oral interaction practice

Hello
Here is some help to practice for the oral interaction test that will be held next week. Remember you need a partner for this activity. It is a good idea to decide on it now.

Giving your opinion
Giving your opinion neutrally

"I think…."


"I feel that…."


"In my opinion…."


"As far as I'm concerned…."


"As I see it…."


"In my view…"

Giving a strong opinion

"I'm absolutely convinced that…."


"I'm sure that….."


"I strongly believe that…."


"I have no doubt that…"


ASKING for SOMEONE'S OPINION

"What do you think (about /of X)?"


"What's your view (on)?"


"How do you see the situation (of)?"

Agreeing and disagreeing
Agreeing

"I think you're right."
"I agree with you."


Strong agreement
"I couldn't agree with you more."
"You're absolutely right."
"I agree entirely."
"I totally agree."


Agreeing in part

"I agree with you up to a point, but..."
"That's quite true, but..."
"I agree with you in principle, but..."


Disagreeing

"I'm not sure I agree with you."
"(I'm afraid) I don't agree."
"(I'm afraid) I disagree."
"(I'm afraid) I can't agree with you."
"(I'm afraid) I don't share your opinion."

Note that when you disagree with someone, you can often sound
more polite by using a phrase such as "I'm afraid..."

Disagreeing strongly

"I don't agree at all."
"I totally disagree."
"I couldn't agree with you less."

Keeping a conversation going
Making comments

"No!" - to show surprise
"I don't believe it!" - to show surprise
"Wow!" - to show admiration or surprise
"That's incredible / amazing / unbelievable" - to show great
interest in the subject of conversation
"How awful / terrible" - to show sympathy with someone else's bad
news

Asking questions

"Really?" - to show surprise
"And you?" - when someone asks you how you are
"Did you?" - can be used to encourage someone to tell their story.

For example, "I saw her last night" "Did you?" "Yes, she was with one of her friends, and she...."

post 14-12

Dear students:

Sorry not to come. Please post on the blog
This is our last post this semester. I'll give you a couple of choices to decide on one.

   How do you feel about English as a Lingua Franca? How do you feel about this being the official language versus French from 1066 to the 1500s, or Latin earlier. Develop your ideas.

  Write about the coolest blog in the class. Evaluate, layout of the blog, texts written, general participation.

Write about your semester in general. The highs and lows and anything else you find relevant.

Choose one of the topics and 


- wordcount: 250
- make comments on 3 of your partners' posts.

Wednesday 7 for absent people

Go to
www.guardian.co.uk
Choose an article or piece of news that you find interesting.
Write 200 words and say

Why you chose it
What new things you discovered
why you think it is important
Anything else you find relevant.