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4. I am struggling with the meaning of apologies.  When do we make them, what do they mean?  Apologies in the Netherlands mean you admit you are wrong.

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(Questions 1, 2, and 3) and attached image has the answers. Note the color coding.)
Q1.  I've heard many "thank yous" here.  Once I went to my kid's school to help with their Halloween party, I had to leave before it ended, I felt sorry since I couldn't stay to the end.  But the teacher said, "thank you...thank you for the cookies." I didn't know how to respond. ... Once I went to pick up my kid during the school time.  The teacher brought my kid's stuff out and said "thank you."  I still don't know how to respond.
Q. 2 Many years ago, someone was telling me about her profession as a midwife.  I think being a midwife is such a wonderful and certainly challenging occupation and so I said, "How interesting!"  thinking that was this would elicit more detail, but it closed down the conversation with a guillotine.
Q. 3 One situation that I encounter often during work is being Muslim, coworkers assume I know everything about Islam which makes it uncomfortable.  Also, coworkers would ask questions about my religion that makes me feel uncomfortable answering.

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Besides, the medium for communication, length of communication, atmosphere and noise levels, what else can affect communication?

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Making a Good Impression: Saying no politely

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Making a Good Impression: Saying no politely

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It's very hard to say no mostly because we don't want to offend someone. Here are some strategies you might find helpful.

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These are Softening Phrases used to make your request more polite.

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Expressions & Language Strategies for Starting a Conversation thru Ending a conversation.

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Expressions & Language Strategies for Starting a Conversation thru Ending a conversation.

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This document has many phrases and suggestions from the very basics of greetings to closing a conversation. http://www.businessenglishresources.com/expressions-starting-continuing-ending-conversation/

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It can be difficult to keep a conversation going. Even if you understand what the other person is saying, you can feel "blocked" or "frozen" when it's your turn to speak. The words or phrases you need don't often come quickly enough to mind.

The more opportunities you can get to use and speak English, the easier it is to find the right words when you need them. Take every chance you get to use your English! See How to practise your English for lots of ideas to find speaking opportunities.

Sounding fluent and confident in a few words

Here are some useful ways to keep the conversation going. The "secret" is that you don't actually need many words to do this!

1. Show interest in the other speaker
You don't need to say much. Often just one word is needed to show you are interested and listening. Try "Really?" (with a rising intonation), "Right" or "Sure". You could even show you are listening with a non-word such as "Mmm" or Uh-huh".

"I hate watching rubbish on the TV."
"Right."

2. Use a short phrase to show your feelings
For example, "How awful", "Oh no!", "You're joking", "What a pity" etc.

"My neighbour had a car accident yesterday."
"Oh no!"
"Yes, but thankfully he wasn't hurt."
"Mmm."

3. Ask a short question
You can use an auxiliary verb to make a short question which will encourage the other speaker to keep talking:

"We tried out the new Chinese restaurant last night."
"Did you?"

"I'm going to Barbados next week on holiday."
"Are you? Lucky you!"

"It's snowing again."
"Is it?"

4. Repeat what the other person said
Do this especially if the other person has said something surprising.

"He won £200 on the lottery."
"£200!"

"I'm going to Barbados next week."
"Barbados!"

Other ways to avoid silence

Here are some more tips to help you say something - even if you haven't understood the other person or there's nothing else to say.
If you don't understand
"Sorry, I don't understand."
"Sorry, could you repeat that?"
"Sorry? I didn't get that."
If you don't know the word
"I can't find the word I'm looking for..."
"I'm not sure that this is the right word, but..."
"What I want to say is..."
If you can't find the word immediately
You don't want to be completely silent, but you need time to find the words.

You can even make some "noises"
Agreeing with the other person
You want to show that you agree, but you don't have anything else to say.
Changing the subject
Everyone in the conversation has given an opinion, and now you want to talk about something else.

"Anyway,..."
"Well, as I was saying..."
"So, back to ..."
"So, we were saying ..."

Rephrase

Sometimes we say things that other people don't understand, or we give the wrong impression. Here are some expressions you can use to say something again.

"What I meant to say was..."
"Let me rephrase that..."
"Let me put this another way..."
"Perhaps I'm not making myself clear..."
Go back to the beginning
If you're explaining something, and you realise that the other person doesn't understand, you can use the following phrases:

"If we go back to the beginning..."
"The basic idea is..."
"One way of looking at it is..."
"Another way of looking at it is..."

For more help with English conversations and speaking, see Better English speaking skills.

Keeping a Conversation Going Quiz
Level: Elementary and above 36 comments
Lucy
It helped me a lot, thanks :) aida
thanks I can practice with you Nasef Marzouk
wonderful ! thank you so much Manuel
It is interesting and very helpful. Jandira
+100Thanks so much! Jandira
+1Thanks a lot! krishna
Thanks nice mahmoud
thank you so much for your remarkable contribution Nora
Nice!!!Thanks ALEX
Very good! Thanks+1 Marie Claudia
Thanks,it interesting and it helped me Dharshana
Thanks irene
+1 thanks Ei Ei Khin
great! Asia
I hope this helps me :) Mahboobeh
I love it ,Thanks. It can be useful Andy
Well, I appreciate it. yamini
its really helpful to learn me... i like this site .... gloire
it help us so much, thank you!!!!! gloire
thank you! Narane
That's really informative. Jeevan
Thanks a lot... shiekh ahsan mahmud
thank you Asim Ghafoor
Thank's for it, this is very helpfull to improve speaking english. Khusniobod
Thanks so much... ARVIND KUMAR
thaks a lot for your simple but very useful tips shazia
impressive d.v.b
its very useful for everyone DR.OMAR
NICE ...AND THERE OTHER WAY ALSO WORK ... Cristina
Nice practice. lawal
Thanks a lot I love it Stefania Nasuti
My students will enjoy it. Tiffany
really useful . thanks .it helps me a lot :) Paul
Its great to learn....thanks to publlisher THANGARAJ
GOLD alejandro
thanks

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How to Keep an English Conversation Going

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It can be difficult to keep a conversation going. Even if you understand what the other person is saying, you can feel "blocked" or "frozen" when it's your turn to speak. The words or phrases you need don't often come quickly enough to mind.

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Expressions for Agreeing, Disagreeing & Interrupting

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Expressions for Agreeing, Disagreeing & Interrupting

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This document has been adapted and can be found in its original form at: http://www.businessenglishresources.com/31-2/student-section/business-vocabulary/expressions-for-agreeing-disagreeing-suggesting-alternatives-and-interrupting/

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This is a great resources for professionals. We have adapted some of their materials for our sessions.

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Business English Resources Free for Teachers and Students.

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Free Business English Resources. Ready-to-go lessons for teachers. Business vocabulary lists, grammar guides, and more for students.