This document contains a collection of useful phrases for speaking in English organized into different categories such as home/family, studies/work, holidays/travel, hobbies/sports, music/going out, and special occasions. It also includes phrases for discussing and analyzing photographs, stating opinions, and agreeing or disagreeing with other speakers. Some of the phrases provided are for describing one's hometown, family, school days, hobbies, music preferences, and plans for holidays or special events. Other phrases are useful for analyzing photographs, stating opinions, and discussing ideas with others. The document serves as a reference for English speakers to use helpful expressions in different conversational contexts.

1. 1 Hamed Hashemian
PART 1
USEFUL PHRASES FOR SPEAKING PAPER FCE
HOME TOWN / FAMILY / HOME
I’ve lived here in Granada since…/for...
I’m from ...... but I’ve been living here since...
What I like most about living here is…
I come from quite a .... family, there are .... of us.
I have ..... brothers and .... sisters and we .......well.
People say I ........ my Mother as we’re both tall.
I think I ....... my Father as we’re both open-minded.
I live in a really nice ........ in .........
If I could change anything about my home, I’d probably…
I don’t do much around the house but I usually help with…
I hate housework so I try to ..... it! But I always..... my bed.
STUDIES / WORK / SCHOOL DAYS
I started learning English at school in ...... / when I was…
I wish I had started when I was younger...I think a good age
to start is ....
I’ve been studying English since …
I ..... English classes again recently.
I don’t remember much about my school days, but…
I think my school days were the best days of my life!
I was very good at .... but I hated…
My favourite / worst teacher was a person called…
I prefer working alone because ...
I like having the radio on in the background.
I use a computer every day at work.
The computer is an essential part of my work/studies.
I use a computer at home, to look for things on the
Internet, or to chat with my friends.
HOLIDAYS / TRAVELLING
I usually go..... in the summer.
I love going to the coast because .....
For me the most important thing about a hoiliday is....
If I visit a new place, I always like going sightseeing.
I had a wonderful time when I went to ..... years ago.
What I enjoyed most was…
I went to .... a few years ago and I’d love to go back.
The worst part of the holiday was....
If I could afford it I’d really like to go to ... because...
I’m too busy to have a holiday!!
I usually work in the summer so I don’t really have a
holiday.
I don’t have any plans yet for summer but I’ll hopefully go
somewhere nice.
HOBBIES / SPORTS
In my free time I enjoy ...... I started years ago / when I was
......................
I’m really keen on ...... and I play ..... a week
I try to ...... regularly.
I’m not very keen on sports, I prefer.....
I took up ..... 2 years ago and I’m really enjoying it.
I love ....... but I wish I had more time to do more.
I’m really interested in cinema and films, I usually go to the
cinema about ..... a month.
I like... to the theatre but I don’t go very often as I can’t …
I love going to the cinema, it doesn’t .... what film is on, I
try to go once a week!
MUSIC / GOING OUT
I like all .... of music but probably my favourite is.....
I can’t stand the typical commercial pop music that is
around nowadays. I prefer ....
The last concert I went to was to see ..... in
Granada isn’t as good as places like Madrid or Barcelona
for concerts.
I like listening to music but I don’t buy much music.
At weekends I usually get together with my friends. We go
out for a drink and we have a good time.
I don’t usually spend much money when I go out but I
always have fun with my friends.
…. isn’t as expensive as other cities.
There are a lot of things for young people to do
there/here.
We usually get together on Friday night, buy some drinks
and hang around in the streets!
SPECIAL OCCASIONS
My favourite month is ..... because....
On my birthday I usually go out for a meal with my family
and throw a party with my friends!
One thing I like doing is going out somewhere special.
The last special event I went to was ....
The next thing I’m going to celebrate is ....

2. 2 Hamed Hashemian
PART 2 PART 3
What strikes me about the first picture is the fact that...
This picture reminds me of...
Judging from the photograph, the children...
The man appears to be...
From what we can see here, he must...
There are many similarities...
Both picture depict...
Both picture are quite similar in that they show...
When you give it a closer look it reveals...
The first picture ... whereas the other picture ...
Another important difference is...
Picture ... doesn't show ... as clearly as ...
Picture ... attempts to ... but I think picture ... does this
more effectively...
All pictures are interesting, but ... gives a stronger idea
of...
It's difficult to tell from a photograph but this picture
could have been taken in ...
I might be wrong, but I'd say that this picture ...
I would imagine/guess that this picture comes from ...
Picture ... is by far the best to show because ...
To me, picture ... is essential for this kind of publication.
I'm surprised there is no picture showing...
A picture of ... would get the message across more
effectively.
The cover would be so much better if we had a picture of
...
So let's look at the alternatives ...
The name for this escapes me at present, but it's for/it's
like ...
The name for it is on the tip of my tongue ..
Up to the problem in question ...
The main problem centres around ...
It's my belief ...
For my part ...
As I see it ...
As I was saying ...
I forgot to mention ...
I'm of the opinion that ...
To my mind ...
To my way of thinking ...
I am convinced that ...
I am inclined to believe that ...
Don't get me wrong but shouldn't we ... ?
Judging by ... they must be ...
... is a separate issue.
Moving on to ...
Taking everything into account ...
I couldn't agree more.
I agree up to a point.
I think I see what you mean, but ...
I'm in two minds about it. / I'm ambivalent about ...
I don't see eye to eye with you here ...
That's true in a way, I suppose, but ...
I don't feel convinced ...
That's one way of looking at it. On the other hand ...
Can you take a clear stand on that matter?
It brings to the question / idea / problem of ...
Perhaps we should put ... first? What do you think?
A strong point in favour of ... is that ...
What do you think should go next?
Are you happy with this order then?
Do you go along with that?

3. 3 Hamed Hashemian
PART 4
Just following from what X was saying, I
also feel ... While generally agreeing with
X, I must say that ... Adding to what X has
just said, I think ...
I can sympathise with what X
said but ... One thing X didn't
mention is ...
Surprising, as it may seem, I don't support X's view on ...
Perhaps it should be also emphasized that ... / it should be pointed out that ...