Hi everyone! I am Georgiana, founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help you speak English fluently.

Last week I realized that Valentine's Day is coming up, and I wanted to dedicate this lesson to students who want to know how to ask a girl out. You never know when you'll meet that special someone, so you gotta be prepared.

I’ve also prepared a point of view story so you can practice your grammar and vocabulary.

Alright! I’ll just cut to the chase and tell you how to ask a girl out.

Oh, now you’re probably wondering what the expression "Cut to the chase" means. Well, we use this phrase when we start talking about the important aspects of something. We want to get to the point without wasting time.

Now I'm really going to cut to the chase!

There are different circumstances when you want to ask a girl out.

If you want to ask a friend to go out with you, you’ll need to have a clear idea of where and when you want your date to be. Don't just tell her you'd like to "hang out sometime.”

One thing you could do is take her to dinner at a not-so-elegant restaurant; it's a good choice for a first date.

By the way, here are some useful expressions that you can use when you want to ask someone on a date. You could use "hang out," "get together," or "do something.”

Examples:

“Do you want to hang out tonight?”

“Let’s get together this weekend.”

“Do you want to do something tonight?”

Whatever you do, ask her in person. I know it may be tempting to ask her out on the phone, texting, or over the Internet, but this must be one of those face-to-face moments.

Be clear about your intentions. Women find it attractive when a man really knows what he wants. You don't have to explicitly say "it's a date," but don't hide your feelings either.

I know, being rejected is a great risk. It’s actually one of the biggest fears we all experience at least once in our lives. So don't try to “keep it cool”. Now is the time to be honest, as hard as it may be.

To "keep it cool" in this context means that you don’t show your feelings in a difficult situation.

If you want to ask a stranger out, you're going to be even more cautious.

Avoid doing anything that makes her feel pressured or unsafe. It’s a good idea to talk to her with other people nearby so that she’ll feel safe.

And this is very important:

Don’t make any physical contact unless she does so first.

Introduce yourself politely.

Make eye contact before greeting her.

Tell her your name and compliment her.

If she responds nicely with her name, it’s a good time to tell her that you want to meet her.

Although if she ignores your greetings and compliments, you’d better back off.

To “back off” means to move backwards in order to get further away from something.

By the way, if you're not sure how to compliment a woman, remember that I posted an episode with my honest advice on how to compliment a woman (episode #068).

Give her your contact information.

This is a classic. Apparently, most men expect women to give them their phone number. But I guess it's probably best to take the initiative. Just give her your phone number. This takes a lot of pressure off her and can make her be more receptive about your offer.

If she's interested, she will likely volunteer her phone number without you needing to ask.

You could say: "It's been a pleasure meeting you, but I gotta go now. I really enjoyed talking to you, and I'd like to get to know you better. If you want to stay in touch, here’s my number.”

Of course, not all men and women are the same so you’ll need to pay attention to the body language and use your intuition.

I guess that you already know this, but I must remind you that I’m not a love guru. I'm here to help you communicate better in English. Love is always complicated though it’s easier when people are being honest and respectful with one another. Don’t you think so?