To improve your ability to participate in English conversations it can be very helpful to practice the “W” questions. At Amuse Bilingual Club we focus on teaching 7 “W” questions, which are:
Who
When
What
Which
Where
Why
HoW
If you start a conversation by asking someone what kind of movies they liked and they answer “I like comedies”, you can continue and expand the conversation by asking “W” follow-up questions. For example:
- Who is your favourite comedy actor?
- What is your favourite comedy movie?
- Where do you usually go to watch movies?
- When did you go to the cinema last to watch a comedy?
- Which do you like better, romantic comedies or action comedies?
- Why do you like comedies?
- HoW often do you watch comedy movies?
It’s also important to listen carefully to the answers of the person you are speaking with, not just because it’s polite, but you need to listen for opportunities to ask more follow up questions to expand the conversation and learn more about the person and/or the conversation topic. For example:
A: What kind of movies do you like?
B: I like comedies.
A: Who is your favourite comedy actor?
B: I really like Jim Carrey.
A: Why do you like Jim Carrey.
B: I like him because he’s so whacky and stupid.
A: What’s your favourite Jim Carrey movie?
B: My favourite movie is ‘Liar Liar’.
A: Which scene is your favourite in Liar Liar? etc.
