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  • Vanessa: Hi.

  • I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.

  • Let's talk about starting a conversation.

  • Vanessa: To improve your speaking skills in English, you need to speak, right?

  • Practice the skills that you want to improve.

  • It's that easy.

  • Well, maybe it's not that easy.

  • Vanessa: Hi. Dan: Hi.

  • Vanessa: What do I say next?

  • Why isn't he talking more?

  • Dan: Oh, no.

  • I don't know what to say.

  • Vanessa: You know what?

  • This has probably happened to you in your native language, so it makes sense that in

  • English, it can be tough to start a conversation, too.

  • But, never fear, Vanessa's tips are here!

  • Vanessa: In life, there are two kinds of people; people you know and people you don't know.

  • We call those strangers.

  • So, it makes sense to have two different types of conversation starters.

  • Of course, there's some overlap, but it's helpful to separate them.

  • Vanessa: Let's start with people you know.

  • Imagine that you are in the grocery store, you're pushing your cart, looking for some

  • spinach, and you see a co-worker, and you want to say, hi.

  • What can you say?

  • Well, here are four great questions that you can ask in that situation, or that they might

  • ask you, so you need to understand them and how to respond.

  • Vanessa: The first two questions are about the past.

  • Let's take a look.

  • Vanessa: Hi, Dan.

  • Dan: Hi.

  • Vanessa: How are you?

  • Dan: Pretty good.

  • Vanessa: What've(have) you been up to lately?

  • Dan: Oh, not much.

  • Just went to see my family yesterday.

  • What about you?

  • Vanessa: Hi, Dan.

  • Dan: Hi.

  • Vanessa: How are you?

  • Dan: Pretty good.

  • Vanessa: What were you up to this weekend?

  • Dan: Oh, not much.

  • Just went to see my family yesterday.

  • What about you?

  • Vanessa: These questions asked about sometime in the past.

  • You can change the words to say, "lately", "today", "last weekend", for “a recent holiday".

  • You can switch that up depending on the situation, but it's great to ask about the past.

  • Vanessa: The next questions are going to ask about the present.

  • Vanessa: What do you have going on today?

  • Dan: Oh, not much.

  • Just going to a friend's house this evening.

  • What about you?

  • Vanessa: What've (have) you got going on today?

  • Dan: Oh, not much.

  • Just going to a friend's house this evening.

  • What about you?

  • Vanessa: These questions asked about the present.

  • Did you notice the beautiful, casual verbs that were used here?

  • "What've you got going on today?"

  • "What have you got going on today?"

  • "What are you doing today?"

  • That's another way to say it, but we often say, "What have you got going on today?",

  • and it's really casual, informal, it's great for these just, passing by, situations when

  • you see someone who you already know.

  • Vanessa: Let's go on to the next questions, which talk about the future.

  • Vanessa: Do you have anything fun going on this weekend?

  • Dan: Oh, not much.

  • Just going to a friend's house tomorrow.

  • What about you?

  • Vanessa: Do you have any plans for Easter?

  • Dan: Oh, not much.

  • Just going to have lunch with my family.

  • What about you?

  • Vanessa: For these questions that ask about the future, I want you to be a little bit

  • careful, because if you say this with a certain type of intonation, the other person, especially

  • if you're a guy talking to a girl, it could feel like you're trying to ask them on a date,

  • or maybe they'll feel a little bit uncomfortable.

  • So, make sure that when you say, "Oh, do you have anything fun going on this weekend?"

  • Make sure you say it with a smile, very casually.

  • You don't need to look them into the eye and say it seriously from the bottom of your heart.

  • It's just a casual question.

  • Of course, unless you do want to ask them for a date.

  • And then, you can say it a little more seriously.

  • But if you just want to casually say something to your co-worker, you need to have a light

  • tone.

  • Don't worry about using this, just make sure you have a light tone, and you say it with

  • a smile.

  • "Oh, do you have anything fun going on this weekend?"

  • Great.

  • Like you saw on those sample conversation, Dan could have just said, "Not much."

  • And then, stopped the conversation.

  • Boring, boring, boring.

  • But you know?

  • Some people do that.

  • If you're lucky, the person you're talking to might ask, "Not much, what about you?"

  • Okay, at least they're asking a question, and you can share some information about what

  • you're doing, or what you did over the weekend.

  • So, here, not everyone is going to give a lot of information, but they might give you

  • something, and if they don't, don't worry about it, it's not your fault, you tried your

  • best.

  • What about the second kind of people?

  • People you don't know.

  • Strangers.

  • In the U.S., we sometimes strike up a conversation with strangers, but it depends where you are.

  • For example, in the south of the U.S. where I live, it's pretty common that when you pass

  • by a stranger, you make eye contact and you might say, "Hi."

  • But, if you're in Manhattan in New York, if you did that to every stranger who you passed

  • by, "Hi.

  • Hi.

  • Hi."

  • People would think you're a little bit strange.

  • So, it depends on where you are in the U.S., but it's certainly common to strike up a conversation

  • with someone who you don't know.

  • If you visit the U.S., I recommend visiting a grocery store called Trader Joe's, because

  • it's a requirement for working there that every employee is amazing at having small

  • talk conversations with strangers, and it's part of their job to talk with customers.

  • So, if you have ever visited a Trader Joe's, you know exactly what I mean.

  • These employees are known for being so kind and so friendly, and if you go there, be prepared

  • with some of these questions and be prepared to answer them, because they'll definitely

  • ask you them.

  • Let's think about a scenario where you might talk with the stranger.

  • We can imagine you're in the park.

  • You're walking your dog, and like dogs do, your dog is sniffing and going towards another

  • dog.

  • Well, you'd like to strike up a conversation with the owner of that dog.

  • What can you say?

  • Vanessa: Aww, what a cute dog.

  • Do you come here often?

  • Dan: Yeah, we try to.

  • It's a great place to walk.

  • Vanessa: Aww, what a cute dog.

  • Have you ever been here before?

  • Dan: Yeah, a lot.

  • It's a great place to walk.

  • Vanessa: Aww, what a cute dog.

  • Dan: Yeah, he's a sweetie.

  • Vanessa: Have you been in Asheville for a while?

  • Dan: Just two years.

  • What about you?

  • Vanessa: Aww, what a cute dog.

  • Dan: Yeah, he's a sweetie.

  • Vanessa: Do you live nearby?

  • Dan: Yeah, we live just down the street.

  • What about you?

  • Vanessa: Like with the previous set of questions, it's important to have a light attitude.

  • If you ask someone, "Do you come here often?"

  • The other person might feel a little bit uncomfortable, like, "Are they following me?

  • Are they a scary person?"

  • So, make sure you just say it lightly.

  • "Oh, do you come here often?"

  • No problem.

  • This is a great question to ask.

  • And I ask this all the time when I go to the park and I'm playing with my toddler, and

  • he ends up playing with another kid, and I ask the parent, "Oh, do you come here often?"

  • It's just a way to start a conversation.

  • Okay, now it's special notice time.

  • I want to let you know that not everyone is a great conversationalist.

  • You have to try your best and practice this.

  • So, if you ask these questions to someone, and they don't respond, and you don't have

  • an amazing conversation, you know what?

  • Maybe they're just not a good conversationalist.

  • Maybe they haven't practiced this skill.

  • So, I want you to be able to try your best, and then, it's really up to the other person.

  • It's their choice if the conversation continues.

  • You might be thinking, "Vanessa, you seem like a good conversationalist.

  • What do you know about being worried about what to say, or not knowing what to say?"

  • Let me tell you a little story.

  • Well, Dan and I lived in South Korea for three years.

  • So, that means that for three years, every time that I had small talk or started a conversation

  • with someone, it was in Korean.

  • That means that I didn't practice small talk in English for three years.

  • When we moved back to the U.S., I remember two situations.

  • One was when I was getting my drivers license because we had just moved back, so I needed

  • my driver's license again.

  • And the man at the desk said something to me like, "Have you just moved here," or "How's

  • your day going?"

  • Some kind of typical small talk question.

  • And I just did there, and I stuttered, and I didn't really know what to say.

  • And then, he repeated the question, and I said something, probably something silly,

  • and when I walked away from that conversation, I just laughed and thought, "What happened?

  • This is my native language.

  • Why can't I respond to him?"

  • And then, I realized, "Oh, I haven't practiced small talk with strangers in English in three

  • years.

  • I'm going to need a little bit of practice to get used to speaking like that again."

  • Then, a few weeks later, I was at Trader Joe's, the grocery store that I mentioned to you,

  • and I was getting a sample of food from one of the workers, and she asked me some typical

  • question.

  • I don't even remember what it was, but it was some kind of small talk question, and

  • my brain just went, "Meeer," and shut down completely.

  • And I recognized this feeling because it happened a couple weeks earlier at the driver's license

  • place.

  • So, I thought, I should just tell her why I am reacting like this.

  • So, I said, "I'm sorry.

  • I just moved back from Korea and I haven't had small talk in English for a long time,

  • so I'm sorry about my awkwardness."

  • And, you know what, she had lived in Korea, too.

  • It was a really unusual circumstance, but we bonded over that, and I could kind of loosen

  • up a little bit and feel comfortable, because we started talking a little bit.

  • And this helped me to get practice.

  • And practice and practice and repetition is what's going to help you to really improve

  • this skill.

  • Always remember that, a smile is the best tool.

  • Sometimes when we feel nervous, our face gets really serious and we forget to smile.

  • But, something happens when you smile, you start to loosen up.

  • You start to feel a little more comfortable, and maybe you'll be able to remember some

  • of the sentences and questions that we talked about.

  • All right, my challenge for you is this, choose one of these questions that you're going to

  • ask in your next English conversation, practice it by writing it in the comments, and check

  • out to see what other students questions are, too.

  • It's a good chance to pretend that they're asking you.

  • Pretend to answer it, and really use this repetition.

  • Thanks so much for learning English with me, and I'll see you again next Friday for a new

  • lesson here on my YouTube channel.

  • Bye.

  • Vanessa: Do you have anything fun going on this weekend?

  • Dan: Oh, not much.

  • Just going to a friend's house tomorrow.

  • What about you?

  • Vanessa: Don't do that.

  • (haha!)

  • Vanessa: Hi, Dan.

  • Dan: Hi.

  • Vanessa: How are you?

  • Dan: Pretty good.

  • Vanessa: What were you up to this weekend?

  • Vanessa: Hi Dan.

  • Dan: Hi.

  • Vanessa: How are you?

  • Dan: Pretty good.

  • Vanessa: What have you been up to lately?

  • Dan: I don't remember.

  • Dan: Oh, not much.

  • Just went to see my family yesterday.

  • What about you?

  • Vanessa: Aww, what a cute dog.

  • Dan: Yeah, he's a sweetie.

  • Vanessa: Have you been in Asheville for a while?

  • Dan: Just two years.

  • What about you?

  • Vanessa: I have a unicorn dog.

  • Dan: I want a corn dog?

  • Vanessa: I have a unicorn dog, not I want a corn dog.

  • Dan: I thought you said, "I want a corn dog."

  • Unicorn dog.

  • Vanessa: Aww, What a cute ... What a cutie.

  • But, I said, "Cutie dog".

  • Vanessa: Aww, what a cute dog.

  • Dan: Mmm.

  • Thanks.

  • Vanessa: Mmm.

  • Thanks.

  • Vanessa: The next step is to download my free e-book, Five Steps to Becoming a Confident

  • English Speaker.

  • You'll learn what you need to do to speak confidently and fluently.

  • Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more free lessons.

  • Thanks so much.

  • Bye.

Vanessa: Hi.

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A2 初級

誰とでも英会話を始める方法 (How to START a Conversation in English with Anyone)

  • 202 11
    Chih-Ying Lin に公開 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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