How to talk about holidays
Die Schulferien haben begonnen. Jetzt dreht sich der Small Talk vermehrt um den Urlaub. Mit den Tipps von Secretary Today sind Sie gut darauf vorbereitet – auch auf Englisch.
The holiday season is upon us, providing an excellent topic for small talk on the phone or face to face with business partners. Ask them their plans, tell them where you are going or where you have been.
The British English for ‘Urlaub’ is ‘holidays’, in American English, you say ‘vacation’.
Use these phrases to ask other people about their holiday plans and to tell them about your own.
| Questions | Answers |
| ‘Are you going on holiday / vacation this year?’ | ‘No, I’m staying at home this year.’ |
| ‘Well, that can be very relaxing, too.’ | ‘Yes, I’ll have time to catch up on my reading and do some work in the garden.’ |
| ‘Are you going away in summer?’ | ‘Yes, I’m going to Scotland.’ |
| ‘Have you been there before?’ | ‘No, this is my first trip.’ |
| ‘Where exactly are you going?’ | ‘I’m going to one of the Scottish islands.’ |
| ‘That sounds nice.’ | ‘Yes, I’m really looking forward to it.’ |
| ‘Well I hope you have a lovely time.’ | ‘Thanks. I’m sure I will.’ |
| ‘I hope you have good weather.’ | ‘Yes, so do I.’ |
| ‘I hear you were on vacation. Did you have a nice time?’ | ‘Yes, it was wonderful. I was in Spain with my family.’ |
| ‘Did you do a lot of sightseeing?’ | ‘No we spent most of the time on the beach.’ |
| ‘Was it very crowded?’ | ‘It wasn’t actually. It was off the beaten track.’ ‘Yes it was. It was a real tourist trap.’ |
| ‘Would you recommend it?’ | ‘Yes, I certainly would.’ ‘To be honest, I don’t think I would.’ |
| ‘What was the weather like?’ | ‘Glorious / very hot / quite nice / so-so, rather disappointing / it poured down all week.’ |