50 Questions to Ask Someone From Another Country: Conversation Starters at Home and Abroad
Yurii Rebryk · Updated September 22, 2026 · 20 min read
The best questions to ask someone from another country are about their own life (food, daily routines, language, places, holidays), not facts you could look up, and each one works better with a follow-up. Below are 50 conversation starters in eight groups, each with a follow-up and a note on who to ask and when it gets sensitive. They work both ways: with a visitor where you live, and with locals when you are the foreigner abroad.
In this article
- Questions for someone from another country vs. questions for locals abroad
- 50 questions to ask someone from another country
- Questions they will ask you back, with short answers
- Questions to ask about a country: ask for experience, not facts
- Questions to ask a visitor about your country and culture
- Questions not to ask someone from another country, and what to ask instead
- Safe topics with people from other countries, and topics to wait on
- What to say when you don’t understand someone (or they don’t understand you)
- Practice: three conversations with a voice trainer
Jump to the 50 questions (first contact, food, daily life, language, places and travel, work and school, traditions and holidays, deeper questions), the questions to avoid, the phrases for when you don’t understand or the three practice dialogues.
Questions for someone from another country vs. questions for locals abroad
Questions to ask someone from another country and questions to ask locals when you travel are the same questions pointed in different directions. Only the place word changes: with a visitor, ask about “back home”; abroad, ask about “here”. Every question in the list is marked Visitor, Abroad or Both.
| Situation | Who is the foreigner | Place word | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| A colleague, classmate, exchange student or neighbor from another country | They are | “back home”, “where you grew up” | “What do people eat for breakfast back home?” |
| You travel or live abroad and talk to a local | You are | “here”, “in this city” | “What do people here eat for breakfast?” |
| A language exchange or an online chat | Both of you | “where you are”, “in your country” | “What are people eating for breakfast where you are?” |
The three-turn pattern: question, follow-up, something of yours
A conversation starter on its own gets one answer. The follow-up question turns that answer into a conversation, and one detail from your own life stops it from feeling like an interview. Research backs the middle step: across three studies of live conversations, people who asked more questions were better liked by their partners, speed daters who asked more questions got more agreements to a second date, and the rate of follow-up questions explained the effect (Huang et al., Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2017).
Example: “What do people here eat for breakfast?” (starter) → “Is that every day, or just at weekends?” (follow-up) → “At home I just have coffee, so this is a big change for me.” (your detail). Closed (yes/no) starters are easy openers; the story usually comes from an open-ended follow-up (what, how, why).
Learning English? The questions are A2–B1 English you can say from memory. Learn each one with its follow-up: the follow-up is what keeps a short exchange going. The free English level test gives a CEFR estimate from 18 questions.
50 questions to ask someone from another country
The 50 conversation starters below run from the first minute to questions for people you already know. Each row gives the question, a follow-up and who to ask: Visitor, Abroad or Both. Swap “back home” and “here” to turn one direction into the other. For fun questions with funny answers, try 12, 23 and 32. For general topics without the cultural angle, see the English conversation topics guide.
First contact: questions for the first minute (1–7)
First-contact questions are low-risk and easy to answer in one sentence, so the other person can either continue or politely end the chat. For the greeting before the first question, see the 22 common English greetings.
| Question | Follow-up | Who to ask / watch out |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Are you from around here? | “How long have you lived here?” | Abroad. Safe with almost anyone: a host, a guide, the person next to you in a queue. |
| 2. Where are you from? | “What part of [country]?” then “What’s it like there?” | Both. Ask once and accept the answer. If they name your own city, talk about that city. |
| 3. Sorry, how do you pronounce your name? | “Does it have a meaning?” | Both. Say it back once to check. Never shorten or replace a name unless they offer a nickname. |
| 4. What brought you here? | “Are you planning to stay for a while?” | Visitor. Lets them choose a short answer (work, study) or a long one. Better than “Why did you come here?”. |
| 5. How long have you been here? | “What was the first week like?” | Visitor. Safe. Present perfect: “have you been”, not “are you here”. |
| 6. Is this seat free? | “Are you going all the way to [city]?” | Abroad. The classic train or bus opener: no pressure, and the follow-up starts a real chat or ends it kindly. |
| 7. How do you like it here so far? | “What’s the biggest difference from home?” | Visitor. Can sound like a test of loyalty; accept a polite answer and move to the follow-up. |
Food questions (8–14)
Food questions are the easiest cultural questions to start with: everyone eats, and the best ones ask about normal days rather than famous dishes.
| Question | Follow-up | Who to ask / watch out |
|---|---|---|
| 8. What do people usually eat for breakfast back home? | “Is that every day, or just at weekends?” | Both (abroad: “here”). Breakfast is more personal than the national dish and easier to answer. |
| 9. Is there a dish I should try while I’m here? | “Where would you go for it?” | Abroad. Ask a vendor, a driver or a host. The follow-up gets you a place, not just a name. |
| 10. What food from home do you miss the most? | “Can you find it here, or do you cook it yourself?” | Visitor. Warm and safe. Avoid “Our food must be strange for you”. |
| 11. What’s a normal weeknight dinner where you grew up? | “Who usually cooks?” | Both. “Normal weeknight” gets real food; “national dish” gets the tourist answer. |
| 12. Is there any food here you still can’t get used to? | “What did you think the first time you tried it?” | Visitor. Fun with people who have been here a while. If they stay polite about your food, let it go. |
| 13. Am I eating this the right way? | “Is there anything I shouldn’t do at the table?” | Abroad. Shows respect, and the follow-up covers table manners that guidebooks miss. |
| 14. What do people drink with meals where you’re from? | “Is there a drink I should try?” | Both. Alcohol is off the table for some people and in some places; let them mention it first. |
Daily life questions (15–20)
Daily life questions compare routines without judging them: when the day starts, how people get around, what a day off looks like.
| Question | Follow-up | Who to ask / watch out |
|---|---|---|
| 15. What does a normal weekday look like for you? | “What time does the day start there?” | Both. Safe. Good for comparing work hours, commutes and meal times. |
| 16. How do most people get to work here? | “How long does it take you?” | Abroad. Safe, practical, and useful for you as a visitor. |
| 17. What’s the weather like back home right now? | “Which season do you like best?” | Visitor. The safest small-talk topic; the follow-up makes it personal. |
| 18. What do people here do on their day off? | “And what do you do?” | Abroad. “Day off” does not assume the weekend falls on Saturday and Sunday. |
| 19. What’s cheaper here than back home, and what’s more expensive? | “What do you buy more of because of that?” | Visitor. Prices of things are safe; salaries and rent are not, at first. |
| 20. What’s a small thing people here do that visitors don’t notice? | “How did you learn that?” | Abroad. Gets you the unwritten rules: queues, greetings, tipping. |
Language questions (21–26)
Language questions work in both directions: you learn something, and the other person gets to be the expert.
| Question | Follow-up | Who to ask / watch out |
|---|---|---|
| 21. How do you say “thank you” here? | “Is there a more polite way, for older people?” | Abroad. Learn it and use it the same day. |
| 22. What languages do you speak? | “Which one do you think in?” | Both. Better than “Do you speak English?”: it does not assume English is their second language. |
| 23. Is there a word in your language that English doesn’t have? | “When would you use it?” | Visitor. One of the best culture questions; the answer is usually a story. |
| 24. Which English sounds are hardest for speakers of your language? | “How did you practice them?” | Visitor. Only after they mention learning English. Some people grew up speaking it. |
| 25. Is there a phrase people here say all the time that I should know? | “When would I use it?” | Abroad. Gets you the slang and polite phrases that phrasebooks skip. |
| 26. Did I say that right? | “How would you say it?” | Abroad. Asking for correction gives the other person an easy, friendly role. |
Places and travel questions (27–32)
Questions about places get better answers when they ask for a recommendation instead of a list of sights.
| Question | Follow-up | Who to ask / watch out |
|---|---|---|
| 27. What’s your hometown like? | “What would you show me if I visited?” | Visitor. “Hometown” lets them choose where they really grew up. |
| 28. If I had one free day here, where would you send me? | “How do I get there?” | Abroad. “One day” gets a sharper answer than “What should I see?”. |
| 29. Which part of your country do tourists usually skip? | “What would you do there?” | Visitor. Much better than “Is it safe there?”, which can sound like an accusation. |
| 30. Where do people here go on holiday? | “Where did you go last time?” | Abroad. Safe. You learn the country through its own favorite places. |
| 31. Have you traveled much around here? | “What’s the most beautiful place you’ve seen?” | Both. Neutral, and it works with someone who has just moved too. |
| 32. What do visitors always get wrong about this place? | “What should they do instead?” | Abroad. Invites a local to correct the tourist version; take the answer as advice, not criticism. |
Work and school questions (33–38)
Work and school questions are safe as a second or third question; as the very first one, “What do you do?” can feel like a status check.
| Question | Follow-up | Who to ask / watch out |
|---|---|---|
| 33. What do you do? | “How did you get into that?” | Both. Ask it after a few easier questions, not as the opener. |
| 34. What’s a normal working day like back home? | “Do people eat lunch together or at their desks?” | Visitor. A comparison without judgment. More break-time questions: 50 conversation starters for lunch breaks. |
| 35. What did you study? | “Would you choose it again?” | Both. Safe with students and young professionals. |
| 36. What’s school like where you grew up? | “What was your favorite subject?” | Visitor. Best with exchange students and language assistants. |
| 37. How is working here different from working back home? | “What do you like better here?” | Visitor. Fine with a colleague; not in front of their manager. |
| 38. How do people greet each other at work back home? | “Handshakes, first names, titles?” | Visitor. Concrete, safe, and useful if you will ever visit their office. |
Traditions and holidays: cultural questions (39–44)
Questions about traditions work best when they ask what people do on a holiday, not what the holiday means; the meaning usually comes with the answer.
| Question | Follow-up | Who to ask / watch out |
|---|---|---|
| 39. What’s the biggest holiday of the year where you’re from? | “What does your family do that day?” | Visitor. For a religious holiday, ask about the food and the family, not the belief. |
| 40. Is there a festival here I should see? | “When is it, and what happens?” | Abroad. Safe; festivals are what most places are proud of. |
| 41. How do people celebrate birthdays back home? | “Is there a special food?” | Visitor. Light, and almost everyone has a story. |
| 42. What’s a wedding like where you’re from? | “How many people usually come?” | Both. A question about customs, not about their own marriage plans. |
| 43. What music or films are people into there right now? | “Can you show me one you like?” | Visitor. Easy to continue: you listen or watch together. |
| 44. What sport do people get excited about there? | “Which team do you support?” | Both. Safe almost everywhere; team rivalries can run hot, so ask and don’t argue. |
Deeper questions, once there is trust (45–50)
Deeper questions belong to the second or third conversation, and they work best when you answer them too.
| Question | Follow-up | Who to ask / watch out |
|---|---|---|
| 45. What do you miss most about home? | “What do you do when you miss it?” | Visitor. Can bring up homesickness or a hard departure; listen, don’t try to fix it. |
| 46. What do people often get wrong about your country? | “Where do you think that idea comes from?” | Visitor. Good after the first meeting. Listen; don’t defend the stereotype. |
| 47. What’s something from your culture you wish people here did too? | “And something from here you would take home?” | Visitor. The follow-up balances it, so it never turns into a complaint session. |
| 48. What’s been the hardest part of living here? | “What helped?” | Visitor. Only with someone you know; share one hard moment of your own first. |
| 49. How has living abroad changed you? | “What would your old friends notice first?” | Both. Deep but usually positive; expect to be asked it back. |
| 50. What was life like for your grandparents? | “How is your life different from theirs?” | Both. Family history can include war, migration or loss; let them choose how much to say. |
The order follows the “36 questions” exercise by Aron and colleagues (1997): three sets, each more probing than the last, with both people answering in turn (Greater Good in Action, UC Berkeley).
Questions they will ask you back, with short answers
People from other countries usually ask your questions back. Answer in two or three sentences and end with a question; a one-word answer leaves them all the work. Swap in your own details.
| They ask | You could say |
|---|---|
| “Where are you from?” | “I’m from Cebu, in the Philippines. It’s an island city, so lots of seafood. Have you ever been?” |
| “What brought you here?” | “Work: I’m here for six months with my company. Where should I go for a weekend trip?” |
| “How do you like it here?” | “I like it, especially the street food. The winter is still a shock. How do you survive it?” |
| “Where did you learn your English?” | “At school, and now at work: my team is international. Do you speak other languages?” |
| A hard question about your country’s politics | “People back home disagree about that too; I can only give my view. What do people here think?” |
Questions to ask about a country: ask for experience, not facts
Good questions to ask about a country ask what the person has lived, not what an encyclopedia says. Look up the facts first, then turn one into a question: “I read that Kerala has a lot of backwaters. Have you been on a houseboat?”
| Quiz question (look it up) | Conversation version (ask the person) |
|---|---|
| What is the capital? | “Have you lived in the capital, or somewhere smaller? Which do you prefer?” |
| What currency do they use? | “What does a coffee cost back home?” |
| What is the population? | “Is your hometown the kind of place where everyone knows everyone?” |
| What is the national dish? | “What do people actually eat on a normal Tuesday?” |
Questions to ask a visitor about your country and culture
Questions to ask a visitor about your country use the present perfect for an experience still going on (“Have you tried…?”) and the past simple for a fixed time (“What did you think when you arrived?”). Five for exchange students, language assistants and new colleagues:
- “What surprised you most when you arrived in [your country]?”
- “Have you tried any [your country] food yet? What did you think?”
- “Is there anything about our culture that still feels strange to you?”
- “How is school (or work) here different from back home?”
- “Is there a place in [your country] you want to see before you leave?”
If the visitor says the food is too spicy or the trains are late, reply with curiosity (“What would you change?”), not a defense of your country.
Interview questions for an immigrant or someone from another culture (school project)
A project interview with an immigrant or someone from another culture works best in story order: life before, the move, life here, what next. Ask before recording; they can skip any question.
| Part | Question |
|---|---|
| Life before | “Where did you grow up, and what was a normal day like?” |
| Life before | “How did your family celebrate holidays?” |
| The move | “When did you move here, and what brought you?” |
| The move | “What did you expect before you came, and what was different?” |
| Life here | “What surprised you most in your first month?” |
| Life here | “What was the hardest thing to get used to, and what helped?” |
| Life here | “Which language do you use at home, and which at work?” |
| Identity | “Which traditions from home do you still keep?” |
| Identity | “Do you feel more from here, from there, or both?” |
| What next | “What would you tell someone moving here next year?” |
Questions not to ask someone from another country, and what to ask instead
Most questions to avoid with someone from another country are not banned topics but bad framings: they assume the person is foreign, poor, dangerous, or a spokesperson for a whole nation. Each one has a better version.
| Instead of | Ask | Why |
|---|---|---|
| “Where are you really from?” / “But where were you born?” | Accept the first answer, or ask “Where did you grow up?” once | The repeat question says “you don’t belong here”; see the research note below. |
| “Your English is so good!” | “What languages do you speak?” (22) | English may be their first language. The compliment assumes it is not. |
| “Do you have [phones / supermarkets] in your country?” | “What’s shopping like back home?” | Assumes the country is behind yours and sounds like a test. |
| “Is it safe there?” / “Is there a war there?” | “Which part of your country do you love?” (29) | They may have family in danger. Let them bring up the news. |
| “What do you think of your president?” | Nothing yet; wait until they bring it up | Politics can be painful or risky to discuss (see the topic table below). |
| “What religion are you?” | “What’s the biggest holiday where you’re from?” (39) | Lets them decide whether religion enters the conversation. |
| “How much do you earn?” / “How much is your rent?” | “Is [city] expensive to live in?” | Prices of things are fine; personal money is not, at first. |
| “All [nationality] people are [X], right?” | “What do people get wrong about your country?” (46) | Turns a stereotype into an invitation to correct it. |
| “Why did you leave your country?” | “What brought you here?” (4) | The person may have left a war or a hard situation. The softer version lets them choose the depth. |
| “Say something in your language!” | “Is there a word in your language that English doesn’t have?” (23) | Asks for a story instead of a performance. |
Why “Where are you really from?” hurts. In a paper on everyday microaggressions, psychologists at Teachers College, Columbia University list “Where are you from?”, “Where were you born?” and “You speak good English.” under the theme “alien in own land”, with the hidden message “You are not American” (Sue et al., American Psychologist, 2007). The paper’s example: a client answers “Philadelphia”, and the follow-up “Where were you born?” tells her she must be a foreigner. Asking once is normal. Asking again because of how someone looks or sounds is the problem.
Safe topics with people from other countries, and topics to wait on
Safe cultural topics to talk about with people from other countries are the ones about daily life: food, weather, sport, music, travel and language. Personal topics depend on the person and the place, and a short list should wait until the other person raises it.
| Topic group | Topics | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Safe from the first minute | Food, weather, sport, music, films, travel inside their country, language, holidays, daily routines | Start here with anyone, anywhere. |
| Depends on the person and the place | Family and marriage, children, job and job title, alcohol, age, cost of living | Ask lightly and watch the reaction: short answers, a pause or a look away mean change the topic. |
| Wait until they bring it up | Politics and leaders, religion, salary and rent, visas and immigration status, war and conflict, weight and appearance | If they raise it, ask “How do people there see it?” and listen more than you talk. |
Abroad, the third row can carry legal risk, not only social risk. The UK government’s travel advice for Thailand states that criticising the Thai monarchy (“lèse-majesté”) “is illegal. The law can be interpreted broadly and carries a long prison sentence”, and that people have faced charges for political comments and for sharing articles online (GOV.UK, Thailand: safety and security, updated September 2026). Before a trip, read the local laws section of your government’s advice for that country, such as the GOV.UK foreign travel advice pages.
What to say when you don’t understand someone (or they don’t understand you)
When you don’t understand someone from another country, ask them to repeat or slow down, then check the key word. Accents, speed and local words trip up fluent speakers too, and the CEFR’s A1 description of spoken interaction assumes the other person is “prepared to repeat or rephrase things at a slower rate of speech” (Council of Europe, 2001). Asking is part of the conversation, not a failure.
| Situation | What to say | Note |
|---|---|---|
| You missed a few words | “Sorry, could you say that again?” | Cambridge lists “sorry” as used “when politely asking someone to repeat something”. |
| They speak too fast | “Could you speak a bit more slowly, please? My English is still getting there.” | Giving the reason gets you a slower repeat, not a louder one. |
| You missed their name | “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.” | Here catch means “to manage to hear”. |
| You heard a word but don’t know it | “Sorry, what does [word] mean?” | Repeat the word as you heard it; they will correct the pronunciation too. |
| You want to check you understood | “So you mean [short summary]?” | Repeating the key fact back checks times, prices and directions without a full question. |
| A street, a dish or a name you can’t catch by ear | “Could you write it down for me?” / “Could you show me on my map?” | Names are hard to guess from context; seeing them written saves several repeats. |
| A formal or polite setting | “Pardon?” (US also “Pardon me?”) | Cambridge: a polite request to repeat. “I beg your pardon!” with stress can mean you are offended. |
| Friends, casual setting | “Come again?” | Cambridge marks it informal; keep it for people you know. |
| They don’t understand you | “Let me say that another way.” | Use shorter, simpler words. Repeating the same sentence louder rarely helps. |
More repair phrases for first conversations, with short dialogues, are in the English conversation for beginners guide.
Practice: three conversations with a voice trainer
Each dialogue uses starters from the list. The trainer reads the other person; say your lines out loud into the microphone, then swap roles.
1. At a market stall abroad (questions 8, 9 and 26)
At a market stall abroad
A2–B1- Lina
Hi! These look great. What are they?
- Dewi
They’re pancakes made with rice flour and coconut milk. We call them serabi.
- Lina
Sorry, could you say the name again, a bit more slowly?
- Dewi
Se-ra-bi.
- Lina
Serabi. Did I say that right?
- Dewi
Perfect. Lots of people eat them in the morning.
- Lina
Really? What do people here usually eat for breakfast?
- Dewi
Rice, mostly. Or these, with sweet tea.
- Lina
I’m here for a week. Is there a dish I should try while I’m here?
- Dewi
Go to the night market on Friday and try the satay.
- Lina
Could you show me on my map?
- Dewi
Here, near the station. Tell them Dewi sent you.
- Lina
I will. Thank you so much!
Practise this dialogue
Listen to the whole exchange, then take one role: your partner’s lines are read aloud, you say yours into the microphone and see which words came through.
2. A new colleague from another country (questions 3, 4 and 34)
A new colleague from another country
B1- Jake
Hi, you must be the new analyst. I’m Jake.
- Omar
Hi Jake, I’m Omar. Nice to meet you.
- Jake
Nice to meet you too. Sorry, how do you pronounce your last name?
- Omar
Haddad. Ha-DAD.
- Jake
Haddad. Got it. So what brought you here?
- Omar
This job, actually. I moved from Amman three weeks ago.
- Jake
Three weeks! How is it going so far?
- Omar
Good, but the weather is a shock. It’s so grey.
- Jake
It gets worse, sorry. What was a normal working day like at your old job?
- Omar
We started at eight and had a late lunch together, the whole team.
- Jake
That sounds nice. Here most people eat at their desks.
- Omar
I noticed! What do people here do on their day off?
- Jake
Hiking, if it isn’t raining. Want to join us on Saturday?
- Omar
I’d love to.
Practise this dialogue
Listen to the whole exchange, then take one role: your partner’s lines are read aloud, you say yours into the microphone and see which words came through.
3. A deeper talk with a friend from abroad (questions 45, 47 and 48)
A deeper talk with a friend from abroad
B1–B2- Daniel
Can I ask you something? What do you miss most about home?
- Mei
Honestly? Food late at night. Back home you can get something good at eleven p.m.
- Daniel
What do you do when you miss it?
- Mei
I cook. Badly. Then I send photos to my mom and she laughs.
- Daniel
That’s sweet. Is there anything from your culture you wish people here did too?
- Mei
Sharing dishes. Here everybody orders their own plate.
- Daniel
True. And something from here you would take home?
- Mei
People say what they think in meetings. I like that.
- Daniel
When I lived in Spain, the first year was hard for me. What’s been the hardest part for you?
- Mei
Making friends, I think. People are polite, but it takes time.
- Daniel
Well, you have at least one. Cook for me next time?
- Mei
Deal. But you have to be honest about the food.
Practise this dialogue
Listen to the whole exchange, then take one role: your partner’s lines are read aloud, you say yours into the microphone and see which words came through.
Success check: cover the dialogue, pick any three questions from the list, and say each one with its follow-up from memory. Then answer the same three yourself, out loud, as if a visitor had asked you. If an answer stops after one sentence, add one detail and one question back. To keep going on your own, the guide to practicing English speaking alone has a daily routine.
Practice the follow-up, not just the question
A starter is easy to memorize; the follow-up has to come while the other person is still talking, and that only gets fast with speaking practice. Fluently is an AI speaking coach on iOS and Android: you answer out loud and get feedback on pronunciation, fluency, vocabulary and grammar. It is rated 4.8 on the App Store from 5.8K ratings (October 2026). The download and a four-minute speaking assessment are free; full practice is a subscription after a free trial.
Frequently asked questions
What are good questions to ask a foreigner?
Questions about their own experience: “What brought you here?”, “What do you miss most about home?”, “What surprised you when you arrived?”, “Is there a word in your language that English doesn’t have?” and “What’s a normal weekday like back home?”. Each needs a follow-up (“What do you do when you miss it?”) to become a conversation. Avoid questions that treat them as a stranger in your country, such as asking twice where they are “really” from.
What are interesting topics to discuss with people from other countries?
Food on normal days, words that don’t translate, how holidays and birthdays are celebrated, school and work routines, music people are listening to now, and the places tourists skip. These topics are personal enough to be interesting and safe enough for a first conversation. Politics, religion and personal money work better later, and only if the other person brings them up.
What are questions about culture?
Questions about culture ask how people live, not what a country is famous for: “How does your family celebrate the biggest holiday of the year?”, “What’s a wedding like where you’re from?”, “What is something people here do that would be strange back home?”, “What do people get wrong about your culture?”. The last one is best saved for someone you have talked to before.
How do you explain your culture to someone?
Pick one concrete custom and describe it as a scene: who is there, what people do, what they eat, then why it matters to you. “On New Year’s Eve my whole family eats twelve grapes at midnight, one for each month. Everyone laughs because nobody finishes in time.” A single scene with one personal detail explains more than a list of national facts, and it gives the other person something to ask about.
How do you start a conversation with people in a foreign country?
Start with something you share in the moment: a seat on the train (“Is this seat free?”), the food in front of you (“Is there a dish I should try while I’m here?”) or the place itself (“Are you from around here?”). Ask one follow-up, add one detail about yourself, and let the other person decide whether to continue. If you don’t catch an answer, “Sorry, could you say that a bit more slowly?” keeps the conversation going.
