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Today's lesson is the first in a series about agreeing and disagreeing.
This is part of a broader project to take another look at some of our older lessons.
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Success in business can depend on how your opinions align with other people's ideas.
For this reason, agreeing and disagreeing are essential communication skills.
It doesn't matter whether it's the boardroom, the meeting room, or the staff room.
You need to know how to agree and disagree effectively.
Today we're going to focus on agreeing.
In fact, there are many ways to agree with someone.
Sometimes we want to use a short expression.
Sometimes we need something longer and more polite.
Sometimes we want to show energy and enthusiasm.
And sometimes we want to use an example or repeat someone else's idea.
It really depends on the situation.
In today's dialogue we'll hear a conversation between three people who work for a pharmaceutical or drug company.
Jean, Louis, and Karina are talking about the results of a new trial for a drug called Xorax.
In their conversation, they use many different expressions for agreeing.
As you listen to the dialogue, try to answer the following questions.
One, how does Louis agree with the idea that the drug will be a big seller?
Two, what is one word that means excellent or very good that is used to agree?
Three, what idea does Gene repeat with emphasis at the end of the conversation?
So, what do you think about the new Xorax trial?
This could be the drug we've all been waiting for.
I think it's going to be a big seller.
So do I.
I'm sorry, but I really can't agree.
After all, so far we've only carried out two trials.
And don't forget the strange results from the first trial.
Yes, I admit the first trial was a little disappointing.
But that doesn't take anything away from these new results.
Absolutely amazing.
Yes, fantastic, aren't they?
Especially for men over 60.
Don't you think it's still a little early, to be so sure?
Perhaps we shouldn't count our chickens before they're hatched.
I still think there may be some issues with Xorax.
Do you really think so?
Anyway, we don't have anything else coming down the pipeline right now.
We have to try to make this work.
Yes, of course.
But our patients come first.
The patients always come first.
We won't forget that.
Now Karina, let's talk about these issues one by one.
Now let's go through the dialogue again and look at the language our colleagues use to agree with each other.
Gene begins by expressing his excitement about the new drug, Xorax.
So, what do you think about the new Xorax trial?
This could be the drug we've all been waiting for.
I think it's going to be a big seller.
So do I. Gene is very positive about the new drug.
He expresses the opinion that it will be a big seller or very popular.
And Louis agrees with the short, simple expression, so do I.
This is a useful expression when we have the same thought, feeling or plan that someone else has just stated.
So do I agrees with the I think part of the sentence.
If the statement is negative, then instead of so, we use the word neither as in, neither do I.
Let's practice some more ways of agreeing, using this approach with some short dialogues.
I hate having to work late.
So do I.
I really don't like this website.
Neither do I. We will go to the conference.
So will we.
I can't understand this spreadsheet.
Neither can I, As you can hear.
You need to match the verb and the subject to the original statement.
So we will go matches with so will we.
And I can't matches with neither can I. Now let's listen.
Askarina mentions some concerns.
I'm sorry, but I really can't agree.
After all, so far we've only carried out two trials.
And don't forget the strange results from the first trial.
Yes, I admit the first trial was a little disappointing, but that doesn't take anything away from these new results.
Absolutely amazing.
Although Louis is still excited about the drug, he wants to agree with Karina's statement about the first trial.
To do that, he says, yes, I admit that the first trial was a little disappointing.
In this case, I admit means I agree.
What are some other phrases we can use for agreeing with a statement?
Let's try some more examples.
I completely agree with you.
You're right about that.
That's exactly how I feel.
I couldn't agree with you more.
These are all quite strong ways of agreeing with someone, so only use them when you agree with something 100.
Now remember, after agreeing with Karina about the first trial, Louis emphasized that the new results are absolutely amazing.
Sometimes, when we agree with someone, we use these strong adjectives that have the same meaning as amazing.
Let's run through some examples of this kind of adjective.
Great!
Now let's hear how Jean responds to Louis' comment that the results are amazing.
The first thing you might notice is another word meaning amazing.
And this is a good example of how we can agree informally with very short and simple phrases.
Just saying yes, fantastic, is Jean's way of agreeing with Louis.
There are lots of other short informal phrases we can use to agree very simply with someone, as we can hear in these examples.
For sure.
No doubt.
Absolutely.
Exactly.
Now, besides his short informal expression, Gene uses another way of agreeing.
Just to remind you, Gene's full statement is, yes, fantastic, aren't they?
Why does he say, aren't they, at the end?
Well, this is a tag question.
We can use a tag question like this to emphasize agreement.
If you tell me the weather is hot, I might say it sure is, isn't it?
The tag question has to match the thing we're talking about.
In my example, it's the weather.
So I say, isn't it?
Let's try some more examples of using these tag questions for agreeing.
They're outstanding, aren't they?
It looks great, doesn't it?
So Jean thinks the test results are amazing.
Does Louis have anything to add?
Especially for men over 60.
Sometimes it's good to show people why we agree.
And one way to do that is to give evidence or an example.
In our dialogue, Jean agrees the test results are fantastic.
And Louis gives the example of why they are especially fantastic.
When we give an example to show exactly why we agree with someone, we often use the word especially or particularly.
We use these words to emphasize something that shows why we agree, as you can hear in the following examples
The website looks incredible.
Yes, especially the homepage.
Jonas did a great job on the office design.
Particularly the entrance lobby.
Let's get back to the dialogue as Karina and Jean discuss the possibilities for the new drug.
Don't you think it's still a little early to be so sure?
Perhaps we shouldn't count our chickens before they're hatched.
I still think there may be some issues with Zorax.
You really think so?
Anyway, we don't have anything else coming down the pipeline right now.
We have to try to make this work.
Now, if you think it's strange that Karina is talking about chickens, well, she's using an idiom.
She thinks they shouldn't be too sure too soon about the drug.
And to express that idea, she says they shouldn't count their chickens before they're hatched.
Gene responds with another idiom.
He says they don't have anything else coming down the pipeline.
He means they don't have anything else planned for the future.
And for this reason, he thinks they need to go ahead with the new drug.
Let's hear how Karina responds.
Yes, of course.
But our patients come first.
The patients always come first.
We won't forget that.
Now, Karina, let's talk about these issues one by one.
When Karina says our patients come first, Jean agrees by saying the patients always come first.
Repeating someone's idea with a bit of extra emphasis is a strong way of agreeing.
When we agree by repeating like this, we can add emphasis words like always never definitely, certainly and surely to agree in this way.
Let's try a couple of short dialogues for agreeing by repeating with emphasis.
Yes, we definitely can't afford this.
We won't finish the project by Friday.
No, we certainly won't.
All right, we've heard an interesting conversation with lots of examples of agreeing.
Jean, Karina, and Louis have tried to figure out whether to move ahead with their new drug.
Along the way, we've learned how to agree using a variety of approaches.
Now let's practice some of the language we learned in today's lesson.
In a moment, you'll hear a series of statements that you need to express agreement with.
Before each statement, I'll explain which approach to use.
Then after the beep, you can say your answer.
Once we've gone through all the examples, we'll hear some model answers to compare to yours.
Ready?
Let's give it a go.
Start off by agreeing to this statement using the word so.
I really think we need to increase sales.
Now agree to this comment by saying you couldn't agree more.
It's been a difficult week.
Next, agree by giving the example of the new building downtown.
Finally, agree by repeating the statement with the word definitely for emphasis.
This is going to be a busy month.
How did you do?
Let's listen to some example answers.
You'll hear each statement, followed by the model answer.
We've got a lot of exciting projects to work on.
Answer.
Especially the new building downtown.
This is going to be a busy month.
Answer.
Yes, it's definitely going to be busy.
We've learned how to agree with a variety of phrases, tag questions examples, and by repeating and emphasizing.
And as we listen to the dialogue, you probably noticed not everyone agreed with each other.
So we'll look at how to disagree in our next lesson.
For more practice.
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Thanks for listening and see you again soon.
