| Question | Useful Starter |
|---|---|
| How do you usually introduce yourself to new people? | Usually, I say something like… |
| What parts of your life story are easy to talk about? | I find it easy to talk about… |
| What parts are harder to explain in English? | It's a bit difficult to explain… |
| What kind of questions do people usually ask at weddings? | I guess people usually ask about… |
A good life story answer has 5 parts:
| Part | Function | Sentence Starter |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Background | Where you are from | I was born in…, but I grew up in… |
| 2. Childhood | One personal detail | When I was younger, I used to… |
| 3. Education / Turning Point | What shaped your path | At some point, I became interested in… |
| 4. Work / Current Life | What you do now | These days, I'm mainly focused on… |
| 5. Recent Life / Future | Bring the story to today | Recently, I've been trying to… |
| Simple Linkers | Stronger Intermediate Linkers |
|---|---|
| First… | At the beginning… |
| Then… | After a while… |
| After that… | A few years later… |
| Later… | Later on… |
| Now… | These days… |
| Recently… | Over the last few months… |
| Finally… | Eventually… |
Drag a word from the word bank into each gap. You can also click a word, then click a gap.
| Topic | Sentence Starter | Ask-Back Phrase |
|---|---|---|
| Birthplace | I was born in…, but I grew up in… | What about you? Where did you grow up? |
| Childhood | When I was younger, I used to… | What were you like as a child? |
| School | At school, I was quite interested in… | What subjects were you into? |
| Big Change | At some point, I decided to… | Have you ever made a big change like that? |
| Work | I got into my current field because… | How did you get into what you do? |
| Experience | Over time, I gained experience in… | What kind of experience has shaped you? |
| Current Life | These days, I'm mainly focused on… | What are you focused on these days? |
| Recent Life | Recently, I've been trying to… | What have you been doing recently? |
| Future | In the near future, I'm hoping to… | What are you hoping to do next? |
I moved to another city when I was younger.
I studied business at university.
I started my first job a few years ago.
I 've gained a lot of experience in communication.
I 've become more interested in travelling recently.
I 've been trying to speak English more confidently.
Click the button and answer the question. Try to speak for 45–60 seconds.
| Basic Answer | Better Answer |
|---|---|
| I grew up in Kazakhstan. | I grew up in Kazakhstan, and I'd say it shaped my personality quite a lot because… |
| I studied business. | I studied business because at that time I was interested in… |
| I work in finance. | I got into finance because…, and over time I've gained experience in… |
| I like travelling. | I've always enjoyed travelling because it gives me a chance to… |
| I want to improve my English. | Recently, I've been trying to improve my English because… |
| Situation | Follow-Up Question |
|---|---|
| Someone mentions a place | What was it like growing up there? |
| Someone mentions studies | Why did you choose that field? |
| Someone mentions work | How did you get into that? |
| Someone mentions a change | Was that a difficult decision? |
| Someone mentions recent life | What has been keeping you busy recently? |
| Someone mentions future plans | What are you hoping to do next? |