Full video

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hi i'm vanessa from speak english with

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vanessa calm I don't know let's talk

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about it I don't know do you know

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there's a famous quote by Aristotle well

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maybe by Aristotle that goes the more

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you know the more you know you don't

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know of course there are things that you

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don't know if you think you know

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everything you're probably a know-it-all

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not a popular character trait so if you

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don't want to directly say I don't know

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what can you say instead of course there

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are times when you need to say I don't

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know but there are plenty of other

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creative ways to tell someone that you

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don't have the knowledge that they're

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seeking today you're gonna learn 20 ways

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to say I don't know first of all look at

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some polite expressions that are great

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for business or professional situations

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and then we'll take a look at some

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expressions that you can use in casual

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daily everyday life let's start with the

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polite expressions first there are five

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key tag expressions that you can add to

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any of these I don't know phrases and

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it's gonna help you to sound more

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professional and more polite they are

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but I'll try to find out but I'll

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double-check but I'll look into that and

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I'll get back to you and I'll let you

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know can you guess why these tag

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expressions are so important if you just

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tell someone I don't know well you're

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not really showing that you care an

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awful lot but when you use these key tag

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expressions you're showing I care I'm

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gonna do some more research and I'll let

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you know what I find out so we're gonna

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be adding these tag expressions onto all

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of the idle no sentences that we're

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about to talk about so that you can

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remember them and use them yourself if

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someone asks you is the meeting at 4

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p.m. you could say I'm not sure but I'll

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try to find out the expression I'm not

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sure is much softer and kinder than I

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don't know so this is really

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like to use if somebody comes up to you

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and says we're having a big company

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dinner next week can you come you could

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say let me think about it and I'll get

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back to you if you said just the

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sentence let me think about it it kind

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of sounds like no I'm definitely not

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going to come but if you add and I'll

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get back to you it feels a little bit

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more tender a little bit more thoughtful

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and polite if someone asks you did the

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marketing team send you their numbers

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you might say I can't remember off the

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top of my head but I'll look into it and

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let you know this is a great idiom I

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don't remember off the top of my head

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that means I don't remember immediately

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I don't remember right now but I'll look

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into it and let you know you can see how

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these tagged expressions can be combined

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to be even more polite and give more

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information look into it and let you

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know with that same question does the

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marketing team uh send you their numbers

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you could say not as far as I know but

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I'll look into it and get back to you

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this expression not as far as I know

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means that you think the answer is no

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but you're not 100% sure so here you're

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just telling them I'm not 100% sure but

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I'm going to look into it and I'll get

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back to you not as far as I know what

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were the marketing teams numbers from

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their report well I don't want to give

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you the wrong answer so I'll double

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check and get back to you I'll

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double-check that means that maybe you

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have some kind of idea about the numbers

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but you don't have them right now so you

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could say I don't want to give you the

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wrong answer so I'll double check and

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get back to you

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very polite do you know if the marketing

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team has started their report sorry

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marketing team I'm kind of ragging on

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you a little bit today do you know if

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the marketing team I started their

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report you could say that's a good

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question so I'll try to find out that

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means I don't know but I think that your

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question

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is valid that's a good question so I'll

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try to find out do you know if the

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marketing team has started their report

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I'm not sure if I'm the best person to

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answer that but John the marketing

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manager probably knows would you like me

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to ask him and get back to you in this

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situation I'm not the best person to

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have that information but you can direct

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them towards someone who does probably

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have that information the marketing

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manager you might notice that at the end

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of this tag question I said would you

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like me to ask him I'm just kind of

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offering this out of kindness maybe the

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other person will say oh no I can ask

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him that's fine but if you want to just

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have an extra added polite layer you can

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offer would you like me to ask him and

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I'll get back to you now let's take a

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look at some casual daily life ways to

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say I don't know these expressions all

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have slightly different implications or

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feelings so let's talk about each one in

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detail

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why didn't Sarah come to the party last

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night no clue not a clue

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you don't need to add the tag

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expressions on to the end of these

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casual phrases because you don't really

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need to go out of your way to say oh

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well I'll find out and get back to you

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no you just simply don't have the

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information notice also the body

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language that goes with these casual

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expressions no clue not a clue you

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probably shrug your shoulders that means

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you raise your shoulders up and down a

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little bit no clue

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you might even put your hands up like

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this not a clue you might even kind of

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wave your hands away to say nope

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not a clue why didn't Sarah come to the

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party last night sorry if your name's

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Sarah I'm gonna be using your name a lot

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you might say I don't have the faintest

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idea

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this means it kind of implies that you

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don't know but also you don't really

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care the word feint means that something

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is difficult to see so if your pen

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doesn't have much ink in it the writing

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will be faint the words on the page

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we'll be faint so in this situation

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you're saying I don't have the faintest

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idea that means my ideas about where

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Sarah was are very faint I don't see

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them I have no idea why didn't Sarah

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come to the party last night I haven't

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the foggiest idea it's the same idea as

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faintest idea we're using the root word

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fog or foggy sometimes in the morning

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there's a fog outside and it's tough to

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see it's difficult to see because of the

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fog in the US this expression feels a

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little bit British like something that

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Sherlock Holmes might say so we usually

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say it with a little smile and you'll

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also see people drop the final word and

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say simply I haven't the foggiest but

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you need to say it with a little humor I

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haven't the foggiest kind of with a

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silly little tone in your voice because

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it doesn't feel exactly serious it feels

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a little bit funny interestingly enough

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even though we say I haven't the

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foggiest idea or I haven't the foggiest

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we don't drop that final word with the

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previous expression I don't have the

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faintest idea we never say I don't have

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the faintest I don't know why sometimes

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English is a little weird who knows who

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cares which is an expression we'll talk

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about in just a minute

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why didn't Sarah come to the party last

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night how should I know this expression

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how should I know is a little defensive

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maybe Sarah is your ex-girlfriend and

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your friend expects you to know where

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she is but you don't know where she is

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so you could say how should I know it's

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a little defensive so make sure that you

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use it in the right situations if your

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car breaks down and you're sitting in

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the lobby of the mechanic shop and your

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husband calls you and says how long do

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you think the mechanic is going to take

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you might say beats me this is really

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casual but it's perfect for this

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situation because you have absolutely no

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idea when the mechanic is going to be

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done you're kind of a little annoyed too

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because no one wants to sit in the

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mechanics lobby for hours an hour

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so you might just say beats me with that

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same question how long do you think the

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mechanic is gonna take you might say I

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wish I knew

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do you see that tone in my voice kind of

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sad kind of wistful you might add a sigh

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I wish I knew how long do you think the

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mechanic is gonna take who knows do you

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hear that tone in my voice it's a little

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bit upset maybe a little bit angry

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you might even roll your eyes a little

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bit who knows probably forever how long

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do you think the mechanic is gonna take

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I have no idea okay maybe you have some

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idea not three minutes not three days

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but you don't have a specific amount of

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time that he's gonna take so you could

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say I have no idea who great work

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expanding your vocabulary I hope now

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that you'll be able to use some of these

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I don't know phrases and also you'll be

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able to better understand when native

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speakers use them because there are some

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slight differences in each of them so I

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want you to accurately understand the

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context and now I have a question for

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you

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in the comments I want you to answer

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this question is Dan coming to dinner

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next week this could be a professional

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question or it could be a casual

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question you choose based on your answer

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let me know in the comments and thank

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you so much for learning English with me

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I'll see you again next Friday for a new

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lesson here on my youtube channel bye

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the next step is to download my free

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ebook five steps to becoming a confident

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English speaker you'll learn what you

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need to do to speak confidently and

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fluently don't forget to subscribe to my

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youtube channel for more free lessons

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thanks so much

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bye