Taking turns

In an exam you have to take turns with your partner because you both need to talk. Make sure you speak for long enough and that your turn isn’t too short. Use these expressions to help you.

Take turns

You start.
I’ll go first.
Shall I go first?
Do you want to begin?

Make your turn longer by giving examples

What I mean is ...
So, in other words ...
For example ...
Such as ...

Avoid silence and get time to think

So ...
Erm ...
Well ...
Let me think ...

In English-speaking cultures we avoid long silences or pauses. We look at the other person and show that we are listening to their turn. We also indicate when we want to speak and use expressions to keep our turn.

Discussion

These phrases can be useful for many different situations such as playing games.  Can you think of any other situations when you might use these phrases?

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