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.