12 How To Start A Conversation

Welcome to a new series of episodes in the Live Life In English Podcast!

In this episode I talk about how to find your English speaking confidence (where is it??), getting out of your comfort zone, my experiences with language in Japan and France and how to strike up a conversation with anyone.

Have you ever wanted to start a conversation with a stranger in a cafe or shop, but you just didn’t know what to say?

Problem solved!

In this episode you’ll learn 3 ways to start a conversation with a native speaker.

PODCAST VOCABULARY LIST

Listen to the podcast and try to hear the following vocabulary and expressions;

• to get on top of something
  “I need to get on top of my homework.”
  “I should get on top of my work.”
  
• to digress “I digress”
  
• to get out of your comfort zone
• to comfort (verb)
  “I tried to comfort her after the accident.”
• comfort (noun)
  “Relaxing on my bed brings me comfort.”
  “You can seek comfort in a cup of hot chocolate, a chat with your mum, by petting your pet (cat or dog).”
• comfortable (adjective)
  “My bed is so comfortable.”
• introvert
• extrovert
• ambivert
• to strike up a conversation
  “Go to a cafe and strike up a conversation.”
• let alone
  “It can be difficult to talk to strangers in your own language, let alone another language (foreign language)”
• poor (poor thing)
  “I tried to speak French to the poor French waiters”
• to feel a rush
  “You feel a rush when you try something new.” 
  “You can feel a rush when you start a conversation in English.”

Real English Tip:

“It’s a bit of a stressful world out there.”

We often use the phrase “a bit of” before an adjective (like ‘stressful’) in everyday conversation.

We can think of “a bit of a” as a qualifier. A qualifier increases or decreases the intensity of a word.

For example:

He’s really rude!

In this case, the qualifier increases the quality of the adjective (And it’s very direct!). But we often use qualifiers to decrease the intensity of the word so we can ‘soften’ the tone of our speaking. Common qualifiers which soften are;

a little, a bit, kind of, slight, slightly, one or two, a little on the ……side, small

If you want to be less direct, you could say:

He’s a bit rude. 

‘a bit’ softens the adjective here.

But, ‘a bit of a’ has become so common in everyday, conversational English that we use it all the time, for no real reason.

Here are 3 useful ways to start a conversation in English
– especially when chatting with service people in cafes and shops;

1. (Are you) having a good day? 
2. (Are you) having a busy day? (or ‘busy day today’?)
3. How was your weekend? (or “What’s happening for the weekend?”)

Notice how I’ve put the start of questions 1 and 2 in brackets () ? So the auxiliary verb and subject can be omitted in casual conversation. It sounds more friendly and natural. 😊

LISTEN HERE FOR FREE

Hope you enjoyed the lesson! 

Let’s PRACTISE!

Leave a comment below and tell me what you think of this episode and what you are going to do this week to get out of your comfort zone with English. 🤔 😀

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You can also share this lesson with your friends. 🙏🏽

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