(Very useful for confidence and fluency)
• Well,
• Actually,
• To be honest,
• In my case,
• From my point of view,
• That’s an interesting question,
• Let me think for a moment,
• I’d say that…
• Personally speaking,
• If I had to choose,
Tip: Use 1–2 only, not all at once.
• And also,
• Another thing is,
• On top of that,
• Not only that,
• What’s more,
• Apart from that,
• As well as that,
• Additionally, (okay in Part 3)
• One more point is,
• Besides,
• Because of that,
• That’s because…
• The main reason is…
• One reason is that…
• This is mainly due to…
• It comes down to…
• The reason behind this is…
• This can be explained by…
• Basically,
• In simple terms,
(Crucial for Part 2 stories)
• For example,
• For instance,
• Like, (acceptable if not overused)
• A good example is…
• One example that comes to mind is…
• Especially,
• In particular,
• Such as,
• To give you an example,
• You know,
(Common in Part 3)
• But at the same time,
• However,
• On the other hand,
• Whereas,
• While this is true,
• Having said that,
• At the same time,
• In contrast,
• Compared to that,
• Still,
• I think…
• I believe…
• In my opinion…
• If you ask me,
• From my perspective,
• As far as I’m concerned,
• I’d argue that… (Part 3)
• I feel that…
• Personally,
• To my mind,
(Very useful for Part 3)
• Maybe,
• Probably,
• It could be that…
• It might be because…
• There’s a chance that…
• It’s likely that…
• It seems to me that…
• I guess…
• Possibly,
• I suppose…
• Compared to the past,
• These days,
• Nowadays,
• Back then,
• In the past,
• Unlike before,
• Over time,
• Recently,
• At present,
• These days people tend to…
(Part 2 cue cards)
• First of all,
• Then,
• After that,
• Eventually,
• Finally,
• At the beginning,
• In the end,
• Meanwhile,
• At the same time,
• Later on,
(Shows natural fluency — examiners like this)
• I mean…
• What I mean is…
• Or rather…
• Let me rephrase that…
• Actually,
• To put it another way,
• Sorry, I mean…
• In other words,
• What I’m trying to say is…
• More precisely,
• Really,
• Definitely,
• Absolutely,
• Without a doubt,
• Honestly,
• To be honest,
• Especially,
• Quite,
• Very much so,
• By far,
❌ Use writing linkers: Moreover, Furthermore, In conclusion
❌ Overuse fillers: uh, um, you know
❌ Use memorised chunks that sound unnatural
✔ Aim for clarity + natural flow, not perfection.