AEE 299: 4 Topics that You Should NEVER Discuss in a First English Conversation

All Ears English Podcast

Lindsay McMahon

Education, Language Learning, Business

4.6 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 7 April 2015

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Come back to our blog and leave a comment. Did you bring up one of these topics on a first date? What happened? Tell us your story: http://www.allearsenglish.com/299 Get our free IELTS Chat Sheet at http://www.allearsenglish.com/evaluation Jessica is the author of Hopeful Disasters where she explores dating in New York City. She is also an ESL teacher in New York City. Check out her blog here! When you meet someone for the first time in English, whether it’s a date or just a first-time meeting with a friend or colleague, there are certain topics that you should NEVER discuss. Today you’ll find out what they are with our favorite AEE dating consultant, Jessica Coyle. A few weeks ago we talked about what four things you SHOULD talk about on a first date in English or at a first meeting but today we’ll show you what you should avoid. 4 Topics to AVOID on a first date or first meeting in English: Politics: You can casually mention your political interests but don’t get drawn into a political debate or discussion. Jessica calls this “quicksand” because you can start to sink and you’ll get stuck and you won’t be able to get out of it. It’s better to bring up this topic once you already know someone well and after you know their triggers well. Age: You should definitely avoid asking the person their exact age. Also, this means that you should not ask people about their timeline in terms of when they want to get married or have kids. It’s too direct and too intense for a first date or first conversation. You might terrify the person if start asking these questions too early. Religion: You probably have a rough idea of your date’s religion and it will be important later but it’s too personal to get into during a first date. It’s ok to share your own religion if you want to but don’t ask the person directly what their religion is. Education: This is tricky. Jessica says that the goal in not asking this question is to avoid coming off as arrogant or judgmental. If you ask the person where they went to school or how many degrees they have, it will be clear that you are fishing for information regarding their intelligence or social status. You might make the other person feel bad if you ask this question. Try to figure out if there is an intellectual connection instead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an All-Ears English podcast episode 299, four topics that you should never discuss in a first English conversation.
0:12.0	Welcome to the All-Ears English podcast where you'll finally get real native English conversation and
0:21.0	fluency for business and life. We believe in and
0:23.0	life. We believe in connection not perfection
0:27.0	when it comes to learning English.
0:30.0	Now here are your hosts.
0:32.0	Lindsey McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York
0:37.4	Radio Girl coming to you from Boston and New York City, USA.
0:44.0	Today, Jessica Coyle is back to give us a simple acronym to remember the four conversation topics that we must
0:55.2	avoid on a first date or a first conversation in English in the US.
1:01.6	Today we are honored to have in the US.
1:07.8	Today we are honored to have our special dating consultant back on the show, Jessica Koyle.
1:09.1	She lives in New York City and she runs a dating blog called Hopeful Disasters dot Wordpress.com
1:16.8	check it out and here we go with today's show. Are you afraid of making mistakes when you talk with native speakers? Do you just want to be able to have a smooth conversation with clients or friends? with confidence and connection. Our connection method will get you there. Start your study
1:45.3	plan now in our English fluency course. All ears English.com slash connection. Hey Jessica, how are you doing?
1:57.0	Welcome back to All ears English.
1:58.0	Thank you so much.
1:59.0	I am great.
2:00.0	How are you, Miss Lindsey?
2:01.0	I'm doing excellent today. Thank you so much and we're excited to have you on the
2:05.1	show today to talk about what topic should we actually avoid when we're just
2:11.3	kind of getting to know someone.
	...

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