Research attention in English for academic purposes has generally been more focused on written than spoken genres, but there is growing interest in the value of speaking for learning, as well as recognition of its significance for students themselves. This article reports on one-to-one interactions between undergraduate students and teaching staff during office hours, an aspect of socioacademic relations that has not been extensively studied in the literature. The data is drawn from a qualitative longitudinal study of Chinese international students in a New Zealand university based on semi-structured interviews. For new entrants in an academic setting whose practices were not always clearly revealed to them, these interactions provided opportunities to enhance understanding of course content and processes, but also to claim a degree of personal recognition often denied them in large first year classes. However, as second-language speaking novices in this community of practice, they were aware of the possibility of breaching unspoken rules which could threaten their sense of membership. The article examines student participation in and investigation of such encounters over the course of their study, their achievement of varying degrees of expertise, and the significance of both use and non-use of this practice to the students.