Hi! My name is Rebecca, and in today's lesson you'll learn how to participate effectively
in a discussion in English, something you may need to do in your personal, professional,
or academic life, okay? Now, the topic we'll use as our sample is this one: Is it better
to study online or in a regular classroom? Okay? You'll have a chance to hear a discussion
by native English speakers on this topic. What I'd like you to do is listen for any
special expressions and phrases that they use during the discussion. Afterwards, I'll
review the expressions and phrases with you, okay? Now, today I have some special friends
who have agreed to help me with this lesson, and they're waiting in the classroom next
door, so let's go and say hello to them.
-- Hello! -- Hello! -- Hi!
-- Hi! -- Well, look who's here. It's --
-- Ronnie. -- Alex. -- James. -- Adam.
-- Thank you for joining me, and thanks for helping with this lesson, guys.
-- No problem. -- No problem.
-- So you know we're talking about discussions, and the topic is: Is it better to study online
or in a regular classroom? Okay, who wants to go first?
-- Okay, so I'll start, and I think that it's actually very good to study online because
it's very convenient because you can study whenever you want and at your own pace. For
example, someone like me, I like to study at nighttime. So for me, online works better
because it's quiet at night, no one disturbs me, and I can do what I need to do.
-- Okay, that's true, but if you're going to study online --
-- Sorry, but -- -- Please let me finish. Let me finish. As
I was saying, that's true, but if you're studying online you do need to motivate yourself, so
I think it's better to be in a classroom where you have other students and a teacher who
can motivate you. -- That's true, but some people can't afford
to go to a classroom and don't have enough money or resources to actually go to a big
school. So studying online, you can actually do it for free.
-- Me? Well, I would like to add -- May I say something?
-- Sure. -- Soft skills. That's not usually talked
about in schools, but when we talk about "soft skills", it's actual interaction, utilizing
your English when you're with other people, and that's hard to get online because you're
watching a screen and not actually interacting with other people.
-- You make a very good point but I would also like to add that sometimes having classmates
takes you away from your focus because you have to maybe review things many times for
other people to catch up, or you have to do topics that are interesting to other people,
not to yourself. So it's a little distracting sometimes, too.
-- However, focus is a good thing. I mean, it's not a bad thing to repeat something because
sometimes people don't catch the material the first time. So that way, you go over the
material, and they -- you know, you get depth. So you get to learn more, and people who don't
understand get the opportunity to ask questions and learn from it again.
-- Yeah, but sometimes the resources that you get in a classroom are boring, and online
you can just look up whatever you need on the Internet, and you've got it right there.
You don't have to rely on a textbook. Sometimes it can be a bad textbook.
-- Okay. Don't get me wrong. I mean, there are good resources on the Internet, like www.engvid.com.
However -- -- I'm sorry, did you say www.engvid.com?
-- I did say www.engvid.com. -- I've heard of www.engvid.com.
-- I think I have too. -- Me too.
-- Check it out. -- Anyway. It's a good website.
-- So as I was saying, don't get me wrong, I think there are excellent resources online.
However, some students who are just learning English for the first time might not know
how to judge the quality of the resources. So I think if you go to a school, if you're
inside a classroom, you're with a teacher who is trained, is a professional, who can
give you the resources you need to improve your English.
-- Well, it's a good thing you said about professional teachers because at www.engvid.com
-- -- www.engvid.com?
-- www.engvid.com. -- www.engvid.com.
-- Yeah, EngVid? -- We have professional teachers ready to
teach you. So in conclusion, in a nutshell, can we just, kind of, sum up and say that
studying online or in a classroom will help everyone?
-- Sure. -- I think so.
-- I can agree with that. -- Okay. All right. Thank you very much for
your help guys. -- No problem.
-- So now, I'll review some of the phrases and expressions that you heard in the discussion.
-- I think that it's actually very good to study online.
-- "I think" is used when you're going to express your opinion. You could also say "I
believe" and so on. Next.
-- That's true, but if you're going to study online --
-- However, focus is a good thing -- -- Yeah, but sometimes the resources that
you get in a classroom are boring.
-- Okay, these three phrases, "That's true, but"; or "However"; or "Yeah, but", are used
-- What do you think? They're used when we want to contradict what someone else has said,
when we disagree with what someone else has said. Okay? Next.
-- You make a very good point, but I would also like to add that sometimes having classmates
takes you away from your focus.
-- "You made a good point but I'd also like to add", is a very nice expression. It shows
that you recognize the contribution that someone else has made to the discussion in the first
part, and you're also going to add your own opinion, which is different from what the
first person said. Next.
-- But if you're going to study online -- -- Sorry, but --
-- Me? Well, I would like to add -- May I say something?
-- "Sorry but", which Ronnie says, or "May I say something?", which James said, are two
different ways in which you can interrupt a discussion. You see that the first one was
purposely done for you not in a very polite way to show you how not to do it. And James
says, "May I say something?", which is a very polite way to enter a discussion. Next.
-- Sorry, but -- -- Please let me finish. Let me finish.
-- "Please let me finish" is a very nice way to hold the floor. What does it mean to "hold
the floor" in a discussion? It means to establish your position as the speaker, all right? So
someone else is trying to interrupt, but you want a chance to finish whatever argument
you're presenting, so you say, "Please let me finish", okay? Very nice. Next.
-- As I was saying, that's true, but if you're studying online --
-- "As I was saying" is used when you're returning to your -- to speaking, to whatever you were
saying when someone has interrupted you, okay? It's a way of saying, "Okay, now I'm talking
again". "As I was saying." All right? Next.
-- Okay. Don't get me wrong. I mean, there are good resources on the Internet.
-- Alex uses, "don't get me wrong". Now, this is an interesting expression because when
we say this, what we're saying is that, "I've been explaining something, I've been presenting
a certain point of view, but I do understand that there is another point of view, and I
accept that, and I understand that. However, I do still have my opinion." So we use that
when we are taking into account the other opinion as well. Next.
-- So in conclusion, in a nutshell, can we just, kind of, sum up and say that --
-- Okay, the last three phrases were used by Ronnie to end the discussion, so "in conclusion",
"in a nutshell". "In a nutshell" just means "in short" or "Can we sum up by saying..."
"Can we sum up?" means "Can we summarize?" All right? So that's a nice way to end a discussion
by including everyone in it. It's not as if one person is deciding to end the discussion.
She's sort of asking everyone's permission by saying, "can we sum up by saying", okay?
I hope this lesson has given you a number of different expressions that you can use
when you're taking part in a discussion, all right? If you'd like to do a quiz on this
subject, please go to our website, www.engvid.com. Thanks very much for watching, and good luck with your English.