Chat with Maya, your pen-pal in London, and practise British English

Maya is a character TalkDrill created for everyday British English. In her story she grew up in Croydon, in south London, and now shares a small flat in Peckham, in south-east London, with her best friend Jess, a nursing student from Cardiff. Her mum teaches at a primary school, her dad drives a London bus, and her nan rings every Sunday. Most of her messages are written on the top deck of the night bus home, or on the sofa with a cuppa and her sketchbook. On her desk sits a jam jar of words, one from every pen-pal’s language, and she will ask you for yours.

That makes her a good partner for the English you hear in real British life rather than in textbooks. Café work has taught her the rules of small talk: say something about the weather, ask one question, then listen. Thanks to her dad, she can talk you through buses, the Tube and what “Mind the gap” means. She explains each slang word the first time she uses it, and tells you when a word is for friends, not for exams or job interviews. Because the chat is a swap, you spend half the time teaching her about your country, which keeps the conversation easy and two-way.

Maya’s missions move like a new friendship: weather chat and polite café orders first, then stories and directions, then opinions and advice. Along the way she explains everyday British words as they come up, such as flat, queue and loo, so you learn what people actually say in London.

• Present simple and weather words for small talk: “It’s cold and windy here today. Is it raining in London?”
• Polite requests in a café: “Could I have a tea, please?”, “I’d like a cinnamon bun to take away.”
• Imperatives and directions: turn left, go straight on, get off at the next stop, opposite the station.
• Past simple and past continuous for stories: “I was walking home when it started to rain.”
• Informal British words, with their meanings and when to use them: cuppa, skint, chuffed, gutted.
• Opinions with reasons and contrast: “I reckon it works, because it’s sweet and salty. However, my sister hates it.”