Shadowing Practice: Top 10 Small Talk Questions and Answers - Learn English Speaking with Video
Les maken...
1
There is one thing that Americans are really good at, and that is small talk conversations.
2
Are you good at small talk in English?
3
Well, never fear.
4
In today's lesson, you are going to learn the top 10 most common small talk questions and how to answer them,
5
plus three bonus questions at the end of today's lesson.
6
You will never be stuck frozen with nothing to say in a small talk conversation in English again.
7
And like always, I have created a free PDF worksheet for you with all of today's 10 plus three bonus small talk questions
8
and answers so that you're never frozen and not knowing what to say the next time that you have a conversation.
9
It's going to be no problem for you.
10
Plus, to help you really master these small talk questions and answers,
11
I have included inside the PDF worksheet a free speaking practice.
12
You can download this speaking practice, listen to my voice saying these questions and answers, and repeat them out loud with me.
13
This is the number one way to be able to actually improve your pronunciation and your speaking skills.
14
When you are repeating or shadowing with someone else, It is a lot easier to speak like them, to remember what you're saying,
15
and to actually master the phrases that you want to learn.
16
So how can you get this free PDF worksheet plus bonus speaking practice?
17
All you have to do is click on the link in the description, enter your name and email address, and voila, just like that,
18
the free worksheet and bonus speaking practice will land in your email inbox.
19
And something even cooler is that you never need to sign up for my free PDF worksheets again.
20
You just sign up one time and I will continue to send them to you every single week.
21
It is my gift to you.
22
So click on the link in the description to get the worksheet and the speaking practice and get started.
23
All right, let's start with today's lesson.
24
The first three small talk questions are just general, the most commonly used.
25
Let's imagine the scenario you are walking through your neighborhood and your neighbor is watering her plants.
26
You want to say something to her.
27
What should you say?
28
Here you go.
29
How's it going?
30
Great.
31
This is an excellent question and extremely commonly used with all ages.
32
And your neighbor might say, pretty good.
33
How about you?
34
Or maybe your neighbor will add a little more and say something like, Pretty good, just trying to keep these plants alive.
35
How about you?
36
Or you could ask, Hey, what have you been up to?
37
And your neighbor might reply, Oh, not much, mostly working and spending time with the kids.
38
What about you?
39
This final question that is often asked in return could be asked two ways.
40
They might ask, What about you?
41
Or how about you?
42
and it is really just returning the question to you.
43
It's bouncing the ball back in your court and making you have to answer the same question.
44
So that's why I want you to practice these answers as well.
45
Or our third question you might ask your neighbor as they're watering their plants is, how's everything been?
46
How's everything been?
47
Now, there doesn't have to be a big to-do in their life like a new wedding
48
or going on a big trip in order for you to ask this question.
49
It just means How is your life going?
50
How's everything been?
51
And your neighbor might say, it's been good.
52
Busy as always, but no complaints.
53
How about you?
54
And here it's your turn to answer.
55
All right, the next two small talk questions have to do with your health.
56
This is a common small talk question.
57
So let's imagine the scenario where you're going to meet a friend at a cafe
58
and you knew that your friend had a cold recently and so you're just trying to make some small talk.
59
You might ask, are you feeling any better today?
60
Now notice in a lot of these questions the g at the end of ing, feeling, is cut off.
61
Are you feeling any better today?
62
This just makes it more personal, more relatable.
63
It's not rude to use this type of pronunciation with all ages.
64
You're welcome to use this and it's just a comfortable way to speak with other people.
65
And your friend might say, yeah, much better.
66
I just have a little cough now, but I'm feeling much better.
67
Thanks for asking.
68
This final phrase, thanks for asking, is a really kind way to show the other person that you appreciate that they remember,
69
you appreciate that they care.
70
Thanks for asking.
71
Let's imagine that instead of your friend having a cold, it was your friend's son who had a cold.
72
You might ask instead, how's your son doing?
73
And your friend might say, oh yeah, he had a cold for forever, but he's finally getting better.
74
I'm so glad.
75
Thanks for asking.
76
You could use this question in a more general sense if you asked, how's your family doing?
77
And this could be just generally asking, how are your family doing?
78
What are they up to these days?
79
It's not necessarily about their health, but if you said, how's your son doing in the context of him previously being sick, it's about his health.
80
But you're welcome to also use this generally.
81
How's your family doing?
82
Great question.
83
The next two small talk questions are about work and daily life.
84
Let's imagine the scenario that you're at the grocery store
85
and you run into a co-worker who hasn't been at the office lately because they've been on a trip.
86
Well, what can you say in this scenario?
87
You might ask about their trip and ask, when did you get back into town?
88
Now, this is just a logistics question.
89
It's not saying, how was your trip?
90
Tell me all about it.
91
Maybe you have a formal relationship together and you don't want to get into the details,
92
but asking this type of question just acknowledges that you knew they were gone and you want to make small talk.
93
So you could ask that, when did you get back into town?
94
And your coworker might say, oh, I just got back a couple days ago.
95
The jet lag has been really tough this time.
96
Okay, great answer.
97
And because your coworker hasn't been in the office lately or been at work lately, your coworker might ask you, how's work going?
98
How's work going?
99
And you might reply, it's been such a busy week, but I had a really relaxing weekend, so I feel much more refreshed now.
100
This is a common small talk question.
101
How's work going?
102
And if you don't want to talk about work, you could just say, it's going fine.
103
It's fine.
104
Nothing much to report.
105
You can answer in kind of that evasive way if you want.
106
That's part of small talk as well, but you're welcome to share a couple more details.
107
How's work going?
108
Oh yeah, I just finished up this really big project.
109
It was so cool and I'm really glad that we finished it on the deadline.
110
Okay, well that kind of gives the other person an in to be able to ask questions about it
111
if they want and it could start a bigger conversation. Who knows?
112
Or it might just be small talk.
113
The next two small talk questions are about weekends and free time.
114
So let's imagine that it is Monday morning
115
and you're at the office getting a cup of coffee at your office's coffee station, coffee pot, and your colleague walks up.
116
What should you say?
117
Freeze and panic?
118
Nope.
119
Because of this lesson, you're going to know exactly what to say.
120
You could say something like this.
121
Hey, what'd you do this weekend?
122
Great question.
123
And your colleague might answer, oh, not too much.
124
I just saw some friends and then caught up on all the chores I needed to do.
125
What about you?
126
Here they're throwing the question back at you.
127
What about you?
128
How about you?
129
So make sure that you are prepared to answer.
130
If this scenario happens later in the week, let's say a Friday, you might ask your colleague this.
131
Got any plans for the weekend?
132
Got any plans for the weekend?
133
This is a tricky question to ask.
134
You need to make sure that you ask it in this casual way.
135
Notice that I kind of abbreviated the beginning of this question.
136
I didn't say, do you have any plans for this weekend?
137
Instead, I said, got any plans for this weekend?
138
Got any plans for the weekend or this weekend?
139
This is important because if you said this a little more seriously, a little more formally, do you have any plans for this weekend?
140
How does that feel to you?
141
Do you think the other person would think, is Vanessa asking me if I want to spend time with her this weekend?
142
This could be a little complicated.
143
So make sure when you ask this question, you ask it in this informal way.
144
Hey, got any plans this weekend?
145
Really casual, maybe a little shrug.
146
You're not seriously asking them, do you have any plans for this weekend?
147
Just got any plans for the weekend?
148
and you could answer or your colleague might answer, not really, my mom's coming into town on Sunday, but I don't have any plans for the rest of the weekend.
149
Probably just take it easy.
150
Great.
151
Okay.
152
This is a casual way to answer.
153
And of course, if you feel like the other person is being a little bit too uncomfortable asking you directly,
154
do you have any plans for the weekend?
155
And you don't want to tell them, you don't have to tell them anything.
156
You could just say, not really.
157
How about you?
158
You can just throw it right back at them if you don't feel like sharing anything personal.
159
Our final small talk question plus three bonus questions are all about the most common small talk topic ever.
160
It is the weather.
161
No matter who you're talking to, a random person you don't know, a colleague, a friend, a neighbor, the weather is a safe topic and it affects everybody, right?
162
So it's not extremely boring.
163
It could be boring, but we can make it interesting with these questions.
164
These are questions I use all the time, so I want to make sure that you can use them as well.
165
So let's imagine this scenario.
166
Let's imagine you're waiting at the bus stop and there's someone beside you who you don't know, and it is extremely cold.
167
It is unusually cold for this time of year.
168
What can you say?
169
Can you believe this weather?
170
And the other person might say, I know, it just seems like winter is never going to end.
171
Can you believe this weather?
172
Wonderful question.
173
Or you might say, the weather has been so unpredictable lately.
174
It's hot one day, cold the next.
175
What am I supposed to wear?
176
I don't know.
177
And the other person might say, I know, I just wear my winter coat in the morning and by the afternoon I only have a t-shirt on.
178
This is something that affects us all.
179
Well, let's imagine that the weather is actually okay.
180
Good-ish weather.
181
What can you say?
182
Oh, it's such a nice day today, isn't it?
183
And here this question at the end, we call that a tag question because you're just tagging it on at the end
184
and you're hoping that the other person will give some kind of reply.
185
Oh, it's such a nice day today, isn't it?
186
Maybe the other person will say, I know it is.
187
I can't believe it.
188
or maybe the other person will just say, yeah, okay, maybe they didn't want to have a conversation.
189
But this type of small talk back and forth is really common in the U.S.
190
Let's imagine you're at the bus stop and it is pouring down rain.
191
It's kind of an inconvenient type of weather to have when you're waiting for the bus.
192
Hopefully there's a little shelter you can wait under.
193
You might say something like this, I heard it's supposed to rain all weekend.
194
unfortunate.
195
Maybe you need rain where you live, or maybe it's just too much rain.
196
If you said this to someone, or if someone said this to you, how can you reply?
197
I heard it's supposed to rain all weekend.
198
Well, you can probably commiserate with them.
199
This word commiserate means you're going to complain together.
200
So you might say, oh, it's been raining for so long.
201
I wish it would just stop.
202
you are commiserating together about the bad weather.
203
Well, there you have it.
204
10 common small talk questions and answers that I use all the time and you can too.
205
Oh, plus three bonuses.
206
I hope you enjoyed those.
207
Don't forget to download the free PDF worksheet for today's lesson.
208
This includes all of today's important small talk questions and answers plus the bonus speaking practice.
209
In this speaking practice, I'm going to be saying out loud each of the questions and answers,
210
and then I'm going to be pausing to give you a chance to repeat exactly what I said.
211
This type of repeating practice is the best way to remember what you've learned.
212
You're using it right away.
213
So don't miss out on this speaking practice.
214
All you need to do is click on the link in the description, enter your name and email address, and voila, just like that,
215
the free PDF worksheet and speaking practice will land in your email inbox.
216
It is my gift to you.
217
So click on the link in the description and don't wait.
218
Start speaking.
219
Use this.
220
Have small talk conversations wherever you go or even just with me in the speaking practice.
221
And now I have a question for you.
222
I want to know, got any plans for this weekend?
223
Let me know in the comments what your plans are.
224
I can't wait to read them and learn more about you.
225
Thank you so much for learning English with me
226
and I'll see you again next Friday for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel.
227
Bye!
228
But wait, do you want more?
229
I recommend watching this video next where you will learn 10 everyday expressions that I use about my evening routine,
230
including what to say when you come home from work completely tired.
231
What should you say?
232
Well, I'll see you in that video to find out.
๐บ Zelfde Kanaal
B23
How to Give Directions in English: Advanced English Lesson
American Accent, en-USUniversity Students+3
B1Speak With Me: English Speaking Practice
American Accent, en-USHigh School Students+4
B12
๐Top MOST Important Travel Phrases in Englishโ
American Accent, en-USTeens+3
B12
Make the Bed With Me in English
American Accent, en-USTeens+3
B11
2 Tips For Improving Your *Listening* Skills
American Accent, en-USHigh School Students+3
B11
Speak English Confidently: Daily Life Vocabulary
American Accent, en-USHigh School Students+4
B12
Real Life English: Phrases for the Kitchen
American Accent, en-USHigh School Students+4
B23
10 Real ENGLISH Conversations: Can you understand them?
American Accent, en-USUniversity Students+3
B11
Speak With Me: English Speaking Practice
American Accent, en-USHigh School Students+4
B12
English Conversation Lesson: Learn 3 advanced expressions
American Accent, en-USHigh School Students+4
B12
THINK and SPEAK in English: Your Weekend Plans
American Accent, en-USTeens+3
B13
Speak With Me: Real Life English Conversation
American Accent, en-USHigh School Students+4
A12
"What time is it?": A Simple Answer #Shorts
American Accent, en-USKids+3
B2Speak English FLUENTLY in 30 Days: The Truth
American Accent, en-USUniversity Students+3
B21
25 Advanced English Vocabulary Phrases
American Accent, en-USUniversity Students+2
B1England VS America: Ten Items That Have Different Names
American Accent, en-USHigh School Students+3
![Business English: Customer Service Expressions [Advanced Professional English]](https://img.youtube.com/vi/87typT3y5ys/mqdefault.jpg)
B22
Business English: Customer Service Expressions [Advanced Professional English]
American Accent, en-USTOEIC Prep+2
B12
English SPEAKING Practice: 10 Conversations for Daily Life
American Accent, en-USTeens+3
B21
Listen and Repeat: Speak with me in English
American Accent, en-USDaily Conversation
C15 Secrets to Having an American English Accent: Advanced Pronunciation Lesson
American Accent, en-USDaily Conversation
โจ Aanbevolen Video
B11
208 zinnen
50 Small Talk Questions with the Answers. Practice English Conversation
TeensHigh School Students+2
B13
39 zinnen
HOW TO BE SOCIAL - HOW TO NEVER RUN OUT OF THINGS TO SAY
TeensHigh School Students+2
B17
72 zinnen
How Small Talk Can Improve Your English Speaking | Mr English Podcast Ep. 45
TeensHigh School Students+2
B1117 zinnen
No study,Just Listen | Speak English Like a Native
TeensHigh School Students+2
B1307 zinnen
20 Minutes of Shadowing Practice | English Podcast For English learners | #Englishtopics4U
TeensHigh School Students+2
B18
157 zinnen
The Most Common Questions For Everyday SMALL TALK
TeensHigh School Students+2
B11
1106 zinnen
Improve Your English Just by Listening | 40 Minutes of Real English Listening Practice (A2-B1)
TeensHigh School Students+2
B15
141 zinnen
Learn English Through Travel Stories | Listening Practice
TeensHigh School Students+3
B11
300 zinnen
30 English Sentences You Need Right Now | Speak English in 10 Minutes | A1โB1
TeensHigh School Students+3
B13
404 zinnen
Can You Answer 20 Questions About Yourself in English? | Real English Speaking Practice | A2-B1
TeensHigh School Students+3
Over deze les
Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?
Shadowing is een wetenschappelijk onderbouwde taalleermethode die oorspronkelijk is ontwikkeld voor professionele tolkentraining en gepopulariseerd door polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. De methode is eenvoudig maar krachtig: je luistert naar native Engelse audio en herhaalt het onmiddellijk hardop โ als een schaduw die de spreker volgt met slechts 1โ2 seconden vertraging. In tegenstelling tot passief luisteren of grammaticadrills, dwingt shadowing je hersenen en mondspieren om echte spraakpatronen tegelijkertijd te verwerken en te reproduceren. Onderzoek toont aan dat het de uitspraaknauwkeurigheid, intonatie, ritme, verbonden spraak, luisterbegrip en spreekvaardigheid aanzienlijk verbetert โ waardoor het een van de meest effectieve methoden is voor IELTS Speaking-voorbereiding en echte Engelse communicatie.