ESL Speaking: Small Talk Openers, Follow-Up Questions, Politeness

What It Is

Small talk is casual conversation used to build relationships and show interest in others. It often starts with openers and follows up with questions to keep the conversation going. Politeness is also important in small talk to avoid offending others. ESL learners may struggle with small talk because their first language may not have similar forms of casual conversation.

Key Rules

• Openers are used to start small talk:
  • "How was your weekend?" (correct)
  • "You weekend was good?" (incorrect)
• Use polite phrases to show interest:
  • "That's interesting" (correct)
  • "That's interesting?" (incorrect)
• Follow-up questions are used to keep the conversation going:
  • "What did you do?" (correct)
  • "You do?" (incorrect)
• Use phrases to agree or disagree:
  • "I agree" (correct)
  • "I agree?" (incorrect)
• Use polite language when asking questions:
  • "Do you mind if I ask?" (correct)
  • "You mind if I ask?" (incorrect)
• Use phrases to show appreciation:
  • "Thank you" (correct)
  • "Thank you?" (incorrect)
• Use phrases to end the conversation:
  • "It was nice talking to you" (correct)
  • "It was nice talking to you?" (incorrect)
• Use do and does correctly:
  • "What do you do?" (correct)
  • "What does you do?" (incorrect)
• Use have and has correctly:
  • "Have you eaten?" (correct)
  • "Has you eaten?" (incorrect)
• Use will and would correctly:
  • "Will you come?" (correct)
  • "Would you come?" (correct)
• Use can and could correctly:
  • "Can you help me?" (correct)
  • "Could you help me?" (correct)
• Use must and have to correctly:
  • "You must try this" (correct)
  • "You have to try this" (correct)
• Use should and ought to correctly:
  • "You should try this" (correct)
  • "You ought to try this" (correct)
• Use can't and couldn't correctly:
  • "I can't go" (correct)
  • "I couldn't go" (correct)
• Use mustn't and hadn't correctly:
  • "You mustn't smoke" (correct)
  • "You hadn't smoked" (correct)

Common ESL Errors

• Error: "You weekend was good?" Why it happens: Interference from L1 grammar rules Correction: "How was your weekend?" (Use the correct form of the verb "to be" in the present simple tense.)
• Error: "You do?" Why it happens: Overgeneralization of the verb "to do" Correction: "What did you do?" (Use the correct form of the verb "to do" in the past simple tense.)
• Error: "You mind if I ask?" Why it happens: Interference from L1 word order Correction: "Do you mind if I ask?" (Use the correct word order for polite questions.)

Practice Exercises

1. Fill in the blank: "How was your __ (be) yesterday?" Answer: "How was your day yesterday?" Reason: Use the correct form of the verb "to be" in the present simple tense.
2. Fill in the blank: "I __ (not/like) this movie." Answer: "I didn't like this movie." Reason: Use the correct form of the verb "to like" in the past simple tense.
3. Fill in the blank: "You __ (try) this cake." Answer: "You should try this cake." Reason: Use the correct form of the verb "to try" in the present simple tense.

Last-Minute Revision

Irregular verb: go (went, gone)
Preposition pair: in (at home) vs. on (at the office)
Article: a (singular, countable noun) vs. an (singular, uncountable noun)
Pronunciation: bit (b?t) vs. beat (bi?t)
Pronunciation: see (si?) vs. sea (si?)
Pronunciation: to (t) vs. too (tu?)
Pronunciation: four (f) vs. for (fr)
Pronunciation: their (ðe?r) vs. there (ðe?r)
Pronunciation: knight (na?t) vs. night (na?t)
Pronunciation: bare (be?) vs. bear (b)
Pronunciation: fair (fe?) vs. fare (fe?)