跟读练习: Successful English Small Talk at Work | English Conversation Practice - 通过视频学习英语口语
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For better or worse, it isn't possible to introduce yourself to someone new and instantly become friends with them.
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That really wouldn't make sense. Would it?
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You can't be friends with someone you don't know yet.
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So how do you make a transition from introducing yourself to
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a new team member to having a weekly lunch day on Tuesdays with someone you work with?
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The answer to that is simple, small talk.
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Now I know we all hate small talk or we say that we hate small talk.
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We have this idea that it's something hard, stressful, uncomfortable, boring, or even meaningless.
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And sure it's true.
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Small talk tends to be polite, but unimportant conversation.
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We also worry over what kinds of questions we can ask or what is appropriate in small talk.
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I'm Anne Marie with Speak Confident English.
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This is exactly where you want to be every week to get the confidence you want for your life
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and work in English.
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In today's video, you're going to learn how to make small talk in English easy,
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fun, and successful so that you can get to know a new coworker
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and develop better relationships with the people that you see at work regularly.
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By the end of this lesson today, you'll be ready to start asking questions at work and enjoy conversations with your coworkers.
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To get started, let's do a quick recap on why small talk is
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so important and how it can help you develop relationships in English.
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Small talk is the pathway to learning something new about a coworker, finding a meaningful connection with someone,
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discovering a potential new friendship and having fun in a conversation.
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So whether you want to get to know one of your coworkers better, or you've just introduced yourself to a new team member,
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here are three different ways you can start small talk conversations successfully.
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And I'll include examples along the way.
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Option Number one is start with a compliment and then add a connected question.
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This is definitely a strategy Americans love.
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And this is what it sounds like.
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I love that sweater.
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Is it new?
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Those are cute shoes.
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Where'd you get them?
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That drawing is fantastic.
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Are you an artist on the side?
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This is a strategy.
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Several of my students who live in the United States have noticed, and they thought it was a little bit strange.
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One of my students asked me, why do Americans always want to know where I bought something?
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And the truth is that isn't really what we want to know.
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Perhaps sometimes we want to know where you got that dress or those shoes, but what we're really doing is trying to start a conversation.
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And we do that by complimenting something we like and then following it up with a question.
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In that process, we start to learn something about you.
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Of course, if I ask you where you bought those shoes, I might learn what store you like to shop at.
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And maybe it's a store I also like to shop at.
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It may seem small, strange and insignificant,
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but the only way to develop a relationship is to find those initial connections, however small they might be.
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And this strategy helps us start those small talk conversations in a really polite and positive way.
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The second strategy you can use for small talk is to get the conversation flowing with engaging questions.
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And this is easier than it sounds.
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We're all familiar with questions like how long have you worked here?
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How long have you been an accountant?
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Do you like working here?
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How was your weekend?
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Those are all common questions.
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In fact, that last one may be the most common question asked on Monday mornings.
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But the problem with all of those is that they lead to very simple or one word answers.
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For example, how long have you worked here?
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Four years.
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How long have you been an accountant?
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Seven years.
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Do you like working here?
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Yes.
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How was your weekend?
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Fine.
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It's really hard to have a successful conversation.
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When someone just gives us a one word answer,
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a better approach is to use questions that encourage someone to talk and talk and talk and talk.
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The more someone else talks,
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the more we learn and it's easier to find more engaging in depth questions and find connections.
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Here's an example.
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Last week, I shared a lesson on how to successfully introduce yourself to new people at work.
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Let's use an example introduction from that lesson and see how we can follow it up with a successful, engaging, small talk question.
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The introduction may start with, Hey, Rebecca, nice to meet you.
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I'm Sarah.
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I'm the new part -time accountant here.
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How long have you been at the company?
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Now with that first question, it's very possible for Rebecca to give a short one word answer and she probably will.
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She might say, I've been here seven years or simply seven years after that short question,
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a better small talk question that encourages conversation might be, what do you like about working here?
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It's really difficult to give a one word answer to that question.
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Not only does that question encourage conversation,
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but you'll also learn something interesting and get more details about Rebecca and her experience working at this company.
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Similarly, if you're talking to a new coworker who has recently moved to this particular city,
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you could ask, how's the new neighborhood?
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And a response could be, it's good.
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It's fine.
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A better question might be, what do you like about your new neighborhood?
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With that question, anything is possible.
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Not only are you encouraging the conversation,
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but you may find some wonderful connections or maybe even learn something new about the city where you live.
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Another example, of course, on Monday mornings, you could ask your coworker, Or how was your weekend?
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And the answer is usually it was good.
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It was fine.
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Or you could start a Monday morning conversation with, so what kinds of things do you do on the weekends for fun when you're not at work?
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Once again, the answers to that are endless and you will certainly learn something new and interesting about your coworker.
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When you ask engaging questions, not only will you get longer answers,
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but the conversation will be more fun and it will be easier to keep it going with follow -up questions.
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And finally, the third way to start successful small talk at work is to ask for advice or get someone's opinion.
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Now you may be thinking, Anne Marie, is that really small talk?
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Isn't giving my opinion more personal?
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And my answer to that is yes and no. If I ask for advice on buying a house or marriage, or if I ask your opinion on a political candidate,
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those are definitely more personal topics and would not be appropriate for small talk, but asking for your favorite pizza place on a Friday night,
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or where's the best place to get coffee near the office or asking if you recommend Barcelona for a great vacation spot,
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because I know that you went to Barcelona last summer.
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These are all appropriate topics for small talk.
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And they're also asking for someone's advice or their opinion.
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Everyone loves to give their advice, their recommendations, and their opinions.
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So these are extremely successful ways to get a conversation going.
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I'll give you a couple of examples.
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Here's how you might include a question on someone's advice or opinion when you're meeting a new coworker.
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Hey, Rebecca, it's nice to meet you.
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I'm Sarah, the new part -time accountant here.
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I'll admit that I'm a little nervous on my first day, but I'm really excited to get to know everyone.
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And I'd love to find out where the best place is to get coffee around here.
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What's your favorite near the office?
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Not only does that example include an introduction following the structure I shared in my lesson last week,
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but it also ends with a question seeking advice or someone's opinion about a great coffee shop near the office.
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Here's another example.
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If you're chatting with a coworker, you already know well, Hey Sue, you know how my husband and I get pizza every Friday.
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We're kind of tired of the same old place.
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What are your thoughts on the best pizza in town?
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Or here's another, Hey Sue, didn't you go to Barcelona last summer?
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I'm thinking about it for our next vacation.
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I'd love to get your thoughts on it.
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Notice in those examples, I didn't ask where do you like to get pizza or do you recommend Barcelona?
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Asking those questions could lead to a very simple one word answer or even a simple yes or no. Instead,
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I'm asking for details, advice, and opinions by starting with what are your thoughts on or what are your thoughts about?
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That is an excellent, simple way to ask questions on someone's opinion and to get more in -depth answers.
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And with that, you have three simple ways to ask small talk questions that make conversations easy, successful, and fun in English.
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As a quick recap, strategy number one is start with a compliment and ask a connected question.
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Strategy two, get the conversation flowing with engaging questions and strategy three, ask for someone's advice or opinions.
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Now it's time for you to practice.
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I would love for you to share some of your favorite small talk questions.
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And then I have a second challenge for you.
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After you share your small talk questions below the video, look at the questions other people ask and practice answering them.
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Not only will you learn a variety of small talk questions to help make your conversation successful,
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but you'll also get practice in how to answer them as well.
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With that, if you found this week's lesson useful, I would love to know.
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And you can tell me in three simple ways.
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Number one, give this lesson a thumbs up here on YouTube and subscribe to this channel.
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So you never miss one of my Confident English lessons.
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Number two, if you know someone else who struggles with small talk in English, share this lesson with them,
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and you can do that easily by sending it via email or sharing it on Facebook.
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And finally, be sure to practice and share your examples with me.
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Have a wonderful week.
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Thank you so much for joining me.
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And I look forward to seeing you next time for your Confident English lesson.
谁适合观看这个视频？
无论你是刚入职需要和同事破冰的职场新人，还是想提升英语日常会话能力的学习者，这个视频都能帮你。它聚焦职场闲聊技巧，适合有一定基础但渴望更自然交流的人。通过学习如何从自我介绍过渡到每周午餐约会，你能轻松掌握建立职场关系的关键——small talk（闲聊）。
值得借鉴的表达与习语
视频中出现了不少实用表达，比如small talk（闲聊）、on the side（兼职，副业）、get the conversation flowing（让对话顺畅进行）。这些表达简洁地道，非常适合职场场景。另外，“Where'd you get them?”（你从哪儿买的？）这种口语化问句，是美国人常用的闲聊开场白，记住它能让你更快融入对话。
如何练好发音？
想要掌握视频中 speaker 的发音，可以试试shadow speak（影子跟读法）。这种方法能帮你提高英语发音，具体做法是：播放视频片段，暂停后模仿其语调、节奏甚至重音。比如视频中提到“What do you like about working here?”时，注意“like”和“working”的重读，以及句尾的升调。此外，练习时要关注连读现象，比如“it isn't possible”中的“it isn't”可连读为/ɪt ˈɪznt/。坚持用shadow speech训练，你的口语会更自然流畅。
职场闲聊的3个实用技巧
- 从赞美切入+追问：用“I love that sweater. Is it new?”（我喜欢你的毛衣，是新的吗？）这样的句子，既礼貌又能开启对话。
- 提出有深度的问题：别再问“How was your weekend?”（周末过得怎样？），试试“What do you do for fun on weekends?”（周末不上班时你喜欢做什么？），能得到更丰富的回答。
- 寻求建议或意见：比如“Where's the best coffee near the office?”（办公室附近哪家咖啡最好？），这类问题轻松又安全，很适合闲聊。
这些技巧不仅能帮你打破沉默，还能找到共同话题。赶紧用shadowspeak法模仿视频中的对话，练习起来吧！
什么是跟读法？
跟读法 (Shadowing) 是一种有科学依据的语言学习技巧，最初开发用于专业口译员的培训，并由多语言者Alexander Arguelles博士普及。这个方法简单而强大：您在听英语母语原声的同时立即大声重复——就像是一个延迟1-2秒紧跟说话者的影子。与被动听力或语法练习不同，跟读法强迫您的大脑和口腔肌肉同时处理并模仿真实的讲话模式。研究表明它能显着提高发音准确性，语调，节奏，连读，听力理解和口语流利度——使其成为雅思口语备考和真实英语交流最有效的方法之一。