STAGE 2

INTRODUCING INFORMATION AND LISTING POINTS Firstly / Primarily / Most importantly / This candidate .../ The first proposal Secondly. .. / Then, The most important quality... / Another interesting point about the candidate is Finally, this candidate / proposal also If chosen, this candidate would provide The only disadvantage is / The only downside is / The only drawback is RECOMMENDING Id recommend I prefer to Firstly, would greatly improve It would certainly help if I would not / I dont recommend . Because STAGE 3 JUSTIFYING VIEWPOINTS on the grounds that .. mainly because This is due to the fact that The main reason behind this is... Exemplifying for example such as In fact, . COMPARING AND CONTRASTING / EXPRESSING ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES From the two options I believe is the better choice because . ..is much more .. than because However, the downside of One of the difficulties of The only disadvantage is that A key advantage is that Even though . Is .., it would . REACHING A DECISION Well, I partly agree with you but Yes, but dont forget that I suppose you are right about that but Thats one view but It seems that we both feel / agree that STAGE 4 PRESENTING AN OPTION To begin with, I believe

The main reason behind this This is largely due to the fact that Another reason that makes .. the most suitable choice is Another reason why we support this is

STAGE 5 DEFENDING A DECISION What I mean is I dont believe that In other words, To be perfectly honest, I What I am trying to say is that The way I see it As a result, OTHER USEFUL EXPRESSIONS..

Expressing an Opinion To my mind, As I see it, As far as Im concerned, Personally speaking, If it were up to me, Id say that Generally speaking, I believe that I firmly believe that Giving reasons / justifying The main reason why I feel this is because One of the reasons why is that Considering both sides On one hand, On the other hand, Some people feel that, but others say Although it is true that , it could also be argued that It is true that ., but there is also a major disadvantage to . Expressions for Challenging an Argument I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you're missing the point. No, I believe that's really not true. So what exactly are you talking about? In the case of . . . , this is simply not so. I find this really hard to believe. What you don't seem to fully understand is . . . AGREEMENT Agreement with an unfavorable opinion (with an expression of regret). A: His speech was boring B: Yes, I am afraid it was / I have to agree that it was / I must say I found it so. Emphasizing your agreement.

A: It was an interesting exhibition, wasnt it? B: Yes, it was superb/absolutely splendid! A: A referendum will satisfy everybody. B:Yes, definitely/quite/absolutely/ I absolutely agree/I couldnt agree more/I quite agree/ I agree entirely. A: A referendum will not satisfy everybody. B:Definitely not/It certainly wont/You are absolutely right, it wont/ I agree that it wont. / Exactly / Yes, I quite agree / Thats quite true. Other ways of expressing agreement are: Thats just what I was thinking. You know, thats exactly what I think. Thats a good point. Qualified agreement Certainly its true that , but on the other hand I can see that. But surely I am in total agreement with you about but we also have to consider. Agreed, BUT if we accept then it must also be true that Corroboration We can also agree, and add a further point to corroborate or confirm the argument Yes, and in fact. Yes, and what is more I agree, and in fact one might go so far as to say Absolutely. Actually, I would go further, and say DISAGREEMENT Notice that you need to be very polite when disagreeing with someone in English: A: English is a difficult language to learn. B: -I am afraid I disagree with you: some languages are even more difficult, I think. - TRUE, but the grammar is quite easy. -Yes, but its not so difficult as Russian. -Do you think so? Actually, I find it quite easy. The commonest ways to express disagreement are as follows: Yes, thats quite true, but Im not sure I quite agree. Well, you have a point there, but Perhaps, but I dont think that

I see what you mean, but I am afraid I cant agree with you there. More formal ways I cannot go along with that. Well, I think I would take issue with that I wholly and totally disagree Asking for Opinions Do you agree that . . .? Can you really believe that . . .? How do you respond to the fact/opinion that . . .? Responding to Opinions I'm not sure exactly, but . . . It's hard for me to believe it, but . . . Generally speaking, I feel that . . . Asking for clarification Would you mind repeating that, please? Im sorry, what do you mean by ? Im sorry, I didnt catch that . Sorry, I dont quite understand. Thats exactly how I feel. Hesitating Expressions Well, actually . . . Let's see now . . . Well, let me think . . . Yes, that's a good question . . . Umm as I was saying Hmmm, its on the tip of my tongue Framing an Argument The real question is, . . . I mean, you'd have to agree that . . . The point I want to make . . . Let me just pose a question: . . . I would say specifically that . . . The thing we need to look at is . . . Opening Phrases Well, there's no simple answer to that . . . Well . . . that's a complicated issue . . . Hmm . . . that's a tough one . . . Follow-up Phrases You might say . . . (but you could also say . . .) One way to look at it is . . . (another way . . .) You could think that . . . (but perhaps . . .)

Similarity Likewise, Similarly, . . . is similar to . . . in that . . .

Contrast In contrast, However, . . . is different from . . . in that . . . Phrases for Expressing Doubts or Reservations That's unclear. I think . . . Yes, but . . . Who knows if . . . I can see what you're getting at, but . . . I have some doubts about that. For example, . . . The thing I question is whether . . .