TALKING ABOUT FRIENDSHIP

Hello, everyone! How are you today? I hope you’re OK. In this EFL lesson, we’re are going to look at some vocabulary related to friendship.

Both at intermediate and advanced EFL levels, a lesson having to do with friendship can be useful as well as interesting if we consider engaging students in conversation. However, how can we talk without knowing the appropriate words?  

Here is a list of words and expressions you will need to activate your vocabulary. Late on, have fun with the most commonly asked questions about friendship.

Talking about Friendship- Useful Vocabulary

1. to get on well= get along
2. to hang out  e.g  I like to hang out with my friends as much as possible. 
3. to drift apart: to become less close to someone. e.g As years went by, school friends drifted apart.
4. to get to know each other = to start to be familiar with someone
5. to have a lot in common
6. to hit it off=If two people hit it off, they like each other and become friendly as soon as they meet.[informal]They hit it off straight away, Daddy and Walter.How well did you hit it off with one another?
7. to meet up= to come together with someone, either unexpectedly or as planned. We usually meet up for a quick coffee in the morning.
8. to fall out (with someone)= o stop being friendly with someone because you have had a disagreement with them. e.g. Have you two fallen out?
9. to make up= to become friends again.
10. to keep in touch with someone: to maintain contact with someone. eg.I keep in touch with my friends from high school, although we graduated five years ago.
11. to lose touch with someone: to lose contact with someone.I lost touch with Mary since she moved to Canada.
12. a shoulder to cry on: someone who listens to your problems It's always good to talk to Hilary, she's so sympathetic. She's a real shoulder to cry on
13. to strike up=to start. (a conversation, a relationship): e.g. I feel awkward when I strike up a conversation with unknown people.
14. to get on like a house on fire: people get on like a house on fire when they like each other's company and become friends very quickly.
15. be like chalk and cheese= (uk)If two people are like chalk and cheese, they are completely different from each other:My brother and I are like chalk and cheese.
16. to bury the hatchet: to stop fighting or quarrelling 
17. to spend time with
18. two-faced= a person who says he/she does or believes one thing when his/her behaviour or words show that they do not do it or do not believe it.
19. trustworthy= loyal
20. sympathetic= understanding
21. genuine= true friend
22. fair-weather friend: someone who is your friend only when you are cheerful and successful.A lot of John's friends turned out to be fair-weather friends. They were with him when he was rich and left him when he went bankrupt.
23. good / close / best friend
24. acquaintance= someone you know slightly
25. colleague= someone you work with
26. flatmate= someone you share a flat with
27. partner= someone you have a business with/ a relationship with
28. companion= a person employed to assist, to travel or to live with another person. ( In Port. = acompanhante)
29. pal= close friend in coloquial English.
30. buddy= friend in colloquial American English.
31. mate= friend in colloquial British English
32. chum= old fashioned word for friend in British English.
33. cyberfriend= friend we communicate with through the internet
34. frenemy= a person who pretendes to be your friend, but is in fact en enemy. In Portuguese, it means "amigo da onça”.
35. 35.childhood friends = friends you grew up with.

Conversation Questions

1. What do you usually do with your friends? 
2. Do you make friends easily?
3. Who is your best friend? How long have you known each other?
4. Do you prefer to have many friends or just a few that you are close to?
5. What qualities are most important to you in a friend? Honesty? A sense of humour? Something else?
6. How do you keep in contact with friends who don’t live near you? How difficult is it to keep in touch? Have you ever lost contact with a friend?
7. What are the benefits of having just a few close friends? How about the benefits of having many friends?
8. Describe your best friend. (What does he/she look like?)
9. Are you close friends with anyone who you knew in elementary school?
10. Do you have any friends who would risk their life to save you?Would you risk your life to save a friend? How about a stranger?What is the biggest thing you have done to help a friend?
11. What kind of qualities do you look for in a friend?
12. What is the best way to make new friends? Do you like making new friends?
13. How did you meet your best friend?
14. Do you keep in touch with your long-distance friends? 
15. Are friends sometimes more important than family?
16. Have you ever fallen out with a friend? If so, what happened? Did you make up later?
17. Are your childhood friends those you have strongest bonds with?
18. At which stages of life is it easier to make friends?
19. How similar are you to your friends?
20. Do you think a man and a woman can really be "just friends”? Justify
21. Do you think it's possible to be a good friend of an ex-husband or wife?
22. Do you have many friendships which have lasted since childhood?
23. Do you think sites like Facebook are good for friendships or do they stop people from becoming close?
24. Have you made some friends over the internet?Have you ever met this person face-to-face?
25. Many people now have hundreds, or even thousands, of cyberfriends on Facebook. 
26. How many genuine friends do you think someone can really have?