You know, that last one where Jason was trying to invite himself along to the movies might be considered rude on its own in which case Jay's answer might be appropriate in tone. Context matters a lot for these things. Of course, understanding the probably intended question or request is definitely helpful so you can at least be intentionally rude rather than doing it accidentally. However, it goes the other way, too. If you don't say what you really mean, you ought to be preprared to get a literal answer, even from other native speakers from similar cultural backgrounds.
Rafael Get off of this channel if you are going to spread negativity. People are watching to learn and I want to help them as well. In America, sometimes words that are rude can be used nicely depending on how you say it and the context. So please rethink what you are going to post before posting. Thank you.
I understood, I’m Colombian and I've been learning English and usually when my stepdaughter who is American mades cookies and I flatter her, she gives me some cookies too 🍪 ( In my culture it is usual to make flattery without intentions) In 🇺🇸 I won some 🍪 😋 and I’m nice.
I'm American, and I think it's rude that others might "beat around the bush" to ask someone else to do something. If I'm feeling cold, I would either say nothing, put on a sweater, or I would ask if they would mind if I turned the thermostat up. Same with the open door thing. I would offer to close the door. And I don't expect someone else to offer me their food. If they offer it, great. But I'm not going to drop a hint to get them to offer.
Hi Angela. This video is about recognizing the logic behind different styles of communication. I think it's fine to decide how you're going to communicate and go with that. I also think it's useful to understand the logic behind other approaches though. It can lead to a lot of unnecessary misunderstandings if we don't.
@@SimpleEnglishVideos , thank you for your response. I understand the point of the video. I just didn't realize this was a common thing among English speakers. I love your videos, and I find them very insightful. I've been conversing with a Romanian friend, who is learning English. And watching your videos helps me to understand how complicated our language can be, and how I can try to communicate better! Thank you for you videos, and please keep doing what you're doing! :)
I personally do 'beat around the bush' but at least here (Australia), and for me, it's just a politeness thing and quite contextual. Directly asking can come off as rude or demanding in some scenarios, especially formal ones, and otherwise being indirect IS the best way to allow for people to say 'no' without feeling like they've been rude, so it IS a much more harmonious situation overall. However, when I indirectly 'ask for things' such as "oh, those brownies look so good!" or "Is it cold in here or is it just me?" I am NOT trying to just say "Hey, give me some" or "Hey, turn the heater up." For the first one, it's a suggestive statement that allows the other an opportunity to offer some or easily keep the brownies for themselves. No harm done or hard feelings if they don't offer some, and I am just as much offering the compliment itself as well. Because who doesn't want to hear that their brownies look good? In the second one, I'd more be looking for an agreement of "yeah, I'm cold too" so I could offer myself to turn up the heater, or a disagreement of "Actually, I'm pretty warm myself" to indicate that I should go get a jumper or something like that. This one, for me, is only slightly different if the location we are in is somewhere that the other person has locational authority (eg. their house, their work office, etc) where I don't feel comfortable fiddling with things like the heater myself. In these situations, normally the person with locational authority (in a true hostly manner), at least in my own experience, will offer to adjust air conditioning temperatures, grab a blanket or something like that if they are in agreement. Another good "suggestive" example is: "Is there a bathroom around here?" "Yes." would be an inappropriate response because the person is probably wanting to also know the location of it so they can go to the bathroom themselves. I also find that indirect questions or statements are also the best way to get a feel for how the other person would respond to something without the risk of directly asking or announcing it, especially if it's something they may feel strongly about or have a negative/defensive reaction to. Example: My friend (around age 20) has been having some issues with her teeth recently, in terms of very worn down enamel and a lot of pain when drinking even room temperature water and breathing in cold air. She's been struggling a bit financially and wanted to see if her parents would at all be willing to help, even just with lending some money for the time being for her to get her teeth fixed, which she could later repay. However, she knows her parents are pretty strict financially and didn't want to risk directly asking and getting a lecture about being 'ungrateful' or greedy or anything like that. Instead, I mentioned the whole 'indirect statements' thing to her and said it could be a good way to understand the situation better. (I've been indirect about things quite a lot for many years aha) So, over dinner one night she just mentioned that her teeth have been causing her some trouble and she thinks her enamel's pretty shot, and she's not too sure what to do about it. Her mother reacted somewhat negatively by saying (something like) "well, when we offered you braces when you were fifteen you should've said yes, shouldn't you?" Based on the statement and the tone, it was then pretty safe for my friend to assume her parents wouldn't be willing to help her sort her teeth out, so she's since been working on a plan to make it happen herself. Of course, if the situation needs it this can still be followed up by a genuine discussion about the issue, but I always find it's a very useful technique to "scope out" a situation or people's opinions on things. Another example (not from specific personal experience but more general): Say you are bisexual and considering coming out to a friend, but you're not sure how they feel about bisexuality, and you'd like to have a better idea so you don't feel as awful and anxious about coming out as you do without any clue. You could try bringing up a celebrity or a mutual acquaintance and saying "Oh, I heard Xyz is bisexual the other day!" Often, this would prompt the other person to respond and from their response you may be able to gauge their stance on the matter. Eg: "Oh, and I thought they were cool until now. What a shame." (NEGATIVE response, abort mission!) or "Oh, cool! I wouldn't've guessed it but go them for being open and proud of who they are." (Positive response! Keep this friend!) Sorry if you disagree with my ideas on the issue/examples/etc. I know this can differ a lot between different people, nationalities, cultures etc! I mean no disrespect to the values and beliefs of anybody
(I initially wrote this in reply to someone else but thought I'd post in the main comments just coz it might be of some use to others too) :) I personally do 'beat around the bush' but at least here (Australia), and for me, it's just a politeness thing and quite contextual. Directly asking can come off as rude or demanding in some scenarios, especially formal ones, and otherwise being indirect IS the best way to allow for people to say 'no' without feeling like they've been rude, so it IS a much more harmonious situation overall. However, when I indirectly 'ask for things' such as "oh, those brownies look so good!" or "Is it cold in here or is it just me?" I am NOT trying to just say "Hey, give me some" or "Hey, turn the heater up." For the first one, it's a suggestive statement that allows the other an opportunity to offer some or easily keep the brownies for themselves. No harm done or hard feelings if they don't offer some, and I am just as much offering the compliment itself as well. Because who doesn't want to hear that their brownies look good? In the second one, I'd more be looking for an agreement of "yeah, I'm cold too" so I could offer myself to turn up the heater, or a disagreement of "Actually, I'm pretty warm myself" to indicate that I should go get a jumper or something like that. This one, for me, is only slightly different if the location we are in is somewhere that the other person has locational authority (eg. their house, their work office, etc) where I don't feel comfortable fiddling with things like the heater myself. In these situations, normally the person with locational authority (in a true hostly manner), at least in my own experience, will offer to adjust air conditioning temperatures, grab a blanket or something like that if they are in agreement. Another good "suggestive" example is: "Is there a bathroom around here?" "Yes." would be an inappropriate response because the person is probably wanting to also know the location of it so they can go to the bathroom themselves. I also find that indirect questions or statements are also the best way to get a feel for how the other person would respond to something without the risk of directly asking or announcing it, especially if it's something they may feel strongly about or have a negative/defensive reaction to. Example: My friend (around age 20) has been having some issues with her teeth recently, in terms of very worn down enamel and a lot of pain when drinking even room temperature water and breathing in cold air. She's been struggling a bit financially and wanted to see if her parents would at all be willing to help, even just with lending some money for the time being for her to get her teeth fixed, which she could later repay. However, she knows her parents are pretty strict financially and didn't want to risk directly asking and getting a lecture about being 'ungrateful' or greedy or anything like that. Instead, I mentioned the whole 'indirect statements' thing to her and said it could be a good way to understand the situation better. (I've been indirect about things quite a lot for many years aha) So, over dinner one night she just mentioned that her teeth have been causing her some trouble and she thinks her enamel's pretty shot, and she's not too sure what to do about it. Her mother reacted somewhat negatively by saying (something like) "well, when we offered you braces when you were fifteen you should've said yes, shouldn't you?" Based on the statement and the tone, it was then pretty safe for my friend to assume her parents wouldn't be willing to help her sort her teeth out, so she's since been working on a plan to make it happen herself. Of course, if the situation needs it this can still be followed up by a genuine discussion about the issue, but I always find it's a very useful technique to "scope out" a situation or people's opinions on things. Another example (not from specific personal experience but more general): Say you are bisexual and considering coming out to a friend, but you're not sure how they feel about bisexuality, and you'd like to have a better idea so you don't feel as awful and anxious about coming out as you do without any clue. You could try bringing up a celebrity or a mutual acquaintance and saying "Oh, I heard Xyz is bisexual the other day!" Often, this would prompt the other person to respond and from their response you may be able to gauge their stance on the matter. Eg: "Oh, and I thought they were cool until now. What a shame." (NEGATIVE response, abort mission!) or "Oh, cool! I wouldn't've guessed it but go them for being open and proud of who they are." (Positive response! Keep this friend!) Sorry if you disagree with my ideas on the issue/examples/etc. I know this can differ a lot between different people, nationalities, cultures etc! I mean no disrespect to the values and beliefs of anybody
WOW!!!! Thank you so much for sharing this Blitzheart. There are so many great ideas here that will help teachers (and students) understand what's happening in these sorts of (very common) interactions. This is such a generous response and we can't thank you enough for sharing these very thoughtful ideas.
@@SimpleEnglishVideos You're very welcome! I hope my response is informative and helpful for you and others! There's so much more that could be said on the topic because these interactions ARE very common, especially for me as I'm conflict-avoidant by nature. I'm quite consistently gauging situations around me and generating questions and statements to create harmonious and agreeable environments where I can, as much as I can without comprising my own level of honesty, or my morals and beliefs. If you have any further questions or want to hear any more examples, just ask. Thank you for taking the time to read my looooong comment ~ :)
I'm a native English speaker and learned a lot myself with this video! Never realized we ask obvious questions as a way to either get what we want or as a way to allow the speaker to indirectly say no and then pretend we never asked! I laughed because it's so true - we just pretend like the question never even happened! Btw, I live in Philly too and I hope I bump into you two sometime!!
Hi Drew, great to hear from you and please say hi if you see us around in Philly! So glad you found it interesting. There's a relatively young branch of linguistics called pragmatics that explores these sorts of hidden meanings and messages. My favourite definition of pragmatics it's the study of how we don't say what we mean and it's surprising how often we say things that are a bit crazy if you stand back and look at them out of context. Pragmatics is mostly of interest to three groups of people: philosophers (it sprung from the works of the philosopher Paul Grice), linguists (for obvious reasons) and people who are interested in autism (because it investigates non-literal meanings).
At first I gotta say I've already watched a lot of your videos and I really like them. I'm german (native speaker) and I exactly know what you mean. In german we have the problems with misunderstanding sentences as well. So it's not only a thing you notice in English but also in german and other languages. You always have to look at the context.
Once my mother made brownies and i told her "hey, those brownies smell soooo good that i could eat one!"... but she misheard my words and said yes, so i ate some and when she saw me she yelled "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? THOSE BROWNIES ARE FOR THE PARTY TONIGHT!!" I began being more direct from that day lol. Fortunately, that party was cancelled because the light went off 😁😁
Ohh! Such relief for me! It's like I am always doing: thinking twice before to say or ask about something, because I dont want to disturb or hurt anybody. That's why sometimes people misunderstanding me, cause I cannot (and even I don't want) to say/ask directly. Specially I think its a little bit rude to ask directly, maybe they will feel awkward. I always thought that is something wrong with me, that I am too much delicate, but now I see I am doing right. My way of talk with hints doesn't offend anybody and it's great! Thank you so much, Vicky and Jay! 😍😘
2:22 : It seems to me that there is something strange on the way how Lisa comes silently so close to Vicky and then starts speaking. Vicky might get scared if she did not notice her coming. I would certainly not get so close when addressing my colleague.
Hi Aspro4. This is Jay writing back to you. On our little production studio set, we don't have a lot of space, so sometimes our 'actors' have to violate each other's personal space to make the video work. I hope that explains the situation. Thanks for writing to us and thanks for watching.
Two people enter to the restaurant one of them say looking at some ice cream. Oh, that ice cream looks very delicious. The other person say Oh, I can invite you one. The wrong answer would be. Oh, it looks very delicious or yes it is. I think, learning about how people have a conversation about making indirect request is really interesting. This lesson is really interseting Vicki. The more we listen to how people have a conversation about it, the better we will understand it. Thank you :)
Oh, that's interesting Orlando. If you're talking to you're friend that's indeed how the conversation might go. But if you're talking to the shopkeeper, 'That ice cream looks delicious' could mean 'That's the one I want to buy.' Customer buy and shopkeepers sell so the roles we are playing matter as well. So if I'm at an art gallery with you and we're looking at some pictures and I say 'That's a nice one' it means I like the picture. But if you are the owner of a grocery shop and I point at a cauliflower and say 'That's a nice one', then it means I want to buy that one. The roles we play matter too. Thank you for your comment. You have given me an idea for another video.
Yeah, the role can change according to the situation and always to the context. The best thing about it is to have the conversation going , listen to it very carefully and answer it by using indirect request. Thank you Vicki . It is really a pleasure to have a conversation through this media.
IAM very happy that I found this channel I've learnt a lot after I've came across it,it's like you're in kindergarten again,we could learn a lot if the teaching method and style,were like these guys videos, mainly in literature and language,keep going and one day you will change something.Good Luck😊😊
Hi Nimble TreeHS. Thanks for the kind words, and we're very glad you found our channel. We know from the comments here that we are making a difference for lots of folks. It's very rewarding. Thanks for watching.
Really in real life, I never use indirect questions. So I have seen this video several times. At last, I could ask an indirect question in English. The reason that I don't like the indirect questions is that of a childhood memory. We went to the neighbors and I gazed at the cakes because I had never seen this kind of cake. It didn't occur to me to eat it. But they noticed that I am gazing at them and asked me whether you want to eat a cake? And this was like an indirect question as if had looked at the cakes because I wanted to eat it. It was out of the question. But I can say another story about cakes. My husband's teacher was an old man when he told a story to their students better say to my husband in the studio. He has always a box of candy in his pocket. He offered his students at the Fine Arts Academy. When he offered my husband first, my husband told thanks, Master I don't want. He told him again "take one". My husband told him again thanks, Master I don't want. Then the old teacher told my husband "once when I used to be a child I was at a party at a women house. It was on the table very appetizing cake and the woman told me to take one little John and I said thank you, madam, I don't want". (after a pause he finished) "Even today I regret. "Take it" - repeated again. And my husband understood the fable and took one candy. When I got to know him and his friends in the 60's they used to tell stories about their masters. Then the artists who used to teach them at the Fine Arts Academy were very much respected and loved by their students. For today as slowly totally changed.
Oh thank you so much for sharing these stories Kati! The last one reminds me of a custom I've heard about - something that only happens in some parts of the world. When someone offers you something, it's polite to refuse it. They will offer again twice and the third time you can say yes. I think Azerbaijan has this custom and I'd love to know if anyone knows of other parts of the world where this happens. So I heard a story of some Americans who had an Azerbaijani house guest and whenever they'd offer her food or drink she'd say 'no' politely. They didn't realise it was just a polite 'no' and not a real 'no', so they didn't offer it again. They were worried that she didn't like their food, but of course she was just being polite After she got very hungry, realised the customs were different and started saying 'yes'. :-)
When I used to be a child in the fifties it was a custom in Hungary also. Of course, nowadays children are same in Hungary as in the US..I have two grandchildren in the US and three in Hungary but there isn't any difference between them. This teacher who used to teach my husband was his favorite teacher and he was a really very good painter. In the morning I told my husband that I wrote your story to you. And he told me that I could not remember well as this teacher didn't say to him but a girl and he told he. Of course, suddenly all became clear, so it happened not to him but a beautiful girl who used to be his classmate and they all listened to their master how told his story to this young girl. Anyway, the story literally was written in the same way as he repeated me this morning. Only the main character was mistaken. So my memory took me in. This master-painter was born in 1889. So this story could happen in the eighteenth century or at the turn of the century. I send you a link where you can see his paintings. In Hungary, this regime doesn't favor either to the contemporary artist nor artists, writers who are still alive. So this master also is forgotten for the time being. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything where only his paintings could be seen, there are lots of his paintings but mixed with other painters so I downloaded one of his self-portraits but I see on youtube there isn't the possibility to download it so I put his self-portrait on The Weekly English site for you.
OMG! I love this lessin too much! And it’s so amusing ! For French people, it's not too difficult to understand the real meaning of a remark because we often speak the same way. A : Cette chaise est-elle libre? B : Oui, bien sûr : prenez-la ! People also often drop hints! More polite. Not understand make laugh. 220224 RR
Fantastic lesson understanding Eng speakers means the ability to destinguish accents. For many American Eng is easy direct & clear while British Eng is heavily pronounced & vowel-focused. Also Asian speakers of Eng such as Chinese & Indians are easier to understand than even Americans. So for me it's all following the way we pronounce vowels & how much we emphasize them. Thank you Love you
Great video, I find out that in any country has a way to express the polite, in Vietnam if you don't answer the appropriate, you will be feedback on the different place. Some people feel it's so rude and another feels it's fine because they think that they're nature and simple, not rude.
Yes Thien Binh. Culture plays an important role in politeness. The different responses you report from Vietnam are not unlike responses in many cultures. Thanks for sharing that and thanks for watching our videos.
Teacher Vicki, Greetings! Such an interesting video like your educational English video make learners highly motivated to watch more lessons. Thanks a lot!
It is funny that Jay always be gross in his roles, such as in fce speaking videos!!!!!! Thank you, I am taking the FCE Cambridge Exam in the end of this year and you really contributed for my growth in english!
Isabella, we wish you the very best of luck in the FCE exam. Let us know you do. This is Jay writing back to you. It's true, I can sometimes be very awkward :-) Thanks for writing to us and thanks for watching our videos.
Obrigado por trazer esses vídeos.....está sendo muito bom nestes dias de quarentena reavivar meus conhecimentos de inglês de um modo tão simples e prático...do Rio de janeiro, BR.
Greetings to you in Rio! We're so glad you like the videos, Edson. It's great to hear they are useful in these difficult times. Hoping you and your loved one stay safe and healthy. :-)
Our videos do have transcripts Vo thang. You need to click the cc icon to see captions. If you go to our website you can see the words there too. www.simpleenglishvideos.com
6:10 (I'm italian native) It's a matter of logic: I too would have understood that it meant that I closed the door for the cold (expression of the face included) ... and I think it is also valid in other countries ...
Hi Marantzyk. Yes, this feature is common to most languages - we're all human after all. The thing is sometimes people are unaware of it and it can come as a surprise when they encounter it in a language they're learning.
I'm studying translation and in all the languages there's indirect petitions haha we don't say what we mean, for example in spanish it's the same, I can say: - Hay mas ensalada? (there's more salad?) That means: Sirveme mas ensalada (serve me more salad) I'm a native spanish speaker so I think I'm able to say that hahaha xd Greetings from Peru!♥
Ah yes, life would be more straightforward if we all said what we mean. Human beings don't though, which is probably lucky for me because it means I have a job. :-)
Hi y'all, I find very very interesting your classes, is very easy to understand you , ( my English level is a little bad) speaking about this particular lesson, in my country, Chile, we got the same way to ask for something, I mean a casual cuestion but we want something, ( I don't know if in others spanics countrys is the same) . Ma'am you are extremly lovely.
@@SimpleEnglishVideos , oh well, that shows that the European Council, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk and the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker did not watch this video because if they had, they would all have learnt that "[YOU] often say one thing, when [you] mean another". Joking apart, why worry? Surely there must be life beyond the European Union!
Hi Benedetto, yeah there will be life beyond the EU, but my view is (and has always been) that life will be for all if we're communicating regularly and working together. Two world wars began in Europe in the first half of the last century. It's not that Europe has been a war free zone since, but it has been much more stable. Oh my, you've got me going here Benedetto. Ha! I just REALLY don't want the UK to Brexit.
@@SimpleEnglishVideos "I just REALLY don't want the UK to Brexit", you say. Well that's a very interesting verb I didn't come across before, "to Brexit"! Being Sicilian I don't feel any personal involvement in the Brexit Drama and therefore I can't have those fears you might have. But also I'm not 100% sure the European Union is a good thing. After all it is a man-made bureaucratic and administrative "invention" that has been imposed on some 300 million people - and like all Empires past and present it will crumble one day or another. Artificial things tend not to work properly. Look at the Esperanto language! Or plastic surgery! This divorce between the United Kingdom and Europe makes me think of a teenage boy and a teenage girl who first fell deeply in love for the very first time but have now reached the end of their relationship. Each of them now feels devastated and gutted like it's the end of the world and their entire life. At this stage they are unable to think that they will survive without their partner. But give them some time and they'll soon find out there are more plenty of fish in the sea. You say you also worry about wars but let me tell you that you British should well prepare for things which will be much more devastating than wars. For instance, imagine how much you are going to have to fork out for a 400 grams jar of Italian Nutella when you pop into your local Sainsbury's after Brexit. Can it get more terrifying than that? Probably not!
We meant our vote my friend. We don't need shared borders, money and laws to not descend into war. Two arguments people make is we will be worse off with money afterwards, I say money doesn't bring happiness and it can't be known if that's true anyway. Secondly that we didn't know what we were voting for, nor did the people that originally voted to join what became the EU. We didn't know what would be forced upon us. If you ask me, the EU makes it more likely there will be war and distrust among us Europeans mainly because we are all being robbed of our own identity and sovereignty which is why all of our wars started in the past, because someone wants to control Europe entirely instead of just being friends with each other and respecting each nation's integrity. For perspective I am 25 by the way. It's nothing to do with hatred, racism or stupidity. Its about principles. Much love to my European cousins, I trust us all to govern ourselves.
I watch this video about twice a week religiously, to remind me what neurotypicals mean when they say stuff like this. I have Asperger's syndrome, so that stuff didn't come to me naturally. Also, on the quiz at the end, I usually answer the way the man did.
And neurotypicals will generally be unaware that what they are saying is illogical. We're so glad you've found the video useful Ben. Thanks for writing.
I also have Asperger's, and would prefer if everyone was direct. It often makes people uncomfortable because they prefer the ambiguity and less confrontational style of conversation. This can be difficult for you and I and other neuro-atypical folk because we generally do not bother to take hints. If you would like a cookie, ask for one. Do not make me guess at your meaning and/or get upset if I don't, or even choose not to. A difficult dichotomy, for sure.
Another thing I find is often troublesome is when I use a phrase a NT person would use in a way to be ambiguous and beat around the bush, when in fact I meant the direct meaning of the phrase and not the one meant to be read between the lines. This can also cause frustration. NTs often infer additional meaning that one with Asperger's never meant to imply. The imply/infer relationship between neurotypical and neuro-atypical is usually a huge issue for me.
Vicki. Can you make a video about plural nouns that we don't have put "s". I always get confused between these words. For example, " goose and geese" and "mouse and mice" please? I need to know about this
AHahahaha! I like videos like this one very much! You all are great actors and teachers, but I want to emphasize Jay's play! He does it with such a poker face :D I will remember this lesson for sure! Thank you very much!
I'm more like jay when answering. I use to be more direct and people get upset by that. I think I belong in Israel, people there is very straightforward
Hi Senor Gato. This is Jay writing back to you. Sometimes I can be very direct in answering. But what we've found is that people all over the world have a variety of ways they answer questions and sometimes they are both direct and indirect :-) It often depends on the situation and the culture. Thank you so much for writing to us and thanks for watching our video.
I'm a native English speaker and I just realized that I'm a rude person because I thought his answers were appropriate. Lol
Lol
You know, that last one where Jason was trying to invite himself along to the movies might be considered rude on its own in which case Jay's answer might be appropriate in tone. Context matters a lot for these things. Of course, understanding the probably intended question or request is definitely helpful so you can at least be intentionally rude rather than doing it accidentally. However, it goes the other way, too. If you don't say what you really mean, you ought to be preprared to get a literal answer, even from other native speakers from similar cultural backgrounds.
No. You are not rude, you're just mean(like me).😁
Then you must be American
Rafael Get off of this channel if you are going to spread negativity. People are watching to learn and I want to help them as well. In America, sometimes words that are rude can be used nicely depending on how you say it and the context. So please rethink what you are going to post before posting. Thank you.
Waiter: How did you find the steak sir?
Customer: Oh, I just moved the potato and there it was!
😂
Ha! Good one LoveEnglish Jad.
This is likely a construction from French: "Comment trouvez-vous le steak?" "Je le trouve délicieux"
@ Abu just can't happen in America!!
Reporter: How did you find America? John Lennon: Turn left at Greenland.
Waitress: "How do you take your coffee?"
Customer: "With my hand."
I believe polite people are not so direct in any language. But English speakers are more indirect than others.
Great comment! I think we certainly have lots of ways to appear to be polite, Luis.
So are Japanese, they always try to avoid being direct to you
It came to the that point that i cant even understand them sometimes
thanks a lot. It's a very useful lesson to prevent awkward moments 😁
Thanks Norma!
I understood, I’m Colombian and I've been learning English and usually when my stepdaughter who is American mades cookies and I flatter her, she gives me some cookies too 🍪 ( In my culture it is usual to make flattery without intentions) In 🇺🇸 I won some 🍪 😋 and I’m nice.
Ha! Aperfect example of flattery will get you EVERYWHERE Carol. Thanks for sharing. :-)
2:14 when she tries to move her hair back and realizes she has none
That's right,haha.You have a good eye.
Chris Pielea I was searching for that comment
no she wasnt, she was just doing the action as one might, it was clearly rehearsed, considering how deliberate it looks
Lmao 🤣🤣🤣
Xp3r very cool, thank you
I like your way to teach English..... thanks a lot!
That's great to hear. Thanks Nabilmila.
Jay and Vicky always be my favourite teachers 💙
That's very kind of you Nadya. Thank you, and thanks for watching.
I'm American, and I think it's rude that others might "beat around the bush" to ask someone else to do something. If I'm feeling cold, I would either say nothing, put on a sweater, or I would ask if they would mind if I turned the thermostat up. Same with the open door thing. I would offer to close the door. And I don't expect someone else to offer me their food. If they offer it, great. But I'm not going to drop a hint to get them to offer.
Hi Angela. This video is about recognizing the logic behind different styles of communication. I think it's fine to decide how you're going to communicate and go with that. I also think it's useful to understand the logic behind other approaches though. It can lead to a lot of unnecessary misunderstandings if we don't.
@@SimpleEnglishVideos , thank you for your response. I understand the point of the video. I just didn't realize this was a common thing among English speakers. I love your videos, and I find them very insightful. I've been conversing with a Romanian friend, who is learning English. And watching your videos helps me to understand how complicated our language can be, and how I can try to communicate better! Thank you for you videos, and please keep doing what you're doing! :)
Thanks so much for the encouragement Angela.
I personally do 'beat around the bush' but at least here (Australia), and for me, it's just a politeness thing and quite contextual. Directly asking can come off as rude or demanding in some scenarios, especially formal ones, and otherwise being indirect IS the best way to allow for people to say 'no' without feeling like they've been rude, so it IS a much more harmonious situation overall.
However, when I indirectly 'ask for things' such as "oh, those brownies look so good!" or "Is it cold in here or is it just me?" I am NOT trying to just say "Hey, give me some" or "Hey, turn the heater up." For the first one, it's a suggestive statement that allows the other an opportunity to offer some or easily keep the brownies for themselves. No harm done or hard feelings if they don't offer some, and I am just as much offering the compliment itself as well. Because who doesn't want to hear that their brownies look good? In the second one, I'd more be looking for an agreement of "yeah, I'm cold too" so I could offer myself to turn up the heater, or a disagreement of "Actually, I'm pretty warm myself" to indicate that I should go get a jumper or something like that. This one, for me, is only slightly different if the location we are in is somewhere that the other person has locational authority (eg. their house, their work office, etc) where I don't feel comfortable fiddling with things like the heater myself. In these situations, normally the person with locational authority (in a true hostly manner), at least in my own experience, will offer to adjust air conditioning temperatures, grab a blanket or something like that if they are in agreement.
Another good "suggestive" example is: "Is there a bathroom around here?" "Yes." would be an inappropriate response because the person is probably wanting to also know the location of it so they can go to the bathroom themselves.
I also find that indirect questions or statements are also the best way to get a feel for how the other person would respond to something without the risk of directly asking or announcing it, especially if it's something they may feel strongly about or have a negative/defensive reaction to.
Example: My friend (around age 20) has been having some issues with her teeth recently, in terms of very worn down enamel and a lot of pain when drinking even room temperature water and breathing in cold air. She's been struggling a bit financially and wanted to see if her parents would at all be willing to help, even just with lending some money for the time being for her to get her teeth fixed, which she could later repay. However, she knows her parents are pretty strict financially and didn't want to risk directly asking and getting a lecture about being 'ungrateful' or greedy or anything like that. Instead, I mentioned the whole 'indirect statements' thing to her and said it could be a good way to understand the situation better. (I've been indirect about things quite a lot for many years aha) So, over dinner one night she just mentioned that her teeth have been causing her some trouble and she thinks her enamel's pretty shot, and she's not too sure what to do about it. Her mother reacted somewhat negatively by saying (something like) "well, when we offered you braces when you were fifteen you should've said yes, shouldn't you?" Based on the statement and the tone, it was then pretty safe for my friend to assume her parents wouldn't be willing to help her sort her teeth out, so she's since been working on a plan to make it happen herself. Of course, if the situation needs it this can still be followed up by a genuine discussion about the issue, but I always find it's a very useful technique to "scope out" a situation or people's opinions on things.
Another example (not from specific personal experience but more general): Say you are bisexual and considering coming out to a friend, but you're not sure how they feel about bisexuality, and you'd like to have a better idea so you don't feel as awful and anxious about coming out as you do without any clue. You could try bringing up a celebrity or a mutual acquaintance and saying "Oh, I heard Xyz is bisexual the other day!" Often, this would prompt the other person to respond and from their response you may be able to gauge their stance on the matter. Eg: "Oh, and I thought they were cool until now. What a shame." (NEGATIVE response, abort mission!) or "Oh, cool! I wouldn't've guessed it but go them for being open and proud of who they are." (Positive response! Keep this friend!)
Sorry if you disagree with my ideas on the issue/examples/etc. I know this can differ a lot between different people, nationalities, cultures etc! I mean no disrespect to the values and beliefs of anybody
You have nice, clear diction.
Thanks Jim. :-)
(I initially wrote this in reply to someone else but thought I'd post in the main comments just coz it might be of some use to others too) :)
I personally do 'beat around the bush' but at least here (Australia), and for me, it's just a politeness thing and quite contextual. Directly asking can come off as rude or demanding in some scenarios, especially formal ones, and otherwise being indirect IS the best way to allow for people to say 'no' without feeling like they've been rude, so it IS a much more harmonious situation overall.
However, when I indirectly 'ask for things' such as "oh, those brownies look so good!" or "Is it cold in here or is it just me?" I am NOT trying to just say "Hey, give me some" or "Hey, turn the heater up." For the first one, it's a suggestive statement that allows the other an opportunity to offer some or easily keep the brownies for themselves. No harm done or hard feelings if they don't offer some, and I am just as much offering the compliment itself as well. Because who doesn't want to hear that their brownies look good? In the second one, I'd more be looking for an agreement of "yeah, I'm cold too" so I could offer myself to turn up the heater, or a disagreement of "Actually, I'm pretty warm myself" to indicate that I should go get a jumper or something like that. This one, for me, is only slightly different if the location we are in is somewhere that the other person has locational authority (eg. their house, their work office, etc) where I don't feel comfortable fiddling with things like the heater myself. In these situations, normally the person with locational authority (in a true hostly manner), at least in my own experience, will offer to adjust air conditioning temperatures, grab a blanket or something like that if they are in agreement.
Another good "suggestive" example is: "Is there a bathroom around here?" "Yes." would be an inappropriate response because the person is probably wanting to also know the location of it so they can go to the bathroom themselves.
I also find that indirect questions or statements are also the best way to get a feel for how the other person would respond to something without the risk of directly asking or announcing it, especially if it's something they may feel strongly about or have a negative/defensive reaction to.
Example: My friend (around age 20) has been having some issues with her teeth recently, in terms of very worn down enamel and a lot of pain when drinking even room temperature water and breathing in cold air. She's been struggling a bit financially and wanted to see if her parents would at all be willing to help, even just with lending some money for the time being for her to get her teeth fixed, which she could later repay. However, she knows her parents are pretty strict financially and didn't want to risk directly asking and getting a lecture about being 'ungrateful' or greedy or anything like that. Instead, I mentioned the whole 'indirect statements' thing to her and said it could be a good way to understand the situation better. (I've been indirect about things quite a lot for many years aha) So, over dinner one night she just mentioned that her teeth have been causing her some trouble and she thinks her enamel's pretty shot, and she's not too sure what to do about it. Her mother reacted somewhat negatively by saying (something like) "well, when we offered you braces when you were fifteen you should've said yes, shouldn't you?" Based on the statement and the tone, it was then pretty safe for my friend to assume her parents wouldn't be willing to help her sort her teeth out, so she's since been working on a plan to make it happen herself. Of course, if the situation needs it this can still be followed up by a genuine discussion about the issue, but I always find it's a very useful technique to "scope out" a situation or people's opinions on things.
Another example (not from specific personal experience but more general): Say you are bisexual and considering coming out to a friend, but you're not sure how they feel about bisexuality, and you'd like to have a better idea so you don't feel as awful and anxious about coming out as you do without any clue. You could try bringing up a celebrity or a mutual acquaintance and saying "Oh, I heard Xyz is bisexual the other day!" Often, this would prompt the other person to respond and from their response you may be able to gauge their stance on the matter. Eg: "Oh, and I thought they were cool until now. What a shame." (NEGATIVE response, abort mission!) or "Oh, cool! I wouldn't've guessed it but go them for being open and proud of who they are." (Positive response! Keep this friend!)
Sorry if you disagree with my ideas on the issue/examples/etc. I know this can differ a lot between different people, nationalities, cultures etc! I mean no disrespect to the values and beliefs of anybody
WOW!!!! Thank you so much for sharing this Blitzheart. There are so many great ideas here that will help teachers (and students) understand what's happening in these sorts of (very common) interactions. This is such a generous response and we can't thank you enough for sharing these very thoughtful ideas.
@@SimpleEnglishVideos You're very welcome! I hope my response is informative and helpful for you and others! There's so much more that could be said on the topic because these interactions ARE very common, especially for me as I'm conflict-avoidant by nature. I'm quite consistently gauging situations around me and generating questions and statements to create harmonious and agreeable environments where I can, as much as I can without comprising my own level of honesty, or my morals and beliefs. If you have any further questions or want to hear any more examples, just ask.
Thank you for taking the time to read my looooong comment ~ :)
I'm a native English speaker and learned a lot myself with this video! Never realized we ask obvious questions as a way to either get what we want or as a way to allow the speaker to indirectly say no and then pretend we never asked! I laughed because it's so true - we just pretend like the question never even happened! Btw, I live in Philly too and I hope I bump into you two sometime!!
Hi Drew, great to hear from you and please say hi if you see us around in Philly! So glad you found it interesting. There's a relatively young branch of linguistics called pragmatics that explores these sorts of hidden meanings and messages. My favourite definition of pragmatics it's the study of how we don't say what we mean and it's surprising how often we say things that are a bit crazy if you stand back and look at them out of context. Pragmatics is mostly of interest to three groups of people: philosophers (it sprung from the works of the philosopher Paul Grice), linguists (for obvious reasons) and people who are interested in autism (because it investigates non-literal meanings).
Thanks so much Vicki😊
Thank you Neven. So glad you liked it.
I'm from Indonesia.
And I'm gonna share your videos to my friends!
That's great to hear Johan. Thank you. We love it when people share.
Everytime i finished watching your video i get more confident to study abroad, thank you Jay and Vicki!
Salman. We're very pleased we are helping you to build your confidence in English. Keep up the good work, and thank you for watching.
At first I gotta say I've already watched a lot of your videos and I really like them. I'm german (native speaker) and I exactly know what you mean. In german we have the problems with misunderstanding sentences as well. So it's not only a thing you notice in English but also in german and other languages. You always have to look at the context.
Yes, the context is crucial. Great to meet you yolo and thanks so much for writing.
Hey, im german too 😊
Wow wow wow you're the best online teacher ever!
So that's why they usuallly make an ambiguous sentence.
So glad you liked it Johan. Thanks for writing. :-)
Once my mother made brownies and i told her "hey, those brownies smell soooo good that i could eat one!"... but she misheard my words and said yes, so i ate some and when she saw me she yelled "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? THOSE BROWNIES ARE FOR THE PARTY TONIGHT!!"
I began being more direct from that day lol.
Fortunately, that party was cancelled because the light went off 😁😁
Ha! Great story Santi. Thanks for sharing. :-)
Ohh! Such relief for me! It's like I am always doing: thinking twice before to say or ask about something, because I dont want to disturb or hurt anybody. That's why sometimes people misunderstanding me, cause I cannot (and even I don't want) to say/ask directly. Specially I think its a little bit rude to ask directly, maybe they will feel awkward. I always thought that is something wrong with me, that I am too much delicate, but now I see I am doing right. My way of talk with hints doesn't offend anybody and it's great! Thank you so much, Vicky and Jay! 😍😘
Love and Honor, we are very pleased our video was able to help you out. Thanks so much for watching.
I knew the ones at the 2 minutes mark. I usually say yes not realizing and then get asked to do.. Very annoying to be so imposing on another person.
I'm native English and this is helpful lol
Ha! Well welcome Chloe. We're surprised to find you here but also delighted to find you here.
that's why i like english! it is so gentle, now i know how to bring conversation into right way with anybody)
Hi kekostar. We're so pleased this video was useful for you. Thanks for letting us know and thanks for watching.
So helpful as always. Thanks!!
That's great to hear. Thanks Arnaldo.
Thanks for such a useful lesson!
Hi Olya. Thanks for letting us know you found this useful. And thanks for watching our videos.
2:22 : It seems to me that there is something strange on the way how Lisa comes silently so close to Vicky and then starts speaking. Vicky might get scared if she did not notice her coming. I would certainly not get so close when addressing my colleague.
Hi Aspro4. This is Jay writing back to you. On our little production studio set, we don't have a lot of space, so sometimes our 'actors' have to violate each other's personal space to make the video work. I hope that explains the situation. Thanks for writing to us and thanks for watching.
People use the indirect way very often in my country, I just realized that after seeing your video, thanks!
So glad you liked it Bassam. :-)
Two people enter to the restaurant one of them say looking at some ice cream. Oh, that ice cream looks very delicious. The other person say Oh, I can invite you one. The wrong answer would be. Oh, it looks very delicious or yes it is. I think, learning about how people have a conversation about making indirect request is really interesting. This lesson is really interseting Vicki. The more we listen to how people have a conversation about it, the better we will understand it. Thank you :)
Oh, that's interesting Orlando. If you're talking to you're friend that's indeed how the conversation might go. But if you're talking to the shopkeeper, 'That ice cream looks delicious' could mean 'That's the one I want to buy.' Customer buy and shopkeepers sell so the roles we are playing matter as well. So if I'm at an art gallery with you and we're looking at some pictures and I say 'That's a nice one' it means I like the picture. But if you are the owner of a grocery shop and I point at a cauliflower and say 'That's a nice one', then it means I want to buy that one. The roles we play matter too. Thank you for your comment. You have given me an idea for another video.
Yeah, the role can change according to the situation and always to the context. The best thing about it is to have the conversation going , listen to it very carefully and answer it by using indirect request. Thank you Vicki . It is really a pleasure to have a conversation through this media.
Very very lovely video thanks
So glad you liked it. Thanks Faraz. :-)
I'm so in love with people making fun educational videos in a smart and polite manner ^____^ 💚
Lena, that is so kind of you to say. Thank you so much for writing to us and thanks for watching our video.
6:10 Is that door open?
-Yup 🤣🤣🤣 lol
:-)
IAM very happy that I found this channel I've learnt a lot after I've came across it,it's like you're in kindergarten again,we could learn a lot if the teaching method and style,were like these guys videos, mainly in literature and language,keep going and one day you will change something.Good Luck😊😊
Hi Nimble TreeHS. Thanks for the kind words, and we're very glad you found our channel. We know from the comments here that we are making a difference for lots of folks. It's very rewarding. Thanks for watching.
I think it is also a way to show politness. Thank You so much.
Yes, it is Hatoul Star.
Thanks a lot Vicki. I missed your lessons so much.
Thank you Dildar. We plan to make more of them.
I subscribed!!! I enjoy your videos a lot.
Welcome to our Simple English Videos community Nugraha. We look forward to hearing more from you.
Really in real life, I never use indirect questions. So I have seen this video several times. At last, I could ask an indirect question in English. The reason that I don't like the indirect questions is that of a childhood memory. We went to the neighbors and I gazed at the cakes because I had never seen this kind of cake. It didn't occur to me to eat it. But they noticed that I am gazing at them and asked me whether you want to eat a cake? And this was like an indirect question as if had looked at the cakes because I wanted to eat it. It was out of the question.
But I can say another story about cakes. My husband's teacher was an old man when he told a story to their students better say to my husband in the studio. He has always a box of candy in his pocket. He offered his students at the Fine Arts Academy. When he offered my husband first, my husband told thanks, Master I don't want. He told him again "take one". My husband told him again thanks, Master I don't want. Then the old teacher told my husband "once when I used to be a child I was at a party at a women house. It was on the table very appetizing cake and the woman told me to take one little John and I said thank you, madam, I don't want". (after a pause he finished) "Even today I regret. "Take it" - repeated again. And my husband understood the fable and took one candy. When I got to know him and his friends in the 60's they used to tell stories about their masters. Then the artists who used to teach them at the Fine Arts Academy were very much respected and loved by their students. For today as slowly totally changed.
Oh thank you so much for sharing these stories Kati! The last one reminds me of a custom I've heard about - something that only happens in some parts of the world. When someone offers you something, it's polite to refuse it. They will offer again twice and the third time you can say yes. I think Azerbaijan has this custom and I'd love to know if anyone knows of other parts of the world where this happens. So I heard a story of some Americans who had an Azerbaijani house guest and whenever they'd offer her food or drink she'd say 'no' politely. They didn't realise it was just a polite 'no' and not a real 'no', so they didn't offer it again. They were worried that she didn't like their food, but of course she was just being polite After she got very hungry, realised the customs were different and started saying 'yes'. :-)
When I used to be a child in the fifties it was a custom in Hungary also. Of course, nowadays children are same in Hungary as in the US..I have two grandchildren in the US and three in Hungary but there isn't any difference between them. This teacher who used to teach my husband was his favorite teacher and he was a really very good painter. In the morning I told my husband that I wrote your story to you. And he told me that I could not remember well as this teacher didn't say to him but a girl and he told he. Of course, suddenly all became clear, so it happened not to him but a beautiful girl who used to be his classmate and they all listened to their master how told his story to this young girl. Anyway, the story literally was written in the same way as he repeated me this morning. Only the main character was mistaken. So my memory took me in. This master-painter was born in 1889. So this story could happen in the eighteenth century or at the turn of the century. I send you a link where you can see his paintings. In Hungary, this regime doesn't favor either to the contemporary artist nor artists, writers who are still alive. So this master also is forgotten for the time being. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything where only his paintings could be seen, there are lots of his paintings but mixed with other painters so I downloaded one of his self-portraits but I see on youtube there isn't the possibility to download it so I put his self-portrait on The Weekly English site for you.
I discovered your channel from "speak english with christina" and I like it too ! Keep it up !
Oh we adore Christina! Thanks for writing!
Really it's a great lesson I hope you upload another one
We will Zeena. So glad you liked it.
Super! Very useful lesson as usual! Thank you!
delighted you like it Olly.
OMG! I love this lessin too much!
And it’s so amusing !
For French people, it's not too difficult to understand the real meaning of a remark because we often speak the same way.
A : Cette chaise est-elle libre?
B : Oui, bien sûr : prenez-la !
People also often drop hints! More polite. Not understand make laugh.
220224 RR
That's so interesting, Mona. Thanks for pointing that out.
Fantastic lesson understanding Eng speakers means the ability to destinguish accents. For many American Eng is easy direct & clear while British Eng is heavily pronounced & vowel-focused. Also Asian speakers of Eng such as Chinese & Indians are easier to understand than even Americans. So for me it's all following the way we pronounce vowels & how much we emphasize them. Thank you Love you
Great to hear from you. Thanks for this Mohmed. I hope I am easy to understand.
thanks your videos. l am learning a lot
That's great to hear. Thanks for writing!
Great lesson, Vicki. Thanks a lot.
Glad you liked it Julio
Great video
So glad you liked it. Thanks for writing SuccX77thNigga. :-)
Thanks.
Your welcome, Kausar. Thanks for watching.
Great videos, guys you two should be awarded, great job.
Thank you Abdou. So glad you like it.
Very good lesson thank you all...🌷🌺🥀
Our pleasure Leonardo. Glad you liked it! :-)
Thanks for your always effective and interesting videos. Greetings from Italy :-)
Hello Nicola. So glad you like the videos. Thanks for writing!
i like very much the way you teach the English speaking because your do it like in the real life.
Thank you so much Ronald. We try to show the language in action and we're so glad you like that. :-)
Wow! Thank you so much
It helps me a lot!
Glad it helped!
Great video, I find out that in any country has a way to express the polite, in Vietnam if you don't answer the appropriate, you will be feedback on the different place. Some people feel it's so rude and another feels it's fine because they think that they're nature and simple, not rude.
Yes Thien Binh. Culture plays an important role in politeness. The different responses you report from Vietnam are not unlike responses in many cultures. Thanks for sharing that and thanks for watching our videos.
Awesome!
So glad you liked it Luciano. Thanks for watching.
This is very helpful. There was as scene in the movie yesterday when he was talking with his boss at the store I had no idea what was happening.
So glad you liked it kris. Thanks for these responses. :-)
@@SimpleEnglishVideos I had no idea if his boss was promoting him to a better full time job position, firing him or both?
Amazing!
So glad you liked it Jean. :-)
Thanks madam
You are most welcome, Muhammed.
I love your Chanel so much and it helps me a lot. I’m studying modern languages and your videos help me improve my English skills. :)
That's great to hear Super Saiyan Rose. We're so glad the videos are useful. It's very encouraging for us.
amazing!!! so usefull! thank you for this video!
Thank you!
Teacher Vicki,
Greetings! Such an interesting video like your educational English video make learners highly motivated to watch more lessons. Thanks a lot!
That's great to hear. Thank you LoveEnglish Jad!
Hi Vicki, I've enjoying a lot with this video, thx a bunch darling.
That's great to hear. Thanks Akros.
Thank you!! ❤❤❤
You are most welcome Luana.
Thanks it is great video this's first time to watch you and I'll do that often when I have time thanks again for your lovely smile 😀
Thank you so much Sulaiman. Come back again soon.
It is funny that Jay always be gross in his roles, such as in fce speaking videos!!!!!! Thank you, I am taking the FCE Cambridge Exam in the end of this year and you really contributed for my growth in english!
Isabella, we wish you the very best of luck in the FCE exam. Let us know you do. This is Jay writing back to you. It's true, I can sometimes be very awkward :-) Thanks for writing to us and thanks for watching our videos.
6:07 and after is so funny xD
So glad you liked it Steven. Thanks for watching. :-)
That's my first time I'm watch a video this canal. And I'm loved! I'm already subscribed too!
So glad you like the videos Fabricio! Delighted to have you with us.
Obrigado por trazer esses vídeos.....está sendo muito bom nestes dias de quarentena reavivar meus conhecimentos de inglês de um modo tão simples e prático...do Rio de janeiro, BR.
Greetings to you in Rio! We're so glad you like the videos, Edson. It's great to hear they are useful in these difficult times. Hoping you and your loved one stay safe and healthy. :-)
thanks a lot
I want someone to look at me the same way Jay looked at that Pizza. Love is in the air.
Ha! Yes, pizza is definitely one of the loves of Jay's life. :-)
So.. I've recently started watching this channel, And I can proudly say that this is really useful,... All things aside,..and Keep up the good work!.
Welcome PureLaxer X! So glad it's useful. Thanks for writing.
Simple English Videos thanks for your response, Really appreciated !
Interesting and helpful thanks a lot
That's great to hear. Thanks for writing Sirin.
if video had transcript,it's so good.
Our videos do have transcripts Vo thang. You need to click the cc icon to see captions. If you go to our website you can see the words there too. www.simpleenglishvideos.com
6:10 (I'm italian native) It's a matter of logic: I too would have understood that it meant that I closed the door for the cold (expression of the face included) ... and I think it is also valid in other countries ...
Hi Marantzyk. Yes, this feature is common to most languages - we're all human after all. The thing is sometimes people are unaware of it and it can come as a surprise when they encounter it in a language they're learning.
I'm studying translation and in all the languages there's indirect petitions haha we don't say what we mean, for example in spanish it's the same, I can say:
- Hay mas ensalada? (there's more salad?)
That means: Sirveme mas ensalada (serve me more salad)
I'm a native spanish speaker so I think I'm able to say that hahaha xd Greetings from Peru!♥
Great to hear from you Mariale. Yes, indirectness seems to be a human condition. I love your example.
Love this vid! Great job. And now I understand better... thank you!
That's great to hear chungkin. Thanks for writing.
Great, that is excellent.
Thank you , Victor. Pragmatics is a relatively young branch of linguistics, but a very useful one, I think, for explaining what's going on.
I'm English from Worcestershire and the first answers were exactly the way I would have replied.
Thanks for sharing this Fred. :-)
thank you it is very useful
You're very welcome Said. Thanks for writing.
I like to answer literally what they've asked that way I make my life easier because I don't have to do stupid stuff
Ah yes, life would be more straightforward if we all said what we mean. Human beings don't though, which is probably lucky for me because it means I have a job. :-)
OMG your videos are so good. They really help me to improve my English . Thank you
Welcome Frandika! So glad you have found us. Please tell all your friends who are learning English about us.
Simple English Videos ok.... 😊
Great tips
So glad you found this video useful, Neudson. Thanks for watching.
Thanks
You're welcome Keti!
Hi y'all, I find very very interesting your classes, is very easy to understand you , ( my English level is a little bad) speaking about this particular lesson, in my country, Chile, we got the same way to ask for something, I mean a casual cuestion but we want something, ( I don't know if in others spanics countrys is the same) . Ma'am you are extremly lovely.
Lucius, we're very pleased you find our videos worthwhile. Thanks so much for letting us know and thanks for watching.
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ Good job 👍 thank you
Ranime, you've been watching a lot of our videos. Thank you so much!
I just can’t stop watching 😊😍😊😍
You're hooked! That's great to hear. Thanks Blind Bookworm. :-)
Thank you guys
It's our pleasure DeNTaN! Happy New Year!
Simple English Videos ❤️❤️❤️
Thanks 🙏 for you
You're very welcome Ali.
Loved it💯❤️❤️
That's great to hear. Thanks Divyanshi. :-)
Aaaah! I've got it now. So when the British voted "Yes" to Brexit they actually meant "No".
Ha! There's a lot of truth to that Benedetto. A lot of voters now regret that decision. I hate the idea of Brexit and just wish we could reverse it.
@@SimpleEnglishVideos , oh well, that shows that the European Council, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk and the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker did not watch this video because if they had, they would all have learnt that "[YOU] often say one thing, when [you] mean another".
Joking apart, why worry? Surely there must be life beyond the European Union!
Hi Benedetto, yeah there will be life beyond the EU, but my view is (and has always been) that life will be for all if we're communicating regularly and working together. Two world wars began in Europe in the first half of the last century. It's not that Europe has been a war free zone since, but it has been much more stable. Oh my, you've got me going here Benedetto. Ha! I just REALLY don't want the UK to Brexit.
@@SimpleEnglishVideos "I just REALLY don't want the UK to Brexit", you say. Well that's a very interesting verb I didn't come across before, "to Brexit"!
Being Sicilian I don't feel any personal involvement in the Brexit Drama and therefore I can't have those fears you might have. But also I'm not 100% sure the European Union is a good thing. After all it is a man-made bureaucratic and administrative "invention" that has been imposed on some 300 million people - and like all Empires past and present it will crumble one day or another. Artificial things tend not to work properly. Look at the Esperanto language! Or plastic surgery!
This divorce between the United Kingdom and Europe makes me think of a teenage boy and a teenage girl who first fell deeply in love for the very first time but have now reached the end of their relationship. Each of them now feels devastated and gutted like it's the end of the world and their entire life. At this stage they are unable to think that they will survive without their partner. But give them some time and they'll soon find out there are more plenty of fish in the sea.
You say you also worry about wars but let me tell you that you British should well prepare for things which will be much more devastating than wars. For instance, imagine how much you are going to have to fork out for a 400 grams jar of Italian Nutella when you pop into your local Sainsbury's after Brexit.
Can it get more terrifying than that? Probably not!
We meant our vote my friend. We don't need shared borders, money and laws to not descend into war. Two arguments people make is we will be worse off with money afterwards, I say money doesn't bring happiness and it can't be known if that's true anyway. Secondly that we didn't know what we were voting for, nor did the people that originally voted to join what became the EU. We didn't know what would be forced upon us. If you ask me, the EU makes it more likely there will be war and distrust among us Europeans mainly because we are all being robbed of our own identity and sovereignty which is why all of our wars started in the past, because someone wants to control Europe entirely instead of just being friends with each other and respecting each nation's integrity. For perspective I am 25 by the way. It's nothing to do with hatred, racism or stupidity. Its about principles. Much love to my European cousins, I trust us all to govern ourselves.
interesting video ,I'm going to watch it again and again
So glad you like it Amaal067. Thanks for writing.
Oh, it is a nice video! :)
I would love to watch your videos and channel ^^
Thank you so much
Glad you like it Tran. Thanks for writing.
I watch this video about twice a week religiously, to remind me what neurotypicals mean when they say stuff like this.
I have Asperger's syndrome, so that stuff didn't come to me naturally.
Also, on the quiz at the end, I usually answer the way the man did.
And neurotypicals will generally be unaware that what they are saying is illogical. We're so glad you've found the video useful Ben. Thanks for writing.
I am right there with you on that one. I have to really focus to understand what NT`s mean sometimes.
I also have Asperger's, and would prefer if everyone was direct. It often makes people uncomfortable because they prefer the ambiguity and less confrontational style of conversation.
This can be difficult for you and I and other neuro-atypical folk because we generally do not bother to take hints. If you would like a cookie, ask for one. Do not make me guess at your meaning and/or get upset if I don't, or even choose not to.
A difficult dichotomy, for sure.
Another thing I find is often troublesome is when I use a phrase a NT person would use in a way to be ambiguous and beat around the bush, when in fact I meant the direct meaning of the phrase and not the one meant to be read between the lines. This can also cause frustration. NTs often infer additional meaning that one with Asperger's never meant to imply.
The imply/infer relationship between neurotypical and neuro-atypical is usually a huge issue for me.
Amazing! Good scene perfectly combined
So glad you liked it Zanet. Thanks for writing.
Great!
Thanks Ana
Thank you so much , I want learn more English
You're very welcome Lena, and we want to help you learn.
Simple English Videos , Yes please!
Its amazing!
Thanks Abdul.
1:07
Tap this more often 😂
Vicki. Can you make a video about plural nouns that we don't have put "s". I always get confused between these words. For example, " goose and geese" and "mouse and mice" please? I need to know about this
Hi iqma. Thanks for this suggestion. It's a great idea.
lovely👌
always when i see you , you make me sad and happy
you looks like my grandmother
thank you
Warm wishes.
AHahahaha! I like videos like this one very much!
You all are great actors and teachers, but I want to emphasize Jay's play! He does it with such a poker face :D
I will remember this lesson for sure!
Thank you very much!
Jay makes me laugh too. :-) Thanks Roman.
I like it!
That's great to hear. Thanks GAMER. :-)
I'm more like jay when answering.
I use to be more direct and people get upset by that.
I think I belong in Israel, people there is very straightforward
Hi Senor Gato. This is Jay writing back to you. Sometimes I can be very direct in answering. But what we've found is that people all over the world have a variety of ways they answer questions and sometimes they are both direct and indirect :-) It often depends on the situation and the culture. Thank you so much for writing to us and thanks for watching our video.