Name: 停止說"我&39;很好"-像本地人一樣說英語! (Stop Saying "I'm Fine" - Speak English Like a Native!)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T08:15:46.000Z
Duration: 8 min 33 s

- I'm fine, thank you, and you? - I'm fine, thank you, and you?

Don't high-five him. Who taught you to say that?

Like all of our teachers. All of them. Ever.

First, we don't always say "How are you?"

For example, we might say "How's it going?" or "Hey, how are you doing?"

Australians will often say a mix of this.

This one, in the UK, in the U.S., it's not common to say, but Australian English, yes.

And yes, you can also say "Oh hi, how are things?"

首先，我們不是一直都說"How are you"

These ones here, repeat with me and pay close attention to the intonation.

Of course we miss the Be verb here. "Are you okay?" "Are you alright?"

But it's very common just to say "You okay?" "You alright?"

This confuses Americans apparently, because in British English this one is very common. It's very casual.

這句話在英國、美國不是很常說

但是，澳洲人的英文，會這麼說

But if you say this to an American, they will be like this: "Am I alright? I'm fine. Do I look sad?"

So for Americans that sounds more serious. You're asking "Oh, are you sad?"

But for British people, no, this is just normal. It's fine.

這裡的這句話，重覆和我說一遍

But remember I said pay close attention to the intonation.

然後，將你的注意力放在語調上

Sounds happy. But all of these you would ask to this person if that's their expression, if it's a normal day nothing bad happened.

If your friend looks sad or if you know something bad happened, there is a different way you can ask these questions.

The intonation with these changes. Listen.

這裡很顯然會讓美國人感到很疑惑

See it does this up/down thing. "You alright?"

See the intonation goes up and down there. "You okay?"

So it really depends on your intonation how you say them.

這就只是個"哈囉"或是個"你好嗎?"

These ones may sound very casual, normal, maybe happy.

So if your friend looks like this or maybe something bad happened, let's ask a different question.

These two questions show concern for your friend.

You're asking for details. You're asking about the problem.

And important to note, don't ask "What's your problem?"

Don't ask that question. It doesn't sound friendly. It doesn't sound like you care.

It sounds like "PFFF! What's your problem?"

So if you want to ask "what's your problem?" Don't ask that.

Ask "What's the matter?" That is much better.

Possible answers to "How are you?", don't say "I'm fine thank you, and you?"

不會啊，這很正常，這問候很好

但記住我剛剛說的，把注意力放在語調上

So for British people, it's very common if you're good to normal to start your answer with "Yeah."

For example, this is the more realistic answer.

We don't say "I'm fine thank you, and you?" We say "Yeah, good, you?"

Other ways you can answer if you're happy or just normal: "Yeah, I'm great," "Yeah, I'm good," "I'm pretty good," "Yeah, doing well," "Yeah, doing good."

Or if you don't want an adjective, "Yeah, can't complain."

是否就像平常一樣，沒什麼壞事發生

You'll notice that I haven't included any extreme adjectives, because we're British, we don't do emotions.

I'm joking. But in British English, we don't typically talk about how great we are.

或是你知道有什麼壞事已經發生了

So if someone asks you how are you and in fact you're brilliant, you're amazing.

會有不同的方式讓你可以問這個問題

這些問句的語調上改變了，仔細聽

But less commonly you might hear, "I'm wonderful!"

You probably won't hear that but you might, "Oh, everything is hunky dory!"

If you say everything is hunky-dory, it means there are no problems, everything is happy and lovely.

對吧，語調在這裡先上揚再下挫了

Actually if someone says this, they're probably joking or being sarcastic.

所以這十分仰賴你在說它時的語氣

Don't say this! Never say this! No! In my life no one has ever said this... I think.

So it doesn't sound natural, don't say it.

這些問候聽起來不正式、很平常，或許是開心的

所以如果你的朋友看起來像這樣

Oh my god, I'm so stupid! I almost forgot probably the most important one.

這兩個問題表達出對你朋友的關心

But remember again that is a bit more British.

你正在問細節，你正在問那個問題是什麼

So these ones again, they're more if you feel happy, you feel good, you feel normal.

But what if you feel not so great, you feel a bit sad maybe or something happened.

Remember I said if you're feeling like this, you probably will start your answer with "Yeah."

噗~"What's your problem?"(你是有什麼毛病?)

But if you feel like this, probably you will start your answer with "Well..."

所以如果你想要問"你遇到了什麼問題?"

And remember we are British, we don't have emotions even strong emotions. We suppress them because we're British.

So if you feel bad, you are not really bad, you're only a bit bad.

For example, "Well, I'm a bit tired," "Well, I'm a bit sleepy," "I'm a bit ill."

We're British, we like to repress our emotions.

Now, perhaps something bad happened, perhaps you don't feel good at all.

"Well, I've been better" or "I've seen better days"

These ones they imply that perhaps something bad happened.

Maybe someone died, maybe you just broke up with your partner.

Any combination of this. This looks like a math's problem.

But you can use any combination of this one for your answer.

If you feel bad, for example, the short way "Hmm, not that great" or "I'll be honest. I'm not doing so well."

我們不說"I'm fine. Thank you. And you?"

And again, you can mix them, "I'm not doing so great," "I'm not doing that well."

you can choose any mixture of these words and that means you feel like this.

其他你可以表示你很開心或很平常的方式是

So in the comments let me know: How are you doing? How is everything?

Thanks for watching, you can follow me here @PapaTeachMe, or if you want extra, extra English practice, you can join this channel as a member or join my Patreon page.