Review of "18 Rules for Small Talk in English That Keeps the Conversation Going - Mini Version"
Table of Contents
I read this because it was free on Prime Reading.
Overall rating: 0 (Recommended for some people)
It introduces 18 rules to avoid awkward situations in small talk. These rules are not limited to English, and the example sentences introduced are relatively simple.
As a result, it feels like there is no target audience. However, since it may be useful for improving motivation for some readers, I'm rating it as "recommended for some people".
Overall Review
Rules are introduced for each situation that arises in small talk, such as greetings, introductions, and question content. Each is accompanied by dozens of simple example sentences, designed to be used as-is.
However, for the following reasons, it seems that there is no target audience.
First, people who have the conversational skills to follow these rules in their native language can simply look up English expressions as needed. Questions like "How should I say this?" will naturally arise, so they can just refer to a collection of example sentences.
Also, for people who need to start by learning these rules, doing it in English presents a double hurdle, which is challenging. It seems that learning these rules from materials in their native language should come first.
The rules themselves are convincing, and many are hard to hear.
Summary
This can be recommended for improving motivation like "I need to improve my conversation skills...", or for people who are forced to improve their conversation skills in an English-only environment.
I need to improve...