Talking about likes

Tutorial

Hi! Tim here with another 925English lesson! In today’s lesson, we’re learning how to talk about likes and preferences.

Why It’s Important:
Talking about things we like is common in various situations, from meetings to casual chats over lunch.

Understanding Preferences:
A preference means liking one thing more than another, such as preferring Sony over LG.

Expressing Preferences:

• Simply state you prefer ‘Sony’ to ‘LG’.
• Say you’re more ‘into’ Sony.
• Use the phrase ‘take’ Sony ‘over’ LG.

Preferences in Activities:

• Use “would rather” to express doing one activity over another, like talking to customers over sending emails.

Practice Time:
Try repeating these examples:

• “I’d much rather live in Seattle than Boston.”
• “I’m more into French food than Italian.”
• “I prefer magazines to books.”
• “I’d take an iPhone over an Android phone any day.”

Expressing General Likes:
When not comparing, and you want to express liking something like Toyotas:

• Use “I like Toyotas.”
• Or adjectives such as ‘keen on’, ‘partial to’, ‘fond of’ (with the correct preposition).

Practice Examples:

• “I’m quite keen on the new Samsung monitors.”
• “I’m partial to European wine.”
• “I’m fond of travel and exploring new places.”
• “The Times is one of my favorite newspapers.”

Word Combinations:
Remember phrases like ‘keen on’, ‘partial to’, or ‘one of my favorites’ to sound natural.

Talking About Loves:
To express a strong liking for something:

• Use the word ‘love’.
• Say “there’s nothing you love more”.
• Express that “you can’t get enough of” something.
• State “you’re a huge fan of” something.

Examples to Practice:

• “I really love what the marketing department has done.”
• “I can’t get enough of Thai food.”
• “I’m a huge fan of the new Nike ads.”
• “There’s nothing I love more than a weekend by the sea.”

Real-Life Application:
In a dialogue about renting an office, you might say:

• “No, I’d much rather be somewhere quieter… I am a huge fan of Cambridge.”

Your Turn:
Practice by filling in the blanks in a dialogue. State where you “would rather” work and the place you’d like to have your office.

Looking Forward:
We’ve covered how to talk about preferences and likes. Next time, we’ll explore how to express dislikes and hates.

Happy learning and see you in the next lesson!

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Raw material

Hi! Tim here with another 925English lesson! In today’s lesson we are going to learn how to talk about likes and preferences.

Talking about things we like is something we do all the time. Whether you are in a meeting, a casual conversation, or just having lunch, there’s always a chance to talk about what you like.

And sometimes talking about what you like means talking about a preference. By ‘preference’, I mean liking one thing more than something else. For example, maybe you want to say you think Sony is better than LG.

How can you do that? Well, one way is to just say you prefer ‘Sony’ to ‘LG’. You could also say you’re more ‘into’ Sony, or that you’d ‘take’ a Sony ‘over’ an LG.

But what if you’re talking about doing things? Say you prefer talking to customers instead of sending them emails. In this case, you can say you would rather talk with customers than send them emails;

Let’s practice using these expressions for talking about preferences. Listen to each example, then repeat it yourself. Ready? Let’s get started!

A: I’d much rather live in Seattle than Boston.
B: I’m more into French food than Italian.
C: I prefer magazines to books.
D: I’d take an iPhone over an Android phone any day.

So, we’ve practiced different ways of talking about a preference. But what if you’re not comparing? I mean, what if you’re having a conversation about cars, for example, and you just want to say that you like Toyotas?

Well, the easy way is just to say “I like Toyotas.” But rather than just using the verb “like,” you can use adjectives such as keen on or partial to or fond of. And don’t forget which preposition goes with which adjective. You can say you’re keen on Toyotas, but not that you’re font on Toyotas.

Let’s have a little practice using these expressions to talk about things you like. Once again, repeat the examples after you hear them.

A: I’m quite keen on the new Samsung monitors.
B: I’m partial to European wine.
C: I’m font of travel and exploring new places.
D: The Times is one of my favorite newspapers.

As you heard, we can also use “one of my favorites” to talk about likes. And that’s another example of a group of words that you use to express an idea, just like keen on or partial to. One of the tricks to learning natural English is remembering word combinations like this.

All right, so we practices talking about what you like. But waht about things you really like? In other words, what about things you love?

For starters, you can use that word ‘love’, or even say that there’s “nothing you love more”. You might also say you can’t get enough of something or that you’re a huge fan of something.

Once again, you might notice these are combinations of words. And you need to remember and practice the entire expression. So let’s give this a try. Remember to repeat each example.

A: I really love what the marketing department has done.
B: I can’t get enough of Thai food.
C: I’m a huge fan of the new Nike ads.
D: There’s nothing I love more than a weekend by the sea.

As you can hear, we can use love for all sorts of things, not just people. And in a later lesson we’ll have a look at the opposite feeling as well: things you hate.

So how does all this sound in real life? Let’s listen to a short dialog between two colleagues. One of them wants to know about where the other person is planning to rent an office.

A: So, are you thingking of renting a new office in London
B: No, I’d much rather be somewhere quieter
A: Oh yeah? Any place in particular?
B: Well, I am a huge fan of Cambridge.

Did you hear how that worked?
The second person said that he “would much rather” be somewhere more quiet than London. And when asked about what city might be preferable, he said he’s a huge fan of Cambridge. Not too difficult, right?

Now, it’s your turn to practice. We’ll repeat the dialog, but this time we’re going to beep out the second speaker’s words. You’ll have to say those parts yourself.

Remember to start by saying where you “would rather” work. Then say the name of the place where you’d really like to have your office. Here we go.

All right, so we’ve learned some great ways to talk about preferences, as well as things you like or love. In our next lesson, we’ll talk about the opposite: things you dislike or hate.

Until then, so long and happy learning!