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English in Daily Life: Vocabulary for Work, School [Plus Lots of Free Resources]

Sometimes, basic English conversations are the most complicated ones.

In daily life, English speakers talk quickly. They use lots of slang. They make jokes and cultural references that you might not understand.

This article will provide comprehensive English vocabulary lists that you can use in daily life situations.

Contents

English in Daily Life: Essential Words and Phrases

Typical English Greetings for Daily Life

Hello!

Hi!

Hey!

Good morning!

Good afternoon!

Good evening!

How are you?

How’s it going?

What’s up?

How’s everything?

How’s your day?

What’s new?

How have you been?

How’s life treating you?

Long time no see!

It’s nice to see you!

Nice to meet you!

What’s going on?

How’s your family?

How’s work/school?

How’s your weekend?

How’s your day going so far?

What have you been up to?

How’s your health?

How’s the weather today?

Resources for Learning Typical English Greetings

English greetings help you confidently introduce yourself to native English speakers and make new friends. Therefore, greetings are not just an important part of daily English, but also your ticket to many other everyday English conversations.

English Like a Native has a great video explaining some common English greetings and helping you practice your pronunciation. This video is helpful because it explains when to use each greeting and shows which phrases are more formal or more common.

If you want a little more practice before you head off to use these greetings in your daily life, iSLCollective has some useful worksheets that you can print out. You can fill them out on your own to make sure you understand how to use these English greetings in your daily life.

English for Restaurants

Ordering:

Can I take your order?

What would you like to eat?

What can I get for you?

Are you ready to order?

I’ll have the…

I’d like to order…

May I get the…

Can I start with…

What’s your special today?

Menu Items:

Appetizers

Main course

Dessert

Beverages

Side dishes

Specials

Vegetarian options

Gluten-free options

Dairy-free options

Specific Requests:

Can I have it [rare/medium/well-done]?

No onions, please.

Extra [ingredient]

Hold the [ingredient]

Dressing on the side

Is it spicy?

Is it sweet?

Can you make it milder?

Drinks:

Water

Soda

Tea

Coffee

Wine

Beer

Cocktail

Mocktail

Refill

Ice

Table Service:

Are you ready for the check?

Can I get you anything else?

Enjoy your meal.

How’s everything tasting?

Is everything to your satisfaction?

Can I clear your plate?

Can I wrap that up for you?

Paying:

Check, please.

Can I pay by card?

Do you accept cash?

How much do I owe?

Keep the change.

Split the bill, please.

Compliments:

This is delicious!

The food is excellent.

Everything tastes great.

The service is wonderful.

Common Phrases:

“Check, please.”

“I’ll have the same.”

“What’s the soup of the day?”

“I’m allergic to [ingredient].”

“Can we get separate checks?”

“Is there a children’s menu?”

“Do you have any recommendations?”

“Is there a wait for a table?”

“Is the tip included?”

Resources for Learning English for Restaurants 

JamesESL has a great video to help you form some questions and sentences. His video uses a slow pace to help you follow along, and he tries to make the conversation easy but also detailed enough to get you through the restaurant experience without feeling stressed.

If you want to learn more detailed restaurant conversations, take a look at Mad English TV, where you will learn tons of different examples of daily conversations. This video covers fast food and traditional sit-down restaurants, and addresses some situations or problems you might face when eating at a restaurant.

Bringing Your English Skills into the Classroom

Classroom Phrases:

May I come in?

Can I have a seat?

I need a pencil.

Can I borrow your eraser?

I’m ready.

I’m not ready.

Can you repeat that, please?

What’s the homework?

When is it due?

Is there a test today?

I have a question.

I don’t understand.

Can you help me?

I need extra time.

I’m finished.

Can I go to the bathroom?

May I be excused?

Can I have a pass?

Subjects:

Math

Science

History

English

Geography

Art

Music

Physical Education (PE)

Social Studies

Biology

Chemistry

Physics

Literature

School Supplies:

Notebook

Pen

Pencil

Eraser

Textbook

Folder

Calculator

Ruler

Backpack

Lunchbox

Computer

Notebook paper

Glue

Scissors

Highlighter

Directions and Locations:

Where’s the library?

How do I get to the gym?

Go to the principal’s office.

Follow the signs to the cafeteria.

The classroom is on the second floor.

It’s down the hall to the left.

Assessment and Grades:

Test

Quiz

Homework

Assignment

Report card

Grade

Pass

Fail

Teachers and Staff:

Teacher

Professor

Principal

Guidance counselor

Librarian

Janitor

Bus driver

School nurse

School Events and Activities:

Field trip

School dance

Club meeting

Sports practice

School assembly

Parent-teacher conference

Graduation ceremony

School play

Science fair

Book fair

Social Interactions:

Can I sit here?

Do you want to be my partner?

Let’s study together.

I’ll save you a seat.

We’re having a group project.

Common Phrases:

“I need help with my homework.”

“Can you explain this to me?”

“I’m going to the library to study.”

“I have a presentation tomorrow.”

“I missed class last week.”

“What’s for lunch today?”

“I have a lot of homework to do.”

“I aced the test!”

“I’m late for class.”

Resources for Learning English for School

Two Minute English has a video with several examples of everyday English conversations you might have while at school. It also explains some vocabulary words that are used in a classroom but you might not have learned.

Another great resource for practicing classroom conversations is Scribd. This site has a document full of common classroom phrases that you can download. The conversations are listed in the order you might hear them in a classroom setting, and are separated into categories to help you understand.

It also teaches you some words that you might hear as part of your teacher’s instructions and questions that you can ask if you do not understand a lesson.

English for Daily Life at the Workplace

Getting Started:

Let’s get to work.

Time to start the day.

First things first.

Ready to begin?

What’s on the agenda?

We have a busy day ahead.

Meetings and Discussions:

Let’s schedule a meeting.

Can we set up a conference call?

I’d like to discuss…

What’s the agenda for the meeting?

Please take a seat.

Let’s go over the details.

Any questions or comments?

I’d like to hear your input.

Let’s brainstorm ideas.

Can we wrap this up?

Tasks and Projects:

What’s my task for today?

I’ll work on that.

I’m making progress.

I’m almost done.

I need help with this.

Can you assist me?

I’ll meet the deadline.

Let’s collaborate on this.

Project update.

We need to meet our goals.

Supervision and Feedback:

How am I doing?

Any feedback for me?

I appreciate your guidance.

Is there room for improvement?

Let’s review your performance.

Keep up the good work.

You’re doing a great job.

Office Tools and Technology:

Email

Spreadsheet

Presentation

Database

Software

Hardware

Internet

Intranet

Password

Access code

Printer

Scanner

Copier

Phone

Voicemail

Professional Language:

Professional development

Networking

Client

Deadline

Productivity

Strategy

Report

Proposal

Budget

Profit

Loss

Business plan

Investment

Market analysis

Interactions with Colleagues:

Let’s grab a coffee.

Can I join you for lunch?

Happy hour after work?

How’s your day going?

I appreciate your help.

Thanks for the support.

Let’s celebrate our success.

Policies and Procedures:

Dress code

Attendance policy

Safety protocol

Company handbook

Human resources

Compliance

Code of conduct

Benefits package

Paid time off

Sick leave

Maternity leave

Vacation days

Common Phrases:

“I need to meet the deadline.”

“Can you send me the report?”

“Let’s touch base later.”

“Please send me the details.”

“I’ll check my schedule.”

“Can you give me a hand?”

“The project is on track.”

“I have an appointment.”

“I’ll be out of the office.”

“I’ll follow up with you.”

Resources for Learning English for Work

If your daily life includes speaking English at work, you might want to check out some of the videos by Learn English in Hamza’s Classroom. The video below gives sample conversations that people might have at the workplace.

Each sentence is repeated twice to give you time to listen and understand. It also provides subtitles so you can read along.

You may also need to practice English in order to get a job. Learn English with Emma gives great advice for all things related to the job search. She will help you understand common English questions you will hear in an interview, and she uses easy-to-understand but detailed language to help you through the process of finding a job.

Basic English Conversation Skills

To master English for daily life, basic conversation skills are essential. And there is no better tool to learn them than FluentU.

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Click here to check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.

  FluentU Ad

ESL Fast provides a list of sample conversations you are likely to encounter in daily life. These are topics that you might talk about with a friend, coworker or classmate. They are simple and easy to follow and include an audio recording so that you can listen to the conversation while you read.

When adding English to your daily life, it is also important to know how to talk about common activities. Woodward English is a great place to practice this skill, thanks to this list of daily routine vocabulary. The list comes with helpful pictures. This site also includes lots of example sentences and a quiz to test your learning.

Fun Ways to Make English Part of Your Daily Life

In order to learn a language, it is important to practice every day. And the easiest way to practice English every day is finding fun ways to learn, so you do not get bored and quit.

Here are some fun and simple ways to practice English every day, depending on your personal interests:

  • The same goes for watching movies. You will be so entertained by the movies that you will not even realize how much English you are learning.
  • English music is a fun tool to practice listening every day. This will help you practice pronunciation and get used to English phrases.
  • Find a friend or a group of friends who speak or are learning English. Then, practice common, everyday phrases and expressions. Try to act out common scenes like making weekend plans or eating at a restaurant.

 

The topics included in this post are related to some of the most common conversations you will find (and have!) in daily life.

Practice these phrases and vocabulary words so that you can carry English into your daily life and speak like a native. Make sure to incorporate English learning into your life every day through music, movies and other fun English activities.

Even 10 minutes of daily practice will help you improve your conversational skills!

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