Conversational English: Tips and Tricks for Effective Communication
Has this happened to you? You鈥檝e spent years studying English in class, read a stack of textbooks, and used all of the apps. You feel confident in your knowledge, but when you actually try to have a conversation, you鈥檙e stuck. What did they just say?! Were those real words?!聽
While learning a language through traditional means like a class can help you grasp the more foundational aspects 鈥攙ocabulary, verb conjugations, sentence structure 鈥� what you learn is not usually representative of how people actually speak in everyday life. Instead, you will most often find exchanges that are incredibly formal, leaving you to sound like a walking textbook. That鈥檚 because natural language is full of slang, colloquialisms, and regional dialects, which are rarely taught through formal instruction.聽
Let鈥檚 take a look at some of the more common ways in which spoken English can differ from what you鈥檝e learned in class.聽
What Does Real Conversational English Sound Like?
Going to becomes 鈥�gonna鈥澛�
Want to becomes聽 鈥�wanna鈥澛�
Got to becomes 鈥�gotta鈥澛�
What are you becomes 鈥�whatcha鈥澛�
Let me becomes 鈥�lemme鈥澛�
Kind of becomes 鈥�办颈苍诲补鈥澛�
You all becomes 鈥�测鈥檃濒濒鈥� (you will hear this one, especially in the southern US)聽
While you aren鈥檛 likely to see these in written form outside of text messages, you will hear them all the time in the conversation! For more examples, google 鈥渋nformal English contractions.鈥澛�
We also absolutely love our formal contractions, so make sure you brush up on those. Essentially, we love shortening words!聽
Starting A Conversation.聽
Most likely, your textbook once told you this is how a normal greeting in English sounds:聽
鈥淗ello. How are you?鈥澛�
鈥淚 am well, thank you. And you?鈥澛�
While there is nothing technically wrong with this exchange, you are going to sound like that walking textbook. Instead, here are some more common ways we greet people in conversational English:聽
To say 鈥渉ello鈥�: Hey, heya, hi聽
To say 鈥渉ow are you doing?鈥�: 1) 鈥淗ow ya doin鈥�?鈥� 2) 鈥淲hat鈥檚 up?鈥�/鈥渨hat鈥檚 goin鈥� on?鈥澛�
To respond: 聽1) 鈥済ood鈥� (yes, 鈥渨ell鈥� is more grammatically accurate, but no one says that!) 2) 鈥渘othin鈥� much鈥� 鈥渘othin鈥欌�� (see here how we drop the 鈥済鈥� in 鈥渘othing鈥� - we do this all the time with words ending in 鈥渋ng鈥�)
To say 鈥済oodbye鈥�: 鈥渂ye,鈥� 鈥渟ee ya鈥� 鈥渟ee ya later鈥澛�
Conversational English Slang
Like any language, there is a mountain of slang in English. While this is by no means an exhaustive list, here are a few you are bound to hear quite often:聽聽
bucks: 诲辞濒濒补谤蝉听
sweet: excellent, fantastic. Often used as a response to show excitement.聽
bummer: disappointing聽
no worries: it鈥檚 ok. Also used as a response to 鈥渢hank you鈥澛�
chill: relaxed (adjective); telling someone to relax (verb)聽
hang out: to meet/spend time with聽
UK English vs. US English聽
If you learned British English, you might be surprised at how many differences there are between the two dialects. Let鈥檚 take a look at a few of the most commonly used words and phrases that hold very different meanings in the US.聽
聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 UK聽聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽US
| lift | elevator |
| torch | flashlight |
| flat | apartment |
| trousers | 辫补苍迟蝉听 |
| pissed (means 鈥渄runk鈥�) | pissed (means 鈥渁ngry鈥�)聽 |
Resources for Learning Conversational English
Here are a few recommendations for improving your conversational English:聽聽
- An online or in-person course specifically on idioms, slang, colloquialisms, etc.聽
- Practicing with a fluent speaker through sites like italki or by reaching out to people in your extended network via social media or word of mouth. Many people are especially interested in language exchanges.聽
- Watching recent movies or tv series. This is one of the best ways to get much exposure to the most current conversational English. For some, it helps to turn on the English subtitles at first so you can match the sounds to words since, as mentioned earlier, we often don鈥檛 fully pronounce words when we鈥檙e speaking quickly.聽
- Listen to radio programs or podcasts. Again, here鈥檚 a great (and free!) way to get much exposure to very natural conversational English.聽