Small Talk With Strangers in English - How to Make Small Talk with Strangers

Alright how about with strangers? We'll  go through these a little quickly. So,  

the first two things we might talk about  with strangers is commenting on let's say,  

they have a baby or a child, or they  are walking their dog. We might just be  

friendly and say something like, “oh what a  beautiful baby, how old is he or how old is she?”  

Or if they're walking their dog, “what a cute  puppy. What's his name or what's her name?”  

So, this is a great way to just have small talk.  Maybe you are in the park, or you're walking in  

your neighborhood, and you see someone, and you  just want to be friendly and have some small talk,  

or if you're outside again at the park or going  for a walk or something like this. You might  

just say, “it's a beautiful day to be outside,  isn't it?” So here again we see that “isn't it.” 

I think we saw this in our weather section,  “it's a beautiful day, isn't it?” So here,  

just confirming right. This means I know you  will agree it's a beautiful day to be outside,  

isn't it? Now, the next few we're going to look  at are if you are waiting. So, I’m going to put  

a line here now. What if you are waiting in a  long line somewhere? Maybe you're at a theme  

park waiting to go on a roller coaster, or you're  at the store and you're just being casual having  

small talk with the person in front of you.  Or they might ask you these questions too.  

“Can you believe this line? Oh it's so long. Can  you believe this line?” You might ask someone,  

maybe you think, “maybe I will not go on this  roller coaster.” Or, “I will not buy this thing  

today.” Let's see how the person at the end of the  line, “excuse me how long have you been waiting?”  

And last it looks like we're going to be here for  a while. So, we have our two different situations.  

This is very casual like out at the park or out  for a walk. When you just see people, you don't  

know or you're just trying to be friendly and here  waiting waiting in line waiting to do something.  

So those are uh some great conversation starters  but that's not the limit. We can have small talk  

about many topics like shows, movies, plays, and  so on. Oh, hey instead of “did you watch the game  

last night? Have you seen the new that new movie?  Have you seen the Black Widow movie yet?” Right  

small talk we could talk about food, restaurants,  or cooking. So, a new restaurant opens up in town  

and I’m talking maybe to my co-worker, or to  my friend of a friend and I say something like,  

“hey have you gone to the new sushi restaurant  yet?” Hobbies are a great small talk topic.  

Anything that you want to ask someone about  their hobbies or share a little bit about yours. 

Travel, “oh have you have you traveled to uh this  national park yet? Have you traveled to this other  

place yet?” And finally local favorites. So,  this means anything in your town or your area  

that you're just being conversational about.  So, that could be local restaurants, local  

shops, local places to go, and  just chatting about those things.  

So, before we end today's lesson let me give  you some small talk tips. My tip number one  

is to ask open ended questions. So, this means  that they are not yes or no questions. So  

uh if those can be good right like, “it's  a beautiful day, isn't it?” That's a “yes,  

it is” or “no it isn't” question. That's okay,  but it's even better to ask open-ended questions.  

So often these start with our WH- words; who,  what, when, where, why, how, which. Right so  

these are great because we get more information.  That's a better way to start a conversation.  

Next practice active listening. So,  especially if you feel a little nervous  

about small talk in English. Make sure to listen  carefully. Don't focus on what you will say next,  

focus on listening to the other person, and then  you can think about what you want to say next.  

And finally show your enthusiasm. So be kind be  friendly and you will definitely be successful.