Hi, Tim.

Here with another 9 to 5 English lesson in today's lesson, we are going to have a look at how to talk about your family in business and in life.

Everything is about relationships and to build relationships, we often talk about our background and our personal life.

Of course, you can't get too personal, but family is a topic that everyone loves to discuss.

For most people, family is the reason they work so hard in the first place.

And believe me, if you ask someone about their family, they'll feel good.

Better yet, if you remember what they've told you about their family, they'll feel great.

And if you show interest in someone's family, they'll probably show interest in yours.

So how can you answer questions about your family?

Well, Children are always an interesting subject.

If you've got kids, you'll surely understand, so you can simply say how many Children you have.

You don't have to give too much detail, but you could mention whether they're boys or girls and how old they are.

Or you might just say two young Children or a teenaged son.

Now, if you don't have Children, you might just mention your spouse, which means your husband or wife or you might want to keep it.

Really, General.

I mean, you could say something like, I come from a big family and you might add something about where you're from or where you live.

In this way, you're giving people an idea of who you are.

How about a bit of practice talking about your family in these ways?

We're going to give you some examples.

After you hear each example, try repeating it yourself.

Ready?

Let's give it a go.

My wife and I have two boys aged 16 and 18.

Well, it's just my husband and I here in the States.

I've got a big family back in Edinburgh.

We've got two young Children and a third one on the way.

So when people ask an open ended question about your family, they're probably wondering about your immediate family.

That means your husband or wife and your kids.

People don't want to know about your distant cousins, but people might ask about your parents or your family background.

What exactly do you think people might want to know.

Well, your parents jobs may be interesting, so you could say something like my father is a doctor and my mother is a teacher.

If that sounds a bit boring, then how about mentioning some special accomplishment like my mother invented a new type of car tire?

Okay, maybe your mother didn't invent a tire, but it's just unexamined of interesting family history.

And besides special accomplishments, sometimes in your family history, Ah, particular job is comin through different generations.

In that case, you can say you come from a long line of engineers, for example, or a long line of sales people or whatever job it is that runs in your family.

Now what if the family has a business?

Well, you can tell people what type of business, and you could even mention how long your family has run that business.

These kinds of details about family, especially their jobs or business, are interesting to people, and they might also make you look good.

I mean, if your family has been successful in business, people will naturally think that you've got talent to now it's your turn to try using these expressions, just like before you'll hear some examples after each example, you can repeat what you hear.

Let's begin.

My dad is an engineer, and my mom is an education.

I come from a long line of military folks.

My father worked at the first VW plant in Mexico.

Our family has run a clothing store for three generations.

So did you hear how that worked?

There were some interesting details in those examples, right?

And notice that we say run a business which just means to operate a business.

Now that we've practiced some of these expressions, let's hear how this sounds.

In an actual conversation, we're going to listen to an asking John about his family, and John is going to talk about his Children and his family in the US So is it just you and your wife here in Paris?

No.

We've got our son and a daughter with us.

Ah, that must be nice.

But I imagine you miss your family back home.

I sure dio I've got a pretty big family back in the States.

How did that sound?

John mentioned his son and daughter and his big family back in the States.

We can use that expression back in to talk about the place we originally come from.

Now it's your turn to practice.

We'll repeat the dialogue, but this time we're going to be pout John's words.

You will have to say those parts yourself.

Remember.

First you'll mention your kids.

Then you'll say that you have a big family in the US Here we go.

So is it just you and your wife here in Paris?

Ah, that must be nice.

But I imagine you miss your family back home.

Okay, so that's all for this lesson.

We've had a look at both talking about your immediate family and talking about your parents or family background, and that wraps up our Siris of lessons on talking about your background.