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Pages From English For Life Speaking (B1 Intermediate)

Successful small talk is about showing interest in ordinary things about the other person rather than saying brilliant things yourself. It involves finding common ground, matching the other person's mood, giving more information about yourself rather than one word answers, and asking questions as well as talking about yourself.

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346 views4 pages

Pages From English For Life Speaking (B1 Intermediate)

Successful small talk is about showing interest in ordinary things about the other person rather than saying brilliant things yourself. It involves finding common ground, matching the other person's mood, giving more information about yourself rather than one word answers, and asking questions as well as talking about yourself.

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© © All Rights Reserved
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Successful small talk isn't about saying brilliant things.

It's about commenting on


and asking about ordinary things with interest and enthusiasm.
• Try to find som ething in com m on with your listener.
• Try to match the m ood of your listener. D o n 't try to be light-hearted if they seem
serious.
• D o n 't answer in one-w ord sentences. Try to give more inform ation or say som ething
interesting about where you come from, your job, etc.
• Remember to ask questions too - d o n't just talk about yourself.

Conversations
m Q Listen to extracts from three conversations.

A: So, how do you and Jack kn ow each other? Are you colleagues?
B: No, we've know n each other since we were kids, actually. W e went to school together.
A: Really? W here are you from ?
B: Oh, a little village in Suffolk. Not many people have heard of it!
A: W hat's it called? I'm from that part of the world, too.

C: Hi, I'm David.


D: Nice to meet you. I'm Harry. I w ork at the same company as Jack.
C: W hat exactly do you d o ?
D: I'm an accountant. W hat about y o u ?
C: I'm a teacher. I teach French at a local secondary school.
D: I thought you were French! H o w long have you been in this country?
C: Oh, for about five years now. I love it here.

4 S p e a k in g
E: Oh, that journey took me forever!
F: H ow did you get here?
E: By bus from Piccadilly Circus.
F: It's a long way, isn't it? H ow long did it take?
E: A bout an hour. But it's a great route - it takes you right past the new Olympic stadium.
Have you seen it yet?
F: No, I've heard so much about it though. Tell me, is it really as am azing as they say?

Understanding
^ Look again at the conversation strategies outlines in Useful Tips. M atch the
conversations to the strategies they illustrate successfully.
Conversation 1 ......... a Try to find som ething in com m on with your listener.

Conversation 2 ......... b M atch the m ood of the speaker.

Conversation 3 ......... c Try to give more information or say som ething


interesting about where you come from, your
job, etc.

d Remember to ask questions too - d o n 't just talk


about yourself.

Saying it accurately
Q Com plete the sentences w ith w o rd s from the box.

1 .................... how do you and Jack know each other?


exactly
2 ...................are you from ?
heard
3 ...................to meet you. how
4 W h a t ...................do you d o ? long
5 H o w ...................have you been in this country? isn't
6 It's a long w a y,...................it? looks
7 ...................did you get here? nice
so
8 I'v e ...................so much about it.
tell
9 ...................me, is it really as amazing as they say?
where
10 I t ...................interesting.

Section 1: Get talking


0 Nick and Becky have com e to a college to enrol on an e ve n in g course in Spanish. W h ile
th e y are w a itin g to enrol, th e y start up a conversation. Reorder their d ia lo gu e so that it
m akes sense.
Becky: W hat exactly do you d o ? [ ]
Nick: That's an idea! Oh, look, you're next in the queue. Good luck! [ ]
Nick: Yes, it does. Have you done Spanish before? [ ]
Becky: The course looks popular, doesn't it? [7]
Becky: Well, you could always w ork in Spain. They need accountants too! [ ]
Nick: I've done a course before, but the trouble is, if you don't practise, you forget
everything. I don't really need it for my job so I'm worried the same thing might
happen again! [ ]
Nick: I'm an accountant. [ ]
Becky: No, I haven't. But I've just got a job in international sales so I thought it would be
good to learn Spanish. W hat about you? [ ]

Q C om plete the conversation w ith an appropriate phrase or q u e stio n from Sayin g it


accurately exercise 1.
Paula: This photo's amazing, 1 .................................................................................
Garth: Yes, Jack's a pretty talented photographer.
Paula: Oh, are you a friend of Jack's to o?
Garth: Yes, we were at art school together. 2 ...............................................................
Paula: I was a student of his, when he was teaching abroad.
Garth: 3 ........................................
Paula: Italy. I live in Puglia, in the south.
Garth: Oh, 4 .......................................Puglia. It sounds really beautiful.
5 .......................................
Paula: For a month. M y company sent me here for work.
Garth: Oh, 6 ........................................
Paula: I'm in advertising. W e're doing an advertising campaign here at the moment.
Garth: That sounds fascinating. 7 ......................................... - is it really as glam orous as
they say?
Paula: Not always! It has its moments, though.

Cultural note
Be aw are that different cultures have different w ays of m akin g conversation, i.e. the
pauses betw een w h at one speaker says and the response o f the other speaker are not
alw ays the same length. W h a t may seem like a very long silence to you may be quite
norm al in another culture.

Sp e ak in g
Saying it clearly
Listen to these tw o questions. Note h o w the w o rd s in bold are connected to create
n e w sounds.
1 W hat exactly do you d o ?
2 How did you get here?

0 Listen again to the tw o sentences and repeat them.

Saying it appropriately
W h e n starting a conversation, it is im portant to so u n d friendly and enthusiastic. Listen
to the speakers and decide w h e th e r th e y so u n d friendly and enthusiastic or unfriendly
and unenthusiastic.
i

friendly / enthusiastic unfriendly / unenthusiastic


1 W hat exactly do you d o ?
2 This place is great, isn't it?
3 That looks interesting.
4 Where are you from ?
5 How did you get here?

0 Listen again to the sentences, n o w said in a friendly or enthusiastic tone, and repeat
them.

Get speaking
You are at an inform al dinner party. Play the A u d io CD to start. W h e n y o u hear
the beep, pause and respond appropriately. Rem em ber: d o n 't a n sw e r in on e -w o rd
sentences and try to give m ore in form ation in y o u r answ ers.

Cue So, how do you know Ian and Jess?


Example I've know n Ian since we were at college together. A n d I met Jess through him.

Section 1: Get talking

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