Hello. My name is Benjamin. I'm a lost tourist
in London, and I don't know where to go. I'm going to talk to the ticket man in the London
Underground and see if he can help me. "Hello, Mr. ticket man. I would like a ticket to Piccadilly."
The man starts talking to me. "Blah, blah, blah." He asks me a question. I don't know
what to say, so I need to make a noise. "Ah." These are noises that give you time to think
about your answer. "Ah. I would like a ticket, please, to Piccadilly Circus." Or I could
say, "Urgh, I want a ticket please." Or "Urm, I want to go to --." Or the other one would
be, "Mmm, I want a ticket." Okay. Good. So then, my ticket man says, "No problem.
That will be four pounds fifty, please." I then say, "You know, I think that's a little
bit expensive, a bit expensive." So these are all phrases for expressing an opinion
-- if I think that's too big a price. So I could say, "you know, I think that's too expensive."
Or, "I mean, I only really want to go one stop, half a mile. You see, I've only got
four pounds. Then, I can't eat." Or, "Well, maybe you could give it to me for a little
less." Or, "the thing is, Mr. ticket man, I need to go there as well." These are all
expressing an opinion to the ticket man. Okay? So one last way of expressive an opinion. I
could say, "Well, it's like this. You see, I want to go to Piccadilly, but I can only
give you two pounds." Okay? All ways of giving an opinion, of starting
"I want, I need". Okay? The ticket man thinks, and then he says, "Well,
for three pounds, I can give you a single. Is that what you want?" "A single? What is
a single?" These are all phrases for when I need to think about my answer. So I could
say, "Mmm, let me see. A single?" And then I repeat the question he has given to me.
Okay? Or I can say, "Now, let me think. That might be a good idea." Or, "Just a minute.
I'm going to ask my friend." Or, "Hang on, sir. I need to look in my guidebook to find out."
Or, "That's a really interesting question." Now, the thing about this phrase here, "It's
a really interesting question", it's better maybe in school or university. Probably not
very appropriate for the London Underground. But it's a good phrase to remember, anyway.
Or I could say, "I'm not sure about that. Maybe. Could you tell me more?" And then,
the ticket man says, "Of course I can tell you more, but you must watch the next video in
EngVid." See you soon. My name is Benjamin. Thank you.
