Where Was I? How to Find Your Place in English After an Interruption

You are telling a friend about a Sunday market. You went to buy a small plant for your kitchen, you got off the bus near the old station, and everything is going well. Then your friend asks, “Is that the market with the blue entrance?” You say yes, and add that they painted it last year. You look back at your friend and think: wait, why was I talking about the market?

That is the exact moment from a podcast episode where Emily loses her place in her own story. Paul says it is the moment they want to practise: “That is the exact moment we want.” (01:53) Nothing is wrong with her English. The story is in her head, but “the order disappeared.” (01:59) This page compares the two things she could do next, and gives you the short lines for the better one.

The same story, told twice

Written for this page, based on the market story in the episode. Here is the story after the interruption, once with a restart and once with a return.

Restart. “Anyway… the market… the bus… I went there in the morning. I got off near the station, and I was looking for a plant…”

Return. “Where was I? Right, I was saying I went there to buy a plant. Anyway, after that, I found a little shop near the back of the market.”

Emily’s own version of the restart in the episode was “So I said, anyway, the market, the bus, I went there in the morning.” (02:01) Her friend was kind about it. Emily noticed that her friend had heard that part already.

The restart repeats the part your friend already has. The return goes back only to the last point you both share, then moves on. It is shorter, and it sounds calmer, even though it contains the same admission: I lost my place for a second.

What restarting costs the listener

Restarting feels safe because the beginning is the easiest part to remember. Paul’s description of the cost is exact: “it makes the listener travel over old ground with you.” (02:28) The listener does not need the whole road again. They need the place where you left off.

This is why the episode is not about finding the perfect next sentence. Emily says it herself: “I do not need the exact next sentence.” (02:43) “I need the last clear point.” (02:48) Paul’s version of the rule is the one to keep: “do not search your entire memory.” (02:56) “Search for the last point both people still understand.” (02:58)

Written for this page: a quick way to find that point is to ask, “What is the last thing my listener definitely knows?” In the market story it is I went there to buy a plant. It is not the bus, and it is not the blue entrance, which was the side question.

Seven lines, seven jobs

Paul warns that people collect phrases without knowing what each one is for: “because people often collect phrases without knowing which job each phrase does.” (03:39) The table sorts the lines from the episode by their job.

Line	Its job	Use it when	From the episode
Where was I?	Names the problem	You notice the thread is gone	“Where was I?” (02:37)
Right, I was saying…	Reconnects	You remember the last point	“Right, I was saying I went there to buy a plant.” (02:40)
So, back to what I was saying…	Returns after a detour	A side question or side topic came in	“So, back to what I was saying, I was looking for a plant.” (04:41)
Let me pick up from there.	Continues from one clear event	You know the place where you stopped	“Let me pick up from there.” (04:48)
The main point was…	Saves the meaning	The order is gone but the reason is not	“The main point was that parking became difficult, so the train was simpler.” (09:13)
I’ll come back to that.	Parks a detail	A side detail matters, but not now	“I’ll come back to that.” (06:05)
Anyway, after that…	Moves forward	You are back and want movement	“Anyway, after that, I found a little shop near the back of the market.” (03:13)

Where was I? is the lightest of them. Paul explains that you are not asking the listener to repeat the conversation: “You are marking that you lost your position.” (03:59) Emily’s reaction is that it feels “light, not dramatic.” (04:02) It can sound relaxed when you say it lightly, because “It does not have to sound like a crisis.” (16:21)

Right, I was saying, or back to what I was saying?

The second and third lines are close, and the episode keeps them apart by what happened just before. Use Right, I was saying… when you remember the last point and want to go straight back to it. Use So, back to what I was saying… when you have just answered a side question and want to say clearly that you are returning. Paul says that line is a little more explicit and “works especially well after a side question or a short side topic.” (04:28)

In the weekend practice, Emily uses it right after she answers: “Yes, exactly.” (11:23) “The bookshop has a yellow sign.” (11:25) “So, back to what I was saying, there was a long line outside the restaurant.” (11:27) Notice the order: answer the side question in one short sentence first, then return. If the answer is long, the return gets harder.

When you did not stop talking

The blank moment is not always silence. Sometimes you keep going and drift. Paul asks why Emily started taking the train, and she answers about parking, a garage, a coworker, and finally the coffee shop. Paul asks where they are now, and she says: “At coffee.” (08:47) Her diagnosis is sharp: “I lost the main thread while still producing English.” (08:53)

Here you do not need a phrase to find a lost place. You need one that removes branches: “The main point was that parking became difficult, so the train was simpler.” (09:13) After that you can add one more detail if it helps: “It also gives me time to read.” (09:26) A detail you do not want to lose, but not now, gets I’ll come back to that. The episode’s example: “there was also a problem with the booking, but I’ll come back to that.” (06:13) “First, I want to explain why we changed the date.” (06:18)

So there are two repairs. If the problem is where am I?, go back to the last clear point. If the problem is why am I talking about this?, go forward to the main point. The listener “can ask about the coffee later if they really want the coffee.” (10:07)

The same skill in a work update

The episode raises the pressure with a project check-in. Emily explains why a draft moved from Tuesday to Thursday, a teammate asks which photos she means, she answers, and loses her place. She recovers in three moves: she asks “Where was I?” (17:45) gets her position back with “Right, I was saying the new product photos changed the layout.” (17:51) and continues with “Let me pick up from there.” (17:56) When the teammate asks about the captions, she parks the detail with I’ll come back to that and ends on the reason: “so Thursday became the realistic delivery day.” (18:19)

If you forget a small detail and it is not needed, you do not have to find it. The episode shows it in one sentence: “I can’t remember the exact date, but the main point was that the schedule changed after the new files arrived.” (19:56)

Nine lines to rescue

These exercises are written for this page. Say your answers aloud before you check them.

1. You are telling a story. A friend asks, “Was that before lunch?” You answer, “After lunch,” and you remember where you stopped. Which line is best? A. Okay, let me start from the beginning. B. Right, I was saying we found the shop.
2. Fix this recovery: Sorry, sorry, I forgot, my English is terrible today, I always do this, sorry.
3. You lose the order of three small details, but you know why you are telling the story: your train now leaves earlier. Write one line that saves the meaning.
4. You are explaining why a delivery was late. A colleague asks a side question about an invoice. You also want to mention a wrong box, but not yet. What do you say?
5. Which answer jumps forward too far? a. Yes, it is the blue door. Anyway, then I went home. b. Yes, it is the blue door. So, back to what I was saying, I was looking for a plant.
6. Rescue this answer with one line: I started cycling because the bus is slow, and the new road is nice, and my neighbour has a bike, and the shop sells helmets, and…
7. Put the three lines in order: A. Right, I was saying I went there to buy a bag. B. Anyway, after that, I found a small stall at the back. C. Yes, it is the one by the station. (The friend asked, “Is that the market by the station?”)
8. Which line does each job? a. You noticed the thread is gone. b. You are back and want to move on. c. You want to park a detail. d. You remember the exact last point.
9. Complete the gap: Yes, the café is near the library. __________, we were walking through the park.

Answers

1. B. It returns to the last point you share. A makes the listener travel over old ground.
2. Where was I? Right, I was saying… It names the problem and returns without extra weight.
3. For example: The main point was that my train leaves earlier now, so I need to be at the station by seven.
4. For example: The invoice is another detail, but I’ll come back to that. The main point was that the supplier sent the wrong size.
5. a. It skips the part of the story the listener was in the middle of.
6. For example: The main point was that the bus was slow, so cycling was faster.
7. C, A, B. Answer the side question, return to the last clear point, then move forward.
8. a. Where was I? b. Anyway, after that… c. I’ll come back to that. d. Right, I was saying…
9. So, back to what I was saying.

Sixty seconds, one interruption

The episode’s final challenge is to speak for sixty to a hundred and twenty seconds about an ordinary event, and let a side question arrive after twenty or thirty seconds. The instruction that matters most is “Answer that side question in one short sentence.” (23:58) “Then do not restart from the beginning.” (24:01) The sample answer shows the shape: “Right, I was saying one section was still closed.” (25:02) “Let me pick up from there.” (25:06) and, near the end, “The main point was that we found the gift in a place we almost skipped.” (25:17)

Written for this page: try it with a story of your own and a friend, or alone with a voice recorder. Interrupt yourself once, in the middle, with a question like “Where was that?” Answer in one sentence. Then use one of the lines from the table.

Hear it in a real conversation

Want to hear Paul and Emily go through the market story, the train answer, the weekend chat and the project update, with a quiz and a pronunciation drill? Go to the Show Note for the episode: Lost Your Place Mid-Story? Find the Last Clear Point and Keep Explaining.

The lines to keep

• Lost the thread: Where was I?
• Remember the last point: Right, I was saying…
• After a side question: So, back to what I was saying…
• Know the place you stopped: Let me pick up from there.
• Lost the order, kept the reason: The main point was…
• A detail that is not for now: I’ll come back to that.
• Back on track: Anyway, after that…

The reminder from the end of the episode is the one worth repeating: “Do not recover the perfect sentence.” (27:04) “Recover the shared thread.” (27:08)