One of the most common problems learners of English have during language exchanges is not knowing what to talk about, especially for the first meeting. Both you and your partner are probably feeling extra nervous during that first conversation, and it can be hard to think of things to talk about. That is why it is good to prepare a list of general topics to talk about for your first few conversations. If the conversation flows naturally and you don’t need them, that’s great! But you will feel more confident if you know you have some conversation topics to fall back on.

General advice for choosing language exchange topics

Unless you know someone well, you should talk about safe topics, topics that aren’t likely to be too emotional, sensitive, or raise strong feelings. Topics to avoid include: politics, wars, health-care policies, religion, personal finances, people’s appearance, gun control, abortion laws, corruption, democracy (or lack of it), crime, international relations between specific countries or regions, questions about gender identity, terrorism, racial issues, etc. None of these topics are advisable to talk about with people you don’t know.

Tips for keeping a conversation going

Ask follow-up questions.
If you have something to add to the conversation, say it! Don’t just ask questions. It’s natural in conversations for people to take turns asking and answering questions.
Feel free to change the topic if you get stuck. Normal conversations change topics all the time.

List of English language exchange topics

Talking about the weather
How’s the weather there today?
What’s the weather like today?
It’s really hot/cold/rainy/cloudy/snowy/stormy/windy/smoggy here today. What’s the weather like where you are?

Follow-up weather questions
Do you like rain/snow/hot weather/cold weather/windy days? Continue reading…

Are you stuck at the intermediate level, feeling overwhelmed and frustrated, and not sure how to make progress? Are you over-complicating things, hopping from one English learning resource to the next and getting nowhere? Are you tired of not feeling fluent?

Feelings like these at the intermediate stage are very common. They lead to frustration, and learners often end up over-complicating things and getting even more frustrated. At worst, they give up.

Improving your English fluency past the intermediate level doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t have to be frustrating and overwhelming. You can do it on your own, even without a class or a teacher.

Try this simple 6-step system for one week. Look at it as a 7-day experiment. You are going to test something new and see how it works.

If you commit to the process and put in consistent effort for 7 days, you will be amazed at how much your fluency improves.

But even better than that, you will have learned a simple and effective system you can use to keep improving your English for as long as you want.

This is “teach a man to fish” turbocharged.

Your 7-day English fluency goal

Your goal is simple:

To be able to speak fluently* about a specific topic for at least 90 seconds.

For the next 7 days, you will work exclusively toward mastering this specific task.

S.T.A.R.T.R — a 6-step English fluency system

I’ve broken the fluency-building process down into 6 steps. It’s even got an easy-to-remember acronym: S.T.A.R.T.R. It’s pronounced “STARTER. The letters stand for Select, Test, Analyze, Research, Train, Repeat.

How to use the S.T.A.R.T.R English fluency system

1. SELECT an interesting topic
Choose a topic that feels interesting and exciting. It should be something that you can look forward to working on for the coming week. It makes no sense to choose something you would never need to talk about, or something that bores you. Can you feel excited about it for a week of study? If yes, then it’s a good topic.

2. TEST your current fluency
What is your starting point? It’s time to find out. Do a self-test before you study or prepare anything. Continue reading…