

So make sure you listen

12:14

to my podcast episode several

12:17

times. See you

12:19

soon. Bye bye. Did

12:22

you enjoy today's episode?

12:24

Get the transcript now at speak

12:27

english podcast dot com.