Small Talk in the Car

Now we’ve been through basically the whole dialogue how we can deal with picking somebody up at the airport the things we need to say and how to be polite.

Now the hardest part could be the car ride home.

So before we finish this lesson I’d just like to talk about how we can make conversation on the way home if we have a 30 minute car ride.

We need to have something to talk about and it’s a great opportunity for us.

Me Lydia and David to get to know each other better because before all I’ve had our emails back and forth with David OK now in the airport we were just talking about essential stuff stuff we need to talk about like how their flight was whether or not they need a SIM card or they need to exchange currency or they want to go to their hotel.

That’s the basic stuff.

Now we can actually have a conversation.

I don’t want to talk too much about this because we really did focus on the important aspects of it when we were doing our lesson about asking good questions.

Right.

However let’s just go through a few things we can say and I want to mention one or two questions which are kind of standard but in my opinion not that interesting.

So anyway they might ask me questions now I’m sorry Luke.

Questions not me.

They might ask Luke questions on the car ride home I’m driving.

Maybe it’s 30 minutes or 40 minutes to downtown.

I don’t know why I’m driving like this.

I guess the car is going like this to Mr. insane driver.

I don’t even have my driver’s license.

OK so they might ask me questions and I can of course talk about New York and I can talk about my job but I can ask them some questions too.

So Lydia what plans do you have while you’re here in New York.

She’s not here on business so it’s a good opportunity to know what she wants to do.

Then we might be able to continue a conversation if she says Oh I’d really like to.

Blah blah blah blah blah or I don’t know then I can recommend something and we can get a conversation going or I could ask David a similar question.

I could say David after we finish every day do you have any plans or I could say David besides work.

What would you like to do while you’re here in New York.

And we can have a conversation about that.

That’s a whole conversation that could take the whole 30 minute car ride.

So Lydia what do you do.

There’s a very common question.

I know David’s job because he’s here for business but I don’t know what Lydia does.

So maybe I can ask this and this means what is your job.

Lydia maybe she says oh I’m just a housewife.

OK.

So then we can talk about that or maybe she has a job then we can talk about that.

This is just the beginning of a conversation.

So is this one.

I like this one very much.

This is what I will usually ask.

OK.

You mentioned in your email David that you have two children.

So are they in school or Now notice I don’t really finish the question here.

This is an interesting way to ask a question that we know other people would like to talk about.

You know what people love talking about their children.

So if you know they have children they will probably go on and on and tell you about their children for 40 minutes and that’s fine.

That’s great.

So by just saying so are they in school or.

It’s like saying I’m giving you permission to start talking about them but you would only use this if you know that the other person probably has a lot to say if you’re not sure then don’t use this style of sentence can be risky because if you say or.

And then they have nothing to say then it can be very awkward OK.

So you can use it but only if you know they have a lot to say.

I’d love to hear more about your life and your family in London maybe there from from London.

OK this is a similar question but I’m not suggesting that I know anything about their background it is more of a statement but it’s really a request for information.

This question in my opinion is a little bit boring.

I’m not crazy about this one because it’s not really focused your life.

Talk about your life.

They could really talk about anything.

So on one hand it might be good if there’s something they would like to talk about on the other hand it might not be so good if they don’t really know where to begin.

So I could start with this.

Have you ever tried real New York pizza.

OK then if they say no then I can recommend some places or if they say yes I can ask them what kind of pizza they’ve had.

And we can talk about that.

I love talking about New York pizza.

I can talk about that for three hours.

So what do you think about New York so far.

Now this question you have to be careful about because if we’re just driving home sorry to the hotel and they have barely been in New York really then they don’t really have any impression of New York.

So you have to be careful with my want to use this one after maybe they’ve been here for a day or two.

Then I meet them for dinner after they’ve been in New York for a couple of days.

And I say So what do you think of New York so far.

That might be a better question.

In that situation.

OK so David.

So David do you follow any sports now.

This question I find to be very boring personally but honestly a lot of people do ask it.

So I’m including it because it’s a common discussion question.

It’s a common question that comes up in regular conversations.

When you’ve met somebody new and you’re trying to get to know them you talk about sports maybe talk about movies it’s OK but personally I think it’s a little boring.

Now you might have heard.

What about the weather.

Right.

So we might ask So how’s the weather in London this time of year.

How’s the weather in England this time of year.

You can say it.

People say it.

Personally I never asked this question because it’s so boring.

But anyway people do say it.

So that is how we deal with picking somebody up at the airport going through small talk with them and handling the essentials the important things we need to handle and having discussions or at least a polite conversation with them on the way back to the hotel on the way downtown.

Now that we’ve been through all of the phrases and things you can say in the picking up someone at the airport dialogue I’d like you to practice it.

I’d like you to record yourself doing all of the different roles in the dialogue.

Think about it in this lesson.

I’ve done all the roles I’ve recorded it.

You’re watching it right so you can do it by yourself.

I’m.

I’m doing it by myself.

I’m here in this room right.

Doing this by myself so you can play all of the roles and imagine that you’re picking someone up at the airport who you’ve never met before.

I try to make it interesting.

Tried a couple of times.

Go back listen to the recording see if you can make corrections.

Find mistakes and then try it again.

Try it again.

It’s a great way to practice.

All right.

Good luck and I will see you in the next lesson.