Speaking English can be difficult and scary even for native speakers If you learn these phrases and practice them, you will start to feel more comfortable speaking English with friends, colleagues, or strangers. What do you do? This is the most common question to ask when you meet a new person and want to learn more about them. Native speakers prefer this question to What’s your job? or Are you a student? because its avoids the awkward situation of giving a negative answer (Actually, I’m out of work at the moment, or No, I’m not a student). Native speakers tend to feel uncomfortable when they have to respond negatively. If you have a job, you can say where you work (I work in a school), or the name of your profession (I’m a teacher), or the title of your position (I’m the Director of English Experts Inc.). If you spend your time differently, you can talk about that instead: I study chemistry at the university / I’m a stay-at-home father / I make videos for YouTube / I’m writing a book about the secret lives of cats. […]