Shadowing Practice: Small Talk | Useful Phrases & Questions for Everyday Conversation - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Well hey there, I'm Emma from mmmEnglish.
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If you want to improve your English conversation skills, this lesson is definitely for you.
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It's actually part two in a series that I've made about small talk
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so I'm sharing all of the essential phrases and expressions
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that you need to know to be successful with your small talk conversations in English.
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In part one, I shared some really useful everyday questions and phrases to talk about work, the weather,
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hobbies and your free time and I'm definitely going to link to
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that video at the end but in this one I'm going to dive a little deeper
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and I'm going to share some useful questions
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or ideas to help you spark some small talk conversations about news and current affairs.
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I'm also going to be talking about how to start a conversation at a social event
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or a networking event when you don't really know anyone there.
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Awkward.
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And most importantly, I'm going to talk about how to end
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that conversation in a relaxed and friendly way so
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that you've got the opportunity to do it all again sometime in the future.
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So let's dive in!
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Discussing news or current affairs can be a really great icebreaker.
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You just need to make sure you keep it light, okay?
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So avoiding topics that might cause offence or prompt an argument or a disagreement of some kind.
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Politics, religion, any sort of strong opinion about something it's best to avoid.
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Small talk is not the place for that.
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Start with something simple and the question
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did you hear about is a really useful one in this situation
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because you can pick anything relevant that you read in the paper that morning or you heard on the radio, something that is on the news at that moment.
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Did you hear about the train strike in Melbourne last week?
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You can also introduce the topic by saying, I read, I read that Point Cook is the most multicultural suburb in Australia,
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I had no idea or I heard, I heard on the radio that the Queen's visiting next month.
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In order to really get your conversation flowing though, you need to make sure that you follow up with a question
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or something that invites their opinion or their thought on whatever you shared.
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Conversation is two ways, right?
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So you could always follow up with a question like so what do you think about that?
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What are your thoughts?
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How do you feel about that?
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Hey ladies, do you want to practice English in real conversations with really lovely speaking partners?
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We'll help you to meet new speaking partners and practise real conversations in English.
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that you can experience everything on offer in a full membership and it's free for 10 days.
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I've put the link down in the description below so that you can start your free trial today.
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Okay so now I'm going to share a couple of really useful phrases to help you at social or networking events.
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Sometimes these can be really awkward or uncomfortable places
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when you're standing with someone that you don't really know and you don't have anything really to talk about.
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Well if you have a friend or a colleague in common
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that you both know you can start with that
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so how do you know Ed otherwise you can try
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and work out how you might know them
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or how you're connected have we met before you look familiar you can always try giving a compliment
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that works really well I love
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that dress can I ask where you got it from now
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sometimes you actually meet people who you know quite well over
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the phone you maybe deal with them a lot via email
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but you've never actually met in person so a good thing to say at
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that point is Ah it's great to finally put a face to the name
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and when you get introduced to someone that you've heard about
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but you've never met before you can say I've heard so much about you.
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The best response to this is all good I hope
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and this just means I hope that everything you've heard about me was good
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and not bad which sounds a bit funny but it's really common
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and it definitely helps to relax the conversation with a little bit of humour which is always nice.
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I hope that everything you've heard about me is good.
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Now of course a lesson about small talk would not be complete without some phrases to help you end the conversation.
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This is...
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Crucial, sometimes it can be the most difficult part.
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Once you've started and you're thinking yeah okay, this is good, I'm asking you some questions and then okay, I'm running out of things to say now.
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Abort!
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Get out!
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So how do you politely end your conversation and just get back to doing what you were doing?
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I mean you can't just say okay, bye.
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That is really awkward and uncomfortable for everyone isn't it?
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Oh okay bye.
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If you're at work you can say something like well I'd better get back to work or
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I'd better get back to it, I'll see you around.
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At a social event you could say I'd better keep moving it was nice chatting
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or you can kind of make up an excuse that you need to leave and say something like I'm looking for Jennifer, you haven't seen her around anywhere, have you?
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I was just looking for the bathroom, do you know where it is?
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Well I'm gonna go grab a drink, I'll see you in a bit.
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These last three are a little less direct.
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I'm not saying okay, I'm done with this conversation now, I don't want to talk with you anymore.
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I'm just politely moving away to do something else, right?
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So it doesn't cause offence to the other person that you're talking to, you're just moving along and then you end the conversation comfortably
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and it makes it easy to come back and start a new conversation with that person at some other time.
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Well done!
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A huge high five to you if you got all the way through part one
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and part two of this series about small talk.
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If you did, you've learned over 50 phrases and questions
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and potential answers that will help you to make small talk in English.
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So all you need to do now is to make sure that you put it into practice.
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Make sure you do that.
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Just studying them and learning them and trying to remember them is not going to help.
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You need to try this out.
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Do that wherever you speak English, alright?
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every week so you definitely want to be here when I bring out the next one.
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For now, let's check out this one together.
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Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección
Las palabras que más se repiten: conversation, heard, English, phrases, lesson. Este vídeo tiene 71 frases y 1215 palabras para practicar shadowing. La parte hablada dura 7:24. El hablante habla a un ritmo natural de unas 164 palabras por minuto, cercano a una conversación cotidiana. El 88 % de las palabras está entre las 3.000 más comunes del inglés, por lo que el vocabulario es fácil de seguir. 17 de sus 71 frases son preguntas, así que sirve para practicar la entonación de las preguntas y las respuestas cortas.
Vocabulario clave de este vídeo
15 palabras del vídeo que vale la pena aprender, con su pronunciación y significado:
| Palabra | Pronunciación | Significado |
|---|---|---|
| lesson sustantivo | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | lección |
| phrase sustantivo | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | frase |
| awkward adjetivo | /ˈɔk.wɚd/ | torpe, desmañado |
| topic sustantivo | /ˈtɑpɪk/ | tema, tópico |
| introduce verbo | /ˌɪntɹəˈdus/ | presentar |
| affair sustantivo | /əˈfɛɹ/ | negocio |
| relax verbo | /ɹɪˈlæks/ | relajar, aflojar |
| uncomfortable adjetivo | /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/ | incómodo |
| dive verbo | /daɪv/ | bucear, somorgujar |
| everyday adjetivo | /ˈɛvɹiˌdeɪ/ | de diario, cuotidiano |
| membership sustantivo | membresía | |
| skill sustantivo | /skɪl/ | destreza, habilidad |
| connect verbo | /kəˈnɛkt/ | conectar, empalmar |
| invite verbo | /ɪnˈvaɪt/ | invitar, convidar |
| crucial adjetivo | /ˈkɹuː.ʃəl/ | crucial |
Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar
| Palabra | Pronunciación | Significado |
|---|---|---|
| get back to verbo | responder / contestar (en un rato), volver / tornar a contactar | |
| bring out verbo | realzar, resaltar | |
| check out verbo | investigar, chequear | |
| get out verbo | salir | |
| make up verbo | /ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/ | reponer, suplir |
| move along verbo | transitar, circular |
Frases que vale la pena repetir
Frases cortas y completas del vídeo que puedes reutilizar en la conversación diaria:
- What are your thoughts?
- How do you feel about that?
- Can I ask where you got it from?
- You haven't seen her around anywhere, have you?
- Do you know where it is?
Gramática en este vídeo
Las estructuras que más usa el hablante, con las palabras exactas del vídeo:
| Estructura | En el vídeo |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + participio pasado — una acción pasada que sigue importando ahora | I've made · I've put · you've never actually met |
| Oraciones de relativo who / which + oración — información extra sobre una persona o cosa | people who you · humour which is |
| Superlativos the -est / the most … — lo más alto o lo más bajo de un grupo | the most multicultural · The best · the most difficult |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — una acción en curso en un momento del pasado | were doing · was just looking |
Pronunciación a tener en cuenta
El hablante usa 51 contracciones y formas reducidas, como I'm, you've, you're. Dilas en su forma corta, tal como las oyes.
- Palabras largas — cuida el acento: uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/, importantly /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/, disagreement /dɪsəˈɡɹiːmənt/, multicultural /ˌmʌltiˈkʌlt͡ʃəɹəl/
Sonidos difíciles para hispanohablantes:
- s + consonante al inicio — sin añadir una “e” delante: skill /skɪl/, spark /ˈspɑɹk/
- /v/ — no es /b/: los dientes tocan el labio inferior: dive /daɪv/, everyday /ˈɛvɹiˌdeɪ/, invite /ɪnˈvaɪt/, wherever /(h)wɛɹˈɛvɚ/
- /h/ — una aspiración suave, no la “j”: wherever /(h)wɛɹˈɛvɚ/, hobby /ˈhɑ.bi/, humour /ˈhjuːmɚ/
Cómo practicar con este vídeo
- Escucha el vídeo entero una vez sin hablar y anota las palabras que no conoces.
- Empieza a velocidad 0,75×, haz shadowing frase por frase y vuelve a la velocidad normal cuando te resulte fácil.
- Grábate y compara con el original, prestando atención a palabras como lesson, phrase, awkward.
¿Qué es la Técnica de Shadowing?
Shadowing es una técnica de aprendizaje de idiomas respaldada por la ciencia, desarrollada originalmente para la formación de intérpretes profesionales y popularizada por el políglota Dr. Alexander Arguelles. El método es simple pero poderoso: escuchas audio en inglés nativo y lo repites en voz alta de inmediato, como una sombra que sigue al hablante con solo 1-2 segundos de retraso. A diferencia de la escucha pasiva o los ejercicios de gramática, el shadowing obliga a tu cerebro y músculos de la boca a procesar y reproducir simultáneamente patrones de habla reales. Las investigaciones muestran que mejora significativamente la precisión de la pronunciación, la entonación, el ritmo, el habla conectada, la comprensión auditiva y la fluidez al hablar, convirtiéndola en una de las metodologías más efectivas para la preparación del IELTS Speaking y la comunicación en inglés en el mundo real.