Hello, I’m Mandeep. Welcome to my Watch and Learn English substack. My aim is to teach “real-life” English using videos and topics that are in the news.
This week’s post is inspired by Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican singer and rapper who recently made history at the 2026 Grammy Awards by winning Album of the Year for Debí Tirar Más Fotos — the first Spanish-language album to receive that top prize. His win was celebrated around the world, and he used his acceptance speech to speak about culture, identity, and people who leave their homelands to follow their dreams.
This week, we use his chat show interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to look at a very practical English skill: how to buy time when you are thinking of a good answer in conversation.This week we have:
This week we have:
Video of the week – a chat show interview
Language focus – phrases to give you time
This week’s video is a short interview with Bad Bunny on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Stephen Colbert is a US chat show host known for mixing humour with more thoughtful conversation. In this interview, he asks Bad Bunny a series of fast, playful questions designed to show personality rather than promote an album.Some questions are deliberately silly, like:
Apples or oranges? What’s the best sandwich?
Others are much more open and personal, such as:
What do you think happens when we die?
As you watch, notice this:
How does Bad Bunny give himself time to think when he doesn’t have an immediate answer?
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In real conversations, people are not expected to answer immediately.
What matters is sounding natural, not fast.Here are some common ways English speakers buy time.
These sounds are called fillers. We use them in spoken English to hold the floor while we think.
Common fillers include: hmm, uh, um, er, eh. They signal that you are thinking, prevent awkward silence, show you are not finished speaking
Fillers are completely normal in everyday spoken English and are very common in interviews and conversations.
These phrases are used to buy time while you think.
Common examples include:
I don’t know, let me think, that’s a good question, I guess…, I’m not sure, give me a moment, let me see.
Slightly more formal options:
That’s an interesting question, let me consider that, I’d have to think about that.
This is a very common strategy.
Stephen: What is your favourite smell?
Bad Bunny: My favourite smell… hmm…
In spoken English, it is normal to correct yourself.
Bad Bunny:
I don’t like to fly. No, I like to fly.
I’ve had many students over the years who feel like they’ve failed if they can’t answer a question perfectly as soon as it’s asked, but here’s the thing, pausing, thinking, repeating, and even changing your mind are all part of natural spoken English.
Bad Bunny doesn’t speak in perfectly constructed, complicated English. He still manages to be entertaining and even quite funny at times.
As you watch the video again, listen for the moments where he pauses and notice how comfortable those pauses feel.
Thank you for learning with me.
See you next time,
Mandeep
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