IMITATE!

HOW TO START A CONVERSATION?

Hey everybody, how is it going? I am (YOUR NAME) and this is Go Natural English, the most
awesome place online to learn fast natural English in videos like this one. In this short video
lesson, I’m going to show you a secret talking to new people in English. There is a formula
that you can use over and over again, that is to ask a question.

Okay, everyone, well, mostly everyone likes to help other people.

So, if you need help, or you can pretend that you need help, you can ask someone a question.

Alright, so think about this, think about this formula.

Okay, first of all, think about you environment.

So, where are you? Are you on the street? Are you at school? Are you at work?

Okay, your environment matters for the question you are going to ask, right?

And then, you can think of the question that would make sense.

So, if I’m on the street, one good thing, one good question I could ask for is directions.

So, for example, “do you know where Commonwealth Ave is?”

Alright, this is a big street in Boston. Um you might ask about food. Like ‘excuse me do you
know a good place around here to eat?” or “do you know a good café around here to have a
coffee?”

So, ask for directions to a specific place or ask for a person’s recommendation.

Great!

Alright, so that’s if you are on the street, right?

If you are in school or you’re at work you’re going to think a little bit harder about your
environment and the question that would make sense of your situation. And, I recommend,
you know, make a list of these questions.
Either in your head or on a piece of paper so that you’re prepared to talk to a new person,
you won’t have any problem with the language. The only thing is you have to walk up to the
person and say, “excuse me” and then ask you question, alright?

So, another point, um, a bonus, is that after you ask your question, your first question and
you get your answer, prepare a follow up question, Q for question right? If you actually want
to have a conversation with someone and not just a quick question and answer that last five
seconds, prepare a follow up question, okay? Like “what’s the best place to get a hotdog?” or,
“what’s the best place to get an espresso?”

Okay, so you can ask a more specific question. You can ask another question related to your
environment or your setting or if it is not too weird, you might even ask that person, who are
you talking to ask them for their opinion, okay?

So, you have to use your judgment. You have to make your own questions because this all
depends on your situation and your environment. So, I encourage you to try writing out five
different questions based on your daily environment. Where you could walk up to a new
person and ask them that a question, alright?

Guys, thank you so much for watching!

I wish you many wonderful conversation with new people.