EXPRESSIONS FOR FCE SPEAKING EXAM

FCE
SPEAKING
TEST
–
useful
 phrases



Asking 
for 
clarification

Sorry,
I’m 
not
 sure
 what 
you 
mean.

I 
don’t (really) 
understand

Can
 you 
say 
that 
again ,
 please?
 I’m 
not

(quite)
sure 
what
 I 
have 
to 
do.

Can 
I
 ask
 a 
question?

Do you 
want 
me
 to….?



Correcting yourself

What 
I
 mean 
is…

What
 I
 meant
 was…

What 
I’m 
trying 
to 
say 
is…



Compare
 and 
contrast 
(Part
2)

They 
both
 show/ have/ etc

They’re
 both
 quite 
similar 
because 
they
 both

show/ have/ etc

There
 are
…..
in 
both 
photographs

Both 
of
 them have
 got….
In 
them.

The 
top
 one
 looks 
more…..
than 
the 
bottom

one.

The
 one
 on 
the 
left 
is / shows/ has
…..
but 
the

one
 on 
the 
right 
is
….

This 
one 
is
 not 
as……as
 the
 other 
one.

It’s 
quite
 difficult 
to
 compare them.

This 
picture 
reminds
 me 
of
…..
whereas 

the

other
one…..




Expressing 
your 
likes,
 dislikes,
 preferences

I 
(really) 
like/ love/ enjoy
…..

I don’t
 (really) 
like….

I’m
 not
 very
 keen
 on…

I 
much
 prefer…

I’d 
prefer…

I’d 
(much)
 rather…

The 
thing 
I 
like 
the 
best 
is
….



Expressing 
your
 opinions / feelings / reactions

I 
don’t 
think 
he’s
 very 
happy 
/
 she’s
 going 
to

buy
 anything

I’m
 not
 sure 
whether
 enjoy 
it
 / people believe

I 
think
 it’d 
be
 better 
if

 they
 chose…./
we

didn’t
 go…

I
 think
 we
 should….
pay 
less
/
 choose
…

It
 makes
 me 
angry / worried /smile/ want
 to…

I
f ind
it 
really 
interesting/ awful

It
 looks 
a
 bit
 strange/ difficult

She 
looks 
as
 if
 she’s
 enjoying 
it
/ 
she
 hasn’t

slept



Agreeing 
or 
disagreeing 
with 
your partner 
(Parts
3
and
4)

I 
agree

That
 sounds 
like 
a 
good 
idea

That’s
 a
 great 
idea

You’re
 right!

That’s
 true

I’m
 not
 sure 
about
 that 
I
 don’t
 (really) 
agree

Yes,
but…



Involving
 your 
partner 
(Part
3)

What
 do
 you 
think?

Do 
you 
think 
we
 should…?

Why 
don’t
 we…?

Perhaps
 we
 should…

Let’s
 decide 
about….,
shall
 we?

What
 shall
 we
 do
 first?



Expressing 
‘for’ 
and 
‘against’
 views

The
 good/ bad 
thing ( s) 
is/are…

One
 advantage
/ disadvantage 
is…

On
 the
 other
 hand…



Speculating
He 
might
 be
 on
 holiday/ explaining

something

I 
think
 this
 would 
be
 good 
for 
him/ might 
not

help 
in 
the 
situation/ 
could 
cause
 problems

What 
would
 happen 
if
 people
 didn’t 
do

anything?

What 
if
 there
 were
 no
 opportunity 
to

change?

Perhaps/ May be 
he’s
 studying
 for 
an
 exam




Reaching 
a 
conclusion
 with 
your
 partner 
(Part
3)

(What) 
have
 we
 decided 
then?

So,
let’s
 decide
 which 
one…

I
 think
 that’s 
it,
 don’t 
you?

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FCE Writing Exam Vocabulary and Phrases.

Useful FCE Vocabulary and Phrases

Once again, there are some phrases that will make the FCE examiners happy:
Greetings: Dear Sir, Dear Madam, Dear Sir/Madam, Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms (Smith)
Reason for writing: I am writing with regard to … I am writing in reponse to …
Ending the letter: I look forward to …-ing, Yours faithfully (if you start with Dear Sir)… Yours sincerely (if you start with the name of the person. eg. Dear Mr. Thomas)

Here are a few phrases to use when you should write a complaint:

Reason for writing: I am writing in order to complain about…

Introducing first complaint: First of all, In the first place, The first problem is…, My first complaint is…, The first thing I would like to draw to your attention is…

Introducing further complaints: Not only… but also…, In addition (to this), The… was also unacceptable.

Demanding action: I suggest that you replace the item. I would be grateful if you could give me a refund.

Ending the letter: I look forward to hearing from you. I look forward to receiving your explanation. I look forward to receiving a full refund.

USEFUL LANGUAGE FOR FCE/CAE/CPE WRITING

Writing for FCE/CAE/CPE

Useful language

FORMAL LETTERS

Letters objecting to someone's plans

I am writing to express my concern /disappointment / alarm at hearing ...

I was extremely alarmed/sorry/distressed to hear about your plans to ...

As I think you know, …

May I point out that …

I feel I really must object to ...

I am extremely concerned at the thought that ...

It must be very clear that ...

If these proposals go ahead, ... will happen.

Another threat to ... , if these proposals go ahead, would come from ...

I dread to imagine what damage this will cause.

May I respectfully suggest that you ...

I was wondering if you had considered this alternative?

Would it not be possible to ... ?

Letters of complaint

I am writing to complain about ...

I am writing to tell you how disappointed/annoyed I feel about ...

I was amazed/distressed/horrified to find that ...

As you must realise, ...

I am sure you know that ...

I am sure you can imagine ...

I am sure you will appreciate that ...

It goes without saying that ...

At the very least, I look forward to receiving ...

Unless you ... , I am afraid that I will have to take this matter further.

Letters of recommendation

I am writing to you on behalf of ...

I have known X for ... years.

She / He has shown herself/himself to be extremely ...

X would seem to fit the requirements of this job perfectly.

I have no hesitation in recommending X as a ...

Letters to the editor

I am writing about the article on ... , which appeared (in last night's paper).

I am writing with reference to the article you published (in last month's issue).

I have just read your article on ... and I feel I must ...

You raised some issues which I feel strongly about.

At the start of your article, you appear to claim that ...

I am afraid I totally disagree.

I am completely in agreement.

I am sure readers will agree with me when I say that ...

ARTICLES

Sequencing

At first / To start with/In the beginning, ...

Then/Next/After that, ...

The next thing that happened was ...

The next thing I knew was ...

Seconds/Minutes later,

Late on/Some time later,

It wasn't until much later that ...

After some time/After what seemed like years, ...

Finally/In the end, ...

At last, ...

Simultaneous events

Meanwhile/In the meantime,

While all this was going on,

In the middle of all this, ...

During all this time, ...

Sudden or unexpected events

Suddenly/All of a sudden, ...

All at once, ...

Out of the blue, ...

Without any warning, ...

Just when I was least expecting it, ...

The next thing I knew was ...

Rapid events

As quick as a flash, ...

In the wink of an eye, ...

In a matter of seconds/minutes, ...

In no time at all, ...

Looking back

In retrospect, ...

When I think back to what happened then, ...

REPORTS

Introductory comments

I recently visited (the new Leisure Centre) and have prepared the following report for your consideration.

Further to my visit to ... , I have prepared the following report.

The following report relates to my recent visit to ...

General comments

On the whole, I found that ...

Although ... , I should point out that ...

It is a fact that ...

Concluding comments

All things considered, I believe that ...

Taking all these points into consideration, I would recommend ...

I recommend that we look into the possibility of ...

Comparing places or facilities

One of the main differences between X and Y is that …

X is completely/entirely/totally different from Y in that …

Unlike X, Y is ...

While/Whereas/Although X is ... , Y is ...

X is a little/slightly/somewhat/a great deal (bigger/more elegant than Y.

X is not quite/nearly as (comfortable/expensive/ convenient) as Y because ...

X is virtually/exactly the same as Y when it comes to ...

PROPOSALS

As requested, I am submitting the following proposal on ...

I recommend that we ...

I propose that we ...

We should also ...

I believe that ...

We could ...

It is a fact that , which means that ...

If we were to , it would ...

I suggest we… .We would then be able to ...

I feel strongly that we should ...

I trust you will give my proposal your full consideration.

REVIEWS

x has much to recommend it.

X is, at heart, a(n) love/spy/adventure story.

It is based on a book by ...

It is set in the countryside/the future.

The film has a quality cast.

The film was directed by ...

The film score is enchanting/evocative/scary.

The film captures the spirit of ...

The hero/heroine/villain is ...

I felt/thought it was …

I was impressed by …

What struck me most was ...

What I liked most/didn't like was ...

The plot was gripping.

The characters were very convincing/very well drawn.

On reflection, I think it was ...

It struck me as being ...

What I didn't understand was how ...

In spite of these few criticisms, I think ...

I would have no hesitation in recommending …

http://englishtim.wikispaces.com/FCE+Writing

SET TEXTS

THE GO-BETWEEN BY LP HARTLEY



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Go-Between



http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-perfect-storm/

PRACTICE TESTS - FCE

In the following page you have MORE EXTRA practice FOR ALL PAPERS:

http://www.english-online.org.uk/fcefolder/fcetest1.php?name=FCE%20Test%201