English speaking practice

Anil: Hi, I'm Anil. I live next door.

Sara: Oh, hello! I'm Sara. We moved in on Saturday.

Anil: Welcome! How do you like the building?

Sara: It's nice and quiet. The people are friendly too.

Anil: That's good to hear. Where did you live before?

Sara: We lived across the city, near the old market.

Anil: If you need anything, just knock on my door.

Sara: Thank you, that's very kind. See you around!

There are four people in my family. My father works in a bank, and my mother teaches science at a school near our house. I have one younger brother. He is twelve, and he loves cricket.

On weekdays we are all busy, so we eat dinner together every night. We talk about our day and laugh a lot. On Sundays we visit my grandparents. My grandmother makes the best food in the world.

Meera: Hi Tom, how was your weekend?

Tom: It was great, thanks. I went to the beach with my cousins.

Meera: That sounds fun. Was it hot?

Tom: Very hot! We stayed in the water most of the day. What about you?

Meera: I stayed at home and watched a film. Then I cleaned my room.

Tom: A quiet weekend is nice sometimes.

Meera: Yes, I feel ready for the week now.

Shopkeeper: Good morning. What would you like?

Priya: Good morning. I need one kilo of tomatoes and half a kilo of onions, please.

Shopkeeper: Here you are. Anything else?

Priya: Do you have fresh bread?

Shopkeeper: Yes, it came in an hour ago.

Priya: Great, one loaf, please. How much is that?

Shopkeeper: That's one hundred and twenty rupees.

Priya: Here you go. Thank you!

Visitor: Excuse me, can you help me? I'm looking for the train station.

Local: Sure. Go straight down this road for about five minutes.

Visitor: Straight down this road. Okay.

Local: Then turn left at the big hospital. The station is on your right.

Visitor: Left at the hospital, and it's on the right. Is it far?

Local: No, it's a short walk. About ten minutes.

Visitor: Thank you so much.

Local: You're welcome. Have a good day.

Waiter: Hello, Green Leaf Restaurant. How can I help you?

Ravi: Hi, I'd like to book a table for tonight, please.

Waiter: Of course. For how many people?

Ravi: For four people, at eight o'clock.

Waiter: Let me check. Yes, we have a table at eight. Can I have your name?

Ravi: It's Ravi. R, A, V, I.

Waiter: Thank you, Ravi. Your table is booked for four people at eight.

Ravi: Perfect. See you tonight.

Neha: Are you free this Saturday? There's a food festival in the park.

Josh: I'd love to, but I promised to help my brother move house in the morning.

Neha: What about the afternoon? It goes on until nine.

Josh: The afternoon should be fine. Shall we meet at four?

Neha: Four works. Let's meet at the main gate, because the park is huge.

Josh: Good idea. I'll message you if I'm running late.

Neha: Don't eat lunch. I want to try everything.

Customer: Hi, I bought these headphones here last week, but the left side has stopped working.

Assistant: I'm sorry to hear that. Do you have the receipt?

Customer: Yes, here it is.

Assistant: Thank you. Would you like a replacement or your money back?

Customer: A replacement, please. I really like the sound quality.

Assistant: No problem. Let me get you a new pair, and I'll test them before you go.

Customer: That would be great. Thanks for your help.

Doctor: Good afternoon. What seems to be the problem?

Patient: I've had a sore throat and a headache since Tuesday.

Doctor: Do you have a fever?

Patient: I felt hot last night, but I didn't check my temperature.

Doctor: Let me have a look. Open your mouth and say ah. It looks like a throat infection.

Patient: Is it serious?

Doctor: Not at all. Drink plenty of warm water, rest for two days, and take this medicine after meals.

Patient: Thank you, doctor. I'll do that.

Hi Rahul, do you have a minute? I wanted to ask about taking Friday off. My sister is getting engaged, and the family is meeting that afternoon.

I've checked the calendar, and there's nothing urgent on Friday. I'll finish the weekly report on Thursday evening, and Anjali has agreed to answer my emails while I'm away.

If anything comes up, I can still join a quick call in the morning. Would that be all right?

Receptionist: Good evening, welcome to the Harbour Hotel. Do you have a reservation?

Guest: Yes, it's under the name Fernandes. Two nights.

Receptionist: I have it here. A double room with breakfast. Could I see your ID, please?

Guest: Here you are. What time is breakfast?

Receptionist: From seven until half past ten, on the first floor.

Guest: And is there Wi-Fi in the room?

Receptionist: Yes, the password is on your key card. Your room is on the fourth floor. Enjoy your stay.

Hi, this is Kavya Menon calling for Mr Shah. I'm calling about the job interview on Monday.

I received your email, and I'm happy to confirm the time, eleven o'clock. I just wanted to check one thing. Should I bring printed copies of my portfolio, or will a laptop be enough?

You can reach me on this number any time today. Thank you, and I look forward to meeting you.

I see why we'd want to launch before the holidays, and I agree that the timing is attractive. My concern is the testing. Right now we've only tried the new checkout with our own team, and that's a very different group from our actual customers.

What I'd suggest is a smaller release first. We could open it to ten percent of users for two weeks, watch the numbers closely, and fix anything that breaks. If it goes well, we'd still be live for most of December.

I think that gives us the best of both: we hit the season, and we don't bet everything on a version nobody outside this room has used.

Priya: I think we should move the whole team to four days in the office.

Daniel: I can see the appeal. It's easier to solve problems when everyone's in the same room.

Priya: Exactly. Our projects have slowed down since we went hybrid.

Daniel: That's true, though I'm not sure the office is the main reason. Two of our biggest delays came from waiting on approvals, not from people working at home.

Priya: That's a fair point.

Daniel: What if we tried two fixed office days for the whole team, and looked at the approval process at the same time? Then we'd know which change actually helps.

Thanks for making time for this call. I'll be straight with you: the first version of your app won't be ready on the fifteenth as we planned.

During testing, we found that the payment screen fails on some older Android phones. It affects about one in twelve of your customers, which is too many to ignore. Fixing it properly means about eight more working days.

We could launch on time without those phones, but I wouldn't recommend it. The new date is the twenty-fifth, and I'll send you a short update every Friday until then, so there are no more surprises.

Arjun: You must be Hannah. I'm Arjun, from the design team. How's your first week going?

Hannah: It's been a lot, honestly, but in a good way. Everyone's been really welcoming.

Arjun: That's good to hear. Where were you working before?

Hannah: At a small agency in Pune. I was there for about three years.

Arjun: So this must feel huge in comparison.

Hannah: It does. I keep getting lost on the way to the meeting rooms.

Arjun: Don't worry, it took me a month. Let me know if you want someone to have lunch with.

Thank you for showing me the flat. I really like it, especially the light in the living room, and it's close to my office, so I'd like to make an offer.

The listing says twenty-two thousand a month. I've been looking at similar flats in this area, and most of them are between eighteen and twenty thousand. I also noticed the kitchen needs some work, and the bathroom tap is leaking.

I'm a reliable tenant, and I'm happy to sign for two years instead of one. Would you consider twenty thousand if I commit to the longer lease?

A few years ago I sent an email to my entire company that was meant for one person. It was a joke about our weekly meeting, and it wasn't kind. I realised what I'd done about four seconds after I pressed send.

I had two choices. I could hope nobody read it, or I could own it. So I wrote a second email, to everyone, saying I'd made a mistake and apologising to the meeting's organiser by name.

To my surprise, she replied with a laughing emoji and an invitation for coffee. We've been friends ever since. I still think about it whenever I'm about to hit send too quickly.