5 ways to start a conversation

And then comes that awkward silence. Well, let’s change that! Here are 5 ways to start interesting conversations in English.

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO?

This is a great and common way to start a friendly conversation and find out what kinds of things are happening in your friend’s life.
This way, you have so much more information to practice your English with than if you started with just a “Hi, how are you?”
Let’s move on!

WHAT HAVE YOU GOT GOING ON TODAY?

Let’s see what that means: With this sentence, you’re about to learn what that person plans on doing for the rest of the day.
A more interesting answer will give you extra vocab with which to practice your listening skills, and this question might even score you an invitation to hang out!
Moving on!

WHAT HAVE YOU GOT PLANNED FOR THE WEEKEND?

Ah, the weekend. The most beloved days of the week. So, if you want to hang out with a friend on the weekend, you better ask them if they already have plans.
This opens up the possibility of you having fun and continuing to practice your English on the weekend. But don’t practice too hard. I mean, it’s the weekend, right?

GIVE A COMPLIMENT

Those three sentences above are great examples to use with people you already know. But what about new people?
Well, here in the U.S., it’s super common to give a compliment as a way of starting a conversation with a stranger.
You can say something like “I love your jeans,” or “Hey, that’s a really nice car!”
So, you can start these sentences by saying “Hey, I love your…”

Or “Hey, that’s a really nice…”

And, to continue the conversation, you could say “Where did you get it?”
So, it could be something like:

“Hey, that’s a really nice jacket. Where did you get it?”

Just remember: Don’t be too personal and don’t be creepy. Follow these two rules and you’ll be okay.

MAKE AN OBSERVATION

This one may vary, and you’ll have to pay attention to the moment.
Let’s say you’re in a theme park. You could say, to a person close to you, something like:

“Hey, that Harry Potter ride was pretty crazy, huh?”
Or:
“Wow! Can you believe how long that line is? That’s crazy!”

The trick is to say something interesting about what’s happening around you because, as far as you know, you’ll both have that something in common.
So, when you make an observation, you give the other person a chance to share their opinion as well.

That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this video, and, if you did, send it to a friend. And remember: When talking to strangers, just pay them a compliment or make an observation.
Peace out!