Many Indonesian people assume that that starting English conversation is very difficult, especially with foreign people while some others have different point of view. People belongs to the first group will try to avoid doing English conversation, but the second group on the other hand are eager to make English conversation. Consciously or unconsciously, in business activity, English communication takes a very great role. The following list consists of several essential notes about how to start English conversation.
1. Realizing that English is a foreign language, it is not necessary to be ashamed to do any mistakes while making conversation, especially on grammatical problems. Sometimes, you may learn from the mistakes you have done. .
2. Remember, the main objective of conversation is to deliver massage to the other people in good sentences. However, grammatical error does not mean “death” on conversation.
3. There are three common ways we can apply to start English conversation especially with someone we do not recognize. They are:
A. Good morning. I’m Justinus from Indonesia. Can I talk with you?
B. Hello. My name is Jokawi from Indonesia. Are you free for a moment?
C. Excuse me. I’m Maya from Indonesia. May I disturb you?
4. There are some common phrases which are usually used on conversation, such as:
– How do you do!
– How are you?
– Repeat please!
– How do you spell your name?
– Nice to meet you
– I Beg your pardon
– How is life?
– You’re welcome
The remaining phrases can be found on your Business English Module Page 5.
5. Sometimes, we would like to know furthermore information about someone’s identity like name, address, occupation, religion,nationality etc. To do that, please complete the Mind Mapping of Personal Identity, on your English Module, Page 6.
6. It is natural for someone to create a good conversation. To achieve that he may follow two things. First, try to find out as soon as possible what someone likes and dislikes as well. Second, talk all things that he likes so that he will feel comfortable during conversation. Needless to say that foreign people are not interested to talk about certain things such as: age, marital status, and religion. On the other hand, they prefer talking about occupation, nationality, address and education.
7. For exercises, listening the conversation on your English Module Page, 7 and 8, Track 6, 7, 3, 5 and Track 12.
8. For lecturer, please drill your student to pronounce some geographical names on English Module page. 10.
9. Remember what the quotation says that “Practice Makes Perfect”. It means, the more frequently you converse, the more mistakes you may reduce.
Thanks