Hi everybody! I'm Arnel. Today, we're going to look at making small talk in English. I'm going
to teach you some great questions and phrases you can use to keep your conversations going. We
also need to look at those lazy contractions that native speakers love using. For example:
What do you think, can sound like, whaddaya think? Small talk is a polite conversation
about unimportant things with people you usually don't know well. Note, we make small talk,
we don't do or have small talk. For example, it's common to make small talk about the weather.
Let me know in the comments, do you like making small talk in your language? Or in English?
Normally we make small talk in four possible situations.
Situation one: With people you see every day. Colleagues, neighbors, etc...
Situation number two: With people you don't see often. Maybe an ex-colleague, or someone you met at
a friend's party. Situation three: People you don't know, but you are in the same situation. For example,
this could be at a work conference or maybe you're waiting before your TOEFL or IELTS exam.
Last one, situation number four: People who are complete strangers.
Someone on a bus, a cashier, etc... Situation one: People you see every day in an office
kitchen. Hey how are you? Good how are you? Good, busy day? Not bad, same old same old.
Did you hear about Brandy? No, what about her?
Apparently she's leaving. Really? Any idea why? No, I was talking to tony, and he was telling me that...
Catch you later. See ya! Okay, let's look at this conversation again
together, so we can go into a bit more detail.
Hey how are you? Good how are you? Good, busy day? Okay, let's stop here. And oh, look at my grumpy face.
Okay, how are you. How are you is usually just a friendly hello, it's not a real question. How are
you? Good. How are you? Good. That's really all you need to do. Of course if you're speaking
with a friend or a family member, how are you can be asking for more information. But day to day
it's just a friendly hello. Busy day? We've shortened that question. Busy day is short
for: Are you having a busy day? Or, is today a busy day for you? Have you had a busy day?
Not bad, same old same old. Same old same old, this is a great little phrase. It means nothing
special is happening. And if you see someone every day, or every week, generally there's
nothing really new to report. We work, we study, nothing special is happening. Same old same old.
Did you hear about Brandy? No, what about her? Apparently she's leaving. Okay,
did you hear about, plus something. This is a great question to ask to start a conversation
about any topic. Did you hear about person? Did you hear about - plus news? And often you,
when we're speaking, sounds like ya. We shorten it. Did you hear about, did ya hear about? Did
ya hear about Brandy, did ya hear about Brandy, did ya hear about Brandy? What about - plus person.
We're asking for more information. What about her? Let's move on. Tony and he was telling me that...
Catch you later. See ya!
Okay. Catch you later, catch ya later. This is a way to say goodbye, I'll see you soon. So we
can use this phrase with someone we know we're gonna see later that day, or maybe the next day.
Catch you later! Not for people you won't see for a long time. See ya! And here I wrote you - ya. That's
not standard, but that's what it sounds like. See ya! Goodbye. Let's move on to the next conversation.
Situation two: People you don't see often. Seeing someone you know on the street. I haven't seen
you in ages, how's it going? Good! What have you been up to? I'm still teaching English online, um,
my twin girls they just turned five. Five, already? We had a little party for them it was really cute.
there in june... Enough about me, what about you? How's James? Works going well, but did you hear? They're
thinking about closing the community center, so James might lose his job. I heard about that...
Tell James I said hi. Will do. Okay, let's look at this again. I haven't seen you in
ages! How's it going? Good! What have you been up to?
Let's start with those two questions. How's it going? You can see I remove the g. How's it goin?
How's it goin? How's it goin? It's another way to say, how are you. How's it going? How are you?
What have you been up to? This is another way to ask, what have you been doing since I last
saw you? What have you been up to? What have you been up to? What have you been up to? And this
question, what have you been up to? Is asking for a bit more information. How are you? How's it going?
Those could be more like little hellos. What have you been up to, is a little bit more specific.
I'm still teaching English online, um,
my twin girls they just turned five. Five, already? We had a little party for them it was really
cute. There in june... Enough about me, what about you? How's James? Okay, enough about me, enough about me.
If you feel like you've been talking about yourself for a long time, you want to stop that
don't you? Enough about me. What about you? Again, we have what about - plus person. What about you?
How's James? If you want to know if a person is doing well or not, you can ask how is - plus person.
How is James? Or, how are how are your parents? We really want to know if they're good or not.
Work's going well, but did you hear? They're thinking about closing the community center so
James might lose his job. I heard about that. Okay, once again we have that, did you hear.
Here, it's a full question. Did you hear? And then you start the topic, that's also a possibility.
If you remember in conversation number one we can say, did you hear about - plus topic? Or we can say,
did you hear? And then start talking about the topic.
Tell James I said hi. Will do.
This is a good way to say goodbye. If you know someone's partner, you can say tell so and so
I said hi. It's a nice way to end the conversation. Tell your parents I said hi. Tell Melissa I said hi.
will do nice and informal this means okay i will do it can you please remind val to call me later
Will do. Let's move on. Situation three, let's do this one a bit differently: Okay you and the other
people don't know each other, but you're in the same situation. You have something in common. This
could be a person, a place, or an event. Use it. Use what you have in common. Let's start with a person.
Let's say this person is a mutual friend. What's a mutual friend? A mutual friend is someone you
are both friends with, but the two of you may or may not be friends. That's not important. Let's say
this mutual friend is Mike. How do you know mike? We work together? How long have you known Mike?
We go back a long way. If you and a person go back a long way, this means that you have known each
other for a very long time. We go back a long way, we've known each other since kindergarten.
Jeff and my Dad go back a long way. Let's try place, location. I'm gonna choose Mesa Arizona.
Are you from Mesa? Born and raised. If you say born and raised, it means you were born in
Mesa and you grew up here. We just say born and raised. Or, are you from Mesa? No, I'm from phoenix.
I'm only here for the conference, what about you? Again, we have that what about - person.
Let's try, event. Let's say it's a work conference. What do you think about this conference so far?
What do you think, wadda ya think? Wadda ya think about the conference so far?
So far is such a great little phrase. It means from the start until now. So this is a really
good question to ask in the middle of an event. So far I'm really enjoying the talks.
But i have to say, I'm not impressed with the venue.
I have to say, I have to say. We use this to introduce an honest opinion
that might be offensive. I have to say, I'm a bit disappointed with the quality of your work.
I'm not impressed with, this is a polite way to say I don't like. I'm not impressed with
the venue. The music was sensational, but I wasn't impressed with the singing. And we say, I'm not
or I wasn't impressed with something, when it's a service or entertainment. Not for things you don't
like in general. We wouldn't say I'm not impressed with vegetables, or I'm not impressed with grammar.
And, a venue is a place to hold an event. A venue for a conference could be a hotel.
A wedding venue could be a church or again, a hotel. Situation four: complete strangers on a bus.
Lovely day isn't it? Yeah.
Small talk can be awkward. Let's try that again. Lovely day isn't it? Yeah,
it'd be nice if we could get a couple of hours of sunshine. Agreed. You know, I love your scarf.
Thank you! Where'd you get it? If you don't mind my asking.
It was a present for my dad...
...this is me, have a good afternoon. You too.
Lovely day isn't it? Yeah, it'd be nice if we could get a couple of hours of sunshine. Agreed. Okay.
let's stop here. Lovely day isn't it. We can start a conversation with a bit of sarcasm. Obviously,
it's not a lovely day, it's raining like crazy. And this here, this is called a question tag. Question
tags are really common in spoken English. I have a video lesson on question tags if you're interested.
It would be nice, it'd be nice, it'd be nice, it'd be nice, it'd be nice.
It would be nice if, plus subject, plus past simple. Think of this as a set phrase. This means
hypothetically, something would be better. It'd be nice if this conference offered free beverages.
Do they offer free beverages? No. But hypothetically,
that would be better. It'd be nice if we had Friday off.
Agreed. This is a short way of saying: I agree with you. These morning meetings are
a complete waste of time. Agreed. Let's keep going. You know, I love your scarf.
Thank you! Where'd you get it? If you don't mind my asking. Okay, let's stop here. Again,
where'd you get it, where'd you get it. Where did, where did you get it. Where'd you get it.
If you don't mind my asking. We can also say: If you don't mind me asking.
We use this when we ask someone a personal question, and maybe we feel a bit uncomfortable.
For example: If you don't mind me asking, how much is your rent? I'm talking about money, that can make
me feel a bit uncomfortable. So it's actually a very polite phrase and it's not informal.
If you don't mind my asking, if you don't mind me asking, is pretty formal.
This is me, have a good afternoon. You too! This is me. If you're on a bus,
and it's your stop, you can say: This is me. If you're on a bus or a train or a tram, this is me.
Maybe you've seen those scenes um in a movie where a man and a woman are walking home after a date.
Eventually she stops and says, this is me. She means this is my apartment. Have a good afternoon,
classic. Have a good day, have a good afternoon, it's a very friendly way to end a conversation.
Okay! We've looked at lots of different questions and phrases you can use when you make small talk.
In the comments below, try to give me a mini conversation using some of these new questions
and phrases. I can't wait to read them. I can't wait to make another video for you, and who knows,
in the future i might see you and we can make some small talk. See you in my next video! Bye!!!