Small Talk Situation Two foreign students are sitting at a counter in a restaurant waiting to be served The waiter is very busy with other customers After a few minutes one student turns to the other and speaks ID: 182564
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Slide1
Dialogues for Small Talk and IntroductionsSlide2
Small Talk
Situation:
Two foreign students are sitting at a counter in a restaurant waiting to be served. The waiter is very busy with other customers. After a few minutes, one student turns to the other and speaks.
Characters:
Ali is an 18-year-old student from Saudi Arabia. He has come to the United States to study English for a year and then will return to his country. Maria is a 19-year-old student from Venezuela. She will study English for five months and then go to Columbia University in New York to study engineering.Slide3
Dialogue Analysis
What led up to the opening of the conversation between Maria and Ali?
Did Maria start the conversation by introducing herself?
What did she say to start the conversation?
How did Ali show he was interested in talking to Maria?
What other things did they talk about before telling each other their names?
What expressions did Ali use to casually introduce himself?
Why didn't Ali ask Maria her age or telephone number?
Would you start a conversation with someone in a student cafeteria? In what situations do you feel comfortable talking to strangers?Slide4
Part II: Small Talk
Situation:
Maria and Ali are eating their lunch when a friend of Maria's, Tom, comes up.Slide5
Points to Remember
When you first meet most American's, it's impolite to talk about certain things such as salary, age, sex, and religion.
Introduce yourself casually in informal situations. As the conversation develops, a simple introduction , such as "By the way, my name is..." is generally considered sufficient.
If a friend comes along and stops to talk, informally introduce him or her to the person you are talking to. It is helpful to provide some information about each of them so that each will
:
(
1) know what your relationship is to the other person (friend,
neighbor, wife, brother, teacher) and
(
2) have some information
with which to begin a conversation.
When we are introduced to someone informally, we usually respond with "Nice to meet you" or "Hi, how are you?" "How do you do?" is used in more formal situations and the response to this expression is generally "How do you do?"