Learning Vocabulary: Agreeing & Disagreeing

Jack: Hello my name’s Jack

Rowan: My name’s Rowan

Rich: and I’m Rich

Rowan: And welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast.

Jack: In the Premier Skills English podcast, we talk about football and help you with your English.

Rich: Well, the Premier League season has ended so we thought that, in this week’s roleplay, we would review the season and give out our Premier Skills English awards.

Rowan: For things like Player of the Season and Goal of the Season.

Jack: Exactly. But things didn’t go according to plan. We couldn’t agree on who should win what.

Rich: So, in this week’s podcast you are going to hear the three of us discussing and arguing about who should win the prizes.

Rowan: In the end, we thought these arguments were much more interesting to listen to and it gave us a chance to focus on language we use to agree and disagree.

Jack: You’ll hear three roleplays this week and after each we’ll look at language we used to agree with each other, to disagree with each other and everything in between.

Rich: This week’s task is to say who you think should win our awards and who you agree with: Rowan, Jack or the sensible choice: me.

Rowan: All right. Don’t start arguing yet. If you’re listening to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcast platform, you should also check out our website.

Jack: On the Premier Skills English website you’ll also find 
the transcript, examples and activities to help you understand the language, and a task for you to complete.

Rich: You’ll also find a community of friendly listeners to interact with, in our comments section.

Rowan: And that includes us - we’re always around to answer questions and join in the discussions.

Jack: But if you listen on Apple Podcasts you can always write answers to our questions or any other comments in the review section.

Rich: Before we do the roleplay let’s look back at last week’s football phrase.

Last week’s Football Phrase 
Jack: If you didn’t hear our football phrase last week we’re going to give you one more chance to guess now.

Rowan: Last week’s football phrase was ****** *******. A ****** ******* is an attacking player which teams rely on to score lots of goals. A ****** ********’s job is not only to score goals though - it’s their job to also hold up the ball to allow other players to join the attack. Good examples of ****** ******** are Harry Kane and Olivier Giroud.

Rich: We’ll give you the correct answer at the end of the show when we give you a new football phrase. The first listener to get it right last week was Marco Zapien from Mexico. Well done Marco! You beat everyone else last week. Are you a big fan of Raul Jimenez at Wolves? He’s a great centre forward.

Jack: Lots of other listeners got the right answer too. Well done to Izabela from Brazil, Max Alex from Vietnam, MoBeckham from Turkey, Gergo Nagy from Hungary, and Lakerwang from China.

Rowan: Also well done to Idzingirai from Zimbabwe, Mohamed Kuna from Sudan, WSanta from Argentina, Elghoul from Algeria, Emmanuel from France and Robert Tavares, Fjchaves1991 and Salomaoh all from Brazil.

Rich: It was great to see so many of you having a go at last week’s task. Lots of you came up with lots of good alibis. Vic from Mexico even said he had witnesses and he accused us of being liars.

Jack: I liked Alex from Ukraine’s alibi. He said he was commenting on the Premier Skills English website. That’s a great alibi Alex but maybe you asked someone else to comment for you!

Rowan: And you will have noticed that I am here this week. I didn’t get arrested - it was a case of mistaken identity. Most people have an evil twin sister, don’t they?

Rich: If you haven’t heard last week’s podcast it’s called Learning Vocabulary: Captain Blade Part Two. You can find part two and part one on the Premier Skills English website or on Apple Podcasts.

Jack: And thanks to all of you for your lovely comments last week about the podcast and reaching 500 episodes. We are very happy that you all enjoy listening to us.

Introduction to Roleplay

Rich: As we said earlier, we wanted to do a review of the Premier League season in this week’s podcast and give out some Premier Skills English season awards.

Jack: But the three of us couldn’t agree on which players, teams and managers should get an award.

Rowan: So, instead you’re going to hear some snippets - some small sections - from our planning discussions about the podcast.

Rich: As you will hear, everything started out amicably enough. We were very friendly, to begin with, and generally agreed with each other.

Jack: But after a while, everything started to go downhill. We start to disagree and argue with each other.

Rowan: Just in case you are wondering, we would like to let you know that none of us were harmed in the making of this podcast and the three of us are still friends.

Rich: OK, you’re about to listen to the first roleplay but before you listen we would like to give you two questions to answer.

Jack: Question one: Which award are we discussing?

Rowan: Question two: Who do we decide to give the award to?

Roleplay 1

Rowan: So, the first award we want to give is for Team of the Season. Do we just give it to the Champions?

Rich: Yes, definitely. Why would we not?

Jack: Well, there are other teams who have had great seasons.

Rowan: You’re absolutely right. Leicester City finishing fifth for example.

Rich: Yes, I agree 100%, but they haven’t had the season Liverpool have had.

Jack: Yes there’s no doubt about that, but Leicester don’t have the same budget as Liverpool or what about Sheffield United - they finished 9th and had one of the smallest budgets in the league.

Rowan: The blades have had a great season back in the Premier League, but I have to side with Rich on this one. Let’s go with Liverpool as Team of the Season.

Rich: So we’re all agreed on this one?

Rowan: Absolutely.

Jack: Right, I suppose I can go along with that.

Language Focus 1

Rich: Let’s start by looking at the answers to the questions we set. The first question was which award were we discussing.

Rowan: The answer is Team of the Season.

Rich: And the second question was who did we give the award to.

Rowan: The answer was Liverpool.

Jack: Our discussion was friendly and we all, more or less, agreed with each other. We used a few phrases to show that we agreed with each other. Let’s have a closer look at these now.

Rich: We can say ‘I agree’ to agree with someone but we don’t usually and there are lots of other words and phrases we can use to say that we agree with someone.

Rowan: We can use one-word responses to signal agreement. In the roleplay, we used definitely and absolutely to do this.

Jack: Rowan said ‘Do we give the award to the Champions?’ and Rich said ‘definitely’. Rich asked if we agreed with each other and Rowan said ‘absolutely’.

Rich: We often use one-word responses to say that we agree or accept something. Some other simple examples we often use are: yes, sure, exactly, right and OK.

Rowan: Some other short answers that are a bit more informal or unusual include: of course, righto and okey-dokey.

Jack: Some of the phrases we used in the roleplay added extra emphasis to suggest that we not only agree but we totally agree. Rowan said I was absolutely right and when Rich agreed with Rowan he said that he agreed 100%.

Rich: Jack said there’s no doubt about that to agree with me about Liverpool having a good season. We could also use the phrase without a doubt to agree here.

Rowan: There were three of us talking and at one point I agree with Rich rather than Jack. I said I’ll have to side with Rich on this one. This means that I will have to agree with Rich on this point.

Jack: Let’s look at one more phrase which is a phrasal verb. It’s to go along with. It again means to agree with something. It is also sometimes used to say that you agree when you don’t really want to.

Rich: I think this was the case in the roleplay. I asked if everyone agreed. Rowan said absolutely and Jack said I’ll go along with that. He wasn’t 100% behind the idea but he agreed.

Rowan: You’re now going to listen to our second roleplay. Again we’ve got two questions we’d like you to answer.

Jack: Question one: Which award do we decide to give?

Rich: Question two: Who wins the award?

Roleplay 2

Rich: OK, so we said that we’d have three awards in total. So, we’ve agreed on Team of the Season. What about Goal of the Season? There have been some real crackers this year.

Rowan: There have been some great goals. What about that overhead kick from Alireza Jahanbakhsh for Brighton?

Jack: I hear what you’re saying but, to be honest, because of that long break I can’t remember most of the goals that have been scored this season.

Rowan: Yeah, I see where you’re coming from, but that goal was before the break and I remember it like yesterday.

Jack: I’m still not sure. How many people will remember the goals from September for example? What about Game of the Season?

Rich: I’d choose Liverpool against …

Jack: You can’t always choose Liverpool, Rich. I’d go for Leicester beating Southampton 9-0 away from home.

Rowan: Same here.

Rich: But it’s the same as Goal of the Season - I can’t remember most of the matches.

Jack: What about manager of the season? That’s easier.

Rich: Brilliant. We can choose Liverpool again - Jurgen Klopp.

Rowan: I don’t think we should choose Liverpool all the time. Let’s mix it up a little. Who would be the less obvious choice?

Jack: Frank Lampard - Chelsea.

Rowan: I don’t entirely disagree with you, but choosing Chelsea is still quite obvious.

Jack: Chris Wilder - Sheffield United.

Rich: Maybe, but I think you’re forgetting Jurgen Klopp has won Liverpool the title for the first time in thirty years and it’s the first time they’ve ever won the Premier League.

Rowan: Alright, you’ve twisted my arm. Let’s go with Jurgen Klopp.

Jack: Really? Do we have to? Liverpool again?

Rich: Two against one.

Language Focus 2

Rich: Let’s start by looking at the answers to the questions we set. The first question was which award were we discussing.

Rowan: Well we discussed a couple of other possibilities but the award we decided on was Manager of the Year.

Jack: And the second question was who did we give the award to.

Rich: The answer, in the end, was Liverpool’s, Jurgen Klopp.

Jack: I didn’t really agree but I was outvoted.

Rowan: Let’s look at a bit of the language we used in this roleplay. We didn’t agree as much in this roleplay and we used a few phrases to show that we partially agreed with each other.

Rich: Or, at the very least, we used phrases to acknowledge that the other person had a valid point of view.

Jack: Let’s look at a few examples of disagreeing politely with what someone says.

Rowan: We often do this by saying that we understand what someone is saying and then disagreeing with what they said.

Rich: Jack said ‘I hear what you’re saying but …’ when he responded to Rowan. This was a way of politely disagreeing with Rowan.

Jack: We did this a couple of times in the roleplay with similar phrases. Rowan said ‘I see where you’re coming from but …’

Rowan: I also said to Rich ‘I don’t entirely disagree with you but ..’

Rich: Again this is a way of acknowledging my opinion in a polite way but only then to disagree.

Jack: Rich also did this but was a bit stronger. He said ‘maybe but I think you’re forgetting’. Here Rich is being a bit more dismissive and is probably getting ready for an argument.

Rowan: Another couple of interesting phrases we used in this roleplay were ‘same here’ and ‘you’ve twisted my arm’.

Jack: Same here is used to agree with someone else’s opinion. I think Liverpool have been the best team this season.

Rich: Same here.

Rowan: Rich agrees with Jack. I had a brilliant time at the match last week.

Jack: Same here.

Rich: Jack also had a good time at the match. He agrees with Rowan.

Rowan: You might also hear the phrase hear, hear which is also used for strong agreement.

Rich: Liverpool have been the best team this season.

Rowan: Hear, hear!

Jack: In this example, Rowan strongly agrees with the statement. Careful with the spelling. Same here - here is spelled h-e-r-e. Hear, hear! Hear is spelled h-e-a-r.

Rich: The final phrase we’re going to look at in this section is to twist someone’s arm.

Rowan: At the end of the roleplay I said to Rich OK you’ve twisted my arm - let’s go with Klopp.

Jack: To twist someone’s arm is an idiom and it means to persuade someone to do something that they are reluctant to do.

Rich: I persuaded Rowan to agree with me about choosing Jurgen Klopp as manager of the year.

Jack: You’re now going to listen to our third roleplay. Again we’ve got two questions we’d like you to answer.

Rich: Question one: Which award do we decide to give?

Rowan: Question two: Who wins the award?

Roleplay 3

Rowan: OK, so what’s our third award. I think it should be player of the season?

Rich: Which Liverpool player shall we choose?

Jack: Under no circumstances are we choosing Liverpool again. Look we’re probably going with Liverpool as Team of the Season and Klopp as manager of the season.

Rich: Probably??

Rowan: It’s too difficult to choose a Liverpool player. It’s been a team effort.

Rich: You’re right. We could choose 11 Liverpool players before we look at anyone from another club.

Jack: You’re having a laugh, aren’t you? What about Jamie Vardy at Leicester - he won the Golden Boot - 23 goals.

Rich: You’ve got to be joking. Vardy would get nowhere near this Liverpool team.

Rowan: I have to take issue with that, Rich. Vardy’s scored more goals than any of the Liverpool strikers and would definitely get a game for Liverpool.

Rich: I beg to differ I’m afraid. I don’t think Vardy would get a sniff of the first team unless Liverpool have a few injuries. But you’d go with Vardy as Player of the Season?

Rowan: I didn’t say that - Jack said that. I’d go with Kevin De Bruyne at Manchester City.

Rich: You can’t be serious, can you? There is no way on earth we can choose a player from a team that finished 20 points behind Liverpool. At least Vardy won something.

Jack: You know that’s a load of rubbish, Rich. De Bruyne got 20 assists this season a Premier League record.

Rich: It’s not about individual statistics, is it?

Rowan: How can you say that? It’s exactly about individual statistics. It’s Player of the Season.

Jack: So, we’re going to go with Vardy?

Rich: No way.

Rowan: De Bruyne?

Rich: No chance. We’re going with a Liverpool player. End of. Trent Alexander Arnold, Sadio Mane, Virgil van Dijk, Jordan Henderson - take your pick.

Jack: Hey, Rowan. Do you think we should do something else in this week’s podcast?

Rowan: Sounds good. What about Captain Blade part 3 - the return of the Blade?

Jack: I like it. Or, Sharp’s Blades … Barry the Blade … Blade Runner - that sounds good.

Rowan: Let’s get another drink. We can leave Rich now … he seems to be talking to himself.

Language Focus 3

Rich: Let’s start by looking at the answers to the questions we set. The first question was which award were we discussing.

Rowan: In this roleplay, we were discussing who should be given our Player of the Season award.

Jack: And the second question was who did we give the award to.

Rich: The answer, in the end, was nobody. Each of us had different opinions and we couldn’t agree.

Rowan: I think if we’d be given a bit more time Jack and I could have agreed but Rich would never have changed his mind.

Jack: So we decided to not to make a decision. We’re going to leave this to you in this week’s task a little later.

Rich: Let’s look at a bit of language now. We disagreed more strongly in this roleplay and were less polite than in the last roleplay so quite a few interesting phrases came out.

Rowan: When we agree strongly with something we are often very dismissive of what the other person says. We used a few phrases in the roleplay to show this.

Jack: We used the phrases you’re having a laugh and you’ve got to be joking to show this. When we use these phrases we don’t think very much of the other person’s opinion at all.

Rich: We also used phrases like you can’t be serious and how can you say that in a similar way and Jack was even more dismissive when he told me what I was saying was a load of rubbish.

Rowan: These are all quite informal phrases but we used a couple of phrases that can be used in more formal situations. I said I have to take issue with that, Rich.

Rich: And I said  I beg to differ I’m afraid.

Jack: We also used a few phrases that are often used to end a discussion because you disagree so strongly. Rich did this because he was refusing to change his mind or compromise.

Rowan: Rich used the phrases no way, no chance, and end of to do this.

Rich: OK, so we’ve looked at quite a few phrases connected to agreeing and disagreeing with others. Have a listen to the roleplay again and listen out for the phrases we’ve been discussing.

Jack: We’ve got lots more examples and activities to help your understanding on the Premier Skills English website. You can find this lesson on the homepage now.

TASK

Rich: This week’s task is to agree or disagree with our choices for Premier League Team, Manager and Player of the season.

Jack: We want you to try to use some of the language we’ve used in the podcast depending on whether you agree, partially agree or strongly disagree with our choices.

Rowan: Here are our selections:

Jack: Team of the Season is Manchester City. City scored the most goals, an amazing 102, had the best goal difference +67 and beat Liverpool 4-0 earlier this month.

Rowan: Manager of the Season is Sheffield United’s, Chris Wilder. Sheffield United were a newly promoted club with a small budget who everyone thought would finish last but finished in the top half of the table.

Rich: Player of the Season is Liverpool’s, Trent Alexander Arnold. The best right-back in world football and takes a brilliant free-kick.

Jack: What do you think about these possibly slightly controversial choices? Do you agree, disagree or partially agree?

Rowan: Write all your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website and try to use some of the phrases we used in the language section.

Rich: or write your answers in the review section on Apple Podcasts if that’s where you listen to us.

Football Phrase

Jack: Have you got a football phrase for us, Rich?

Rich: I have. This week’s football phrase is ****-***. Leeds United and West Brom have already been promoted to the Premier League and next week we will find out the final team to be promoted when the ****-*** ***** is played at Wembley. It looks like the ****-*** ***** will be between Brentford and Fulham. Who do you think will win it?

Rowan: I’m hoping that Fulham can do it. I’m a massive Fulham fan!  

Jack: Good luck to Fulham … and Brentford and let’s see who can get our football phrase right. If you are still wondering what the answer was to last week’s football phrase it was centre forward.

Rich: Right, that’s all we have time for this week! Don’t forget to write your answers to our questions and make a guess at our football phrase in the comments below. If you get it right, we’ll announce your name on next week’s show.

Jack: If you have a question for us about football or English you can email us at premierskills@britishcouncil.org

Rowan: or you can leave your questions and comments on the website in the comments section or on our Facebook page or Twitter feed

Jack: or you could give us a rating and a fantastic review on Apple Podcasts.

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football!