It’s tough not having a boss or an office.
That’s a lie.
It’s my dream life.
But one thing that’s challenging is working alone every day.
That’s why co-working spaces have become so popular in recent years.
It’s nice to be around humans once in a while.
So today I visited my co-working space in Prague.
At 5 pm it was “happy hour.”
I went downstairs to the communal area and poured a beer.
There was a guy standing nearby so I started a conversation.
He’s French, he’s a programmer, he was travelling the world until he met his Slovak girlfriend and now he’s been in Prague for two years.
And according to him, his English is “so bad.”
Nice guy.
I’d like to talk to him again.
The next person I met was a girl.
I don’t know anything about her because it was a very short conversation.
It was a very short conversation because she didn’t smile, she didn’t make eye contact, and she didn’t ask questions.
Oh, but her English was good.
What’s the lesson here?
Social skills are more important than English.
Smile, put down the phone, ask questions, and you can make a lot of friends.
Even if your English is “so bad.”
It is a compelling story.
Good tips
Thanks!
May be that girl does not like beer 🙂
It’s logical for me, that programmer met a Chess girlfriend in Prague, not Slovak girl. 😂
I’m joaking, of course. (Sorry for my bad English. 😄)
I have frends bat his lengvich Is serbish end English.I don’t spike English whit HIM.
You are perfectly right.I think the same about this question.But the problem is ,if your English is ” so bad” you don’t dare to begin conversation with a stranger.
Ik begin juist vaak een gesprekmaar moet vaak afhaken door mijn woordkennis
A very pleasant story for evening reading and reflection on the lesson. Of course, the word is in the foreground, but a look, a smile, a handshake… friendship. even if my english is “so bad”.
Thank you.
Cheers.
I’m completely agree with you, Ryan.
But what should I do as I don’t very talkative, bedside this my English is not good enough.
I will try with both. Thanks a lot!
My dream is no office, no ceo😀
Only English native speakers around 😄
Yes Mr.Vig,you are right ! What is the lesson here ?The answer : put down the phone,smile , ask the qestions and speak. Speak! As much as possible,even if the English is “so bad”. A good day
Sa socializezi despre lucruri banale este ok ,daca intri în declarații despre tine sau alte persoane nu prea da bine.
Noroc,
Gabriel
May be for first time …..
In my opinion, talking and smiling is the best. But, it is hard to have both of them. I think, I have no one.
Mr Vig, why do you think that all you have to do is talk and you have become a friend. I, for one, hate talking to strangers, let alone becoming friends with someone by chance.
Sometimes women like mystery, I think it is wonderful, isn’t it…?
Hi, it’s difficult for women to speak in bar with a stranger, even she speak a little or good English, but smile.. just a word will make a nice field to speak and share thougts , opinion, or ask something..I’m interestng in Mr.Vig do you speak their language (Cheh?)in Prague.. you are already long time in Prague..
Have a nice night!
Hi! I’m agree, the social skills are more important. The non verbal communication has 60-80% significant, verbal 40-60%. The science and the everyday situations demonstrate this theory and practice. Cheers!
I like these story 👏 when I am thinking about this situation, meet and talk to you, my english will be bla, bla bla, but I will smile, that I can very well😂
Absolutely, smiling and asking question work, because when you smile it shows you are friendly and when you ask questions shows you are interested to getting know about other person.
It’s a great way to make new friends and improve English.
French commune .. hmm
yes, really I think like you, step by step, and my very little english in the last time of my life wake up since the start of a relation, a special relation, but this is. she is american, a relation open the doors of our life
Thank you !!! for Vitamin V it’s nice 🙂
Hi Mr. Vig
Yes we have to try to reach out to others!
But some people ( and specialy the people who don’t like the conversations, ) use yours phone as excuses for your shyness.
Sometimes isn’t necessarily related to language. Sometimes!
For me it’s not true!
I like speek with the others personnes but I stake because my English is very poor in vocabulary.
In fact, tanks you Mr. Vig for your help!
Yes, I agree :-), with such attitude your “so bad” English has at least good chance to become better. Have a nice day!
Jelszó: “Légy kedves és bátor!” – igy sok ismerősőd/barátod lesz. És talán könnyebben megtanulsz idegen nyelveket.
I enjoyed alot reading your story , really appreciate 😊 yes I agree with you that social skills are as important as knowing all grammars or vocabularies to the most extent…
It’s okay to be polite to everyone. But it’s not easy to be a girl or a woman and smile at a stranger. You don’t know what her situation is.
Yes I think the social skills are more important than English language . It helps us to improve the English, to make friends. Its human to contact with another person once a while
Yes, this is the lesson.
But if in the “Happy Hour “ this girl gets the happy thought that she can become happier and starts shooting question after question without stopping, and at the same time the smile doesn’t leave her face – the result will be the same.
What is the key word here?
Balance!
What about this nice guy?
If the next day he is just charming and only apologizes for his bad English, and the very next day again, and a year later the conversation still doesn’t start…🍺
Balance!
i agree with you, but when you afraid of speak that it is not possible to make a chat with only with smile or eye contact… but if you put i smile in your face can brighteen someone day…:-)
I was a “so bad English” speaker too, for many years:). Literally, my smile, my eye contact and my positive emotional behavior, helped me to solve instant difficulties, to communicate effectively with my guests , all last summers. This explain the constantly high degrees in reviews from guests . I fell and I hope this summer to become more fluent in conversation with our beloved guests, after my practice and experience as VIG VILLAGE member. So its really important the emotional communication even not so perfect knowledge of the language,
Thank you so much!!!! 🤩
Thanks for this gentle story. I guess the girl was Japanese :-). Have a cheerful day.
I agree with you, You are a very nice person. Unfortunately, my English is very bad… And I’m not too talkative…
תראה מר ויג, זה לא קשור למיומנויות חברתיות
הבחור שוחח איתך שיחת גברים .
כאשר דיברת עם הבחורה, מה שהיא שומעת הוא שאתה מנסה להתחיל איתה, והיא לא היתה מעוניינת בך, או שכבר יש לה חבר, או שהיא נשואה.
Very true 🙂
That right . That we have to communicate with everyone and to show a smile on the face then you can get a friend and the language will better .
I agree with you Mr. Vig. Social skills are more important than English,