#192 How to avoid uncomfortable conversations in English

Speak English Now through mini-stories with teacher Georgiana

Hi, everybody! I am Georgiana, your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help you speak English fluently.

Today, in this episode:

We’re going to continue to see some bad strategies that I don’t recommend in conversations.

Next, you will practice some grammar in an intuitive way with a point of view lesson.

Okay, let’s start!

If you remember, last week, we saw some unwise ways to interact in a conversation.

Today we are going to continue with more things that we should not say or do when you have a conversation in English.

This is what we saw in the previous episode:

– Talking about the weather.

– Not listening to the other person.

– Talking too fast, too softly, not articulating well, or not pausing.

• Talking about negative things.
• Talking about boring things.
• And my favorite: messing up. Remember, I told you how easy it is to mess up? That’s why we always have to be careful.

If you didn’t listen to the previous episode, I suggest you do it along with this one.

Cool! Let’s look at some more bad strategies. This way, you can avoid having uncomfortable conversations in the future.

Interrupt others.

Interrupting someone always has its risks, especially in more formal settings or with people we don’t know.

I don’t like being interrupted at all, especially since I can lose track of what I was saying. This means that sometimes I don’t remember exactly what I was going to say.

Of course, the worst thing is when they interrupt you to change the subject. Sometimes you just want to finish what you want to say, but they won’t let you. Imagine you’re telling a joke, and someone interrupts you. That completely ruins the moment.

Okay, let’s move on to the next one:

Always wanting to be right.

It’s a classic. We always want to be right, even with strangers. We always know best. However, it’s better to be diplomatic and not try to impose on others.

Sometimes someone says something we know is not true. We have to evaluate whether it is worth correcting that person or simply expressing our disagreement. It all depends on the type of relationship we have with that person and whether different opinions are accepted.

Of course, if it is a brainstorming session, different points of view must be expressed. After all, this is the goal of the exercise.

Okay, let’s see the next one:

Stay away from sensitive or controversial topics.

If you don’t know the other person, it’s better not to have a conversation about potentially polemical topics such as politics, diverse ideologies or even sports (in some countries soccer is almost a religion). So be careful with that topic. Today we live in an era where any minimal controversy can trigger major conflict. So, it is better to stay away from anything that is potentially controversial.

Something you should never do is…

Showing off

Showing off your car, your country, your economic status, how much weight you can lift at the gym, etc. is not usually a good subject to discuss with someone you hardly know. You are, in a way, making a comparison. I guess it’s better to be humble and avoid taking too many risks.

Read the transcript here:

https://speakenglishpodcast.com/podcast/