和老外聊天被問到Did you learn to swim when you were a child?(適合A2程度)

好多台灣的英語學習者都希望能夠全英文流利地和外國人聊天，你覺得這樣如何？ Peter from New York: Did you learn to swim when you were a child? 1. Mary from Hualien: uh, not sure. I forgot. 我個人覺得這樣子會冷場。失敗！ 2. Oliver from Taichung: Yes. I learned to swim when I was a little child. 我個人覺得這樣子叫應聲蟲，畢竟很大比例的內容和人家的問題一模一樣，表示沒有新資訊。失敗！ 3. Jenny from Taoyuan: No, I can't swim. 我個人覺得這樣子的交談並不熱絡而且會句點別人。失敗！ 4. Brett from Taipei: If my memory serves, when I was eight years old, my parents would often take me to the gym near my school. They hired a personal trainer to teach me how to swim. [翻譯] 假如我沒記錯的話，八歲時，爸媽常帶我到我學校附近的健身房。他們雇用一位私人健身教練來教我如何游泳。

解析

一、只要被問到年代久遠的問題就可以施放這個絕招：假如我沒記錯的話。這句話通常表是十之八九是正確的。也可以說：If my memory serves right/correctly。 二、讓聊天有趣且讓人停不下來的關鍵絕對不是用高級單字和複雜文法，關鍵在「新資訊」，提供豐富的內容用多樣化的句子去呈現。

同理，如何回答How often do you do exercise?

這句話新資訊太少了：I often do exercise three times a week.