Peter speaks about Latin with his friend John.
Date: 2015-10-07; view: 397.
Illustrative Dialogues
EXPRESSING OPINION
EVERYDAY ENGLISH
| Asking for someone's opinion | Giving your opinion | Saying you have no opinion | Avoiding giving an opinion | Trying to change someone's opinion |
| What do you think about...? What do you feel about...? What are your views...? What is your opinion of...? What are your feelings about...? What's your views/opinionWhat do you reckon to...? What about...? | I think... As I see it,... In my view /opinion,... (Personally,) I believe... (Personally,) I feel... It seems to me... Well, I must say... Don't you think...? I'd just like to say... From my point of view, ... As far as I'm concerned,... | I really don't have any opinion about I (really) couldn't say, (I'm afraid)... I've no strong feelings about I (really) don't know what to say It doesn't (really) affect me/matter to me,(I'm afraid) I (really) don't know what to think about… | I'd rather not say anything about... D'you think so? It's difficult to say,... I suppose it depends on your/one's point of view Really? I'd have to think about... I'm sorry I can't answer I'd prefer not to say anything about... | But don't you think...? (Yes, but) do you really think... (Yes, but) surely you don't think/ believe etc. ... (Yes, but) is/ isn't it possible that...? (Yes, but) another way of looking at it would be (to say)that... Surely not,I mean... |
Peter: What do you think of Latin, John?
John: I don't believe it will ever become a world language.
Peter: Why not? Lots of people are learning it.
John: Not compared with those who are doing real languages. Latin is too artificial. It is only for those who deal with medicine, law or languages.
Peter: You've got a point there. But on the other hand it's much easier to learn than other languages, much more systematic and logical.
John: That's certainly an advantage. But there's no incentive to learn it as long as nobody actually speaks it. You can't use it as a means of communication.
Peter: Still, I think it should be taught at school.
John: Do you really? In my opinion there are too many subjects on the school curriculum already.
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