Stop Saying “I Don’t Care” — Use These Fluent Phrases!

0:00 Have you ever said, don't care in English

0:03 and suddenly the conversation felt really awkward?

0:06 Yeah, that's because in English,

0:09 I don't care can sound cold, dismissive or even rude.

0:14 But here's the deeper problem.

0:16 You're translating your thoughts directly instead

0:18 of thinking in English like a native speaker.

0:22 Native speakers don't usually think, I don't care.

0:27 Instead, they think, more specifically.

0:31 This isn't my responsibility.

0:33 I don't know enough about that.

0:35 That's not my role.

0:36 That's not my interest.

0:38 And I'm going to teach you some more idiomatic phrases that we

0:44 use in everyday real life conversation instead of I don't care.

0:49 So today I'll teach you to think

0:52 in English more precisely so you sound more natural,

0:56 polite, confident, and of course, fluent.

0:58 And a quick note, I made a free PDF

1:03 study guide for this lesson with all the phrases,

1:07 example sentences, and a practice session.

1:10 You can download it below.

1:12 The link is in the description and the pinned comment.

1:16 And practice these until they feel automatic.

1:19 And a quick tip, if you're serious about thinking in English, don't just watch.

1:24 Write these phrases down.

1:26 Use the PDF.

1:27 You can download it.

1:28 print it off, and you can also use a small notebook

1:33 just for expressions like this so you can review them daily.

1:37 I'm going to link to one of my favorite notebooks

1:40 that I recommend if you'd like to check it out.

1:43 Okay, let's start with the first phrase, one of my favorites.

1:48 It comes from baseball.

1:49 So if you're a baseball fan, this is a fun one.

1:53 It's out of my league, like a baseball league.

1:57 You know, we have an amateur and a professional league.

2:01 So if we're talking about something that is a little too advanced for us,

2:05 we would say it's out of my league.

2:08 And we can say this jokingly, but it basically means that something is

2:14 too advanced or beyond your knowledge or experience.

2:17 And I thought of this phrase this morning while I

2:20 was walking my dog with my neighbor and his dog.

2:23 So we were out walking around and he

2:27 told me that his sister just became an attorney.

2:31 She just passed the bar exam,

2:34 which is a difficult test that makes you officially able to practice law.

2:40 So he then said, I don't really know how all that works.

2:45 It's out of my league.

2:46 And I thought that's a great phrase to talk about with you.

2:51 So he said, Honestly, that's out of my league.

2:56 I don't really understand how all that works.

3:00 This is humble, natural, slightly informal.

3:04 So whenever you feel like something is a bit beyond what you know,

3:10 you can use this phrase.

3:12 It's out of my league.

3:14 And it can be used like kind of jokingly too.

3:17 Or if you just don't want to talk about something,

3:20 it's also a good phrase to know.

3:22 Okay, another one that's above my pay grade.

3:27 I also used this phrase this morning and I couldn't wait to share it with you.

3:32 So I was talking to my neighbor and he told me

3:36 that his boss wants him to start taking clients out to lunch,

3:41 but he's not in sales or marketing.

3:43 He's an engineer.

3:45 So I said, that's kind of outside your job description.

3:50 And he said, yeah, it's way above my pay grade.

3:54 Meaning it's not part of his expected work.

3:58 So he doesn't really want to do it.

4:02 It's not part of his job and he's not a very social person.

4:07 So he said, yeah, it's above my pay grade.

4:12 It's a professional phrase, slightly playful and very natural.

4:17 Another one that's used at work.

4:20 or in professional situations a lot is, it's out of my wheelhouse.

4:25 This is another idiom that comes from baseball.

4:29 A wheelhouse is the zone where you can hit the best.

4:34 So if something is out of your wheelhouse, it's not where you perform best.

4:40 So out of my wheelhouse means it's not

4:43 your area of expertise or something you're comfortable with.

4:46 For example, technical SEO.

4:49 is kind of out of my wheelhouse.

4:52 I focus more on content strategy.

4:56 Another one.

4:57 It's not my strong suit.

5:00 And by the way, if you're just listening, stop, repeat after me.

5:06 After I say these phrases, you're going to learn so much faster.

5:10 You're going to remember more if you repeat them after me.

5:13 So if you haven't been repeating,

5:16 be sure to go back and repeat these phrases along.

5:19 with me.

5:20 It's also a good idea to write them down as I mentioned before.

5:24 So let's practice your pronunciation.

5:26 Let's practice your speaking together.

5:28 And let's say this one again.

5:29 Ready?

5:30 It's not my strong suit.

5:32 So this means it's not something you're especially good at.

5:35 For example, public speaking in large groups isn't my strong suit.

5:41 I prefer smaller conversations.

5:44 It's honest, humble, very natural.

5:47 By the way, Maybe you can see this microphone here.

5:51 I wanted to tell you,

5:54 I recently got the Shure MV7 Plus microphone and I love it.

5:59 It's really been helping me to create the Private Fluency podcast,

6:04 which uh you can listen to if you go to gne.supercast.com.

6:09 I'll also add that link in the description and the pinned comment.

6:13 And I'm really excited because...

6:15 I'm gonna add another microphone for guests to have conversational lessons.

6:20 And I got this pod track.

6:22 This is where I plug both microphones in and mix them.

6:25 I guess this is a little mixer.

6:27 I'm learning a lot, technologically speaking.

6:30 This used to be out of my wheelhouse,

6:33 but no more, no longer, because I'm learning.

6:36 I'm educating myself about how to video podcast with two people or more.

6:42 And if you're interested,

6:43 I'll link to this as well if you're interested in creating content.

6:47 Okay, I have more phrases for you.

6:49 Are you ready?

6:51 That's not really my area, meaning not your expertise.

6:56 I work in marketing, so finance stuff isn't really my area.

7:01 I'm not involved in that, meaning you're not part of the situation.

7:06 For example, I'm not involved in that project, so I don't have the details.

7:12 That's outside my scope, meaning it's not part of your role.

7:17 For example, hiring decisions are outside my scope.

7:22 That's not my call, meaning not your decision.

7:26 To be your call means your decision.

7:29 So this is a really good one to know.

7:31 It's very common.

7:32 For example, whether we approve this, that's not my call.

7:36 Next, I'm not the right person to ask, meaning someone else knows better.

7:42 For example, I'm not the right person to ask about legal stuff.

7:45 I'm not a lawyer.

7:47 That's not really my thing, meaning it's not your interest.

7:52 This is much better than saying you don't care about something.

7:55 That's not really my thing.

7:57 Another bonus phrase that's even more idiomatic is that's not my cup of tea.

8:03 I learned when I was living in Brazil

8:07 that the equivalent phrase is it's not my beach.

8:10 Nãoé minha praia if you speak Portuguese, please correct me if I'm wrong,

8:16 but I thought that was really cute sometimes We have

8:20 the same meaning in totally different idiomatic phrases like you can't

8:25 translate directly and that's why it's so important to remember

8:29 these phrases and not Translate in your head from your first language.

8:34 Okay moving on I don't have much insight into that Meaning,

8:40 you don't know enough to comment.

8:42 I don't have much insight into that decision.

8:47 I can't really speak to that.

8:49 Meaning, you're not qualified to give an opinion.

8:52 I can't really speak to that.

8:54 I wasn't there.

8:55 I wasn't in the meeting.

8:58 That's a bit beyond me.

9:00 It's slightly too complex.

9:02 All the technical details are a bit beyond me.

9:06 I'll have to defer to someone else on that.

9:09 you're passing it to another person.

9:12 For example, I'll have to defer to the legal team on that.

9:17 So remember, when you say, don't care,

9:20 it doesn't mean what you think it might mean.

9:24 We really only specifically use, I don't care if something is truly unimportant

9:31 and we don't really want to talk about it.

9:35 It sounds...

9:37 It can sound rude.

9:38 So be careful using this phrase.

9:42 It can sound like saying, isn't important.

9:44 This is a waste of time or stop talking.

9:48 Yes, saying I don't care actually conveys

9:51 these very kind of strong and negative meanings.

9:55 So be careful because most of the time that's not what you mean.

9:58 So instead of translating, don't care from your native language,

10:03 pause and think, what do I really mean?

10:06 It's not my job.

10:07 It's not my expertise, not my interest.

10:11 Then choose the exact phrase.

10:14 And that's how you start thinking in English

10:17 is thinking how natives really use the language,

10:20 not how you would translate from your mother tongue.

10:24 All right.

10:24 Now it's your turn.

10:26 In the comments, complete the sentence.

10:29 When it comes to fill in the blank, I usually say fill in the blank.

10:35 For example, when it comes to investing,

10:38 I usually say, that's not really my area.

10:41 Or when it comes to the law, that's outside my wheelhouse.

10:47 So you can practice more than one of these phrases in the comments.

10:50 Be sure to subscribe to get new lessons every week here.

10:55 And remember to get your free PDF download to study along with me.

10:59 Remember, the goal isn't just to speak English,

11:02 it's to think in English like a native speaker.

11:05 and small shifts like this using the right idiomatic phrases,

11:09 they completely change how people experience you.

11:13 Thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time.

11:15 Bye for now.