SPEAK With Me in English [Conversation Lesson] — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00What is the number one topic that they
2. 0:02say you should not talk about in polite
3. 0:05conversations?
4. 0:07Well, it's politics. And what are we
5. 0:10going to talk about today? Politics. I
6. 0:13am going to teach you how to talk about
7. 0:15politics in a polite way while still
8. 0:18sharing your opinion. Today's political
9. 0:21lesson is inspired by these political
10. 0:25pamphlets that I have been receiving in
11. 0:27the mail because it is election season
12. 0:29here where I live. And during today's
13. 0:31lesson, you're going to be seeing some
14. 0:33real-life phrases that are actually used
15. 0:35to talk about politics. Plus, at the end
16. 0:38of today's lesson, you'll get a chance
17. 0:40to practice talking about politics with
18. 0:42me. So, pay attention so that you can
19. 0:45speak at the end of today's lesson. If
20. 0:47you're new here, hi, I'm Vanessa from
21. 0:49speakenglishwithvanessa.com.
22. 0:51And I have been teaching real-life
23. 0:53English now for over 10 years to more
24. 0:56than 7 million of you here on YouTube.
25. 1:00Thank you so much for learning English
26. 1:02with me. And to help you with today's
27. 1:04lesson so that you can remember
28. 1:06everything that you've learned, I have
29. 1:08created a free PDF worksheet that
30. 1:11includes all of the phrases and
31. 1:13questions and sentences that you can use
32. 1:15to talk politely about politics but
33. 1:18still share your opinion. And to help
34. 1:21you use these expressions, I have
35. 1:23included a bonus. This is a bonus
36. 1:26speaking practice within the worksheet.
37. 1:29This will help you be able to speak and
38. 1:32use what you've learned, not just hear
39. 1:34it in your head and understand it, but
40. 1:37actually use it. So that when you go out
41. 1:39into the real world, you will have all
42. 1:41the expressions you need and you'll be
43. 1:43able to express yourself. So, how can
44. 1:45you get this PDF worksheet plus the
45. 1:47bonus speaking practice? All you need to
46. 1:49do is click on the link in the
47. 1:50description, enter your name and email
48. 1:52address, and voila,
49. 1:54the The worksheet and bonus speaking
50. 1:56practice will land in your email inbox
51. 1:59for free. This is my gift to you. All
52. 2:02right, are you ready to get started?
53. 2:04Let's do it. The first expression that
54. 2:06you can use to talk about politics is
55. 2:09I'm feeling really worried about
56. 2:12I'm feeling really worried about this
57. 2:14election. I feel so important. And what
58. 2:17if the wrong person gets elected?
59. 2:20>> [gasps]
60. 2:20>> Terrible things are going to happen.
61. 2:22>> [laughter]
62. 2:23>> Well, this is a good way to express your
63. 2:25opinion without being too specific, but
64. 2:27you're opening the door to conversation.
65. 2:30Phrase number two is I can't believe
66. 2:32that Did you see that press conference
67. 2:35last night? I can't believe that he said
68. 2:38that. I can't believe how much attention
69. 2:41this story is getting. It's all over the
70. 2:43news. It just seems like a small thing
71. 2:45when there's such bigger things going on
72. 2:47in the world. I can't believe that
73. 2:50that's happening. Phrase number three,
74. 2:53did you hear that? Did you hear that the
75. 2:56city is finally redoing the elementary
76. 2:58school? It's about time. Did you hear
77. 3:01that they're planning to raise taxes
78. 3:03next year?
79. 3:04>> [sighs and gasps]
80. 3:05>> I'm feeling really worried about that.
81. 3:07Here again, you are opening the
82. 3:08conversation. Did you hear this thing?
83. 3:10And maybe the other person will tell you
84. 3:12their opinion as well. After our next
85. 3:14phrase, we'll take a look at these real
86. 3:16pamphlets that I received in the mail,
87. 3:18take a look at some vocabulary, and you
88. 3:20can see how clever the words are when
89. 3:23politicians are advertising. Phrase
90. 3:25number four is it turns out that Did you
91. 3:30hear about that political scandal in the
92. 3:32news? It turns out that it's all true.
93. 3:36So, here we're talking about the
94. 3:37reality. There was a scandal, we didn't
95. 3:40know if it was true or not, but it turns
96. 3:42out that it was all true. Or you might
97. 3:45say, "Did you hear about that scandal in
98. 3:47the news?"
99. 3:48It turns out it was all made up by the
100. 3:50media, which is also possible, right?
101. 3:53All right, now let's take a look at a
102. 3:54couple phrases that are used in these
103. 3:56pamphlets. Now, I really don't know much
104. 3:58about these politicians, so I'm not
105. 4:01endorsing them. We are learning from
106. 4:03them, right? So, in this pamphlet, he
107. 4:06uses a specific word here. He says, "We
108. 4:08need an independent voice like Jamie's
109. 4:12to take on the corrupt Washington D.C.
110. 4:16insiders." Do you see here this phrase
111. 4:19to take on? This phrasal verb is often
112. 4:22used in a a battle. I'm going to take on
113. 4:25my opponent. Well, here this politician,
114. 4:29he's actually a a farmer, a former
115. 4:32farmer, he is going to battle and fight
116. 4:36the people who are the real politicians,
117. 4:39the insiders. So, he is positioning
118. 4:41himself as someone who's going to fight
119. 4:44against the system. Let's keep
120. 4:46listening.
121. 4:47"He will protect our mountain values."
122. 4:50So, we have take on, protect, and
123. 4:53strengthen family farms like mine. So,
124. 4:57we have take on, protect, strengthen.
125. 5:00These are all very
126. 5:02uh fatherly terms. I'm going to protect
127. 5:05you. I will help to strengthen you. I'm
128. 5:07going to take on your enemies. And we
129. 5:10have this nice picture here of him in a
130. 5:12field. It feels very relatable, right?
131. 5:15Well, I want to show you something very
132. 5:17different.
133. 5:19These are two advertisements against
134. 5:23this guy. Now, I don't really know much
135. 5:25about this guy,
136. 5:26but his opponents sent these to me. And
137. 5:31in these, do you see how it's dark? It's
138. 5:33kind of moody. He doesn't look like a
139. 5:35good guy. In this one, he's in a flower
140. 5:38field. He looks positive. He's wearing a
141. 5:40T-shirt. He looks like a normal person,
142. 5:42right? And then here, dark, scary,
143. 5:46>> [laughter]
144. 5:47>> evil. Well, he's just a person, right?
145. 5:50But, listen to this language. He sold
146. 5:53you out and made life more expensive.
147. 5:57This phrase to sell out someone means
148. 6:01that you stop caring about helping them
149. 6:04and you're only helping the other guys.
150. 6:07So,
151. 6:08his enemies, his political opponents are
152. 6:10saying
153. 6:12he's not really caring about you. He's
154. 6:14only caring about
155. 6:17the system. He is going to tell you, "I
156. 6:20will help you, but really he's going to
157. 6:23sell you out."
158. 6:26That's a pretty good phrasal verb for
159. 6:28political advertising. I want to tell
160. 6:30you another one. There's a lot of good
161. 6:32adjectives that come out of political
162. 6:34advertising because they want to either
163. 6:36really get you to vote for them or
164. 6:38really get you to not vote for the other
165. 6:40guy. So, listen to this. Massive tax
166. 6:44hikes. Taxes went way up. Massive tax
167. 6:47hikes. The most expensive health care.
168. 6:51>> [laughter]
169. 6:51>> Jacking up costs. So, here it's not just
170. 6:55that costs rose, but whoa, this phrase
171. 6:58to jack up [laughter] means to go way
172. 7:01higher, just through the roof. Jacking
173. 7:04up costs. We can't afford him. I mean,
174. 7:08it's a it's a pretty negative review
175. 7:10here, but those are also his political
176. 7:12opponents. So, if you receive
177. 7:16advertisements like this in the mail, I
178. 7:18want you to be aware of the type of
179. 7:20words that they are using to convince
180. 7:22you that you should or shouldn't vote
181. 7:25for that person. All right, I am going
182. 7:27to continue helping you with some
183. 7:29phrases. Are you ready to go? Let's keep
184. 7:31going. The next phrase to talk about
185. 7:33politics in a polite but opinionated way
186. 7:36is, "Have you heard the latest about
187. 7:39Have you heard the latest about the
188. 7:41elections? I think he might win.
189. 7:44Here we're talking about the latest
190. 7:46news, but you don't even need to say the
191. 7:47word news. Have you heard the latest
192. 7:49about the election?
193. 7:51It's crazy out there, man.
194. 7:53>> [laughter]
195. 7:54>> Phrase number six is one that you can
196. 7:56use to help introduce politics to a
197. 7:58conversation in a kind of polite way.
198. 8:02I hope you don't mind me asking, but
199. 8:05have you heard what they're doing at the
200. 8:07stadium? They're going to tear it down
201. 8:09and build a totally new stadium on our
202. 8:11tax dollars. What?
203. 8:14But you are introducing your opinion by
204. 8:16asking, is it okay that I talk about
205. 8:18this? I hope you don't mind me asking,
206. 8:21or I hope you don't mind me saying, and
207. 8:24then you introduce your controversial
208. 8:27topic. Number seven is, I'm not trying
209. 8:30to get too political, but have you seen
210. 8:34how much gas prices have gone up?
211. 8:36>> [laughter]
212. 8:36>> Well, gas prices don't seem like a
213. 8:38political thing, but they always end up
214. 8:41being a political thing. But if you want
215. 8:43to talk about gas prices going up, and
216. 8:46you know it is a hot political topic,
217. 8:49you can introduce it like this. I don't
218. 8:51mean to get too political, but and then
219. 8:54you're probably going to get political,
220. 8:55right?
221. 8:57There is often not good political news,
222. 8:59but if there happens to be, you could
223. 9:01use this phrase. You'll be happy to know
224. 9:04that they actually passed the bill to
225. 9:06help the local school system. You'll
226. 9:08[clears throat] be happy to know that,
227. 9:11or you'll be happy to hear that. For me,
228. 9:14I am someone who doesn't really pay
229. 9:15attention to the news very much, and
230. 9:18often times when I go to my neighbor's
231. 9:20house, she will tell me what's happening
232. 9:22in the news, and I appreciate that.
233. 9:25So, if something by chance, once in a
234. 9:28lifetime, good happens in the news, she
235. 9:31could use this phrase. Oh, Vanessa,
236. 9:33you'll be happy to know that they're
237. 9:34actually giving more money to the
238. 9:35schools to help them have a better
239. 9:38education. Finally,
240. 9:40I like number nine a lot. It's this, I
241. 9:42could be wrong, but I think that this
242. 9:46new policy change is actually going to
243. 9:48help us a lot.
244. 9:50If you're someone like me who feels very
245. 9:51skeptical about politics, they say this
246. 9:55is going to be great, this will help you
247. 9:56so much, and in reality it really never
248. 9:58does, but maybe you actually have a
249. 10:01little bit of hope for once.
250. 10:03>> [laughter]
251. 10:04>> And you say, I could be wrong, but I
252. 10:06think this is actually going to help us
253. 10:08a lot. What a surprise. But you can also
254. 10:12use this phrase for negative things as
255. 10:14well. You might say, I could be wrong,
256. 10:17but I think that taxes are going up
257. 10:20again.
258. 10:21Uh,
259. 10:21>> [sighs and gasps]
260. 10:21>> I hope I'm wrong. I could be wrong, but
261. 10:25here you're introducing your opinion
262. 10:28with this nice little introduction
263. 10:29phrase. Number 10 is a common one for
264. 10:32talking about politics, and it's only
265. 10:34one word. Apparently,
266. 10:37ooh,
267. 10:38we can use this for speculating. Listen
268. 10:41to this.
269. 10:42Apparently, the politician was getting
270. 10:45money from that company, so that's why
271. 10:47he voted for that policy. Ooh, juicy
272. 10:50details. So here we're using this when
273. 10:52we're not quite sure, but we think
274. 10:55something's the case. Apparently, this
275. 10:57was happening, and would you believe it?
276. 11:00It's a scandal again. Politics.
277. 11:03I used this word last week because in my
278. 11:06city they're doing a big road rebuild,
279. 11:09and it's they're going to build a new
280. 11:10bridge over the river, they're going to
281. 11:12redo a bunch of highways. It is a huge
282. 11:15project, and I saw a sign the other day
283. 11:17that said, "The new road project will be
284. 11:20done in 2030."
285. 11:23Okay, that's
286. 11:25three years from now.
287. 11:27>> [gasps]
288. 11:27>> So I came home and said, "Hey Dan,
289. 11:30apparently the road project's going to
290. 11:32be done in only 3 years. Can you believe
291. 11:34it?
292. 11:35My voice was dripping in sarcasm because
293. 11:38I do not believe that it will be done in
294. 11:403 years. My guess is minimum 8 years,
295. 11:44maybe 10 years. [laughter]
296. 11:46I told my kids, "When you are graduating
297. 11:48from high school, they will still be
298. 11:50working on this project." That was my
299. 11:52prediction. So, I used the word
300. 11:54apparently. [laughter] Apparently, they
301. 11:56think they're going to be done in 3
302. 11:58years.
303. 11:59No way, right? All right. Now that
304. 12:01you've learned these 10 phrases to talk
305. 12:03about politics, share your opinion, but
306. 12:06be polite, we're going to watch a sample
307. 12:08conversation between Dan and I to talk
308. 12:10about politics and using some of these
309. 12:13expressions. And after our sample
310. 12:15conversation, it's going to be your turn
311. 12:17to speak. So, make sure you pay
312. 12:18attention and get ready. Let's watch.
313. 12:22>> Hey, Vanessa. How have you been lately?
314. 12:24>> Uh, I'm really worried about the
315. 12:26election. I'm not trying to get
316. 12:27political, but it's all I can think
317. 12:30about lately.
318. 12:31>> Oh, yeah? I haven't been following the
319. 12:32news too much lately. I hope you don't
320. 12:34mind me asking, but what's making you
321. 12:36feel so worried?
322. 12:38>> Well, I've heard that taxes are going up
323. 12:40again for small businesses like mine.
324. 12:43>> Mhm. I heard about that. Apparently,
325. 12:45they're higher than usual, too.
326. 12:47>> Uh, I sure hope not. I can't believe how
327. 12:50much attention this election is getting.
328. 12:53I'll be glad when it's over.
329. 12:54>> Me, too. No more political discussions,
330. 12:57sounds like music to my ears.
331. 12:59>> All right. Now it is your turn to speak.
332. 13:02How this works is I am going to ask you
333. 13:04a question, and I have these magical
334. 13:07teacher ears. I can hear you around the
335. 13:09world, no matter where you are. So, I
336. 13:12want you to speak out loud in the pause
337. 13:15and use some of the expressions that
338. 13:17you've learned today. If you need to
339. 13:18pause this video, it's no problem. Pause
340. 13:21it, think for a moment, and then you can
341. 13:23speak, and you're welcome to go over the
342. 13:25section as many times as you want just
343. 13:27to get some speaking practice so that
344. 13:29when you go out into the real world,
345. 13:31you'll be ready. Are you ready? Let's do
346. 13:34it. Hey there, have you heard the latest
347. 13:36about the election?
348. 13:46Okay, well, I've just heard that the
349. 13:49candidates are going to have another
350. 13:51debate next week. Have you heard about
351. 13:52it?
352. 14:01Apparently, a lot of people are going to
353. 14:03watch it. Not to get too political, but
354. 14:06do you keep up with the news and
355. 14:08politics at all?
356. 14:17Ah, thanks for sharing with me. I
357. 14:19appreciate it. I'll talk to you the next
358. 14:21time. Bye. Well, great work at
359. 14:23practicing talking about politics with
360. 14:25me. Now, it's your chance to download
361. 14:28the free PDF worksheet so that you never
362. 14:31forget what you've learned. You can
363. 14:33practice all of these phrases, take the
364. 14:35quiz to see if you can actually use the
365. 14:37phrases in their sentences, and you can
366. 14:40download the free speaking practice so
367. 14:43that you can use these words yourself,
368. 14:45say them out loud, and be absolutely
369. 14:48prepared for the real world. All you
370. 14:49need to do to get the free worksheet is
371. 14:51click on the link in the description,
372. 14:53enter your name and email address, and
373. 14:55voila, it will land in your email inbox.
374. 14:58It is my gift to you. Well, thank you so
375. 15:01much for taking on this controversial
376. 15:02political topic today. I hope you have a
377. 15:05wonderful day, and I'll see you again
378. 15:06next Friday for a new lesson here on my
379. 15:09YouTube channel. Bye.
380. 15:11But wait, do you want more? I recommend
381. 15:13watching this video next about a
382. 15:15slightly less controversial topic,
383. 15:17travel. You'll have the chance to
384. 15:19practice speaking out loud with me to
385. 15:21talk about your latest vacations and
386. 15:23your dream vacations in the future. I'll
387. 15:26see you there.