{"id":1211,"date":"2021-04-09T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/?p=1211"},"modified":"2023-11-06T23:12:54","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T14:12:54","slug":"how-to-continue-a-conversation-in-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/how-to-continue-a-conversation-in-english\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Continue a Conversation in English"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Okay, so you\u2019ve started a conversation with someone in English. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re <strong>meeting for the first time<\/strong>, you\u2019ll have introduced yourselves and asked the basic getting to know you questions like, \u201cWhere are you from?\u201d or \u201cWhat do you do?\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or perhaps you\u2019re meeting someone <strong>you\u2019ve met once or twice<\/strong> but conversation doesn\u2019t flow naturally yet.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this post, we\u2019ll have a look at some questions you can ask to keep a conversation going.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Asking questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s always nice to talk about<strong> something not work related!<\/strong> So you could ask about the previous weekend or their plans for the next weekend. If it\u2019s only Tuesday you could ask if they have any plans for that evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You could ask, \u201cDid you do anything nice at the weekend?\u201d but this <strong>doesn\u2019t<\/strong> really get conversation going. The other person could just be like, \u201cyes, it was good, thanks.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, <strong>try asking<\/strong> \u201cWhat did you get up to at the weekend?\u201d It just means, \u201cWhat did you do?\u201d but it\u2019s a bit more casual. Or, if you\u2019re talking about the next weekend, \u201cWhat are your plans for the weekend?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s have a look at an example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"dialogue-block\">\n<div id=\"dialogue-block_60713c4900fa6\" class=\"dialogue-repeater \">\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\n\t\t\t\t    <div class=\"dialogue left small\">\n\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/ava.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">Hey, how are you?<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t \t<div class=\"dialogue right small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/bradley.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">Fine thanks, you?<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t \t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\n\t\t\t\t    <div class=\"dialogue left small\">\n\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/ava.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">Good. What did you get up to at the weekend?<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t \t<div class=\"dialogue right small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/bradley.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">Oh, nothing really. I just did some chores and watched football. What about you?<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t \t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\n\t\t\t\t    <div class=\"dialogue left small\">\n\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/ava.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">Yeah, same, I didn't do much. I saw the latest Marvel movie. Have you seen it yet?<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t \t\t\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t#dialogue-block_60713c4900fa6 {\n\t\tbackground: ;\n\t\tcolor: ;\n\t}\n<\/style>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Notice how Anna responds to Ben\u2019s question <strong>with detail and an extra question<\/strong>, inviting Ben to join in. If you don\u2019t make it clear that you want to have a conversation, the other person won\u2019t try either!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anna could also have ignored Ben\u2019s questions and asked me more about his weekend:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"dialogue-block\">\n<div id=\"dialogue-block_60713ee400faf\" class=\"dialogue-repeater \">\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\n\t\t\t\t    <div class=\"dialogue left small\">\n\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/ava.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">Hey, how are you?<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t \t<div class=\"dialogue right small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/bradley.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">Fine thanks, you?<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t \t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\n\t\t\t\t    <div class=\"dialogue left small\">\n\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/ava.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">Good. What did you get up to at the weekend?<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t \t<div class=\"dialogue right small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/bradley.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">Oh, nothing really. I just did some chores and watched football. What about you?<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t \t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\n\t\t\t\t    <div class=\"dialogue left small\">\n\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/ava.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">Who was playing?<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t \t<div class=\"dialogue right small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/bradley.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">Manchester United versus Tottenham.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t \t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\n\t\t\t\t    <div class=\"dialogue left small\">\n\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/ava.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">Honestly I don\u2019t know that much about football, I prefer cricket, but I love hearing about other sports! Do you play too?<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t \t\t\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t#dialogue-block_60713ee400faf {\n\t\tbackground: ;\n\t\tcolor: ;\n\t}\n<\/style>\n\n\n\n\n<p>See how Anna keeps the conversation on Ben. She asks him more questions about his interest. The conversation <strong>should keep moving<\/strong> from here, as long as you\u2019re genuinely showing an interest in the other person! They\u2019ll want to reciprocate, so will ask questions back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/image-from-rawpixel-id-591020-jpeg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1490\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/image-from-rawpixel-id-591020-jpeg.jpg 800w, https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/image-from-rawpixel-id-591020-jpeg-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Changing the topic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Ok, so you\u2019ve talked about your weekend, now what? You can\u2019t keep talking about that forever!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some phrases you can use for changing the topic:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background-color:#d6f3ff; margin-bottom: 25px; padding-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 30px\"><p>Speaking of\u2026<\/p><p>Moving on\u2026<\/p><p>That reminds me of\u2026<\/p><p> I forgot to tell you\u2026<\/p>Did you hear&#8230;?<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>These are all ways you can move the conversation forward. Let\u2019s have a look at some in context:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"dialogue-block\">\n<div id=\"dialogue-block_607147cf00fbb\" class=\"dialogue-repeater \">\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\n\t\t\t\t    <div class=\"dialogue left small\">\n\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/erik.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">How was your weekend?<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t \t<div class=\"dialogue right small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/joseph.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">Yeah, fine. And yours?<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t \t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\n\t\t\t\t    <div class=\"dialogue left small\">\n\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/erik.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">It was ok. I went for a run, then had a barbeque for dinner.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t \t<div class=\"dialogue right small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/joseph.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">Oh, speaking of running, did you hear about the new gym open in town?<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t \t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\n\t\t\t\t    <div class=\"dialogue left small\">\n\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/erik.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">Yes, we should check it out! That reminds me, there\u2019s a marathon in the summer. Do you want to run it with me?<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t \t<div class=\"dialogue right small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/joseph.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">No way!<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t \t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\n\t\t\t\t    <div class=\"dialogue left small\">\n\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/erik.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">Ok. Moving on\u2026 have you seen the news today?<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t \t\t\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t#dialogue-block_607147cf00fbb {\n\t\tbackground: ;\n\t\tcolor: ;\n\t}\n<\/style>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Here, Rob uses \u201cspeaking of\u2026\u201d to introduce <strong>a new topic<\/strong> that\u2019s slightly related to the previous one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Phil uses \u201cthat reminds me\u2026\u201d for the same purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, Phil uses \u201cmoving on\u2026\u201d <strong>to switch<\/strong> to a completely new topic that has nothing to do with the previous one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI forgot to tell you\u2026\u201d and \u201cDid you hear&#8230;?\u201d could be used randomly too. They don\u2019t need to link to a related topic.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff36b\">Interested in practicing your English conversation skills? Check out Anna's <a href=\"https:\/\/englishlikeanative.co.uk\/english-speaking-practice-in-the-conversation-club\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/englishlikeanative.co.uk\/english-speaking-practice-in-the-conversation-club\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">affordable conversation program<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wrap-up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>So, to summarise, here are the <strong>top tips<\/strong> for keeping a conversation going:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Ask questions and <strong>show you\u2019re interested<\/strong>.<\/li><li><strong>Don\u2019t<\/strong> ask question where you could answer just \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d<\/li><li>Give long answers yourself which show <strong>that you want to talk<\/strong>.<\/li><li>Use the <strong>changing the topic phrases<\/strong> when you\u2019ve exhausted the current topic.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, have an English conversation!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn these English phrases to keep the conversation going. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/how-to-continue-conversations-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/how-to-continue-conversations-600x533.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Josh","author_link":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/author\/josh\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1211"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1211"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1554,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1211\/revisions\/1554"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}