Review and Practice: Making Small Talk

Remember the key points:

 Be the first to say hello and introduce yourself

 Ask questions
 Be a good listener
 Show your interest
 Find out what you and the other person have in common
 Extend the conversation

Word Stress Practice

A very important part of learning English is understanding stress and using it correctly. If you
want to learn how to speak English well, you need to learn the basic rules of stress and then
apply them in your speech.

What is stress? Stress falls on only one syllable of a word with two or more syllables. When we
emphasize a syllable, it is usually louder, the vowel sound is longer, and the pitch (tone) is
higher.

EXERCISE: Pronounce each word and mark the vowel of the syllable that receives stress. Use
an audio dictionary to listen to pronunciation. Compare your answer to the stress marked in the
dictionary.

1. pronounce
2. answer
3. mirror
4. confused
5. piano
6. finally
7. garbage
8. personality
9. relationship
10. Japanese
11. computer
12. technique
13. refrigerator
14. attention
15. unfortunately

16. 1. A speaker opens the meeting, states what it will be about and asks each member to
respond.
17. Type of response: Agree
18. a. Yes, I agree.
19. b. It looks good to me.
20. c. I think so too.
21. d. I definitely agree.
22. 2. One of the speakers is describing something but the information you have is
different.
23. Type of response: Disagree
24. a. I’m afraid I don’t agree.
25. b. I ‘m sorry but I don’t agree.
26. c. That’s interesting, but I’d prefer something different.
27. d. Actually, I disagree.
28. 3. A speaker asks you a question but you don’t hear it clearly or don’t understand it.
29. Type of response: Clarify
30. a. Excuse me, I didn’t hear that. Could you say it again?
31. b. Sorry, I missed what you just said. Could you repeat that please?
32. c. I’m sorry, could you say that again?
33. d. Excuse me, could you repeat that?
34. 4. The speaker gives you more information to help you understand.
35. Type of response: Show you Understand
36. a. Thanks, now I get it.
37. b. I see.
38. c. I understand now. Thank you
39. d. Thank you, it’s a lot clearer to me now.
40. 5. You have some important information you want to contribute to the discussion but
another person is talking.
41. Type of response: Interrupt
42. a. Excuse me, can I say something here?
43. b. Could I interrupt you for a minute?
44. c. Sorry to interrupt, but I’d like to say something here.
45. 6. You notice that one of the people at the meeting hasn’t had a chance to speak.
46. Type of Response: Invite
47. a. So what do you think?
48. b. Can you give me your thoughts on this?
49. c. Do you agree?
50. d. What’s your opinion?
51. 7. The meeting is going well and the speakers are very interesting.
52. Type of response: Show Interest
53. Nod, look at the speaker and say,
54. a. That’s interesting.
55. b. Really?
56. c. I see.