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Well hey there, I'm Emma from mmmEnglish!

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And today you are going to learn how to use discourse markers

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for advanced fluency in English conversation.

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These are all words that you already know for sure

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but you may not know how they're used to direct the flow of

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a conversation.

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They help you to sound so much more natural and

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fluent when you speak.

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Native English speakers use these words in so many ways

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in a conversation and they come up really frequently.  

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Two to three times a minute in natural speech.

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So learning more about them and how they're used is an

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essential fluency tool.

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Are you ready to find out more?

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I just want to take a few seconds here to give a little shout-out

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to the members of Hey Lady! who are watching today.

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Hey ladies! It's great to see you here.

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If you haven't heard yet, Hey Lady! is our online community

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helping women to succeed in English.

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We make it easy and safe to meet new speaking partners

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and give you interesting topics to talk about together.

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We have an amazing team of expert English coaches

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who'll encourage and support you at every step.

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It's the perfect place to practise because you can make

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mistakes without feeling judged and make real progress

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even if you don't have a lot of time to spare.

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As long as your English level is intermediate or above,

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then your English is good enough to join the community.

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And if you sign up today you can experience

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everything we offer free for ten days.

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I've put the link down in the description below.

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Make sure you check it out and I hope to see you inside!

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So what are discourse markers?

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Good question!

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They're really handy.

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We use them to direct the flow of a conversation

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or to navigate a conversation smoothly and easily.

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They kind of work

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like little signposts

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helping the other person to anticipate what you're gonna say

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or to guide them

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about what's gonna happen next in the discussion.

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And discourse markers are

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probably words that you already know

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like so,

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right

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and okay

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but when they're used in this way, their meaning is different

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from the one that you'll find in a dictionary

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which makes them a little tricky.

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In fact, some of these words can be used to direct

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a conversation in multiple ways

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like right.

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Right I better get going.

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Here I use right to introduce a new part of the conversation,

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the end.

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You know Geoff, right?

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Here I used it to confirm shared knowledge,

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knowledge that I have and the person I'm talking to has.

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So I was waiting for him outside the cinema which is

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what we agreed.

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Right.

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But then I checked Instagram and I saw a picture

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that Millie posted and he was with her in Northbridge!

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And here it's used as an interjection to show the speaker

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that you're listening and that they should continue speaking.

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And in all of these examples, the word right doesn't really mean

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anything but it does play a really important role in directing

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the conversation, the flow of the conversation. It's a signpost.

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And if you want to speak English naturally and fluently,

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try to use these signposts a little more when you speak.

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Let's take a closer look at these discourse markers together.

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Words like these are all used to transition between different

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parts of a conversation.

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They all indicate the start,

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the beginning of a new part of a conversation

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and they also help you to switch between topics.

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Hey, it's Emma! How's it going?

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Hey Emma, not bad.

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How are you?

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I'm good, busy but good.

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So I need your advice.

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So helps to make the transition between small talk

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and asking for advice.

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It makes that transition really smooth and easy

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So, I've got a question for you...

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So, I was wondering...

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Because discourse markers indicate a shift or a transition,

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we can also use them to signal the end of our conversation

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as well which is really handy.

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Well, I'd better let you go.

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I'm sure you've got a million things to do.

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You could use anyway here as well.

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It plays exactly the same role.

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Anyway, I'd better get going.

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Using well or anyway ensures a really soft transition

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away from the conversation and announcing it's gonna end.

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So it's not an abrupt end, it's a smooth transition

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which is what we want.

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An important part of great natural conversation in English

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is showing that you are actively listening

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throughout the conversation 

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and that you're interested in what the other person is saying.

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So you can do it by nodding and smiling

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and showing them that you're listening

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but you can also interject with little words or little sounds like

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uh-huh,

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right,

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yeah,

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really.

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Doing this shows that you are listening and it encourages

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the other person to continue speaking

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which is really nice.

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That's a really nice thing to do in a conversation.

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I've been planning this camping trip with our family.

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Uh-huh.

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We've been planning it for months.

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Right.

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We're supposed to meet in Sydney.

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Yeah.

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But there's been all this crazy flooding on the coast.

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Really?

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It's also nice to involve the other person in the conversation

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especially if you're explaining something or maybe you're

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telling a really long story.

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These are really useful tools to help you

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include the other person in what's going on. Little tags like

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you know?

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and right?

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They're a really great way to involve the other person without

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actually finishing your sentence or stopping your story.

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In fact, you hear me using right? as a tag

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all the way through my lessons all the time.

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It's a habit that I have. Right?

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You remember our trip to Joanna, right?

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it was torrential rain for three days straight.

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But I don't really want to cancel because we put so much time

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into it already, you know?

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What do you think I should do?

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We also use them to check that something is true

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but in particular when we assume that the other person

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already knows what we're talking about.

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So when you assume that they agree with what you're saying.

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Wait is a really helpful one to use especially when you want

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to pause the conversation for a minute

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but not like because you need more time to think.

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Instead it's used to clarify or to confirm some of the information

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that was just said to you.

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I'm good.

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You remember I had a job interview, right?

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Well, they offered me the job.

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Wait, are you talking about the job in Melbourne?

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This use of wait actually comes from the expression

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"wait a minute" or "wait a moment".

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It's a shortened version of that phrase.

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If you want to slow down the conversation a little

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then you can use I mean.

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What do you think I should do?

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I mean, it doesn't sound like it's going to be a great holiday.

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Maybe you should just cut your losses.

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Starting a sentence with I mean can create a little bit of

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extra time for you to think.

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In particular, when you're not sure how to respond or

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you need some extra time.

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You can pause or create a little bit of extra time

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with I mean. It doesn't mean anything, it's just there to create

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space for you.

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But it's also a way of signalling when you're about to give an

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honest opinion. 

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One that might not be exactly what the other person

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wants to hear.

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Hey, why don't we go camping?

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I mean, we could go camping

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but I'd rather go to the beach.

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You just learned five different ways to use discourse markers

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to control and manage your English conversations.

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How awesome is that?

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Remember that these are advanced speaking skills

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so if you don't feel ready to use them yourself when you speak

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then start by listening out for them in movies and TV shows

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where you get to listen to native English speakers

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using these discourse markers all the time.

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Now that you know about them I'm sure you'll hear them

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in native English conversations all the time.

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In fact, why don't you listen to the complete conversation

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I had with Shah over the phone and you'll get to hear how that

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whole conversation flows and transitions from the start

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through the middle to the end.

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Hey, it's Emma. How's it going?

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Hey Emma. Not bad, how are you?

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I'm good, busy but good.

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So I need your advice.

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I've been planning this camping trip with our family.

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Uh-huh.

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We've been planning it for months.

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Right.

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We're supposed to meet in Sydney.

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Yeah.

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But there's been all this crazy flooding on the coast.

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Really?

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You remember our trip to Joanna, right?

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It was torrential rain for three days straight.

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But I don't really want to cancel because we've put so much

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work into it already, you know?

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What do you think I should do?

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I mean, it doesn't sound like it's going to be a great holiday.

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Maybe you should just cut your losses.

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Maybe you're right.

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Anyway, tell me about you.

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I'm good. You remember I had that job interview, right?

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Yeah, well they offered me the job.

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Wait, are you talking about the job in Melbourne?

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Yeah, the one in Melbourne.

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I start next month which is like really soon.

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Oh my god! Congratulations!

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So you're moving! That's so exciting!

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Isn't it?

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Well, I'd better let you go.

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I'm sure you've got a million things to do.

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Thanks again!

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Okay, bye.

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Now that you've learned how to use these extremely common

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English words in some new and exciting ways,

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I want you to do two things.

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The first is listen to native English speakers in

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casual conversation,

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TV series, a movie or a conversational podcast

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would be perfect for this.

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Now that you know how to recognise these discourse markers,

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I'm sure you'll start hearing them more.

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The second is

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try using one or two of them yourself.

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Maybe use wait

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to check information in a conversation

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or use anyway to announce that you're ending

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the conversation and smoothly transition out of it.

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Try them out, get more comfortable using them.

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Make sure you subscribe and you turn on notifications

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so that you don't miss any of my new lessons.

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Thank you for being here. Thank you for watching.

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I hope that you enjoyed it.

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See you in the next lesson!