How to express opinions, likes and dislikes with idioms in C1 Speaking? Let’s find out!
Hello, this is Kristian from Cambridge Advanced Speaking, how is it going? I’ve been a bit under the weather this week, but today I’m full of beans, and I hope you’re feeling the same.
If you didn’t know, I run the website Get Ready For Success, and there you can find the audio files, videoclips and lesson notes for all the podcast episodes.
In addition, I’m also the founder of the C1 Speaking Club. In this private community we help each other build a powerful English speaking habit, in order to go from struggling speaker to confident communicator.
Now, I get loads of questions about the time table for the live lessons and speaking practice breakout rooms in our Speaking Club, so I want to take this opportunity to answer 3 questions for you, right here, right now.
Question 1: When are the live lessons in the Speaking Club?
Answer: They are every week on Wednesday at 7:30pm and on Sunday at 11am CET. We use Zoom, and there’s lots of speaking happening.
Question 2: When are the speaking practice breakout rooms?
Answer: They are each Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 19:30 – 20:00. You get 2 rounds of 15 minutes and 6 different questions to talk about a specific topic, for example health, food or the environment. You also get a PDF with vocabulary to help you prepare. Members tell me they find them extremely helpful.
Question 3: What if you can’t attend the speaking practice breakout rooms?
Answer: There’s also the opportunity to request a room if you are not able to participate in the evening sessions. All you need to do is send me a direct message in the Speaking Club, and I’ll set up the speaking room for you and your partner.
In other words: you can practice whenever you want. For example, if you want to practice specking about the topic of work on Tuesday morning with another member, you can send me a DM and I’ll set it up for you. No problem at all! You ask, and I take care of it.
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All right, that’s all about the C1 Speaking Club. Let’s move onto today’s topic.
Idioms
In this PDF, I will show you lots of useful idioms for C1 Speaking and your daily life that you can use for any topic.
Idioms are important because they help you understand natural English in your daily life, and also because you need to use ‘some less common and idiomatic vocabulary’ to get a high mark in your exam.
Many students find idioms a challenge – Which do I learn? How do I use them?
Well, there are thousands of them, and I suggest you should learn 1 or 2 idioms a day as a regular part of your daily English diet.
That said, I urge you to learn them in context. Rather than going to lists, I would note them as you hear them in context, such as a podcast or TV series.
All right, let’s get cracking.
Idioms for expressing opinions
In C1 Speaking you are often asked to give your opinion on a topic, and there are different idiomatic expressions you can use to express your opinion.
Let’s take the following question:
Many governments are investing in space travel. What do you think about this?
You could reply with either of the following:
“My take on this is, it’s a good idea, because our planet is in danger.”
“To my way of thinking, it’s a bad idea, because we don’t have the money.”
If you are unsure about your opinion, you could say one of the following;
“I’m not sure, really. I’m in two minds about this. (It is true that there are existential threats… That said, we just don’t have the money… )”
“Well, to be honest, I think I’m on the fence. (On the one hand… on the other hand…)”
Idioms for expressing likes and dislikes
Very often, you are asked whether you like something or not. For example:
Do you like reading / your job / ChatGTP?
Here are 6 useful idioms for that you can use in this case. The first couple is to say you really like it, the second pair is if you don’t care or you are indifferent, and the third set is to say you don’t like it.
- It’s the bee’s knees / It’s the best thing since sliced bread = I love it
- I can take it or leave it / I don’t give a hoot = I don’t care / mind
- It’s not my cup of tea / it doesn’t float my boat = I don’t like it
Here are some examples:
- “I love ChatGTP. It’s the best thing since sliced bread!”
- “I used to like my job, but these days I don’t care much about it. I can take it or leave it.”
- “I don’t like reading. It’s not my cup of tea.”
Closing Notes
Okay then, in this episode we have been talking about 10 different idioms.
Remember, always learn idioms in context, and just learn 1 or 2 a day. Idioms are fun because they help you add colour, metaphor and humour to your speech. This is why they are used quite a lot.
But be careful! Don’t overuse them in your speech, it won’t sound natural – It’s like cooking: too much salt and pepper will ruin the flavour of your food!
Now of course, this podcast episode is just the start. You should practise, repeat and review these idioms. If you’d like to do that with a group of motivated learners of English, why not join the C1 Speaking Club? It’s the perfect place to build a powerful English speaking habit.
The regular membership fee is €97 per year, but now you can get a yearly membership for only €48.50. And if you don’t want to commit for one year, you can also become a member for just €9.99 per month.
So why not give it a try? Join today and become part of an engaging community, where people like you are helping and motivating each other to become better English speakers.
The place to go to and become a member is getreadyforsuccess.com, and there you click on the big yellow C1 Speaking Club button. I hope to see you on the inside!
All right, that’s all from me. Take care of yourself, and each other.
Speak soon, my friends.
Bye!
