Strangers, danger? Danger, stranger! Is stranger a danger? Really? No way, do you agree? Please
don't. I think it's so amazing to talk to strangers, isn't it? Has it ever happened
with you that you saw this absolute stranger and you wanted to know more about them? Of
course I’m sure it must have happened with you. So please stay with me. I’m your tutor
for the day, Michelle and today I'm teaching you some sure fire expressions that you can
use to talk to strangers.
Let’s start. Let’s look at the first one, can I offer you a drink? That’s a very common
expression to start a conversation. A common expression. What kind of a response do you
expect when someone says; can I offer you a drink? Maybe they say yes and what if they
say, I don't drink. Then you say, my bad, oopsie I'm sorry and you move on may be to
another stranger and try this. I hope you get a positive response for that.
Okay, let's look at the second one. Do you know anyone here? This might sound a bit desperate
but you can sound very honest. If that person says no, you can say, okay then let me introduce
you to some people and I think the first person that you can introduce is yourself. That’s
one way of starting a conversation with another stranger.
Let’s look at our, I'll write it here for you, to introduce to others or yourself. Introduce
yourself.
Let’s look at the third one. You’re a great dancer. How’s this? I think complimenting
someone is the best way to start a conversation. Believe me on that, they’ll be very pleased,
if you say that you are a great dancer. Nobody can respond negatively to a compliment and
you are bringing out the best in them. What better, right? So it's a very good way to
start, by complimenting somebody. I like your jacket, do you like my jacket? Where did you
buy it? That’s another way of starting a conversation with a stranger. As I said it's
always good to say something nice and start a conversation. But you needn't only talk
about a jacket. You could say I like your shoes, where did you get them? I like your
blouse, where did you get that? It could be anything. It needn't just be a jacket, so?
A leather jacket, anything at all. It can be anything. I’ll write it for you here.
Do you sense something? Can you ask this question to somebody sitting in a garden? Could you
tell that person, can I offer you a drink? Somebody in the garden, no right? Could you
tell them, do you know anyone here? I don't think so. The first four phrases are best
used in a party or if you're at a dinner at your friend’s place and you have a lot of
people there and you are interested in talking to somebody. That’s where you can use it,
at a party, I would say.
Okay with this, we are done with four expressions. The weather is nice today. Are you from around
here? That’s another way of striking a conversation with a stranger, but where would you do that?
Just like I told you, you can say this expression when you are at the garden or at a beach or
any public place. So I'll just write it. Public place. It’s a very general topic and you
know the best time to strike a conversation is when the other person is not moving. So
if the other person is just walking passed and you stop them, hello, hey excuse me, the
weather is nice today. If you just tell them, tap, excuse me, the weather is nice today,
that's very irritating right? so may be a at garden, when someone is sitting next to
you, you can just say, tap or may be just speak to them normally, hey the weather is
nice today, are you from around here? Now there is something that you need to be careful
about. Talking to strangers is a little bit if danger sometimes. If the other person says,
yes the weather is nice, why are you asking? Oh my gosh, that is called being rude or being
suspicious about you. So if somebody is being rude, I suggest that you don't continue the
conversation and what do you need to do for that? Just keep quiet; they don't expect you
to say another word. You just keep quiet. However, if you ask this question, are you
from around here? Means are you from somewhere near? And the person says, yes I'm from Southport,
where do you live? That’s such a positive expression. So then you can surely go ahead
and you know continue the conversation with more interesting questions. You can be curious
and you can tell that person, there are so many people here today, is it normal? That’s
also a question that you can ask at a garden or at a beach or any other public place?
Let’s look at the next one. Are you here with your family? Family, yes this is pretty
interesting. so what happens is, when you are out, you know like I told you, may be
you are out at a, you know tourist location, may be you are at a monument or something
and you see this person, she has two kids and a dog there, you could just ask, are you
here with your family? And if she says yes, you could say, are these your kids? They are
so cute, is that your dog? He’s adorable. So that would definitely make them happy and
it's a nice way to start a conversation. You can pick up something that you notice. Pick
something that you notice, like kids or a dog. I think the best way to understand what
kind of expressions you can use in a stranger to stranger conversation, the best way to
understand that, is to listen to a couple of examples.
So for that reason, I'm gonna share and example with you. Once I went to Disneyland in Hongkong
and I saw this lady, this lovely lady. She looked like a Korean to me, so I asked her,
are you on a vacation here? She said yes, I'm on a vacation from Korea. So I was right
and then she asked, how about you? I said I’m also on a vacation here. I asked her,
are you having a great time, are you having a good time? She said yes I'm having a wonderful
time and of course she had her kids with her. So I asked her this, are you here with your
family? She said yes, I’m here with my kids and they are here for the third time and they
are having great fun and you know she asked me back also, are you here with your family?
I said no, I've come here with my friends and this is the first time here and I'm also
having fun. So we had a nice, small stint and it was a great conversation. Then I told
her, thank you, it was really nice talking to you.
So this one probably you can use at a tourist location for a person who does not seem to
be very familiar. At a tourist location.
So really strangers are not so dangerous. It’s always nice to talk to them, it's one
way to meet amazing people and not miss out on some people you could have met.
I hope my lesson helps you strike a conversation with some people that you might want to talk
to. Please come back for more lessons with me, this is Michelle signing off for the day,
bye take care.