Learn English - English in Three Minutes - Asking "Where did you go to school?"

Welcome to EnglishClass101.com’s English in Three Minutes. The fastest, easiest, and

most fun way to learn English.

Hey everyone, I’m Alisha!

In this series, we’re going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions

in English. It’s really useful, and it only takes three minutes!

In this lesson, you’re going to learn how to ask someone where they went to school or college.

Asking someone where they went to college is a good small-talk question and conversation-starter.

However you have to be careful not to offend people if they didn’t go to college. We’ll

tell you how to do this.

The question is simple. If the other person is over 22, it’s likely they will have left

college already, so you ask using the past tense.

“Where did you go to college?”

You could also say:

“Where did you go to school?”

In American English, depending on context, “school” often means the same as “college”.

If the other person is British or European, however, they’re more likely to say:

“Where did you go to university?”

The answer to this question is really easy! All you say is:

“I went to [University], in [City].”

“I went to Southern Oregon University in Ashland.”

If the name of the city or town is part of the university’s name, like Tokyo University,

or Oxford University, you can add the name of the country instead.

“I went to Tokyo University in Japan.”

Once you’ve heard the other person’s answer, it’s polite to make some kind of comment.

For example,

“Wow, that’s a really famous university.”

or just:

“Oh, really?”

Sometimes when you ask “Where did you go to college?” the other person might reply:

“I didn’t go to college.”

In this situation, you should be careful how you reply so as not to appear rude. It’s

polite to not act surprised, but instead make a positive comment like:

“Oh, really!”

Or ask a question like:

“Did you go straight into a job?”

Now it’s time for Alisha’s Advice!

A good follow-up question to keep the conversation going is to ask the other person:

“What did you study?” or “What was your major?” This gives them an opportunity to talk about

something they’re interested in.

In the next lesson you’ll learn how to ask another basic question about the other person

which often features in first-time conversations between native speakers. That’s

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?” See you next time!