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…

Giving reasons

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

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1Why we sleepHealth and fitnessCEF C1 | health | lifestyle | sleepC1
26 Elevator Speeches by Daniel PinkBetter communicatorCEF B1 | Daniel Pink | elevator pitch | persuasion | presentingB1
3Business Social English Test - part 1Tests and Quizzesbusiness English | CEF A2 | everyday English | social English | testA2
4David BowieWise Quotesartists | CEF B2 | David Bowie | development | lifeB2
5Should You Learn British or American English?CultureAmerican English | British English | CEF B1 | dialects | different accents | how to learnB1
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There are 20 main categories, or subjects, of lessons on The Blue Tree. First five are about the English language, the next ten are about general interest, and last five relate to personal development. 

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chronological catalogue

Browse through all the lessons using this chronological catalogue of lessons. 

40 rules for life

40 rules for life

Daniel Pink’s 40 rules for life is a special lesson. It’s a wonderful and insightful collection of advice on life that we’d all do well to follow.

Secrets of Adulthood

Secrets of Adulthood

Simple truths for our complex lives. This lesson is based on a book by Gretchen Rubin.

Managing up

Managing up

How can an employee manage their bosses? They need to learn how to manage up. That’s what this lesson is about.

Black Box Thinking

Black Box Thinking

Mistakes can be our greatest teachers – if we learn from them. Black Box Thinking shows how embracing failure leads to real progress. Are you making the most of your mistakes?

Why we work so much

Why we work so much

Why do we work so much? What can history of work ethic teach us about the reasons for our busy working lives?

Grit by Angela Duckworth

Grit by Angela Duckworth

What is a better predictor of success – talent or effort? This lesson answers this crucial question. It is based on a book by Angela Duckworth “Grit”.

5 Ways People Are Dumb With Money

5 Ways People Are Dumb With Money

This lesson is about how people make predictable financial mistakes. It discusses five common financial mistakes: the endowment effect, the sunk cost fallacy, transaction utility, mental accounting, and the tendency to spend unexpected income on frivolous things.

Top 5 Communication Skills You Need

Top 5 Communication Skills You Need

What are the top 5 skills you should master to elevate your career to the next level? Learn the answer from this lesson based on a video by Alex Lyon.

Are you following your dream

Are you following your dream

This lesson follows a story of two people, Daisy and Herman, who followed their dreams. It is based on the 6 Minute English podcast from BBC Learning English

Silence your inner critic during an interview

Silence your inner critic during an interview

Do you know who is your worst enemy during a job interview? Susan Peppercorn believes that it is your inner critic. Learn how to silence it in this lesson based on HBR Management Tip

Write an Effective Self-Assessment

Write an Effective Self-Assessment

How do you feel about yearly assessment meetings with your boss? It’s not easy to feel totally relaxed, is it? One thing that can help you here is writing an effective self-assessment yourself, before you meet your boss. This lesson will help you with just that. It is based on Harvard Business Review article.

Moods are weather

Moods are weather

Learn to talk about moods. What do you say, for example, when you are a bit confused and not know which way to go?

A simple formula for making a great pitch

A simple formula for making a great pitch

If there was a simple formula to a great speech, would you like to know what it is? Find out how to build an awesome presentation using the tops from an HBR article.

Watercolour art

Watercolour art

Learn about watercolour art and some of the most famous painters of this movement. Additionally, practice the language of likes and dislikes.

Don’t use advanced English

Don’t use advanced English

Christian from Kangaroo English has an important message for learners of English. Don’t use advanced English.