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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Sorry, but lessons on The Blue Tree work only on a computer or a tablet.

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

Don’t use advanced English
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THE BLUE TREE

Everyday English

CEF B1

CEFR B1

Intermediate

Practise English by describing this image

warm up

Answer these questions.

  • How long have you been learning English?
  • Why does learning a foreign language take a long time?
  • What does it mean to be an advanced user of a foreign language for you?

key language

Study the words in this flashcard game. All of them appear in the video.

watch the video

Watch the video.

Comprehension

Answer the questions below. Use the information from the listening and your own experience. 

  • 1. What does it mean that a word is advanced?
  • 2. What effect can using advanced vocabulary have on listeners?
  • 3. Who do you have to speak more often: native speakers or learners of English?
  • 4. What’s the problem with Terms and Conditions?
  • 5. Do you read such documents before you click ACCEPT?
  • 6. What is successful communication for you?
  • 8. How can the feeling of guilt affect our performance in speaking a foreign language?
  • 9. What does Christian think learners need more of?
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DISCUSSION

Discribe these two pictures.

Now this one.

Discuss the questions below.

  • Which picture better illustrates your approach to learning English?
  • Why thinking about progress as climbing a ladder may be limiting?
  • What is this gap the woman is jumping across in language learning?
  • What does it mean to bridge the gap in this context?
  • What can learners do to be able to express their thoughts and ideas more fluently?
  • What does it mean that “You don’t need more English. You need more practice”?

POLL

Cast your vote in the poll.

My ultimate goal in learning English is to:
12 votes

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PRACTICE

Look at this list of language functions. How many can you do today? Click on the function to highlight it. Make a note of all the functions you don’t know yet. 

Discussion and opinion

Doubt, guessing and certainty

Feelings and emotions

AgreeingAsking for clarificationApologizing
Asking for opinionsCorrecting yourselfCongratulating somebody
Conceding a pointExpressing certaintyExpressing sympathy
Dealing with questionsExpressing ignoranceMaking complaints
DisagreeingExpressing likelihoodThanking somebody
Expressing preferencesSpeculatingWishing somebody luck
Giving reasons
Interrupting somebody

Openings and endings

Permission and obligation

Suggestions and advice

Ending conversationsAsking about obligationAsking for help
Introducing somebodyAsking for permissionAsking for information
Inviting somebody to somethingForbidding somethingGiving someobody advice
Leaving phone messagesGiving ordersMaking recommendations
Opening conversationsMaking requestsMaking suggestions
Wrapping up discussionsOffering help
Offering somebody something
Warning somebody of danger

Based on Oxford Learer’s Dictionaries, Conversations.

COMMENTS

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