Useful expressions for your speaking exam

MAKING YOUR POINT In my opinion, ... In my view Personally, I think that ... Personally speaking, If you ask me, ... I'd say that ... I feel that ... My feeling is that ... As far as I am concerned ... AGREEING I completely agree ... I quite agree ... That's what I think, too. HALF-AGREEING I take your point, ut ... I see what you mean, ut ... I agree up to a point, ut ... DISAGREEING I completely disagree. I don't agree at all. END OF AN ANSWER ! in my view, anyway. That"s my opinion, anyway. #o, in short ! All in all ! And that"s a out it, really. STARTING/CLOSING A DISCUSSION $e cou%d start y talking a out ... %et's talk a out ... first. I think we need to make a decision. #hall we try to come to an agreement& CONTRAST 'ut on the other hand ! 'ut at the same time ... Although I must admit that ! (aving said that, ! PREDICTIONS about yours !" I guess I"ll !

I reckon I will ! I don"t think I"ll ever ! I don"t imagine I"ll ! SUPPOSING A#OUT OTHERS They are pro a ly ! They pro a ly ) ver They must ) ver It looks as if they are ) ing I imagine they might ) ver PROPOSING %et"s go to *this photography e+hi ition,. $ell, why don"t we go to *this photography e+hi ition,. (ow does this sound& #hall we go and see *this photography e+hi ition,.& (ow a out going to *this photography e+hi ition,.& I have got an idea. $e could go to *this photography e+hi ition,. -o you fancy going to see *this photography e+hi ition,& $ould you like to go to *this photography e+hi ition,& E$PRESSING OPINIONS/ REACTING 'elieve me, ! ! seems like the est option to me. I am really keen on the idea of ! If you ask me, I really think we should ! 'ut .ust think of the !. / Personally, I am in favour of ! *) gerund, I am sure it will e worth it. %et"s go for it. 0h, come on/ ! , don"t you agree& REACTING %& a & 'at%( )ay I don"t find *modern art, very interesting. I am not really into *modern art, In fact, I don"t really like*modern art, at all. To e honest, *modern art, .ust makes me laugh. *Modern art, isn"t really my thing. I am not a ig fan of *modern art, REACTING TO STRANGE INFORMATION (ow weird1 strange1 i2arre1 odd/ (ow spooky/ (ow awful/ ALLOWING YOURSELF TIME TO THINK I need to think for a moment. That"s an interesting question. $ell, it"s difficult to say, really. %et me see. It depends !

I guess an honest answer would e ! I suppose the simplest answer to that question is ! If I think a out it, I suppose ! 0n alance, I think ! The est e+ample that comes to mind is !

Agreeing

I couldn't agree more. On the whole, I think the speaker's arguments are fair. I (quite) agree. I think you're absolutely right. That's a ery good point. !ou' e got a ery good point there. I fully support what you say. I totally agree. "#actly$

Disagreeing

%ut don't you think that .& I see what you mean, but .. %ut isn't it really a question of .. %ut what about .& %ut surely .& I take your point, but .. !es, but on the other hand .... %ut all the e idence suggests that .. I'm afraid I can't agree with . on this matter. I wouldn't say that. I don't agree at all. I can't accept that. Listing

'irstly (econdly )e#t Then Thirdly *astly 'inally 'irst of all In the first place 'or one thing To begin with In the second place 'or another thing first second The point I'd like to make is ne#t last Dealing with difficult questions

. is important but it's too comple# for us to deal with here. I think the aim of this talk is to focus on . rather than .. It's too early for us to say whether .. +e don't ha e enough e idence to show that .. That's not something I' e had time to deal with, but .. I'd prefer to deal with that point later.

Checking that you have understood

(o you're telling me that I can't .. (o what you're saying is that .. (o you mean that .. ,re you saying that .& ,m I correct in assuming that .& *et me -ust make sure . your point is that . If I ha e understood you correctly, your point is that .

Asking for clarification/more information

I didn't understand what you said about . I'm sorry, I didn't catch what you said about . I'm sorry, could you repeat what you said about .

(orry, but I'm not quite clear on . I'd like to ask you about . I didn't understand the bit about the ... +hat does . mean& I'm not sure what you mean. I don't see what you mean. /ould we come back to that& /ould you e#plain that again, please& +hat did you mean when you said .& /ould you be more specific about .& /ould you e#pand a little bit on what you said about .& /ould you gi e an e#ample of .& /ould you e#plain in more detail.& (o you're telling me that I can't .& (o what you're saying is that .& (o you mean that .& ,re you saying that .& ,m I correct in assuming that .& *et me -ust make sure . your point is that . If I ha e understood you correctly, your point is that .