BBC Learning English
How to …..
..…show interest in an informal
conversation

How to …..

© BBC Learning English 2008

….show interest in an informal conversation

Page 1 of 4

bbclearningenglish.com

Anna:

Hello, welcome to ‘How to…’ with me, Anna Jones. In this programme I want to

look at how to show interest when you are having an informal conversation.

There are many ways to show interest in what someone else is saying and today

we are going to look at some of the most common ways of doing this. Just before

we listen to some conversations it’s worth mentioning that it is not just the words

themselves that express interest but how they are spoken. The change in sound

produced by the rise and fall of the voice will also help the speaker to express

interest in a conversation. In the following conversation listen out for the

expression used to show interest and how it sounds.

Example

I’m going to the theatre next week to see a play my brother recommended.

Are you? Let me know what it’s like and I might try to book tickets. It seems ages since I’ve

been to see a good play.

Anna:

Did you hear the expression and the tone of voice used?

Example

Are you … are you?

Anna:

And as it is a question the voice naturally rises at the end. This short question “are

you?” also uses the same tense as the other person – in this case the present tense.

Have a listen to another example in the present tense. What is the expression used

here?

How to …

© BBC Learning English 2008

… show interest in an informal conversation

Page 2 of 4

bbclearningenglish.com

Example

I really enjoy going to my dance class every week.

Do you? I used to do ballet once a week but my teacher moved house and I haven’t found

another one yet. I really must get round to doing something about it.

Anna:

And the expression is:

Example

Do you … Do you?

Anna:

As you can hear, the person who is expressing interest will reply in the same tense.

So far we have heard the present tense used – now listen to two examples in the

past tense. Listen out for the expressions as well as the tone of the speaker’s voice.

Example

Did you go to Jack’s birthday party last week?

I did – the party was great but I think I ate something that made me ill. I was in bed until

yesterday.

Were you? You should have told me earlier – I could have come round to visit you.

Have you been to any good restaurants lately?

Well I tried that new Italian restaurant last week.

Did you? What did you have to eat?

Anna:

And the expressions are:

Example

Were you … did you?

Anna:

So far today we’ve heard four different expressions which show interest in

conversations: “Are you, do you, were you, did you.” Now listen to three new

conversations where the speakers use other common expressions to show interest.

What are these expressions?

How to …

© BBC Learning English 2008

… show interest in an informal conversation

Page 3 of 4

bbclearningenglish.com

Example

I found out today that I’m going to win a prize for a short story I submitted to a competition in a

national newspaper.

Wow! That’s a real achievement. I’m always entering competitions and I’ve never won a thing.

Did you hear that she got engaged, changed her job and moved house all in one week?

Really! That sounds like a busy week!

Did you know that if you sign up for a subscription for at least 12 months then you get a 25

percent discount?

That’s interesting. I think I might take out a subscription myself.

Anna:

And the three expressions are:

Example

Wow!

Really!

That’s interesting

Anna:

Listen again and this time try to concentrate on the tone of each speaker who is

expressing interest in the conversations.

Example

I found out today that I’m going to win a prize for a short story I submitted to a competition in a

national newspaper.

Wow! That’s a real achievement. I’m always entering competitions and I’ve never won a thing.

Did you hear the she got engaged, changed her job and moved house all in one week?

Really! That sounds like a busy week!

Did you know that if you sign up for a subscription for at least 12 months then you get a 25

percent discount?

That’s interesting. I think I might take out a subscription myself.

How to …

© BBC Learning English 2008

… show interest in an informal conversation

Page 4 of 4

bbclearningenglish.com

Anna:

So as you can hear the tone of the speaker’s voice also helps to express a real

interest in what the other person is saying.

Well that’s about all from this edition of ‘How to’. Today we’ve looked at how to

use different expressions to express interest during a conversation.

Are you?

Do you?

Were you?

Did you?

Wow!

Really!

That’s interesting

So next time you’re having an interesting conversation with one of your friends

and you want to show them that you really are interested in what they are saying

then you know what expressions to use.