at a new class

• Is this course part of your major, or just an elective?

• What is the story with the professor?

at a gaming club

• What games are you playing these days?

• What game can you recommend?

on a call with colleagues

at work in the kitchen

at work online

at the gym

• What is your go-to routine?

• How often do you go to gym?

• How often do you come here?

first day of the job

• “How long have you been working here?”

• “What’s it like working here?”

• I will show you our office.

• I don’t know how to use the coffee machine. Can you show me?

at a cafe

• How often do you come here?

  • Bob: Hi, is your name Svetlana?

  • Ann: Yes, my name is S? Have we met before?

  • Bob: I knew it! I knew I had seen you before in the office.

  • Ann: Where do you work? Where are you working now?

  • Bob: I work here in the neighborhood. It's close.

  • Ann: Where exactly do you work?

  • Bob: I work at Widgets Inc!

  • Ann: Yes, I knew it! I used to work there but now I'm at Wiggles Inc.

  • Bob: Do you mind if I sit here? Do you mind if I join you?

  • Ann: Oh, I'm sorry. My husband will be joining me soon.

  • Bob: I'm happy to see you and I hope to see you again! Have a nice day!

  • Ann: Thanks for stopping by. Thanks for the chat.

at a conference

• Who do you know here?

• Do you know any of the speakers personally?

waiting for a meeting to start

in the company kitchen

• I have never seen you before. When did you join?

• I hope it is working out for you.

• How long have you been working here?

• Can you recommend any [restaurants| places to eat| coffee places] nearby?

  • I know a good place nearby but it’s a bit far from our office.

    • Where is it exactly?

• What’s it like for you to work here?

at a bus stop

joining a sports club

• Why did you choose this club?

• “How long have you been playing?

at a dance club

• “Do you know if this place is normally good on this night?”

• How often do you come here?

• 
  

first day of the job

• “How long have you been working here?”

• “What’s it like working here?”

corridor at work

• visiting colleague from overseas

  • It’s great seeing you! When did you arrive?

    • How was your trip?

• visiting colleague from nearby

  • What do you think of our office?

  • What brings you here today?

  • How long will you be in town?

  • if you know them: How is your family?

at a meetup

• “Is this your first time at one of these events?”

at a bus stop

• Where are you going?

music

• What kind of music do you like?

• Do you like contemporary music?

• How often do you listen to music?

• How long is your playlist?

fishing

• Do you have a fishing tackle?

cars

• Do you have a driving license?

don’t interrupt these people

• Headphones are the universal signifier of wanting to be left alone.

• Reading a newspaper!
  This is the classic do-not-disturb message.

• Reading a book.

• Writing in a journal

  • look for

    • Headphones, but only in one ear

    • Making eye contact, smiling, looking around, generally acknowledging that the world outside exists

    • Talking to everyone else already

  • 
    

resources

• calendar

  • https://calendly.com/englishhelpsyourcareer/english-with-a-californian-tech-guy

• website

  • https://www.englishhelpsyourcareer.com/home

meeting a new significant other

• girlfriend

• boyfriend

• How did you meet X?

• How did you meet so-and-so?
  Who is that new so-and-so?

while traveling

• How long have you been here?

• What cities were you visiting before?

at a party

• I haven't seen you in a million years! What have you been up to? What have you been doing? How have you been doing?

• How do you know the [birthday boy, birthday girl,host]?

  • Ann:What does the birthday boy look like?

  • Bob:I don't know either!

  • Ann:Do you know someone else here who knows the birthday boy?

  • Bob: No, I don't.

  • Ann: Well this can be an adventure! Let's go ask around!

• Who do you know here?

• What do you do for fun?

• How do you know the host?

• What do you think of the party?

at a dance club

• Do you know if this place is normally good on this night?

at the gym

• What is your go-to routine?

look for

• Headphones, but only in one ear

• Making eye contact, smiling, looking around, generally acknowledging that the world outside exists

• Talking to everyone else already

don’t want to necessarily

• drugs

  • Hey man, you got any good drugs?

• sex

  • Where are the girls?

• politics

  • What do you think about the events in X?

    • X = anywhere Belarus Russia Crimea USA

• religion

  • Do you attend any church | temple | synagogue| mosque?

• money

  • Could you give me some money?

  • How much money do you make at your job?

What do you think about X?

• X = this beer the news this music this band

How was your weekend?

• I attended my brother’s wedding.

• I went to a lake.

• I went roller skating.

• I cleaned my apartment.

• I was drunk the ENTIRE weekend.

  • You can’t call it drinking all day unless you start in the morning!

  • What do you remember of your weekend?

    • He’s the same age as me.

  • What did you do?

    • Sunday was not AS intense as Saturday.

    • We started drinking at my apartment.

    • I showed my buddy around Kyiv.

• I never get so drunk that I don’t remember!

living arrangements

• Do you rent?

• Do you own?

• Do you know your neighbors?

• Are you new to the neighborhood?

COVID19

• Can this get any worse?

• What is the new normal going to look like?

news

sports

• Do you like sports?

• Are you interested in sports?

• Do you like football?

• Do you know a good gym around here?

• Do you work out?

  • What’s your routine?

  • How much can you lift?

  • How much can you press?

traffic

• I hate this traffic! What about you?

movies

• Have you seen X yet?

• What was the last movie you have seen?

• Did you like X?

• Do you like watching movies?

• Who is your favorite director?

TV television
Bob: Hey Abel how are you doing?
Abel: Fine thanks!
Bob: Have you seen the new Mandalorian, yet?
Abel: Yeah, I saw a few episodes from the first season.
Bob: [What did you think of the show? | What do you think of the show?]
Abel: The last episode was incredible!
Bob: Please! No spoilers!
Abel: Don’t worry! I wouldn’t do that to you! You should check out the new episode when you get a chance!
Bob: Thanks!

• What show would you recommend watching?

• What show are you watching these days?

• Have you seen X yet?

books

• Do you read e-books?

• What kind of books do you like to read?

• What books have you read recently?

• What are you reading these days?

• Do you prefer paper or e-books?

hobbies

• What is your favorite hobby?

higher education

school
Bob: How are you Abel? How’s school? Abel(14 y.o.):I’m doing fine. Since the lockdown, we are doing our courses online. I don’t like school! Bob: Are your studies any different this year from last year? Abel: If your asking about the lecture material, it hasn’t changed much. But, I can say the teachers are piling on the homework! I don’t like it! Bob: How are you doing your chemistry labs? Abel: Our teacher gave us some home chemistry experiments to do. We are watching a lot videos on Youtube. Bob: How are tests being monitored? Abel: We have to show our complete desk while taking our exams. Bob: All are of the teachers doing that? What about physical education? Abel: We have to keep a [diary| journal |log ] of our daily exercise. The last time we played a ball game, I broke my webcam! Bob: How are you performing your practical skills class? Abel: Since, we are in lockdown, it’s all gone to theory as opposed to hands-on work.

• How are you studying this year?

• What is school like these days?
  How is Pavlo these days?