(This posting includes a POWERPOINT presentation and HANDOUTS which you are welcome to use with your students.)*
For the readers of my article in The Word, here is the link to the activity: NEW Start & End Conv Activity Also, to see the new, 2026 edition of Conversation Strategies where this activity came from, see Conversation Strategies 2026 Edition
“I wish I had more chances to practice my English outside of class.”
“How can I meet some native-English speakers?”
“I went to a party last weekend. There were about 20 people there, but nobody seemed to want to talk to me. I just kind of stood in the corner looking at my cell phone. Why didn’t anyone talk to me?”
“I sat next to someone, and I wanted to talk to him, but I was afraid that I would be bothering him, or he wouldn’t say anything. What do you think?”
I’ve been asked these types of questions frequently by my students. Naturally, some of them were low-level students with little confidence in their skills, but surprisingly, often more fluent ones also asked me for advice.
For students from some cultures, starting a conversation with someone they don’t know might be a new concept to them. (See Best Subject for an ESL Integrated-Skills Class (Part 2 of 4: Reading aspect)
Common Sense Teaching ESL 