Using a variety of linkers to express opinions in IELTS writing task 2

Consider this IELTS writing task 2:

Some people think that in order to solve traffic and transportation problems, people should be encouraged to live in cities rather than in suburbs or in the country. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

This essay question requires you to give your opinion, and in order to do this in a cohesive way to help parts of the text hold together, you should use a variety of linking expressions to introduce your opinions, rather than the same one each time in a repetitive way like in the following opening paragraph sentences.

I think that overpopulating cities is not the solution to the traffic congestion problem.

I think that encouraging the use of bicycles will help to reduce the number of cars on the roads in cities.

Also, I think that providing affordable public transport is a good way of reducing the amount of traffic.

To score above a 7 on coherence and cohesion for task 2, you have to avoid overusing the same cohesive devices; therefore, you should practice using a variety of expressions for giving opinions, such as the following.

In my opinion/in my view, ...

personally, I (do not) believe/think that

I (partially/strongly) (dis)agree that

I am (partially/totally) in favour of+verb-ing

I am (partially/completely) against+verb-ing

Note the following examples.

I disagree that issues of traffic and transportation could be solved if everyone lived in cities.

I am totally in favour of encouraging the use of bicycles, in order to reduce the number of cars on the roads in cities.

Personally, I do not believe that overpopulating cities is the solution to the traffic congestion problem.

In my view, providing affordable public transport is a good way of reducing the amount of traffic.

So when you express opinions in your IELTS task 2 essay, remember to use a variety of cohesive devices to introduce them.