Learn how to ask and answer "Where did you go to school?"
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| Welcome to EnglishClass101.com’s English in Three Minutes. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn English. |
| Hey everyone, I’m Alisha! |
| In this series, we’re going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English. It’s really useful, and it only takes three minutes! |
| In this lesson, you’re going to learn how to ask someone where they went to school or college. |
| Asking someone where they went to college is a good small-talk question and conversation-starter. However you have to be careful not to offend people if they didn’t go to college. We’ll tell you how to do this. |
| The question is simple. If the other person is over 22, it’s likely they will have left college already, so you ask using the past tense. |
| “Where did you go to college?” |
| You could also say: |
| “Where did you go to school?” |
| In American English, depending on context, “school” often means the same as “college”. |
| If the other person is British or European, however, they’re more likely to say: |
| “Where did you go to university?” |
| The answer to this question is really easy! All you say is: |
| “I went to [University], in [City].” |
| “I went to Southern Oregon University in Ashland.” |
| If the name of the city or town is part of the university’s name, like Tokyo University, or Oxford University, you can add the name of the country instead. |
| “I went to Tokyo University in Japan.” |
| Once you’ve heard the other person’s answer, it’s polite to make some kind of comment. For example, |
| “Wow, that’s a really famous university.” |
| or just: |
| “Oh, really?” with a downward intonation. |
| Sometimes when you ask “Where did you go to college?” the other person might reply: |
| “I didn’t go to college.” |
| In this situation, you should be careful how you reply so as not to appear rude. It’s polite to not act surprised, but instead make a positive comment like: |
| “Oh, really!” |
| Or ask a question like: |
| “Did you go straight into a job?” |
| Now it’s time for Alisha’s Advice! |
| A good follow-up question to keep the conversation going is to ask the other person: “What did you study?” or “What was your major?” This gives them an opportunity to talk about something they’re interested in. |
| In the next lesson you’ll learn how to ask another basic question about the other person which often features in first-time conversations between native speakers. That’s “Do you have any brothers or sisters?” See you next time! |
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