Free Week 1 — Your Next Conversation

Your goal

Choose a place you actually use and one thing you want to do there. By the end, you will be able to ask for help, confirm a direction and ask someone to repeat.

Prepare with the four fingers

You do not need to say all four sentences in every conversation. Use them to prepare.

• WANT TO: I want to ask for help.
• HAVE TO: I have to explain the situation.
• NEED TO: I need to find the right person.
• MIGHT: I might need to repeat my question.

Try the conversation

Make a simple language plan

• Place: station
• Person: station employee
• Goal: find the ticket desk
• Useful words: ticket desk, entrance, next to
• Opening request: Could you help me, please?
• Possible problem: I do not understand the directions.
• Recovery phrase: Could you say that again slowly, please?

Change one detail

Change ticket desk to information desk. Then change station to airport. Keep the request structure. Cover the example and ask for help aloud.

Survive the unexpected

The person speaks too quickly. Say: “Could you say that again slowly, please?” Practise this once, then repeat your original question.

Your ten-minute practice

1. 2 minutes: Read the conversation aloud.
2. 3 minutes: Change the details to fit your life.
3. 3 minutes: Cover the text and practise with a partner, or play both roles.
4. 2 minutes: Write the phrase you remembered and one phrase to repeat tomorrow.

Record your first win

Can you name your place and goal, ask for help and ask someone to repeat? Mark each as with notes / with a prompt / without notes. Record one sentence as evidence. A role-play counts as practice; label it as a role-play.

My place: __________ My goal: __________
My useful request: __________
What I could say without looking: __________
What I will prepare next: __________