This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2464.
Build a better English conversation with this bridge.
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We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection. with your American hosts, Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl.
Coming to you from Colorado and New York City, USA.
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We all know that the weather is a great small talk topic to get started, but don't get stuck there.
Today, find out how to bridge from the weather into the rest of the conversation for a better connection in English.
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Hey, Michelle, how are you? Hey, good, Lindsay.
How's the weather today? Oh, my gosh. Yeah, it's been pretty hot this week, to be honest.
I was down in southern Colorado, and it was... steaming hot.
The sun was just incredible. So yeah, what about in New York?
How's the weather there? Also very hot.
Well, the whole East Coast is very hot. Yes.
Um, yeah, I don't know what to say now. Yeah.
What do you say now? Right. I mean, I want to talk to you more, but I don't know how. we're just getting started with our conversation and, but we can't let it die at this point because weather was the low hanging fruit, right?
Michelle, but where do we go from here? So yeah, we are going to talk about how to transition from the weather to...
Not necessarily a deeper topic, but just to keep it going, how to, how to not just drop it.
Oh, the weather's bad. Oh, okay. Bye. And I'm so glad we're talking about this today because I feel like I've gotten into situations where, okay, it started with the weather.
Maybe it's someone I didn't know well, started with the weather, but then you knew there was the moment it should have transitioned, but it didn't.
Half an hour later, you're still talking about awkward.
Oh, you're saying that's wrong. Something went wrong.
Maybe not half an hour later, 10 minutes later, you're still and you're both bored to tears.
Right. Because it's important in a previous episode, which we'll let our listeners know about that one.
We talked about more interesting and relevant ways to talk about weather, but.
In the end, weather's kind of boring to talk about, right?
Yeah. So, okay, we'll share more, but first we wanna let you guys know that we have this great app for All Ears English. on Android and iOS.
And Lindsay, there are so many amazing things on this app.
I mean, listening to the episodes, but not just listening, right?
Not just. listening and not having anything else to do, right?
So it's going deeper with the show. So We know our listeners love All Ears English, but what if you wanna actually remember the words, the vocabulary you're learning on this show, the idioms, the phrasal verbs, the app gives you a way to do that because you see the transcripts but then we select seven or five to seven key vocabulary words that will bring your level up higher You can tap those.
You can save them into your special list so you can create a list that you could review every day before you listen to the next episode.
Add more words to your list. All right.
Yes. Yes, exactly. So allersenglish.com slash app.
Yes. Excellent. All right. So yeah, we did an episode about how to quickly just start that conversation about the weather.
So it's usually a brief. conversation about the weather and how it can connect you.
And we're going to share that episode with you towards the end so you know which one to listen to.
That's the pair to this one. This is a great pair because it gives you the start of the conversation.
So we're going to get into it. So these are...
So my goal here with this episode is to give you kind of a bridge Right.
You're kind of luring someone into a deeper conversation.
It's a little bit more subtle, casual, cool.
It is. It's not. It's hard to go from talking about the weather to then tell me about your last relationship, right?
It's not. It doesn't just happen to that like that.
There is kind of this, you know, a flow to how things happen.
So you don't necessarily get away from the weather immediately, but you're kind of giving hints and clues and different ways that, more could potentially naturally start to come out of the conversation.
I mean, so we're going to get into it right now.
So one of the first things is more direct.
I mean, you can say, like, let's say you already know this person, you know, and you make a comment on the weather, you could say, oh, so how so have you been?
Right. And I think that's fine, too. I think that's fine.
I think you can be more direct when maybe you know the person a little better.
Right, exactly. You're not going to say, so how you've been to a stranger.
Oh, yeah. Or even like business contact or someone you just are just getting to know a bit.
Right. So it's a level of comfort comes with the directness.
Yeah, right, right, right. Exactly. So that's very basic.
Another thing you could say is I was going to X, but not sure if that's happening with this weather.
Right. So you're sharing. Yeah, you're bridging something.
It starts to maybe show how you're interested.
I mean, Lindsay, what would an example be?
Mm hmm. What you could say, I mean, I would typically say I was going to go hiking today, but not sure if that's happening with this weather.
And I love this because what that's doing then is like you're throwing out options that you like.
Yes. And now that other person's, oh, are you a hiker?
I like to hike too. Where's your favorite mountain? could go in a thousand different directions, but you're giving them something that's beyond just the shared situation of the weather, right?
Yeah, right. Right. Exactly. So definitely it's a good way.
I was hoping to go swimming today or I was hoping to go to.
I mean, I guess typically it would be something for outside or it could be something for inside.
It could be like, Oh, let's say it's a beautiful day.
Do you ever have those days where you were going to do something inside and then it's so nice and you feel, I can't waste this day.
Yeah, no, I have friends like that who I know one person who doesn't sometimes gets annoyed when it's so sunny because. you know, maybe they prefer to stay in and read and they don't feel guilty when it's raining and they stay in So Colorado, it never really rains for a day and they get annoyed because they think, I just want permission to stay in and read.
Right. Oh, I know. I get like that too.
Especially the worst is towards the end of summer when you know, like the nice weather is starting to run out.
Yeah, you know, it's going to be getting colder and you're like, oh, but I didn't want to.
I just wanted to kind of relax. Right. That's the thing.
On the East Coast, I remember it was kind of like it was either a sunny day or a rainy day.
And I can get into that mindset and I would get so frustrated if it changed because then you have to change your entire mindset for the day.
Yep. But actually, just literally just now, because my...
My dad gets very nervous about the weather and if it's going to rain, you know, he's following on his phone every hour. and what percentage chance of rain and what time it may or may not start.
And you know those things, it's not always accurate.
So even now we're supposed to go pick up my niece and watch her, but he's been nervous since last night about the rain. we'll be able to go because of the rain and it's going to storm it anyway so it's uh yeah but roller coaster ride it is it's true i think yeah exactly So, all right, the next thing is just I want to something.
And this is another idea of sharing something about yourself.
So, Lindsay, what's one thing? Well, what's one thing you might say?
Yeah, I mean, we could say something like I want to take my dog for a walk in the park. basic, right?
If it's a beautiful day, I want to take my dog for a walk in the park.
It's such a nice morning. The weather's so crisp.
Right. So what are the things we do depending on the weather?
I want to jump in the pool. Right. Maybe you're talking about East Coast humidity.
The humidity on the East Coast is incredible. right out of control yeah it's yeah yeah well yeah um so but yeah um Or I mean, or let's say you might say, oh, I can't wait to like I want to go surfing.
Right. You I want to cool down and. Get a margarita or I want to drink a hot chocolate to warm up if it's cold, right?
Or I want to go run in a sprinkler or something, right?
Right. Or if it's raining, I want to hide away from this rain and curl up in a blanket.
Right. I want to curl up in a blanket and read a book. yeah yes exactly so um and then the next thing is you kind of saying This is if you might know the person a little bit.
Yeah. So I hope you didn't have any plans to blank today.
So... I could say to you, Lindsay, I hope you don't have any plans to be outside this weekend.
I think it's supposed to rain the whole time.
That's very neutral. Be outside. I could say to you, because I know I could say, I hope you didn't have plans to hike.
Right. But if you could just say be outside if you don't know that much about the person.
Yeah. And that's a bridge because then you might say, I hope you didn't have any plans to hike this weekend because you know that about me.
And then I might say, oh, no, I think we'll see a movie.
What are you up to this weekend? Right.
And then we get into our plans for the weekend, which is another great topic where we're maybe going a little bit deeper.
Right. Exactly. So this is really good, too.
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All right. We have others, right, Michelle, to share with our listeners today.
What would be another phrase? Yes. So these are just some basic ones.
So have you checked the forecast for the rest of the week?
People generally like to say, oh, I saw it's going to be like this until Saturday.
It's going to be like, right. People love. sharing the forecast.
So you can ask them if they know. So it's not just the current weather situation.
The strategy here that we're suggesting is extend into the future. right is this going to continue or is it going to stop that's another bridge into hopefully another topic right right Or this is more direct.
I mean, this is great and there's nothing wrong with this.
Do you like this kind of weather or does it bother you?
Yeah. Are you into you could also say, are you into right?
Like, are you into the rainy weather or?
Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure, you could say that.
You could say, are you a rainy day kind of person, right?
Rochelle, are you a rainy day kind of person?
Some people just are. Like I told you, the friend of mine that doesn't like it.
Yeah, there are people like that. I don't know.
I'm not one. Are you? No, no, no. I like sun.
I need sun in my life. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
But yeah, and then you could even just ask something basic like, are you gonna do whatever later?
Are you gonna swim later? Are you gonna have some hot chocolate later?
You're gonna stay inside, right? Yes. Again, these are maybe if you know the person already, it's maybe a little awkward to be like, what are you doing later if you don't know the person?
Right, exactly. Michelle, which of these do you like the best in terms of sparking conversation and starting to show a bit more of who you are?
I think I like the subtle of saying something like, I was going to do something this weekend, but I'm not sure if that's happening with this weather.
Because you can put anything in there. I like that too.
I mean, you could even say like, oh, I was going to take a road trip this weekend.
You can put so much of yourself out there.
You could even say something like, oh, I'm supposed to go to a... barbecue this weekend.
You can put a lot out there about yourself to subtly try and get that person. into more of the conversation, right?
So I would say that's kind of my favorite.
What do you think? I love that answer, Michelle.
I think that's great because we talk a lot on this show about how do we share things about our shell ourselves without directly saying that thing.
And that's kind of what you're doing here, right?
You're sharing, oh, I was going to take a road trip to Utah this weekend, but You're showing you like the American West.
You like road trips. You like to be active.
Probably you're an outdoorsy person. You're saying so much about yourself.
Yes, exactly. But it's still kind of subtle, right?
Because you don't want to say, I like road trips.
I like to go, you know, people get bored by that.
Yes, exactly. So what I thought we could do now is, well, we can always check the time, but we're going to start off with one.
We're good. role play and we're going to show how this might work.
And where it could take you. And this is mixing in some of the things from the other episode.
And again, I'll give you that episode at the end. definitely like I can't imagine listening to this episode and not listening to the other one.
I can't imagine it. I can't imagine not hitting follow on the show either.
I can't imagine. all right here we go so here we are acquaintances we're waiting for our kids at school and it is a heat wave probably an east coast heat wave too which is very humid yeah Okay, here we go.
All right. Isn't it March? I know. So hot.
Yeah, I want to jump in the pool. Oh, same.
I'll probably take the kids swimming after ice cream, of course.
Oh, they're gonna love that. Are they good swimmers?
Yeah, pretty good. I've been taking them for lessons for the past two months.
That's great. Where? I have to sign mine up.
Swimmy swimmers. Oh, I've heard great things about them.
Yes. I love them. Nice. Yes. Yeah. weird thing is you'll probably relate to this michelle it's weird being in a landlocked state because you end up meeting people that never learned to swim.
Like you, you know, I grew up on the coast.
Like you just learned to swim as a kid. That's just what you did.
Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. I'm not a great swimmer, but I know how to swim.
It's interesting. It's interesting. All right.
This was actually my favorite one is when you say you respond by saying what you want to do, because I think it also says a lot about you.
It's like a visceral thing, right? You're just sharing on a really interesting level.
So I like both of our answers. You like the subtlety.
I like the directness of I want to run in a sprinkler.
You can show your inner child. You know what I mean?
It's kind of cool. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I want to get a popsicle.
I want to get, right. Like there's, there's a lot there.
Yeah. I forgot to ask. which was your favorite one.
I'm sorry. That's okay. We got it right here.
So again, that's what you said. You said, isn't it March? and another that one might have come out of the other episode yeah yeah yeah that did so go listen to the other episode once you get the number guys And then I said, I know, so hot.
What did you say, Michelle? I said, yeah, I want to jump in the pool.
And that really sparked it because we're waiting for our kids.
So you're saying I'll take the kids swimming.
So. probably of an indoor pool in March that you go to.
And then you said after ice cream, of course.
So now you're kind of throwing out more things.
And then I ask, are they good swimmers? And we really get into this whole conversation Yeah, so it worked well.
I mean, listen, it doesn't always work. It's not like, you know, so you might say, I wanna jump in the pool and you know, Lindsay could have just said, Right.
You know, not everybody is always open to talking.
Maybe they're thinking about something else.
Maybe they're busy. So but these give you a good chance for sparking something.
Well, I think it's also a good way to find who your people are, right?
I mean, if you said, I just want to jump in the pool. and you're an adult and it sort of shows an inner playfulness And if I'm just like, okay, right, then we're probably not going to connect, you know?
You can tell, you can tell. This is a way to show who your people are, who you maybe want to have another conversation with.
Right. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Love it.
So let's do one more role play. Okay, Lindsay.
Okay. I think we have a tiny bit of time, Michelle.
We'll have to just do it real quick. Oh, okay.
Okay. Let's go for it. So here we are at work and we are colleagues in the lunchroom.
All right. We know each other, but we don't know each other very well.
Okay. All right, here we go. All right.
Hey, Lindsay. Hey, Michelle. What is this weather?
I don't know, but I don't like it. I hate all these storms.
Yeah, I hope you didn't have any plans to play softball with the work team this week.
Luckily, no, but have you checked the forecast for the rest of the week?
Yes. Rain, rain, rain. Yeah, but we have softball next week.
Hopefully it's better by then. I hope so.
How's the season going so far? Nice. We successfully bridged here, Michelle.
We did. Yes, we did it. So you did what is this weather, which is from the other episode.
And then you said, I hope you didn't have any plans to.
Play softball with the work team this week.
So you're showing you know something about me, right?
You're kind of picking on one of my interests you already know about.
Which is very powerful. We hear it on the podcast, but once you see it being done in conversation, a very powerful connection skill.
We've talked about it many times on the show.
And then you said, luckily, no. But have you checked the forecast for the rest of the week?
And that one's probably also from the other episode.
Not sure. Um, but I said, yes, rain, rain, rain.
Oh, it's from this episode. Nevermind. Yeah, you're right.
You're right. You're right. So this is moving forward into the future, right?
That's that strategy. I love that. Yeah.
And eventually we bridge it into you asking about softball, the softball season.
So really, really useful and productive here.
So guys, I know you've been waiting to hear what the other episode is.
That was on episode 2448. That was weird and wonky weather in.
English. So check that one out. Very important to listen to these two together.
Lindsay takeaways for today. Don't get stuck talking.
Don't fail to build a bridge, right? Don't get stuck talking about the weather for 15 minutes.
You'll both be bored to tears. But how do you do it?
This is how you do it, Michelle. I love this concept of bridging into something more interesting from a low-hanging fruit topic. right yes exactly all right well this has been a lot of fun let us know how it goes guys and yeah i'm looking forward to hearing about your great conversation All right.
Talk soon, Michelle. Bye. Bye. Thanks for listening to All Ears English.
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