FUNCTIONS:

Agreeing

Disagreeing

Hesitating

Introducing your opinion

Asking for opinions

Expressing preferences

Asking for clarification

Expressing likelihood

Speculating, guessing

Advice and recommendations

Describing a picture

Agreeing

I think you’re right

I would go along with the idea

I completely agree with you

That makes perfect sense

You have a point there

Absolutely, that’s spot on!

I couldn’t agree more

Disagreeing

That’s not how I see it

I couldn’t agree less

You must be kidding

That’s a ridiculous idea, don’t you think?

With all due respect, I must disagree

I’m afraid I can’t see it that way

No way, that’s nonsense!

Hesitating

I’m in two minds about it

I have some reservations regarding that

I’m not entirely convinced

There’s something that gives me pause

While I’m not entirely opposed, I do have some doubts

Introducing your opinion

To my mind

I reckon

In my opinion

As I see it

It seems to me

I would argue

From my point of view

Asking for opinions

Don’t you think …?

What’s your attitude to …?

What’s your opinion of …?

Are you in favour of …?

What’s your position as regards …?

You don’t support …, do you?

Expressing preferences

I prefer…

I would rather…

My preference would be…

I tend to favour…

If I had to choose, I would…

I lean towards…

I am inclined to…

I’m a big fan of…

I really enjoy…

I’m into…

I absolutely love…

I’m crazy about…

I’m fond of…

It’s right up my alley

It’s my thing

I can’t get enough of…

It appeals to me

It’s growing on me

I wouldn’t miss it for the world

I’m not a big fan of…

I don’t really enjoy…

I’m not into…

I can’t stand…

I’m not fond of…

It’s not my cup of tea

It doesn’t do anything for me

I’m sick of…

It gets on my nerves

It puts me off

I’d rather not…

It leaves me cold…

Asking for clarification

Could you please elaborate on that?

Would you mind explaining that further?

I’m not quite sure I understand. Could you clarify?

Could you provide more details?

Can you expand on that point?

Expressing likelihood

“It’s a foregone conclusion that…”

“There’s no doubt in my mind that…”

“I am almost certain that…”

“It’s highly likely that…”

“Chances are that…”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if…”

“It’s possible that…”

“There’s a chance that…”

“It’s unlikely that…”

“I doubt that…”

Speculating, guessing

“It seems to me that…”

“My gut feeling is that…”

“From what I gather…”

“If I were to guess…”

“It would appear that…”

“I reckon that…”

“I suspect that…”

“In all likelihood…”

“There’s a distinct possibility that…”

“It’s plausible that…”

Advice and recommendations

“You might want to consider…”

“Perhaps you could try…”

“If I were you, I would…”

“One thing you could do is…”

“Have you thought of…”

“May I suggest…”

“It might be beneficial to…”

“Consider this approach…”

“Why not give this a go…”

“If it were up to me, I’d…”

Describing a picture

“In the foreground…”

“In the background…”

“In the center of the image…”

“On the left side of the picture…”

“On the right side of the picture…”

“At the top of the picture…”

“At the bottom of the picture…”

“The picture depicts…”

“The image illustrates…”

“The photograph shows…”

“One can see…”

“Notice how…”

“This scene captures…”

“This photograph highlights…”

DICTIONARY

Add new and interesting words from this lesson to your English dictionary.

Store your words and expressions in this handy dictionary. You can create groups and play games based on your entries. There is also a practical importing feature.

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Bardzo mi przykro, ale lekcje na platformie The Blue Tree działają jedynie na komputerze lub tablecie.

Do zobaczenia na większym ekranie 🙂

Zespół The Blue Tree

Change Your Life – One Tiny Step at a Time
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THE BLUE TREE

Personal
Productivity

CEF B1

CEFR B2

Upper
Intermediate

Practise speaking by describing this image

warm up

Answer the questions below.

What can you do to make your routines more enjoyable?
TRANSCRIPT

To make my routines more enjoyable, I try to mix in things I love, like listening to music or turning a task into something more creative. For example, I make my morning routine fun by playing upbeat music while I get ready. It’s the small things that can turn boring tasks into something I look forward to!

What are some bad habits you’ve fallen into/gotten out of?
TRANSCRIPT

I’ve definitely had my share of bad habits. One that I’m glad I got out of is checking my phone first thing in the morning. It used to set a rushed, distracted tone for the whole day. Instead, I’ve replaced it with meditation, which helps me stay grounded. Breaking that habit took time, but the switch has made a big difference in how I start my day.

TRANSCRIPT

Creating habits isn’t always easy for me. I need structure and consistency to really make a habit stick. I’ve found that breaking things down into smaller steps helps. For example, if I want to work on a coding skill, I’ll commit to just 10 minutes a day. Keeping it simple and manageable makes it less overwhelming, and eventually, it becomes part of my routine.

part one

KEY LANGUAGE

Go through the flashcards below. Make sure you understand all the words and expressions.

VIDEO

Watch the first part of the video.

COMPREHENSION

Answer these questions. Refer to the information from the video.

  • ⌚ 0:22 What are some popular goals people often set themselves?
  • ⌚ 0:34 What qualities are necessary to achieve our goals?
  • ⌚ 0:52 How do some people feel when they slip back into old (bad) habits?
  • ⌚ 1:09 Do you agree that change is hard?

part two

KEY LANGUAGE

Go through the flashcards below. Make sure you understand all the words and expressions.

VIDEO

Watch the second part of the video.

COMPREHENSION

Answer these questions. Refer to the information from the video.

  • ⌚ 1:32 In what sense our brain is like a jungle?
  • ⌚ 1:41 What trick has our brain come up with?
  • ⌚ 2:10 What happens to this rough trail after some time?
  • ⌚ 2:27 Why is change particularly difficult for adults?

part three

KEY LANGUAGE

Go through the flashcards below. Make sure you understand all the words and expressions.

VIDEO

Watch the third part of the video.

COMPREHENSION

Answer these questions. Refer to the information from the video.

  • ⌚ 2:48 What is a routine? Give some examples.
  • ⌚ 3:26 What are the characteristics of a ‘wise planner’ who executes routines?
  • ⌚ 3:35 How are habits different from routines?
  • ⌚ 3:45 In what sense does a habit make us feel like being on an autopilot?
  • ⌚ 4:06 What are triggers? Give some examples. 
  • ⌚ 4:45 What are the characteristics of a ‘toddler’ who executes habits?
  • ⌚ 5:43 How are the planner and the toddler helping us going through life?

part four

KEY LANGUAGE

Go through the flashcards below. Make sure you understand all the words and expressions.

VIDEO

Watch the sixth part of the video.

COMPREHENSION

Answer these questions. Refer to the information from the video.

  • ⌚ 6:02 Why is it better to improve your life  alittle than aiming high?
  • ⌚ 6:18 What is a better way to form a habit than forcing it with willpower?
  • ⌚ 6:30 How are the planner and the toddler helpful in creating new habits?
  • ⌚ 6:41 What is the first step in creating a new habit? Why is this step important?
  • ⌚ 7:52 What is the next step after setting your trigger and action? What outcome will it bring?

part five

KEY LANGUAGE

Go through the flashcards below. Make sure you understand all the words and expressions.

VIDEO

Watch the fifth part of the video.

COMPREHENSION

Answer these questions. Refer to the information from the video.

  • ⌚ 8:27 What can we do to make the action more likely to be picked up by the ‘toddler’?
  • ⌚ 9:06 Is it possible to know how long it will take us to form a new habit?
  • ⌚ 9:26 Which part of forming a new habit is the most difficult?
  • ⌚ 9:45 Are there any silver bullets for effecting change?
  • ⌚ 9:56 Is change a direction or a destination? How do you understand it?
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DISCUSSION

Answer the questions below. Throw newly learned words and phrases into your answers.

  • What do you think of the idea of the planner and the toddler presented in this lesson?
  • What do you think of the difference between a habit and a routine? Does it make sense to you?
  • What happens when you put aside instant gratification and prioritise delayed gratification?
  • What happens when we aim too high? 
  • How can we design our environments to help us trigger more good habits?
  • What is your method of forming a habit and sticking to it long-term?

lesson glossary

COMMENTS

What do you think of the ideas presented in this lesson?

Share your views and experience here.

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