English Listening Lecture: Expressing Agreement, Hedge Language, and Polite Communication Skills

Tina and Eric think the University Village location is great. Neil doesn't like it. Let's look at the language they used in their discussion. In the meeting at Rear Chocolate, Tina expressed her positive opinion directly. She said, "I think University Village is the best place." It's very common to say, "I think," before an opinion. "I feel like" is also common. When we express a negative opinion, we usually start with, "I don't think," and then say our opinion. So, instead of, "it's a bad location," we would say, "I don't think it's a great location." That softens the negative opinion. Okay, so when someone states an opinion, you can agree, disagree, or hedge. That is, not say exactly what you think. Let's look at the language for each of these options.

Here are some expressions you might use to agree completely with an opinion. "I agree." "You're right." "That's right." "That's true." Here are some ways we express agreement when someone has an idea or states a reason for doing something. "That's a good idea." "Good idea." "That makes sense." "Good point." Practice agreeing completely. Say the words to complete the conversations. Then listen for the answer. "Let's wait until January to decide." "Good idea." "The prices are going to be higher next year, so I think we should buy the equipment now." "That makes sense." "I don't think this is the best time to open a new store." "You're right." "I think we should wait." "I agree." "Why don't we ask the finance people for some more information?" "That's a good idea."

In the meeting at Renear Chocolate, Eric agrees with Tina's opinion about the location. He could say, "I agree," but he doesn't. Instead, he says, "it's perfect." He supports her idea with a similar word to describe it. Here are some other examples. "I think it's the best location." "Yes, it's perfect." "It's really cold outside." "Freezing." "That is very sad." "I know." "It's terrible." "Why don't you try it?" Use one of these three responses to agree with the opinion you hear. For example, if you hear, "I like this ad," say, "yes, it's great." Then listen for the response. "Yes, it's very expensive." "Yes, it's great." "Yes, it's difficult." "Yes, it's very expensive." We often don't say yes exactly. We often say a shorted version of yes or I know. "Yes, it's very expensive." "I know." "It's great."

Now, let's move on to your options if you don't agree completely. Do you say, "I disagree," right away? No, you don't, unless you want to be very direct. Let's look at some strategies for polite disagreement. First, show appreciation and understanding. Here are some expressions that you can use for that. "I see what you mean." "I understand your point." "I understand how you feel." Then, after you agree, you could ask some questions about the opinion. You're not disagreeing exactly, just getting the other person to consider some possible problems with their ideas. Here are some examples. "Do you think it's a good idea to be so close to Godiva?" "What about the cost difference?" You could also make suggestions to help people consider other ideas that you think are important. We use "what if," and "maybe we could" to give a suggestion or present new ideas. "Would it be a good idea to do some more research?" "What if we open a smaller store?" "Maybe we could open a small store to test the market."

You can soften disagreement by expressing your opinion as a doubt rather than a strong feeling. "There won't be enough customers on that little street." "Well, I don't know." "I'm not sure that's completely true." "There are a lot of great stores in that shopping centre, so we'll have a lot of customers." "I'm wondering if we can compete with Godiva." "Don't you think we'll lose customers to Godiva?" Notice the slight difference in these questions. "Do you think we need to decide today?" "Don't you think we need to decide today?" "Do you think" is asking for someone's opinion. "Don't you think" is a way of expressing your own opinion. Another option is to remind people of something they need to think about. You can begin with, "It's really important too." "Let's not forget that." "Don't forget that." Listen to the examples. "It's really important to think about the cost." "Let's not forget that we need to discuss the timeline." "Don't forget that Godiva already has a store there."

In lesson one, you saw examples of good and bad ways to interrupt in a meeting. In a meeting, Neil didn't understand Tina. He said, "Excuse me," and asked a question to clarify what she had said. "Excuse me, did you say 50 or 15?" We also use "sorry" to clarify. "Sorry, do you mean 50?" When we want to enter a discussion for other reasons, like for example to make a suggestion, we interrupt in a different way. First, we often show without words non-verbally that we have something to say. We may lean forward, raise a finger, or part of a hand, just a bit. At the same time, we try to make direct eye contact with the speaker. We also sometimes make a sound like a... Or to show that we have something to say. If we want to interrupt because we disagree, we may say, "but..." Okay, so let's recap what we've talked about so far in this lesson. First, we've talked about ways to agree completely. And we've talked about ways to show understanding. And then we've talked about ways to respond an opinion when you don't want to disagree completely or aren't ready to agree. You can ask questions, make a suggestion, express doubt, or remind people about something. And sometimes you have to interrupt politely.