It is believed that thinking stamps and cliches used formulaic phrases — it’s obscene. But whether this opinion we are studying a foreign language (pupils, students, etc.)? Which is better in terms of mastering the culture of speech when studying a foreign language: when a pupil or student plays beautiful, but learned by heart the speech patterns of others, or when he uses «clumsy», but his phrases and thoughts? I believe that the speech standards and cliches give our speech literacy, make it beautiful, understandable to others. Learning a foreign language is difficult, even at the highest stage, quickly and correctly to formulate their thoughts. A particularly acute problem is felt during spontaneous speech (this applies even teachers). To develop skills to quickly arrange your thoughts in the proposal, ie to speak fluently, to be used in speech communication clichés. Firstly, thanks to ready communicative phrases it beautifully framed proposals logically connected, so it is pleasant to listen. Secondly, bringing the knowledge of speech phrases ready to automatism, saying, using one or another cliche, thinking of the next phrase. Thus, by means of communicative cliches very easy to get rid of the so-called linguistic stuttering.
I propose to classify the communicative clichés (according to the motives, situations and stages of statements) according to 9 groups:
- Beginning statements
- Continued statements
- Expression
- The opposite view
- Expression of consent
- Dissent, doubt
- Clarification of the situation, the focus
- These examples, facts
- End of statement
| Cliche | Possible translation |
|---|---|
| 1. Start the statements (Opening) | |
| I’d like to point out right at the beginning that … | At the outset I would like to note (note) that … |
| How by way of introduction I would go as far as to say that … | By way of introduction, I would say (would say) that … |
| Just at the beginning I would go as far as to say that … | In the beginning, I would say (would say) that … |
| It should be pointed out right as the beginning that … | At the outset it should be noted that … |
| We very clearly remember that … | We remember very well that … |
| Today we’ll be taking a closer look at … | Today we take a closer look … |
| Let’s talk briefly about … | Let’s talk briefly about … |
| 2. Continuation of the statement (Continuing) | |
| But right now our attention turns to … | Now pay attention to … |
| Now, let’s look at the situation in … | And now let’s look at this situation (eg. On the other hand) |
| And now let’s turn to … | Now we move on to the … |
| I think what we can hope to do now is … | I think we can now hope to do … (something that we can hope for right now — it is …) |
| What is likely to happen is … | Most likely to happen next … |
| Let’s move to another question. | Let’s move on to the next question. |
| Now it is going to be my pleasure to explain to you … | I am pleased (with joy) explain to you … |
| 3. An expression of opinion (Opinion phrases) | |
| I do not profess to be an expert on the subject of … | I do not pretend to be the expert in this issue … (in questions about …) |
| No one, I think, is challenging the view that … | I think no one doubts that the … |
| I am tempted to think that … | I am inclined to think that … |
| I do not honestly think that … | I honestly do not think that … |
| And now I’d prefer to talk about … rather than … | And now I’d like to talk about … rather than … |
| It strikes me that … | It amazes me that … |
| I know from personal experience … | I know from my own experience that … |
| I hold the view that … | I am of the view that … |
| Well, my personal feeling is … | My personal opinion … |
| It’s my firm believe that … | I firmly believe that … |
| As far as I am concerned … | As for me, then … |
| It’s been my observation that … | According to my observations … |
| I am not so pessimistic as to suggest … | I am not so pessimistic as to suggest … |
| I’ve got an impression that … | I have the impression that … |
| 4. The opposite view (Contrasting point of view) | |
| On the other hand … | On the other hand… |
| There is another side to this. | There is another side. |
| There are two ways of looking at this … | To this can be viewed from two sides. |
| There are different views of … | There are different opinions about … |
| It would be a mistake to think that … | It would be wrong (wrong) to think that … |
| It is not a final word on the matter. | This is not the last word in this matter. |
| It does not necessarily mean that … | This does not necessarily mean that … |
| Well, there’s been a debate about this. | This debate. |
| I take a different view at … | I have a different opinion about … |
| Opponents argue that … | Opponents argue that … |
| Many people oppose the viewpoint that … | Many people do not support the view that … |
| There’s been mixed reaction to … | There was a mixed reaction to the … |
| 5. Expression of Consent (Agreement) | |
| Yes, you’re quite right to say that … | You’re absolutely right when you said … |
| You are certainly correct to say that … | You are absolutely right when they said … |
| You’ve been very right to say that … | You are absolutely right to say that … |
| No questions about it. | No question about it. |
| Well, exactly. That’s precisely what I was going to say. | Quite true! This is exactly what I wanted to say. |
| I have almost no doubt that … | I have almost no doubt that … |
| I am 100% certain that … | I am 100% sure that … |
| I have little doubt that … | I have no doubt that … |
| 6. The expression of disagreement, doubt (Disagreement, uncertainty) | |
| I can disagree. | I could not agree more. |
| I express strong objection to the idea that … | I strongly disagree with the view that … |
| I do not think it’s fair to say that … | I do not think it is fair to say … |
| That’s where you are wrong about it. | It is in this you are wrong. |
| This does not seem to be so. | It seems that it is not. |
| There is continuing disagreement over … | Constantly there is disagreement over the … |
| There has been much disagreement over … | There are a lot of differences with respect to … |
| It is rather questionable if … | Rather doubtful, unless … |
| It looks very unlikely that … | It is unlikely that … |
| It’s an impossible question to answer. | This question is impossible to answer. |
| I have considerable doubt as far as N. is concerned. | I very much doubt with respect to N. |
| I doubt it very much, because … | I doubt it very much, because … |
| I am rather vague about it. | I’m not very sure. |
| 7. Clarifying the situation, the focus (Clearing up, emphasizing) | |
| Nobody would want to deny the fact that … | No one can deny the fact that … |
| And the thing that comes particularly strongly is … | And especially attracted the attention of (allocated) such a thing as … |
| One of the things that must be of concern (importance) to us is … | Firstly, we need to pay attention to … (for us is very important, first …) |
| I’d like to remind you that … | I would like to remind you that … |
| We have to bear in mind that … | Keep in mind that … |
| One has to bear in mind … | Everyone should keep in mind that … |
| What we have to look forward to is … | What we can hope for (what we can expect), so it is … |
| It’s from this angle that one must seriously consider this problem. | It is from this side of the need to seriously address this issue. |
| It must be admitted that … | It should be noted that … |
| It immediately brings to mind … | This immediately reminds (tempting to think) about … |
| But one must not lose sight of the fact that … | We can not lose sight of the fact that … |
| The other thing that we should keep in mind is … | The next thing (next time), which (th) it must be remembered … |
| To go right to the heart of the problem I’d like to say that … | Turning to the nature of the problem, I would like to say that … |
| Yes, the strange thing about it is that … | Yes, strange in this is that … |
| What I was greatly struck by is … | What struck me, it’s … |
| I must make my reservation. | I have to make a reservation. |
| Reservation should be made. | You must make a reservation. |
| 8. The above examples, facts (Giving examples, facts) | |
| Let me give you a brief example … | Let me give you a quick example … |
| Let me give you an example of what I mean … | Let me give you an example of what I mean … |
| Let me illustrate the point with the example … | Let me demonstrate this point as an example … |
| What we have seen now is a kind of a perfect example of … | What we have just seen — it’s a perfect example of that … |
| Let me see if I can illustrate that for you. | Let me see if I can explain it. |
| There is a great deal of discussion about … | Regarding the ongoing debate …. |
| It’s a problem that will only increase in time. | This is a problem that will only increase with time (worse). |
| Nobody doubts that … | No one doubts that the … |
| This means just what it says. | It means exactly what you think. |
| What’s more difficult to explain is … | What is even more difficult to explain, it’s … |
| There’s a widely held view that … | There is a widespread belief that … |
| There’s been a lot of scientific evidence that … | There is plenty of scientific evidence that … |
| There’s enough evidence that … | There is ample evidence that the … |
| 9. Completion statement (Concluding) | |
| To draw to a close I’d like to say that … | In conclusion I would like to say that … |
| To have the final say in the matter … | Finally I will say that … |
| To crown it all I’d like to say that … | On top of all I would like to say that … |
| Let’s have a final look at … | Let’s consider the last time … |
| It only remains for me to say … | I can only say that … |
| I would like to sum up the chief points of what has just been said. | I would like to summarize the main points of what has been said. |
| All things considered, the obvious conclusion to be drawn is that … | Taking everything into account, we can make the obvious conclusion that … |
| All in all, it is evident … | Ultimately, it is obvious that … |
| To sum it up I’d like to say … | Summing up, I want to say … |
| To draw to the conclusion I’d like to say that … | In conclusion I would like to say that … |
| Summarizing, we may say that … | Summing up, we can say that … |
| That’s where I’d like to end. | At the same time I want to finish. |
(Sample sentences did GGPIIYA teacher Sergey Martinson)
It should be noted that these clichés are authentic, that is, they were selected from primary sources (BBC programs and articles in the magazine «The Economist»). Therefore, the translation of these phrases is not their Russian equivalent, and an attempt to maximize accurately convey their meaning.
I hope that this will be a selection of communicative clichés indispensable for English language learners. These phrases will help to make your speech expressive and natural.
I propose to compare the two texts. Text 1 illuminates the subject, but does not contain any linking elements (phrases, chords), Text 2 saturated communicative phrases, making it «alive». Speech cliches of themselves, as a rule, do not carry the semantic content, but build the frame of any statements attributed some thoughts together. Someone might say that using cliched phrases — to say nothing. But to talk about anything in English — no laughing matter! Agree! 🙂
|
Text 1 Mass Media We can not imagine our life without mass media: newspapers, magazines, books, radio, television, films, records, tapes, etc. The impact of all mass media is very strong. News is not what happens — it is what you see or read in mass media. In other words, mass media shapes public opinion. Sometimes it’s good, but sometimes it’s terribly bad. TV is one of the most popular mass media in the contemporary world. There are many arguments for & against TV. Television has both advantages & disadvantages, positive & negative influence. TV keeps us informed about current events in different parts of the world. The most distant countries and the strangest customs are brought right into our sitting room. There are many educational programmes that give us ideas about right & wrong, good & bad. Television helps to increase the popularity of sports. The popularity of professional football has soared largely because of television. Television plays its greatest role in presidential races. Everybody knows that today many candidates reach more voters through a single TV appearance than through all the in-person campaigning they do. Different political talk-show programmes are extremely popular nowadays & they capture people’s attention. But negative effect of television is also great indeed. It occupies a good deal of our spare time. Our parents sit for hours before the box and do not want to go to the theatres or museums, speak to their friends, or play with their children. And children are unwilling to do their home assignment, read books or go outside. They prefer to watch their favourite programmes or films on «telly». TV begins to dominate our lives. We gradually become TV addicts. One more harmful effect results when people fail to achieve the success they see on TV and become dissatisfied or bitter. Good or bad television brings the world into our home and brings us closer to other people. Besides, it is good company for people who live alone. TV changes our language, stimulates our emotions, informs our intellect, extends our knowledge, influences our ideas and provides vital food for our imagination. We must realize that TV in itself is neither good nor bad. It’s up to us to decide which advantages we can make of it. |
Text 2 Mass Media I’d like to point out right at the beginning that we can not imagine our life without mass media: newspapers, magazines, books, radio, television, films, records, tapes, etc. No one, I think, is challenging the view that the impact of all mass media is very strong. Some people claim that «news is not what happens — it is what you see or read in mass media». In other words, mass media shapes public opinion. Sometimes it’s good, but sometimes it’s terribly bad. It goes without saying and nobody would deny the fact that TV is one of the most popular mass media in the contemporary world. I do not profess to be an expert on the subject of the impact of television on people, but it can be stated with certainty that there are many arguments for & against TV. It is obvious that television has both advantages & disadvantages, positive & negative influence. And now I’d prefer to talk about positive effects of TV rather than negative ones. The first thing that must be of great importance to us is that TV keeps people informed about current events in different parts of the world. The most distant countries and the strangest customs are brought right into our sitting room. There are many educational programmes that give us ideas about right & wrong, good & bad. We also must not lose sight of the fact that television helps to increase the popularity of sports. For example, the popularity of professional football has soared largely because of television. Moreover, television plays its greatest role in presidential races. Everybody knows that today many candidates reach more voters through a single TV appearance than through all the in-person campaigning they do. Different political talk-show programmes are extremely popular nowadays & they capture people’s attention. But there is another side of looking at television, because its negative effect is also great indeed. TV occupies a good deal of our spare time. It strikes me that our parents sit for hours before the box and do not want to go to the theatres or museums, speak to their friends, or play with their children. And children are unwilling to do their home assignment, read books or go outside. They prefer to watch their favourite programmes or films on «telly». TV begins to dominate our lives. What commonly happens is that we gradually become TV addicts. One more harmful effect results when people fail to achieve the success they see on TV and become dissatisfied or bitter. To crown it all I’d like to say that good or bad television brings the world into our home and brings us closer to other people. Besides, it is good company for people who live alone. To say more, TV changes our language, stimulates our emotions, informs our intellect, extends our knowledge, influences our ideas and provides vital food for our imagination. I firmly believe we must realize that TV in itself is neither good nor bad. It’s up to us to decide which advantages we can make of it. |
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