Small Talk

什么是 small talk? 就是那种无意中碰到的比打招呼更进一步的聊天，比如说两个人在排队买火车票（去年买回家的火车票，俺排了半个小时），这两个人都很无聊，等得也很不耐烦，所以他们就开始了 small talk! That’s it.

Where will small talk happen? Everywhere in your life! 因为俺是在一家 American 公司上班，公司老板是 French ，不过也是讲 English 的，经常会碰到面（无事的时候碰到），比如说在 pantry （茶水间）等，可能会发生一点 talk 。不过一直不知道 how to talk ？

今天正好在 www.englishclub.com 上看到了关于 small talk 的一个小专题，所以稍微学习了一下。恩。 BTW ， English club 可是个好地方啊，这几天一直在上面混，上面有好多好咚咚哦，而且几乎完全都是 free 的， very cool ！

WHAT do people make small talk about?
There are certain "safe" topics that people usually make small talk about. The weather is probably the number one thing that people who do not know each other well discuss. Sometimes even friends and family members discuss the weather when they meet or start a conversation. Another topic that is generally safe is current events. As long as you are not discussing a controversial issue, such as a recent law concerning equal rights, it is usually safe to discuss the news. Sports news is a very common topic, especially if a local team or player is in a tournament or play-off or doing extremely well or badly. Entertainment news, such as a celebrity who is in town, is another good topic. If there is something that you and the other speaker has in common, that may also be acceptable to talk about. For example, if the bus is extremely full and there are no seats available you might talk about reasons why. Similarly, people in an office might casually discuss the new paint or furniture. There are also some subjects that are not considered acceptable when making small talk. Discussing personal information such as salaries or a recent divorce is not done between people who do not know each other well. Compliments on clothing or hair are acceptable; however, you should never say something (good or bad) about a person's body. Negative comments about another person not involved in the conversation are also not acceptable: when you do not know a person well you cannot be sure who their friends are. You do not talk about private issues either, because you do not know if you can trust the other person with your secrets or personal information. Also, it is not safe to discuss subjects that society deems controversial such as religion or politics. Lastly, it is not wise to continue talking about an issue that the other person does not seem comfortable with or interested in.

这一段介绍大家如果碰到老外的话，像我们这种对老外文化不懂的人来说，去 talk 些什么东西？有几个 safe 的 topic ，像 weather ！总之，谈 weather 就是没问题的。还有像时事、体育新闻等，上面都有详细说明的。以上这段话还说明了一些我们不该 talk about 的咚咚。

Then, How to start the conversation?

Some starters:

Talking about the weather,

• Beautiful day, isn't it?
• Can you believe all of this rain we've been having?
• It looks like it's going to snow.
• It sure would be nice to be in Hawaii right about now.
• I hear they're calling for thunderstorms all weekend.
• We couldn't ask for a nicer day, could we?
• How about this weather?
• Did you order this sunshine?

更多内容可以参考 http://www.englishclub.com/speaking/small-talk_conversation-starters.htm 。

Have fun.