Speaking

Question 1

Getting started (monologue)

Answer 1

First of all I’d like to point out…
The main problem is…
The fact is that…
The question of…
Speaking of…
My task is to…..
I would like to tell you about…
We are here today to look at…
As everyone knows…
It is generally accepted that…
There can be no doubt that…
It is a fact that…
Nobody will deny that…

Question 2

Structuring (monologue)

Answer 2

First of all…
In the first place…
To begin with…
I’d like to say / to mention that…
Secondly…
In the second place…
In addition to that…
Apart from that…
Besides…
Moreover,…
Furthermore,…
Another example of this is…
There are …. points I’d like to make.
These are the points I would like to talk about.
First, I would like to say a few words about…
Then, I’ll move on to….
Now I’d like to draw your attention to the fact that…
And finally, to round it off, I’ll….

Question 3

Referring to the impulses on your task sheet (pictures/short quotations)

Answer 3

I believe the pictures symbolize the following aspects of the topic.
The picture …. shows us the following aspect…
And this is something that shows up really well in picture…
As you can see in picture…..
To my mind, picture … has a clear message.
The quotation given refers to the fact that…
This quotation shows that…

Question 4

Moving to the next point

Answer 4

This leads directly to my next point.
This brings us to the next question.
Let’s now move on / turn to…
After examining this point, let’s turn to…
Let’s now take a look at…
As I said / mentioned / pointed out earlier,…
Let me come back to what I said before…
Let’s go back to what we were discussing earlier…
As I’ve already explained…Now, let’s have a closer look at…
Here is an argument which you often hear in discussions…
This topic wouldn’t be complete without a look at…

Question 5

Giving your personal opinion (monologue)

Answer 5

I’m absolutely convinced that…
To tell you the truth / to be honest / frank
I strongly believe that…
I have no doubt that…
There’s no doubt that…
My own view is that…
I’m absolutely certain that…
I’m sure that… If you want my honest opinion…
I definitely doubt if that…
I’m uncertain / not sure that…
As far as I know…
It is very doubtful whether…
It is vital to…
To my mind, this seems….
Personally, I feel / believe that…
I firmly believe that…
There cannot be any doubt that….
I’m convinced that…

Question 6

Commenting and explaining (monologue)

Answer 6

It may sound really obvious, but….
Let me be really clear about this:
I would like to stress that…
To me, this is the core problem of the whole issue.
Then, it is a logical consequence that…
Let me illustrate this with an example.
Here’s an example to show what I’m going on about.

Question 7

Rounding off / Concluding (monologue)

Answer 7

All things considered, I would like…
Well, let me just sum up my main points….
To wrap things up, …
To recap what I’ve said so far…
Finally,… Lastly… Finally, and perhaps most importantly,…
In conclusion… All in all…
The obvious conclusion is…
Last but not least…
The only possible conclusion is….
To cut a long story short…
All things considered…
Let me summarize by saying…
Thank you very much for your attention.

Question 8

Expressing opinion (dialogue)

Answer 8

1. I‘d say….
2. Personally, I think…..
3. If tou ask me…..
4. The way I see it….
5. As far as I am concerned…
6. If you don‘t mind me saying….
7. In my humble opinion…..
8. In my view/ opinion….
9. To my mind….
10. As I see it…..
11. I believe ……
12. From my perspective …..
13. I strongly feel that …..
14. It seems to me that ……
    Agreeing with people
15. I completely agree with you
16. That sounds good to me.
17. I think you‘re right.
18. Exactly!
19. I‘m with you on that.
20. That‘s a good idea.
21. I completely agree with that suggestion.
22. That‘s a valid point.
23. You‘re absolutely right.
24. I‘m on the same page as you.
25. I couldn‘t agree more.
26. I share the same view as ….
27. I endorse this idea because ….

Question 9

Disagreeing with people

Answer 9

1. I‘m not sure about that!
2. You could be right, but…
3. I’m afraid, I don’t agree…
4. That’s an interesting idea, but….
5. Do you really think that…?
6. You can’t be serious!
7. That’s not how I see it.
8. I don’t think it will work.
9. I respectfully disagree with ….
10. I don’t see why/ how.
11. I’m not sure that will work because ……
12. I see your point, but …..
13. I don’t think that’s the best idea because …..
14. While I understand your perspective, I believe ….
15. I understand, but have you thought about …. ?
16. That could work, but …..
17. I see where you’re coming from, however …..
18. I’m not entirely convinced because …..
19. While that’s true, we should also consider …
20. That’s not entirely accurate because …..

Question 10

Asking for somebody‘s opinion

Answer 10

1. What do you think of….?
2. What do you think about….?
3. What‘s your opinion of….?
4. What would you say to…../ if we….
5. Do you agree with me?
6. Do you have any other ideas/ suggestions?
7. How would you respond to ….?

Question 11

Considering important points (dialogue)

Answer 11

1. We need to take into account ….
2. It‘s important to consider ….
3. Have you thought about …. ?
4. Another thing to think about is …..
5. Don‘t forget to ….
6. We need to take into consideration ….
7. It‘s crucial to keep in mind …..
8. One thing we shouldn‘t overlook is ….
9. A major factor we need to address is ….
10. Another aspect worth discussing is ….
11. We should prioritize ….

Question 12

Expressing preferences (dialogue)

Answer 12

1. I‘d prefer to …..
2. I‘m more in favour of …..
3. I think it would be better if …..
4. Personally, I think …..
5. I would rather …..
6. I‘d prefer if we could ….
7. My priority would be ….
8. I would be more comfortable with ….
9. I‘m inclined to support …
10. Personally, I feel that …..

Question 13

Delegating tasks

Answer 13

1. Who‘s in charge of ….?
2. Let‘s divide the responsibilities for ….
3. I‘ll be responsible for ….
4. I think we should assign ….
5. Can you take care of …?
6. Who will be responsible for ….?
7. Can we assign someone to …?
8. Let‘s divide up the tasks to ensure ….
9. Would you be willing to take charge of …?

Question 14

Setting dates and timelines

Answer 14

1. When‘s the best time for everyone?
2. We should set a date for ….
3. Let‘s agree on a deadline.
4. By what date do we need to …. ?
5. We‘ll need more time to ….
6. What‘s the timeline for ….?
7. By when do we need to have …?
8. We should aim to complete ….
9. We need to have everything in place by …..

Question 15

Finalizing decisions

Answer 15

1. So, we‘ve agreed on …..
2. Let‘s confirm the final details.
3. It‘s settled then.
4. Is it okay with that?
5. Let‘s move forward with …..
6. So, we‘ve come to the conclusion that ….
7. It seems we‘re in agreement on ….

Question 16

Suggesting ideas and solutions

Answer 16

1. We could potentially ….
2. One option might be …..
3. I‘d recommend ….
4. Another possibility would be …..
5. It might be worth considering ….
6. Perhaps we should ….
7. We might consider

Question 17

Asking for help

Answer 17

1. Can you give me a hand with this?
2. Can I ask a favour?
3. I wonder if you could help me with this?
4. Could you spare a moment?

Question 18

Dislikes

Answer 18

1. I‘m not keen on….
2. I‘m not a big fan of….
3. I can‘t stand it/ I really hate it.
4. I can‘t see what all this fuss is about.
5. I‘m afraid it doesn‘t appeal to me.

Question 19

Good ideas

Answer 19

1. That‘s a great idea.
2. That‘s an idea.
3. Good idea!
4. What a great idea.
5. I like that idea.
6. That‘s not a bad idea.
7. You know what! That‘s a good idea!
8. Cool!
9. Definately.
10. Mmm an idea.
11. I see.

Question 20

Interrupting

Answer 20

1. Excuse me for interrupting, but…
2. Sorry to interrupt, but….

Question 21

Understanding/ reacting

Answer 21

1. I understand.
2. I see.
3. I see what you mean.
4. I see your point.
5. I got it.
6. Oh, OK.
7. That‘s interesting.
8. Sure.
9. That‘s great/ interesting/ amazing.
10. Wow.
11. Yeah, right.
12. That‘s terrible/ awful.

Question 22

When you don‘t know the answer

Answer 22

1. I don‘t know.
2. I really don‘t know.
3. I have no idea.
4. I wish I knew.

Question 23

Doubt

Answer 23

1. I‘m not quite sure about it.
2. Maybe, but I‘m not sure.
3. I have to think about it.
4. Are you sure that this information is correct?
5. I‘ve got some doubts about it.
6. Well, I haven‘t thought about that before.

Question 24

Playing for time

Answer 24

1. Let me see….
2. Well, let me think……
3. Hm, let me think about that for a moment….
4. I‘ll have to think about it.

Question 25

Reaching a compromise

Answer 25

1. OK, so we can first...., and then... 2. Let‘s do it my way, OK? 3. So let‘s agree on.... 4. OK, if you insist, but.... 5. We need a compromise. 6. So we‘ve agreed on/ to.... 7. What if we ....? 8. Maybe we could ..... 9. How about we compromise on .... ? 10. We could both agree on ...... 11. Let‘s see if we can find some middle ground. 12. How about we strike a balance by ....? 13. We could potentially compromise by .... 14. Let‘s try to reach a consensus on .... 15. We can work around this by ...

Question 26

Finishing the conversation

Answer 26

1. Oh, I have to go now, can we meet/ call later? 2. It‘s been a pleasure. 3. It‘s been nice to meet you. Could we meet tomorrow and talk more about .....

Question 27

Idioms

Answer 27

(not) my cup of tea we’re like peas in a pod - similar be worn out/ be worn out - tired make up one’s mind - decide throw in the towel - give up keep an open house - welcome build castles in the air - unrealistic dreams as useful as a chocolate teapot - useless as easy as ABC three r’s - basic things (arithmetics, write, read) boil the ocean - undertake an impossible task donkey work - to do the hard/ boring task at work cash cow - profitable business have a whale of a time - to enjoy yourself a lot put your feet up - take a rest wear trousers in the family - the boss in family be sick of death of - bored of cost next to nothing - very cheap sell like hot buns - very quickly window shopping cost an arm and a leg - a lot a full plate - a schedule filled with task beat the traffic - leave earlier to avoid traffic hit the road - start journey make your way - to achieve smth in life, make progress backseat driver - smb who gives unwanted advice shed the light on – make smth easier to understand by giving information (smth) is like a fly in the ointment – a difficult situation watch your back - be careful of the people you around (watch if they don’t intend to do harm for you) lose your touch - you can no longer do smth as well as you could give it your best shot/ put the pedal to the medal under the weather - ill, unwell back on your feet - to be healthy again after a period of illness fit as a fiddle - to be very healthy and fit off colour - slightly ill the cutting edge - the most modern stage of development light years away - an extremely long time from now in the past/ future a well - oiled machine - smth that works very smoothly and effectively on the wrong side of the law - do smth illegal go through hell a drop in the ocean - a very small amount compared with what is needed have green fingers - they are very good at gardening, their plants grow well eye for an eye/ a tooth for a tooth back to the drawing board - when an attempt fails and it's time to start all over. cut the mustard - to succeed found my feet - to become comfortable in what you are doing once in a blue moon – rarely a bit green – inexperienced be as sick as a dog – physically sick cost the Earth – very expensive feel a bit under the weather – unwell be on the edge of one‘s seat – be very interested / excited be on the go – be busy and active keep one‘s head – be calm

Question 28

Idioms (dialogue)

Answer 28

(I have admit) you hit the nail on the head - Do or say something exactly right I have been racking my brains intensively since early morning Two heads are definitely better than one. Give it a shot. To pull (my) weight – to do (my) part of the work in the group / you work as hard as others in the group The night is still young – don‘t hurry, we still have plenty of time. To drive it home – to make it clear To weather the storm – to manage to solve difficult situations. Shed the light on – make smth easier to understand by giving information We should get down to some serious work. We could make a call after school tomorrow.