The English Breakfast ☕
Hi there,
Welcome back to The English Breakfast — the newsletter for Italian professionals who want to feel more confident in English at work.
Grab a cup of tea (English Breakfast, of course) and let’s get started ☕
Fantastic Phrasal Verbs - Small Talk
If you’ve been doing these phrasal verb quizzes each week, you might be starting to notice something: phrasal verbs are everywhere in everyday conversation.
This week we’re focusing on 5 that come up during small talk at work — the kind you hear before a meeting starts, during a coffee break, or while chatting with colleagues in the office.
Some of these are very common, but they can still be tricky if you’re not used to hearing them.
Let’s see how many you can get right.
Almost and Quite are often confused by English learners.
Do you know how to use these two words correctly?
Watch this week’s mini-lesson to find out.
Small talk tips
Many professionals say they don’t enjoy small talk at work, and doing it in English can be even harder! But what if the problem isn’t the conversation topic — it’s how we respond to it?
In this short clip, communication expert Vanessa Van Edwards explains how to escape boring small talk and make conversations more interesting.
Watch the clip and try the activities below.
Step 1: Watch the video once.
What is the speaker’s main idea?
Choose the best answer.
A. Small talk is a waste of time and should be avoided.
B. You should prepare interesting responses for common small talk topics.
C. Only ask personal questions to avoid boring conversations.
D. Small talk is only useful at parties.
Step 2: Watch again and answer these questions.
What does the speaker call common boring conversations like talking about the weather or traffic?
Why does she suggest preparing stories, questions, or facts in advance?
What example does she give to make a conversation about traffic more interesting?
According to the research the man mentions, when should drivers merge in traffic to reduce congestion?
Want to know the answers? Reply to this email with the word “answers” and I’ll send them to you.
All right, that’s it for this week’s edition.
Have a great week and I’ll see you next time.
All the best,
Dan
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