How and When to Talk to Strangers in English - Free English Conversations!

So a few years ago, a friend of mine

visited from another country

and he was surprised at how many times

I talked to strangers when we went out for the day.

He was surprised because in his country

it's not culturally acceptable to talk to strangers

as much as I talked to strangers.

So in this English lesson,

I'm going to talk about when it's okay to talk to strangers

in English-speaking countries.

Maybe you've recently moved to an English-speaking country

or you're visiting an English-speaking country.

I'm going to go over when it's okay to talk to strangers

and the kinds of things you would say in those situations.

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So you might be wondering, "How is this an English lesson?

How is Bob telling me about how to talk to strangers

an English lesson?"

Well, I look at conversations with strangers

as free English practice.

If you can learn how to start a conversation appropriately

with a stranger, it's like a little practice conversation

that you can have in English.

One of the first places where it's okay

to start a conversation is whenever you're waiting in line.

If I'm at the grocery store waiting in line

or if I'm anywhere waiting in line,

after a little while, it's actually okay

to say to the person beside you something like this,

"Wow, this line isn't moving very fast."

Or "how long have you been waiting here?"

It's just okay to start a conversation that way.

The person might respond and just give you an answer

and that might be the end of it, but they might respond

and then ask you a question about something,

and you might have a little free

practice English conversation.

So the first place it's okay to talk to strangers,

anytime you're waiting in a line, but not right away.

Usually you wait a little bit, and after a minute or two,

you might say to the person behind you or in front of you,

"Wow, this is taking forever.

How long have you been waiting?"

The second situation where it's totally okay

to have a conversation with a stranger in English

is when you need directions.

When you're a little bit lost

and you need to find out how to get somewhere.

Maybe you're a tourist in an English-speaking country.

Maybe you're visiting the city of Toronto

and you don't know how to get to the CN Tower,

you could walk up to someone

and say this very, very politely,

"Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to the CN Tower?"

Hopefully, the person gives you directions

and in some situations,

you might end up having a little conversation with them.

So the second time when it's totally okay

to talk to a stranger, when you're looking for directions

when you need to figure out how to get somewhere.

The third situation where you could have a little

English conversation with a stranger would be

if you see someone doing a hobby or activity in public.

People are usually quite open

to talking about the things they like doing.

So I'll give you a few examples from my own life

of conversations I've had

with people doing an activity or hobby.

A year ago, I was walking along the shore of the lake

and someone was fishing.

And so as I walked by, I said, "Are the fish biting today?

Have you caught a lot?"

And he showed me how many fish he had in his bucket,

he had five, and we had a little conversation about fishing.

Last fall, I was hiking with my family

and there were a bunch of people rock climbing.

They had ropes and climbing gear,

and they were climbing on these big boulders

on this cliff-face.

And I stopped and I said,

"How long have you been doing this for?

Do you enjoy it?"

And we had a little fun conversation about rock climbing.

So the third situation where it's totally okay

to start an English conversation with a stranger

would be if you see someone doing something fun.

Maybe they're playing Frisbee,

maybe they're fishing, maybe they're rock climbing.

Ask them about it, I'm sure they'll be happy

to tell you all about it.

The fourth situation where you can have

a little practice English conversation with a stranger

would be any time you are sitting somewhere.

Maybe you're sitting on a bench like this one at a park.

Maybe you're sitting on a bench at the mall

and someone sits down at the other end of the bench.

It would be totally okay after a moment or two

to talk about what's happening around you.

If I was sitting on a park bench and someone sat down,

after a moment or two I would probably say

something about the weather.

I might say, "Oh, I hope it doesn't rain any time soon."

Or I might say, "Wow, sure is hot out here today, isn't it?"

This might start a little English conversation.

You might just get an answer and that might be it,

but the person might also start

having a conversation with you.

If I was at the mall, I would probably say something like,

"Wow, sure is busy here today, isn't it?"

Or the opposite, I might say,

"Wow, there aren't very many people here today, are there?"

Anyways, either of those things

will start a little conversation.

Again, it might end quickly,

but it might lead to a little bit of a longer conversation

and you'll get to enjoy the conversation

and practice your English.

Have you ever noticed that pet owners

love talking about their pets?

In particular, dog owners seem to like talking

about their dogs and this fifth situation

involves just that, talking to strangers about their pets,

usually their dog.

Maybe you're at an outdoor market

or maybe you're, again, at the park,

And someone walks by you with a dog.

A few things that would be totally appropriate

to say or ask would be things like this,

"Wow, what cute dog."

You could say that.

Or "Is it a boy or a girl?"

Sometimes we say that.

Or "What's his name?" or "What's her name?"

It's totally appropriate to ask that.

I've seen many, many dog owners engage in conversations

with complete strangers about their dogs.

Dog people just love talking about their dogs,

so take the opportunity

to have a little English conversation about the dog

and maybe a few other things.

So I've mentioned a few situations

where it's okay to start a conversation with a stranger,

but I feel like I should talk about

a couple situations where you shouldn't

start having a conversation with a stranger.

I feel like this is more than an English lesson,

it's a bit of a cultural lesson as well.

There's two places that I can think of

where it's just not a good idea

to start a conversation with a stranger.

The first would be if you are sitting in a restaurant.

If I'm sitting in a restaurant with my friends or family

I'm going to talk to them,

but I cannot think of one time in my life

where I have started a conversation

with someone else in a restaurant

while I was sitting and having my meal.

Even though it's a public place, I think people expect

a certain amount of privacy while they're there.

So they just expect to enjoy the time

with their friends or family,

and they're not that interested in talking to other people.

The second situation I can think of

would be in a movie theater.

You might ask a stranger a question like,

"Are those seats taken at the end of that row?"

before the movie starts, but usually in a movie theater,

you don't talk to strangers.

If you're sitting by someone you don't know,

you try to be as quiet and respectful as possible

so they can enjoy the movie.

Anyways, thank you so much for watching this English lesson

and maybe a little cultural lesson

about how to talk to strangers in English.

I hope it helped you a little bit.

I hope at some point

when you're in an English-speaking country,

maybe you already are,

maybe you've moved to Canada recently,

but maybe you're going to visit an English-speaking country,

I hope you can think of ways to find opportunities

to talk to strangers

and have a little practice English conversation.

Thanks for watching.

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and give me a thumbs up if this video helped you learn

a little bit more English,

and I'll see you next week with another English lesson.

Bye.

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