Exercises B2 : Participating in a discussion in English

These exercises are based on the course ‘Participating in a discussion in English’ (B2). Practise expressing nuance, softening your opinions, and using modal verbs to sound more natural and confident in discussions.

→ See the course : Participating in a discussion in English : complete course

Exercise 1 : What would you say in this situation?

Choose the most appropriate response for each discussion situation.

1. A colleague has just shared a strong opinion you partially disagree with. What do you say?
   • You're completely wrong about that.
   • I see where you're coming from, but I'd tend to think it's a bit more nuanced than that.
   • No, that's not right at all.
   • I don't care about your opinion.
2. You want to introduce your point of view without sounding too assertive. What do you say?
   • Listen, I'm telling you the truth here.
   • That's definitely the only way to look at it.
   • It seems to me that there might be another way to approach this issue.
   • Everybody knows I'm right about this.
3. You want to agree with someone but add a reservation. What do you say?
   • Yes, and there's nothing more to add.
   • You're right to some extent, although I'm not entirely convinced by that last point.
   • Fine, whatever you say.
   • I completely agree and I have no further comment.
4. Someone asks for your opinion on a controversial topic in a meeting. What do you say?
   • I refuse to answer that question.
   • That's obvious, everyone knows the answer.
   • I'd rather not speak.
   • That's a complex question — I'd say it could depend largely on the context we're looking at.

Correction

1. I see where you're coming from, but I'd tend to think it's a bit more nuanced than that.
2. It seems to me that there might be another way to approach this issue.
3. You're right to some extent, although I'm not entirely convinced by that last point.
4. That's a complex question — I'd say it could depend largely on the context we're looking at.

Exercise 2 : Complete the discussion

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrase to complete each exchange naturally. Write the full sentence as your answer.

1. Speaker A: 'I think we should implement the new policy immediately.' Speaker B: '___, but rushing into it without proper planning could cause serious problems.'
2. Speaker A: 'Remote work is simply less productive.' Speaker B: '___ — a lot of studies actually suggest the opposite could be true.'
3. Speaker A: 'What's your take on the budget cuts?' Speaker B: '___, the long-term consequences seem difficult to ignore.'
4. Speaker A: 'Everyone agrees this is the best solution.' Speaker B: '___, there are still a few concerns worth discussing before we decide.'

Correction

1. That might well be the case, but rushing into it without proper planning could cause serious problems.
2. I'm not sure I'd go that far; a lot of studies actually suggest the opposite could be true.
3. While I understand the reasoning behind them, the long-term consequences seem difficult to ignore.
4. I tend to agree up to a point, but there are still a few concerns worth discussing before we decide.

Exercise 3 : Soften and reframe

Rewrite each sentence to make it sound more nuanced, diplomatic, or tentative, as you would in a B2 level discussion in English.

1. This plan is wrong and will never work.
2. You don't understand the problem.
3. We must change our strategy now.
4. That idea is too expensive and nobody will accept it.

Correction

1. I'm not entirely convinced this plan would work as well as we might hope.
2. I wonder if we might be looking at the problem from slightly different angles.
3. It might be worth considering whether we should revisit our strategy at this point.
4. I'd say that idea could face some challenges in terms of cost and broader acceptance.