English Sentence Starter: “I Heard Somewhere That…”

By Robby

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Hi guys, today I’m bringing you yet another English idiomatic expression, and this time around it’s a super handy sentence starter:

I HEARD SOMEWHERE THAT…

Why am I saying it’s a super handy sentence starter?

Well, the reason behind that is simple enough – it’s a perfect way of starting a conversation with someone about something that you’ve heard somewhere, which is what a lot of conversations are all about!

Let’s say, for argument’s sake, you want to tell your work colleague that there’s way more bacteria on the average mobile phone than on a toilet seat.

In theory, nothing could be easier than that, right?

Just open your mouth and tell him about it!

In reality, what a lot of foreign English speakers will struggle with is – HOW TO START THE DAMN SENTENCE!

One way of going about it would be to simply state the fact: “There’s way more bacteria on the average mobile phone than on a toilet seat”, but in this case you’re really running the risk of sounding a bit awkward.

I mean – who just says something like that out of the blue, right?

So I think that anyone would quite instinctively feel that there’s a need for something to PRECEED the actual statement, and that’s exactly where the phrase

I HEARD SOMEWHERE THAT…

steps in!

You just have to admit that if you address your work colleague this way: “Listen Josh, I HEARD SOMEWHERE THAT there’s way more bacteria on the average mobile phone than on a toilet seat, isn’t that mad?” – it will sound way more native-like, and that’s exactly the way you want to sound!

So, what are you waiting for?

Watch the video above to learn more about using this particular English sentence starter, and by the way – you’ll also learn that there’s a very similar expression:

I READ SOMEWHERE THAT…

which can be used to refer to facts that you would have read somewhere instead of just heard somewhere.

Let me know if you’ve any questions!

Cheers,

Robby 😉

English Idiomatic Expressions

P.S. Are you serious about your spoken English improvement? Check out the English Harmony System HERE!

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  • Hi Adebayo,
    Well, PRACTICE is the key here! You can’t conduct the conversation based on you having what it takes (I guess you mean knowledge and the know-how here, right?) You have to PRACTICE ALL THE TIME in order to have less and less of those “oops” moments, simple as that! 😉
    Thanks for the positive feedback and chat soon,
    Robby

  • Adebayo

    Hi Robby…I’ve been following you for quite some time now and I must commend your works. Honestly, I have a feeling I’ve got all it takes to initiate and sustain conversations but I just keep falling into “oops”. I encounter hurdles every now and then.

  • Hi Sara,
    I hate to say this but not all of my videos have transcripts – in order to have the transcript I would put in an order with a video transcribing professional but in this particular case I didn’t do it. Sorry about that! 😉
    Regards,
    Robby

  • Sara

    Hi Rob! how are you doing? Could you post the transcript? Thanks in advance!!