Starting or closing a conversation is usually even more uncomfortable. Preparing with a few opening and closing lines or sentences can be real help for us, and you will see that it is not as big a challenge as you first expected.
However, if you know what is going on in the areas of culture, sports, and so on , you can have a fluent, successful conversation.. Beware, do NOT mention personal issues such as religion or politics.
Dialogue 1:
A: “Hi, Steve.”
B: “Oh, hi, Dave.”
A: “How are you doing?”
B: “I’m doing alright. How about you?”
A: “Not too bad. The weather is great isn’t it?”
B: “Yes. It’s beautiful today.”
A: “So where are you going now?”
B: “I’m going to a meeting that starts in a few minutes.”
A: “Well, you’d better get going. You don’t want to be late.”
B: “I’ll see you next time.”
A: “Sure. Bye.”
Dialogue 2:
A: “Hello. My name’s Peter. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
B: “Hi Peter. I’m glad to be here.”
A: “Did you have any problems finding this place?”
B: “No, I didn’t. I used my navigator so it was pretty easy to find. However, the traffic wasn’t that great.”
A: “Traffic is never good around here.”
B: “I totally agree. It’d be great if there was a train or a subway line that went through here.”
A: “That would be so great. I would definitely take the train if they had it.”
B: “Trains are great ‘cos you can get a little rest instead of having to fight the traffic.”
A: “Indeed. Well, let me begin by telling you about our company.”
Dialogue 3:
A: “Hi Sue, how are you doing?”
B: “Great. How are you doing?”
A: “I’m doing well myself.”
A: “What have you been up to lately?”
B: “Well, we’ve just started to work on the new project and it’s really driving me nuts.”
A: “Does that mean you are overloaded?”
B: “Oh, no, not really. It’s OK.”
A: “We should get together for lunch sometime.”
B: “Yeah, that would be great.”
A: “I’ll call you sometime.”
B: “Ok. I’ll see you later.”
A: “Alright. See ya.”
