I’ve had numerous students tell me they’ve been turned down after job interviews because they lacked local experience. If having worked locally were a prerequisite for the job, would their resumés not have precluded them from even getting the interview? More likely the experience referred to is related not to quantifiable hard skills or experience but rather to more intangible soft skills that enable a person to “fit in”, such as the ability to engage in small talk.
Coffee shops are great places for field research on soft skills. What do baristas say to customers when they come into the shop? My own research suggests personal questions are not popular. The most popular topic by far is the weather, followed by a comment or compliment about something the customer is wearing or holding. Religion and politics don’t tend to find their way into small talk.
Soft skills need to be part of the English language curriculum. Being able to talk about the weather is an essential skill and reading weather forecasts is a great start. The following intermediate ESL worksheet uses images from my favourite weather site, The Weather Nework. It that can be used as a spring board for creating weather conversations. You’re welcome to download it for use in your own class with your students by clicking on the image below. Check out http://www.theweathernetwork.com for more great resources.
