Once, years ago, an old classmate of mine was injured in a bad car accident. A mutual friend and I decided to go to the hospital to visit him. Several friends of the injured man had the same idea, and were at the hospital visiting when my friend and I arrived. Almost everyone in the hospital room was a stranger to my friend and me. We greeted everyone and I joined the conversation as it continued with no reference to injuries or accident.

Afterwards as we walked to the parking lot my friend turned to me and gave me a great compliment. Admiringly, he said “you really can talk to anyone about anything”.  My friend was saying that I’m good at small talk. Small talk is conversation you have with people you don’t know well. The term ‘small talk’ refers to having polite conversation about light subjects like the weather, favourite foods, or traffic. Chitchat is a word that has a similar meaning to small talk.

I would love to help you practice your English through conversation. Request a lesson with me and we can have a chitchat.

Kim