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Listen to Anyone Speak Casually in English

Listen to almost anyone speak casually in English and you'll most certainly hear them use a constant flow of gap fillers, hesitations, pausings and discourse markers that stall their speech or conversation. You know the ones I mean like, uh, ah, hmm, errr, umm and so on. Others you might hear that are frequently used are Huh, oh, well .., so .., and ... but uh ..., let me see ..., the list could go on and on.

While some discourse markers have a true place in oral discourse of many different types, most often they are unconsciously inserted as fillers or hesitations and do not serve to enhance or promote speaking, but rather heavily detract from what is being said.

The following expressions will make you confident while you engage in conversations

For oral use only :
- I mean....
- You see....
- Well, let me see...
- Look!
- Listen!
- If you see what I mean!
- Do you see what I mean?
- Let’s get this into perspective.
- Watch it!
- Picture this.
- Look here!
- All right!
- Is that clear enough?

AGREEING

Yes, indeed.
Yes, certainly.

Yes, you're quite right.

Yes, I think so.

Yes, I've got the same point of view as you (have).

Yes, I quite agree with [person] about [topic]

The journalist agrees with [person] about [topic]

DISAGREEING

Well... (rising tone= doubt or disbelief)

Well, I don't think so really.

Well, my point of view is rather different from yours.

Well, I don't ( quite ) agree with you.

Well, I'm afraid I disagree.

Hum ! I rather disagree.

The journalist disagreeS / doesn't agree with [person] about [topic]

ASKING FOR INSTRUCTIONS OR FOR HELP
Could you tell me what I have to do ?

Can you tell what passage you want me to translate?

Could you give me some (blotting) paper ?

Can you give me some explanation about ... ?

Could you explain the word " ... " to me ?

What's the English/French for ... ?

I'm afraid I don't understand the word " ... ".

What does the abbreviation " ... " stand for ?

PROPOSING
Do you want me to read a passage first ?

Would you like me to comment upon the first passage ?

Do you want me to translate the first paragraph ?

Shall I translate a passage ?

Would you like to see my identity card ?

EXPRESSING A PERSONAL POINT OF VIEW
As far as I'm concerned, the text ...

To my mind, ...

In my opinion, ...

My opinion is that ...

My personal point of view is that ...

Now, I'd like to say what I think about ...

I'm going to express my own point of view about ...

Remember : “Silence is not just the absence of a significant piece of behaviour. It is not just emptiness. Silence can have meaning. Like the zero in mathematics, it is an absence with a function...”
from William J. Samarin, Language of Silence (1965