Level 4 — Upper Intermediate · Spoken Argument
Drill 26: Arguing a Claim With a Counterargument, Out Loud
Say a claim, a reason, and a counterargument-plus-rebuttal live and unscripted — the spoken half of Lesson 26's argument skeleton.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this drill, you should be able to:
- State a claim and a reason immediately, without planning the whole argument first
- Voice a counterargument against your own claim, then answer it out loud
- Use however/nevertheless naturally as a spoken pivot, not just a written one
Introduction
Lesson 26 taught you to read a claim, a counterargument, and a rebuttal on the page. Arguing out loud is harder — there's no time to draft the sentence first, and a real conversation partner won't wait for you to plan your rebuttal. This drill trains the shape of an argument as something you can produce live.
Shadow the Model
Companies should let employees choose their own working hours. Some managers argue that flexible hours make teams harder to coordinate. However, most teams already coordinate around a few shared meeting times, not every single hour of the day.
Listen once all the way through. Notice how "however" carries a small drop and pause before it — that pause is doing real work, signaling "here comes my answer," before the rebuttal even starts.
Your Turn
Your Turn
Pick any claim you actually believe (about work, technology, or daily life). When the timer starts, say your claim, one reason for it, and a counterargument someone might raise against it — followed immediately by your rebuttal. Don't script it first; build it sentence by sentence as you speak.
Speak now — claim, reason, counterargument, rebuttal
Record Yourself
Record your claim-reason-counterargument-rebuttal, then play it back and check the shape held together.
Model Answer
Show a model answer
There's no single correct claim — what matters is the shape. For example: "Small businesses should use social media for marketing. It reaches customers without the cost of traditional advertising. Some owners argue it takes too much time to manage well. However, even ten minutes a day is often enough to keep a small, loyal audience engaged." Check that your version had all four pieces, spoken without a long pause before the rebuttal.
Vocabulary in Context
counterargumentnounformal
the opposing view you raise against your own claim before answering it (প্রতিতর্ক)
Often with raise a counterargument, answer a counterargument, strong counterargument
“Someone will say it is too costly; my answer to that counterargument is the long-term saving.”
pivotnounneutral
the turning point in speech where you move from one side of an argument to your response (মোড়)
Often with pivot to, the pivot in, pivot from
“The pivot word 'however' tells the listener my real point is coming.”
Self-Check
Self-Check
- Did you state the claim within the first few seconds, without a long planning pause?
- Did your counterargument sound like a real objection, not a token one?
- Did "however" (or a similar pivot word) lead naturally into your rebuttal?
- Did you speak directly in English, without translating from Bangla first?
Next: Speaking 27 — Comparison, Contrast & Concession: pivoting between two ideas out loud with although, despite, and whereas, without losing your own point along the way.