Speaking Fluency — Buying Time Strategies
From Sourov's world: Job interviews in French in La Réunion were terrifying. I needed 3 seconds to translate my thoughts from English or Bengali into French before I could speak. In French I used Euh...…
Tag: conversation
Small Talk in English — What to Say When You Don’t Know What to Say
💬 My first week in France: I was waiting for a meeting to start. Eight French colleagues. Silence. In Australia, we'd have talked about sport, weather, weekend plans. I had none of those reference points.…
Small Talk at Work: Starting Conversations in English (B1)
🎙 From the classroom: Working at The Ivy in Sydney, I learned that small talk wasn't small. It built the relationship before the transaction. A guest who felt genuinely noticed would order a better bottle,…
Making New Friends: How to Start a Conversation
The first friend I made in Sydney — really made, not just a colleague — came from a misunderstanding. I was trying to buy a bus ticket and pressing all the wrong buttons. A young…
Small Talk with Customers: The Art of Light Conversation
At Ivy in Sydney I noticed that the best waiters didn't just take orders — they noticed things. 'Did you just come from the theatre?' 'Is this a special occasion?' One question. A real answer.…
Polite Requests & Offers in English — A2 Functional Language
Every shift behind the bar, I made hundreds of requests and offers. The right phrase made all the difference.