In your country is it common to hang out socially with your colleagues after work?
I saw this a lot when I was living and working in Japan.
We often went out for drinks with our Japanese managers and colleagues after work.
That was how we built our work relationships.
Would you like to be able to invite your colleagues and coworkers out after work in English? Today we’ll give you four phrases that you can use to do this.
Today we have a question from a listener:
It’s me, Eve, from Thailand. It’s been years since I listened to your all-most-700 podcast episodes! They are all, like I said in the past, healthy and delicious. I have also taken your listening course, and this is an eye-opening experience for me because I am able to practice my English and listen to different Americans’ stories at the same time. It’s like I travel around America myself. Thanks a bunch!
Today I have a question about how to successfully make an appointment with someone I know and don’t know well as well as how/what to say when that person turns me down.
I’ve search through your website; I’ve found your episodes related to my question/topic: 566, 395, and 386. I ask you guys this question because I feel lost whenever I’m in a bid to make an appointment or social outing that is casual with my co-workers, freinds, and someone I don’t know well.
Thank you very much
Warm regards,
EVE, THAILAND
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Good question Eve!
Remember that the word “appointment” is mostly used or professional meetings and not for social events.
Check out these episodes for tips on this topic:
- Episode 566- How to Schedule a Doctor’s Appointment in English
- Episode 395- How to Confirm Plans Socially
- Episode 386- How to Talk About Time in English
We also did Episode 493 on how to invite someone out in a low pressure way.
For today let’s assume we want to ask our colleagues out for a social drink after work.
These are not your best friends, but you’d like to get to know your colleagues better socially using English.
For this type of meeting we wouldn’t call it an “appointment” because even though it’s with our professional colleagues, it’s not directly during work or about work.
It’s casual and social rather than formal and professional.
How to invite your colleagues out for a drink in English:
- “Want to grab a drink after work?”
- “Hey I’m trying to get a group together for happy hour on Friday. (Do you) Feel like joining?”
- “Any interest in getting dinner after we finish up here?”
- “It’d be fun to get together sometime. How about getting a group together for drinks down the street on Thursday?”
- *Bonus- when an American says “sometime” it might mean never, but because it’s followed up with a real invitation with a clear time and place it’s real in this case. To learn more about this check out Episode 92 Is the Invitation Real?
Listen to the episode to hear a real role play and get more details.
What questions do you have from today?
Let us know in the comments below.
