The End of a Conversation (1)

How to end a conversation politely

Info Cloud
I remember when I first taught English in Asia, a couple of nights each week I would invite students over to my apartment, so they could practice their English. But when they decided it was time to leave, they did so a little differently then what I was used to. They didn’t use pre-closings.

And what are pre-closings? They’re phrases that signal the end of a conversation.

Right, very often a student would just suddenly get up and announce, “It is late, I must go.” And then they’d be out the door. Now growing up in America, I was more used to visit gradually winding down rather than ending abruptly.

And this doesn’t mean you must use pre-closings when talking to westerners or even that westerners always use pre-closings, but you should be aware of them.

That’s right. Pre-closings are useful. There’re indirect and polite way of saying is there anything else we need to talk about before I go.

Knowing a few pre-closings will help you when you want to extract yourself from a conversation.

Yes, recognizing pre-closings will also help you to know when someone else is signaling you, that they’re ready for the conversation to end.

當你跟別人聊天, 聊了一段時間, 對方如果說,
well, maybe we can get together someday. 也許我們改天再見面,
這時候你千萬不要拿出你的行事曆, 向對方確認下一次的時間,
對方說的話是一種 pre-closing 結束前語
通常想要結束的一方會發出暗示要結束的訊息

Language Lab
converse v.
to talk usually informally with someone: to have a conversation
- They conversed quietly in the corner of the room.
- At home we often converse in Spanish.
conversation n.

chat v.
chats; chatted; chatting
to talk with someone in a casual way
chat n.
- We enjoyed a chat over coffee.

catch v.
to meet with (someone)
- I'll catch you later.

pottery n.
objects (such as bowls, plates, etc.) that are made out of clay usually by hand and then baked at high temperatures so that they become hard
the art or activity of making objects out of clay

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