hey there Aubrey how's it going today I'm great Lindsay how are you how's the weather in Colorado
oh Aubry that is such a boring question I know right we're gonna talk about this today you guys
we often start episodes I feel like especially Jessica and I because the weather's so different
in Arizona and Oregon we will sort of start talking about the weather but then I I'm like
oh this is so boring no one wants to talk about the weather well it is common right it's the
easiest thing it's the thing that we all share we all experience weather in one way or the other so
it makes sense as a go-to guys but the more other options you have the better yes especially imagine
you're at like a conference and you're talking with several different people if every one of them
start that conversation that small talk asking you about the weather oh that would get so redundant
yeah that would be really bad especially because you're at a conference and there's a lot of other
things you could be talking about because you're probably not even going outside at a conference
you're not leaving the hotel exactly let's talk about anything else exactly exactly so you know
in today's bonus episode we're going to let our listeners know about an amazing special offer we
have but we want to get into the topic of social Small Talk At Work and what are some other good
topics Aubry that we can go to exactly right we all need this almost daily we find ourselves in
situations where we need to make small talk right it happens at work all the time maybe
you're in the break room or at the water cooler or chatting before a meeting starts we are all in
those situations where you know you don't have time to get really deep you need some kind of
small talk just to not sit there awkwardly in silence oh my God and this is you know
I don't want our listeners to ever avoid social interaction because connection is what keeps us
alive it's what makes us feel alive and human and so you know we think about you guys all
the time are you at work and are you avoiding that break room are you avoiding that happy hour after
work because you're afraid to speak English with your native speaking colleagues that's what this
episode and this what we're going to talk about this course program is going to help you guys
with right Aubrey exactly right it's all not all but this is a big part of making those connections
at work those social skills right the what happens in the less formal situations when you're creating
that Network you're creating these connections where you're building your um you know that
Network that you can then rely on in the future this is so huge I know relationships matter at
work sometimes there's a lot of politics at work for not necessarily in a bad way either sometimes
we just need to navigate relationships and and ask people for help with things and if we haven't
spent that time socializing in the easy topics we won't have those people to rely on when we really
need them exactly right so we want to share we have a very exciting opportunity coming up we're
doing a business and social English bundle with our business course and also our social English
online course this is going to be amazing Lindsay I'm excited about amazing it's gonna be amazing
what is the what does the word bundle mean I think that might be a new oh yeah a new word for
our listeners just in case they're not sure yes to bundle things together means to put several things
together in like a package so often we'll do this with our courses so we can give you more more bang
for your buck is a fun expression in English that means you get more for the money exactly so guys
this offer is only available until February 7th so that's coming up very soon and until February 7th
you're going to save a hundred dollars off the total price between the two courses plus a very
special bonus and Aubry where can they go to grab that and find out more about that special bundle
you guys can go to allersenglish.com social at work that'll be an easy one to remember you guys
need to be social at work so that'll be an easy link to remember go check it out today you have
until February 7th yeah go check it out now guys so Aubry let's get into this topic today what is
a better alternative to the weather something else that we can use to grab onto to connect right you
want to think about the things that everyone is interested in everyone will have something to say
this is sometimes why we rely on talking about the weather everyone's aware of it we're all probably
going to have something to say it feels very safe there are other topics that are equally safe where
every everyone's interested everyone will have something to say and the biggest one is food
right yeah it just takes a little bit of an extra effort to go a little bit deeper than the weather
and think about these other options I I mean everyone eats hopefully everyone eats so that's a
given right and we're all interested in food we're trying new restaurants we're trying new recipes
it's interesting to think about everyone has sort of their opinions of whether they would rather go
out to eat or cook at home I love when someone Sparks a conversation about food I'm interesting
I'm immediately engaged and interested immediately engaged and interested are you would you call
yourself a foodie what do you think yeah I guess so not I mean a lot of people are more extreme
than me for sure I um I have my old standbys sometimes at restaurants that I love I'm not as
um willing to try new things I often if I'm not able to go somewhere very often I'm going to
order something I know that I love and I feel like that's not a sign of a real foodie I think Foodies
are more experimental and trying new things all the time right and they're always talking
about it I have a friend my friend Julianne who I went to graduate school with and she lives out
here in Colorado which is amazing she is always talking about food it's so funny she's kind of a
connoisseur of food especially Asian food Japanese food but she's always just it always comes into
the conversation and I noticed that about her and it's amazing I'm kind of impressed every time I
hang out with her I think wow your mind just goes to food and all these new trends in a way that my
mind doesn't always go to but I agree with you this is good for everyone yes even someone who
isn't you know as obsessed or as interested isn't a connoisseur like you said what a great word for
someone who's really an expert really interested in something but all of us all of us like food
like talking about food and so these we're going to give you phrases today that you can use to
spark some small talk about food instead of the weather or what you normally would rely on okay
let's go ahead and just give these phrases to our listeners guys write these down to make sure that
you can practice them and bring them up in a conversation what would be the first one yeah
so what's the first topic around food yeah first about restaurants so for example you can say what
type of restaurants do you like to go to this is something everyone has their favorites right
so whether it's a certain type of food or maybe something that's super fancy and bougie or a dive
there's always you have your preferences and it's an interesting thing to think about to chat about
well it's interesting to get to know that other element of the person what about you abria what
kind of restaurants do you like to go to what type of restaurants do you land is my favorite I love
Indian food I love Indian restaurants they're usually pretty chill and quiet it's just a nice
dining experience and the flavors are just so rich and robust I love Indian food what about you
Lindsay yeah I think I heard someone saying the other day I mean it's opinion right but I think
someone was saying that Indian food is like the best in the world according to I agree with that
it was probably me that said that I think it was on TV that's funny I think I was like an a food
connoisseur but yeah you too Aubry I love it I feel like it's the most flavorful I eat lots of
different foods and I always come back to Indian food it's just so and it's difficult to make
at home I've tried and it's never as good as in restaurants so unless maybe if you grew up cooking
it obviously you're going to do a better job than me but when I try it's just never the same
oh it's amazing I I have a soft spot for Japanese food just because I lived in Japan for a while and
I think it's some of the best food in the world it's just very clean food and the presentation
is so important in Japan around the way that food is there's just something so special I can't even
describe it you know yes it's like art right when food is hurt it takes it to a whole another level
right it's very elevated I love that but there are other phrases too anything you could ask about
restaurants for example you could just say what's the last restaurant you went to and yeah someone's
everyone's going to have something to say even if it's been quite a while and they'd say wow man
I haven't been to a restaurant in Forever still interesting to talk about and this is also really
smart with your colleagues if there's someone that you want to get to know better on a friend level
it's a great lead-in to oh I heard there was a new restaurant opening we should go there you know and
try that together it's a very natural lead into that yes really good point right you want to be
building that connections you want to be making those those connections making those invitations
and this is a great entry into that you got it okay so that is our first sub-topic under food
Aubry what is the second sub-topic under food yeah the second one is cooking so for example you could
ask someone do you prefer cooking or eating out and this again I feel like everyone's gonna have
a lot to say right for sure people like to share these details about their lives right maybe they
are the Cook or their Partners the cook I find that usually one partner is the cook is that
true in your world ever you both cooks for sure neither of us are Cooks so I am Deep by default
I have to do it but I don't love it either so often when possible we prefer to go out or do
something that makes meals really easy sometimes there are like meal prep companies we can use
because oh yeah but my eldest daughter she's 16 now and she is taking culinary arts classes she
loves to cook so we're passing the Baton on to her a little bit oh that's very cool I love that
idea yeah okay so do you prefer cooking or eating out write that one down guys and your second one
is what's your favorite meal to prepare yeah and this is really interesting too to talk about you
know whether you love cooking or not I feel like people have their old standbys their favorite meal
to prepare whether it it's because it's something very easy or very impressive something they like
to make for friends this will be interesting to find out people's answers you'll be able to
learn so much about them oh it's true for me it's grilled cheese but you go for the really easy easy
options basic dish but you could do a lot with mustard on grilled cheese you can do a lot with
different cheeses different mustards it's it's pretty cool sliced apples on a grilled cheese it's
like there's fancy cheeses and sliced Apple that sounds amazing see there you go it doesn't have to
be so basic in the end so that's a great one guys ask people what their favorite meal is to prepare
alright Aubrey let's move on to number three the third topic what is it yeah third is to talk about
local favorites so you might say what's your favorite local restaurant now this is great if
you are you know at a conference and maybe you've been there a few days so you've each had a chance
to try somewhere local and it would be interesting to talk about or if someone's visiting from out of
town this is great to ask them what's a local spot that I need to try yeah because we always want to
find the local stuff and we want to know what's good and what's not so good you don't want to go
it's not it's not today's going out to eat right I've noticed our bill is always 20 more it feels
like absolutely so you don't want to go somewhere you don't like you're going to spend more money
you want a good experience yeah if I go out I want to I think we're going out to eat less these days
in my house but we're going out to better places we're just getting a lot more selective like we
never go to chains and we only when we hear about a really good restaurant we know it's going to be
good we'll go and spend the money but otherwise we'll eat at home yeah you're not going out just
to eat you're going out for the experience so you want to know those good local places where
you know you'll have a great time and what is this this second phrase about hidden gems I
love this is really great to ask someone have you found any hidden gems around here so this is such
native vocabulary a Hidden Gem is something that not everybody knows about right just the locals
are going to know maybe it's a speakeasy in town right which is like a bar that most people don't
know about or just a small restaurant that isn't very famous might not even have like a many Yelp
reviews so people don't know about it yeah and literally a gem is a a rock right that comes from
the earth and valuable in some cases and I like that you mentioned that Hidden Gem can apply to
not just restaurants it's not just for food guys it could be a night spot it could be a cafe it
could be like a park a lot of things exactly yes right so this the conversation could really expand
from here if you're talking about food you're talking about restaurants you ask someone if they
know of any hidden gems then that could really make it interesting if they start talking about
a museum or a really cool old like dinner theater or something you never would even think to visit
so many in New York makes me miss New York a little bit discovering these little hidden
gems that you can find uh oh well I know so true we just have to find them wherever
we are right they do it we just I found a few little speakeasies here in Gilbert right this
is really cool yeah speakeasies literally that's pretty cool and they are they're really neat and
it does feel you kind of feel like an Insider if especially if they you need a password sometimes
to get into a speakeasy and so if you get that from a friend or maybe their Facebook group or
something you feel like you're in the know right you've figured out some kind of hidden
information it's always a good video there's no cooler feeling than entering a speakeasy
sometimes it's like behind a vending machine and you push the vending machine yes and there's a
whole establishment down there I know there's one here where it's like an old phone booth that you
go in and you lift the receiver and then the wall opens and you go through like it's just so fun
so cool it would be cool to do an episode of aller's English about like vocabulary from
prohibition just going back to that era and see what's come out of that who are the famous figures
that we still refer to in English what are the what are the words the Expressions the events
wouldn't that be cool absolutely yes I think we need to do that put that on the list let's put
that on the list all right Aubry so let's remind our listeners guys if you want more
of this because we know the biggest challenge is how can we build the relationships at work
this bundle is going to offer you our business English course as well as our social Small Talk
course plus a very cool bonus and you're only going to get this and save a hundred dollars
until February 7th one more time what's that link Aubry go to allearsenglish.com social at
work yes guys go there today don't miss out you only have until February 7th yeah exactly after
February 7th we break apart the bundle and we we increase the prices again guys so this offers
only available until then what should we leave our listeners with here Aubry what should they
know coming away from today's episode yes everyone listening is going to have opportunities to make
small talk and you want to make it interesting with Native natural phrases avoid talking about
the weather right use these phrases to ask about food cooking local spots that is a great way to
spark a conversation yeah life is so much more Rich than just the weather there's so many other
options so go to food as a good backup plan guys and thanks for hanging out today Aubry
this has been fun great topic that's awesome see you next time Lindsay all right take care bye bye
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