Instead of always feeling uncomfortable about conversation, prepare yourself for it. It will help you to feel more confident when talking to the other person.
Think of issues that interest you most, and what you would like to discuss about particular subjects. Learning to ask simple friendly questions is another conversational tool. Depending on the question, people generally enjoy talking about themselves and their views.
To make interesting conversation, you must be interesting to others. Keep yourself informed on current events, involved in activities, and keep a mental list of good topics of discussion. These are ways to ‘break the ice’ when meeting with others. Discussions of others’ personal lives are ‘taboo’, particularly when speaking of their relationship with their spouse, their finances, or personal problems.
Great topics of conversation are recent news events (locally or world-wide), books, history, technology, music, art, and sports. Topics to avoid are gruesome tales, sex, lengthy talk about your relatives or pets, and yourself. It’s okay to mention things that are going on in your life but it’s easy to get carried away with that topic and become boring.
Try to remember small details about the people you come into contact with. Asking someone about how their ‘basketball game went on the weekend’ is a good way to begin a conversation.
Try to keep the conversation light, humorous, or general. Remember not to hog the conversation either. Allow another person the ‘spotlight’. Do so by asking them a question. Remember that being a good conversationalist is not just the ability to speak well but also the ability to listen well.
Guaranteed to improve your spoken English!
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m always confused about how to start a conversation,after reading this passege,i have learned more.We should make preparations and find some interesting topics.Most importantly,we should dare to speak ,though we sometimes make mistakes.
Thank you for your advice!
Lisa, starting a conversation might seem difficult at first but when you get used to the idea of having conversations, it will become easier. We’re happy to know that you have learnt more from this article.
My dear Greg and Ivy Cook,
How is everything going on with you ?
Though I have been studying english for several years , still I have some problems .
I am sure ,I had memerized lots of words before I took the CET-4 & CET-6 ,however, I think , I have forgot most of them . My vocabulory is so limited now ,what’s worse , I can not even write down some of the words which I am familar with . Fortunately ,I can speak . Talking with someone in english is not a question to me. Anyway , I still wanna improve it . Any suggestions I will highly appreciate !
Dear Antony,
Thank you for your email. It’s always nice to hear from you.
We think the problem can be explained fairly easily. We will be covering this problem in detail in our upcoming book, but briefly we think the problem is as follows.
The difference betweeen your ’spoken English skill’ (that you still retain), and the ‘memorized CET vocabulary’ (that is lost), is the difference between ‘Experiential Learning’ and ‘Rote Learning’. Experiential learning is for the long term, whereas rote learning is for the short term.
The best way to remember vocabulary is firstly to associate the new words to the English you already have, and then to use it in your daily conversations.
For more ideas regarding vocabulary, see our category on ‘Vocabulary’.
Dear Grey and Ivy Cook,
I’m very glad to enter into your website,thanks for providing so many good ways to learn spoken english .After reading this passage,I learn a lot from it .You teach me English for 3 years ,I enjoy your class very much .
I am taking an English examination to become a teacher, I’m concerned about my interview .You know if I want to be a teacher ,I shoud possess the English teacher’s quality.Obviously the English level is the most important .I find my pronunciation is not good ,especially the vowel.Such as “boy,begin…”So I hope you can give me some advice .Thanks!
I’m looking forward to your new book .
always I m goin to celebrate my party
Hi Cervantina,
“Happy Birthday”?
Seriously, we’re not sure what you’re saying; but we’d like to. Please keep visiting the site and if there’s anything we can do for you then please send us another email.
Until then, good luck with your spoken English.
Best Wishes from Greg and Ivy