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It can be difficult to keep a conversation going. Even if you understand what the other person is saying, you can feel "blocked" or "frozen" when it's your turn to speak. The words or phrases you need don't often come quickly enough to mind.
The more opportunities you can get to use and speak English, the easier it is to find the right words when you need them. Take every chance you get to use your English! See How to practise your English for lots of ideas to find speaking opportunities.
But there are other ways to help keep the conversation along. The "secret" is that you don't actually need many words to do this!
Here are some ways to make you sound like a fluent, confident speaker of English without saying very much:
1. Show interest in the other speaker
You don't need to say much. Often just one word is needed to show you are interested and listening. Try "Really?" (with a rising intonation), "Right" or "Sure". You could even show you are listening with a non-word such as "Mmm" or Uh-huh".
"I hate watching rubbish on the TV."
"Right."
2. Use a short phrase to show your feelings
For example, "How awful", "Oh no!", "You're joking", "What a pity" etc.
"My neighbour had a car accident yesterday."
"Oh no!"
"Yes, but thankfully he wasn't hurt."
"Mmm."
3. Ask a short question
You can use an auxiliary verb to make a short question which will encourage the other speaker to keep talking:
"We tried out the new Chinese restaurant last night."
"Did you?"
"I'm going to Barbados next week on holiday."
"Are you? Lucky you!"
"It's snowing again."
"Is it?"
4. Repeat what the other person said
Do this especially if the other person has said something surprising.
"He won £200 on the lottery."
"£200!"
"I'm going to Barbados next week."
"Barbados!"
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Aprender Inglês
How to keep an English conversation going
It can be difficult to keep a conversation going. Even if you understand what the other person is saying, you can feel "blocked" or "frozen" when it's your turn to speak. The words or phrases you need don't often come quickly enough to mind.
The more opportunities you can get to use and speak English, the easier it is to find the right words when you need them. Take every chance you get to use your English! See How to practise your English for lots of ideas to find speaking opportunities.
But there are other ways to help keep the conversation along. The "secret" is that you don't actually need many words to do this!
Here are some ways to make you sound like a fluent, confident speaker of English without saying very much:
1. Show interest in the other speaker
You don't need to say much. Often just one word is needed to show you are interested and listening. Try "Really?" (with a rising intonation), "Right" or "Sure". You could even show you are listening with a non-word such as "Mmm" or Uh-huh".
"I hate watching rubbish on the TV."
"Right."
2. Use a short phrase to show your feelings
For example, "How awful", "Oh no!", "You're joking", "What a pity" etc.
"My neighbour had a car accident yesterday."
"Oh no!"
"Yes, but thankfully he wasn't hurt."
"Mmm."
3. Ask a short question
You can use an auxiliary verb to make a short question which will encourage the other speaker to keep talking:
"We tried out the new Chinese restaurant last night."
"Did you?"
"I'm going to Barbados next week on holiday."
"Are you? Lucky you!"
"It's snowing again."
"Is it?"
4. Repeat what the other person said
Do this especially if the other person has said something surprising.
"He won £200 on the lottery."
"£200!"
"I'm going to Barbados next week."
"Barbados!"
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- Practising English Outside School
By Josef Essberger When you are learning English, it is very important to use and practise your English as often as possible. If you are studying in a school, you have some good opportunities to practise. But what can you do after school, or if you...
- How To Avoid Silence In English Conversations
Sometimes you don't know what to say in a conversation. Perhaps you don't have any words to express yourself, or you haven't understood the other person. Or perhaps there isn't anything left to say! In all these situations, it's important...
- Intonation ( For Teachers)
Intonation is crucial for communication. It's also a largely unconscious mechanism, and as such, a complex aspect of pronunciation. It's no surprise that many teachers don't feel confident about tackling it in the classroom. When teaching...
- Speaking To Yourself Can Be Dangerous!
by Josef Essberger There are 4 key skills when you learn a language: ?listening?speaking?reading?writingWhich one of these is the "Odd-Man-Out"? Which one of these is different from the other three? The answer is speaking. The other three you can do...
- Practising English Outside School
By Josef Essberger When you are learning English, it is very important to use and practise your English as often as possible. If you are studying in a school, you have some good opportunities to practise. But what can you do after school, or if you are...