Download Full Lessons Package – Daily English Conversation by Topic (mp3+pdf) Listening is THE KEY to better English speaking. The more REAL English conversations you listen to, the more fluent you will become, to be sure. For a small one-time investment, you can get the whole package of 75 lessons. Exercises, activities, worksheets and homework for ESL students learning basic level English conversation. ESL Speaking Fall 2018 W14 It’s the last week of lessons for the ESL speaking class.
![]()
Did you know that English conversation can take you on a fun adventure?
Conversing (talking) with others in English opens up a whole new world of opportunities.
Thanks to English, you will be able to talk with people who don’t speak your native language.
This lets you hear ideas and opinions from people who grew up in different cultures. You might even make new lifelong friends!
Talking in English will also be adventurous because you will probably feel a little nervous and excited.
But if you push your English speaking “comfort zone” and just open your mouth, you will feel so accomplished (proud) and motivated to keep learning!
Plus, your English will improve a lot if you have more conversations.
So let’s get started! To help you on this trip, we’ve put together a friendly guide to English conversation for beginners, filled with useful, basic phrases—from greetings and small talk to saying goodbye—that will take you on your first conversation adventure. Starting an English Conversation
If you need a push to start having conversations in English, watch the clip below for motivation.
Then, any polite conversation starts with a greeting (saying hello). There are many ways to greet someone, and your choice will depend on who you are talking to.
It may be an informal conversation with a friend or an acquaintance (someone you know, but not very well). Or you may use a more formal dialogue when having an English conversation with a colleague, a teacher, a stranger or a government employee.
Informal greetings
Let’s start with informal greetings. Here is how you can say hello:
Formal greetings
For a more formal way to greet someone, use the model “good + [time of day]”:
Remember that “good night” normally means that you are saying goodbye. It is also commonly used right before going to bed.
Introductions
What if you have never met the person you are talking to before? Then, after greeting them, it would be polite to introduce yourself and ask for their name. Here’s how:
If you met somebody once before, but you do not remember their name, you can say this:
If you want to introduce a person to someone else, you can simply say:
Now that you have introduced yourself, use one of the phrases below to respond to someone’s introduction.
You can hear the first one in this video, where two people meet for the first time and then start a conversation. Better yet, since that video is available on FluentU, you don’t have to worry about missing a word. Just click the interactive subtitles for an instant definition. There are also flashcards, fun quizzes and other learning tools built in.
Check out a free FluentU trial to watch that video—and thousands of other real-world English videos—with all the learning features.
Making Small Talk in English
Great job! You are already having a conversation in English!
After you have exchanged names and greeted each other, you may go on to make some “small talk.”
Small talk is common in many English-speaking countries, especially in the U.S., Canada and England. It is considered polite to add small talk to the beginning of the conversation before talking about the subject of the conversation, whether it is personal or professional.
The most widespread (common) question is “How are you?” In fact, it is so common, that it becomes automatic for people to say, even when they hardly know the person! “How are you” is often even considered part of the greeting (i.e. “Hi, how are you?”). That is how necessary it has become!
There are several ways to ask someone how they are doing:
An interesting thing about asking these questions is that an answer is not really required. Unless you are very close friends with someone, they are not expecting you to tell them an honest answer about your day—as this funny video shows:
Instead, a simple answer and a “how are you” in return is enough for a typical conversation in English:
Note that you might often hear people say “I’m good” when they mean that they are well and doing well. “I’m good” is grammatically incorrect in this context, but it is very common in spoken English, just like a few other mistakes English speakers make, so be careful!
Small talk can also be the primary goal of a conversation, especially when you are talking to people you don’t know and are unlikely to meet again. There are many ways to use small talk successfully, even when you’re still getting comfortable with English conversation for beginners.
Asking and Answering Questions
A conversation is an exchange of ideas, questions and thoughts. The best way to keep a conversation going is to ask questions!
There are two types of questions you may ask: closed-ended and open-ended questions.
Closed-ended questions are also called “yes/no” questions, because their goal is to confirm or deny certain information. For example:
Compare the examples above to the open-ended questions below. They will ask a person to elaborate—that is, to give more information instead of simply saying “yes” or “no.”
Open-ended questions typically begin with “who,” “what,” “where,” “when” and “why.” They are important to make your English conversation informative and productive. See more examples here.
When the person you are talking to is asking you a question, listen for the keywords and pay attention to the verb being used. This will help you construct your answer using proper grammar.
Don’t worry about using difficult words—it is fine to keep things simple! And if you don’t understand a certain question or word, don’t be afraid to ask.
As a beginner, you may have trouble understanding everything being said in English. This is okay! You are still learning.
Asking for Clarification
You are getting good at conversations in English, but suddenly you realize that you are lost. Maybe the other person is speaking too fast. Maybe she has an unfamiliar accent. Maybe you didn’t hear the last thing she said.
It is perfectly normal to ask for clarification or to repeat something. Just remember to be polite!
If you don’t understand something, let’s say a word or even some idea relating to your conversation, you could say:
or even…
If you simply didn’t hear something, just say it like this:
or even…
Don’t be shy to ask for help. People are generally very happy to explain or repeat something! Please don’t forget to thank them after they do.
Bringing an English Conversation to a Close
Say you have got all the information you need from the person. It is time for you to go. Maybe you are running late and want to keep the conversation brief. No matter the reason, it is always nice to let the person know you cannot continue talking to them for much longer.
There are many ways to do it depending on the situation. For example, if you are late, say:
And if you have all the information you’d wanted:
Using Small Talk to End a Conversation
Hey, guess what? Small talk can be used at the end of an English conversation too! Before saying goodbye, it is polite to say something like…
And after that, the only thing left to do is…
Saying Goodbye in English
This one is easy. You really cannot go wrong with just a simple “goodbye” or “bye” in spoken English. You can also use any small talk expression to complement your goodbye. For example:
And, as mentioned at the very beginning of this guide…
Simple, right?
You are now an English conversation master!
Having a conversation in English does not have to be complicated. You may feel a little awkward and shy about your English speaking at first, but it is okay.
If you are scared of making a mistake, it is understandable. But mistakes are going to happen when you get started with spoken English—it is absolutely normal. Making mistakes is a big part of learning English conversations for beginners. This is how you get better, so just go for it. Just start talking, because now you know what to say!
And One More Thing…
Want to hear real English conversations without leaving your home?
FluentU provides real-world English videos—like movie trailers, TV commercials, hilarious YouTube clips and more—that come with built-in language learning tools.
For example, every video comes with interactive subtitles. Click any word for an instant, in-context definition. You’ll also see grammar info and example sentences.
Tap on the word “brought,” and you see this:
After you watch a video, FluentU will give you flashcards, fun quizzes and useful questions. That way you can be sure you’ll remember everything you learned.
It’s the perfect way to learn English the way native speakers really use it. The videos are conveniently organized by format and level (beginner through advanced) so it’s super easy to find the ones that work for you.
Best of all, you can practice conversational English on FluentU anytime, anywhere on your computer or with the mobile apps for iOS and Android.
If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn English with real-world videos.
Are you thinking about learning Japanese but find yourself struggling to find resources that help you start speaking?
When I started out, I certainly did.
Many of the tools that I found when I started learning Japanese were grammar-heavy textbook style resources and they didn’t offer me a lot in terms of day-to-day conversation. Rather than learning how to say “what did you do last weekend?” I had memorized a bunch of rules involving particles or sentence structure and I was nowhere near conversing with my fellow Japanese speakers.
So I decided to put something together on my own so that I could feel more confident engaging in language exchanges.
And today, I’d like to share it with you.
In this post you’ll find a short selection of the 100+ conversational phrases and words in Japanese I have available as part of a downloadable PDF that you can get by entering your email in the box below.
Happy Japanese language learning!
Get your free PDF with 100+ Conversational Japanese Words and Phrases
[button url=”http://eepurl.com/df50Qv” target=”_blank” color=”pink” size=”large” border=”false” icon=””]Get the PDF[/button]
Greetings
Basic & Polite Phrases![]()
Get the Conversation Rolling
Getting a Bit of Clarification
Words About Time
Exclamations & Transition Words to Take Your Speaking to the Next Level
Conversation Closers
*Please note that most of the above examples use formal language, assuming that you’re getting to know the person that you’re speaking with.
Get your free PDF with 100+ Conversational Japanese Words and Phrases
[button url=”http://eepurl.com/df50Qv” target=”_blank” color=”pink” size=”large” border=”false” icon=””]Get the PDF[/button]
Are you learning Japanese? What are some phrases that you’ve found useful in your target language? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!
![]() Comments are closed.
|
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2022
Categories |