5 Easy Small Talk Questions for Conversations about Travel in English
After a short summer break, I’m so glad to be back with a new Confident English lesson for you today!
And I want to start with a question for you: When you go back to work after a vacation or a holiday, what is the first thing you talk about with your colleagues? Or with your friends and neighbors?
Yes! Your vacation.
Imagine this situation. It’s September. The summer break is over. You and all your colleagues have returned to work. You ask about their vacations, right?
It’s totally normal to talk about summer vacations, holiday travel, winter trips, and family time when you return to work after a long break.
The same is true when you see your neighbors after a holiday. Or when you see your son’s school teacher after the winter break.
But what do you do when you have to speak English? Do you feel a little nervous about what to ask? Do you feel unsure about what is polite to ask? Are you afraid the conversation will sound silly?
If yes, then today I have 5 questions that will make it easy for you to start these conversations in English and continue them!
Use the same questions native speakers use when they talk about travel.
Lesson by Annemarie
Now that you have 5 easy small talk questions to ask about travel, let’s talk about how you can keep the conversation going so you don’t have one of those uncomfortable silences.
If you haven’t seen my lesson on How to Start a Conversation with Anyone in English, here’s one simple tip from the lesson for confident conversations:
To keep the conversation going easily, prepare your own answers to those SAME questions.
Here’s why:
Usually, after you ask a question, the speaker will answer and then say, “What about you?” Or, “And you?
They will repeat the same question.
If you’ve already thought about how you would answer these questions, you’ll immediately be able to respond to keep the conversation going.
It’s that simple.
“If you’ve already thought about how you would answer these questions in English, you’ll immediately be able to respond to keep the conversation going. It’s that simple.”
So here’s what I want you to do today: practice!
Choose one of these 5 questions and share your answer with me in the comments below. Tell me about a recent travel experience. Or tell me about your favorite part of your summer/winter break.
The best place to do that is in the comments section at the end of the lesson.
I look forward to hearing from you!
~ Annemarie
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my last vacation goes back to before the pandemic. We’ve traveled to the north of Iran. Spectacular views, picturesque mountains, and ideal weather conditions in Autumn. Having a great time in the forest and camping among trees was the best part of our trip
Hello Annemarie, my last vacation was in Agust last year in Sicily, south of Italy. It was a great relae time, visiting the old towns of Sicily and the wonderful beaches arounfd Taormina area. I stayed there one full week with my wife and it was a fantatistic time to recharge my battery. Long hikes in the morning close to the beach, delicisous breakfast in the morning, relax time at the swimmingpoool, and romantic dinners at the end of the day. Everything was perferct and went well. I came back very excited to jump again in the business
It was my first Christmas holiday lastyear 2017after my mother and my eldest sister 8 years and 4 years pass on.I work every Christmas and I really wanted to join my only sister left for Christmas last year.I was so afraid to ask my boss.to my surprise my boss came to me out of the blue.you can take leave for Christmas.I was so shocked I couldn’t believe it.so I join my sister for Christmas in Capetown.me staying in port Elizabeth.we didn’t have a big lunch like we use to as our culture tradition.but to be with my sister was the… Read more »
Hi Annemarie,
At last one month ago I was able to get away for the long week end with my boyfriend. We needed to go somewhere and together we have decided to go to Parma city. It is a city of the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna and it is famous for the architecture .
On 16 February 2018 the city of Parma has been named as Italian Capital City of Culture for the 2020.
Annamarie, have you ever been there?
Hi Anne
Last summer we went India.very happy to visit coz I saw all my family and we r all went many places in India last summer we had a great day. Thanks Anne very helpful your lession for me after watching your video I have lot confident
Thx
I’m glad you enjoyed the lesson, Suga.
Hi Annemarie and Mali. I went to Ukraine to visit my family and friends for summer holiday. It was awesome to see everybody after a long break. I was happy to visit my favorite places and city. I look forward for next vacation.
Mali, I would like to hear from you more about the Elbow falls in Alberta. I live in Alberta. I went to the Banff and Jasper National Parks, but I never been in the Elbow falls. Thanks for your comment.
Hello Lilia,
That’s awesome. Where did you go in Ukraine? In June, I visited Kiev and it was fantastic! What a beautiful city. And I’ve always wanted to travel to Banff. Do you recommend it?
Hi, Annemarie!
I’m pretty happy with these tips.
I have a lot of doubts but, with you I’m killing all the doubts’ dragons.
Wonderful. Thanks Thadeu and I’m glad the lesson was helpful.
Hi Annemarie,
I’m so happy you’ve come back from your summer holiday and I count the seconds for your next lessons!
I really like the back ground music of your today’s lesson.
One of our best experiences of this summer break was about going to the Elbow falls in Alberta. The falls reach a height of 6 meters and it’s popular with kayakers!
Hello Mali,
Thank you for the kind comments. I’m so happy to know you enjoyed this lesson and it sounds like you had a great summer break in Alberta! What a beautiful place to visit.