Talking to Strangers

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

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• creepy
• fast friends
• confined
• layover

• rule
• outgoing
• in the mood
• grow up

• icebreaker
• came out of the blue

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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One rule that almost everyone learns as a child is “Don’t talk to strangers.” But when you get older, being able to approach someone you don’t know and start a conversation becomes a good skill to have. Talking to strangers makes you a social, outgoing person.

But some adults still don’t like talking to strangers. If you aren’t in the mood to talk, it can be annoying if a stranger comes up to you and tries start a conversation with you. Ella loves to chat with people she doesn’t know, but Amy prefers to keep to herself. Find out why.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Ella

Amy

Ella:  So growing up, you know, one of the main rules as a kid is to never talk to strangers, right? But I feel like I talk to strangers every day, and I learn more about them than I’m supposed to, especially in my career.

Amy:  But you don’t just go up to people on the street and start a conversation out of the blue, do you?

Ella:  Well, if I like what they’re wearing I’ll be like “Oh, where’d you get that?” I think it’s easier for girls to approach girls and guys. But when a guy does it, you just get completely creeped out.

Amy:  It’s true, it can be creepy. Have you ever started talking to a stranger and just become fast friends with them?

Ella:  I do that a lot on the airplane, ‘cause you’re in such confined spaces.

Amy:  That’s so true.

Ella:  You know, there’s layovers. Like, “Hey, do you want to get a cup of coffee? I don’t know your name, but I don’t care ‘cause we’ll never see each other again.” So you get close pretty quick. I’ve done that many times.

Amy:  Do you have a particular icebreaker or anything that you use when you’re starting to talk to a stranger?

Ella:  I remember one time, this girl sitting next to me on the plane happened to have the same magazine. Or I try to find similarities first.

Amy:  See, I’m sort of the opposite. When I’m like on a plane or the bus or whatever, I do not want people to talk to me. I just have my book, and I just want to be left alone, and, you know, sometimes it’s not true but for the most part, I still follow the rule of don’t talk to strangers.

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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