［转载］How to start a conversation with foreigners

夜王神夜

I believe most of you have been learning for few years. You know some basic English and you like to talk to foreigners. It will be great experience when you are talking to foreigner, you can make a new friend, learn a new culture, and your day will be better if he/she is a cool person. However, the question is, how to start a conversation? And more importantly, what you need to do to make him feel good about you?



After years of teaching in overseas, I have met a lot of foreigners from different countries. Therefore, I would like to share with you some cool tips that, what you should and what you shouldn’t do.

3 “Not to do” things
1.) Don’t be silent if you don’t understand something
English is used in many different countries. So people from different countries speak English differently. Even though you are advanced English speaker, you might not understand about some slangs they used, or have some difficulty to understand their accent. If there are something you don’t understand during the conversation, please ask them to clarify it. The most useful phrase in this situation is “What do you mean by that?” . This phrase required them to further explain what they just said without being rude and giving them the impression that you are poor in English. Don’t use “Can you repeat it?” like what you learned in textbook English because: 1.)It is rude, it might give speaker an impression that you didn’t pay attention when he speak; 2.)Give them the impression your English is poor; 3.)If they speak with accent and use some slangs that you are not familiar with, not matter how many times they repeat, you still can’t understand.

2.) Don’t ask personal questions
They are a lot of people, when they are talking to strangers, they panicked. They don’t know what to say and keep asking some question that they shouldn’t ask.  “How many family members you have?” “What is your father name?” and the worst question is “Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend?”. I don’t blame you because this is what you have learned from textbook English. In textbook English,you can see this kind of questions. These are questions for you to practice your grammar, but not suitable in real life conversation. So, please don’t ask any personal question or your foreigner friends might feel uncomfortable.

3.) Don’t worry about your English
Just keep it simple, just having a normal conversation is fine. He is not your teacher, so don’t ask them to correct your English in the middle of conversation. It will ruin the fun of the conversation. Remember, they are English speaker and they can understand your English even though you make some mistakes. So, be more confident about yourself, and just trying to have fun. One more things, most foreigners learned English as their second language, so your English level might be very similar. So, don’t worry.

Please “DO” the following 3 things
1.) Please be polite and humble
Please be polite, humble and smile when you say hi. A good smile is a good way to start a conversation. Be humble and respect each other. Don’t brag about yourself, nobody cares about your luxury BMW sport car and Rolex watch when they first meet you, unless they are a gold digger. Be sincere and don’t forget your smile. 🙂

2.) Tell them more about yourself before asking them the same question.
To many people, we don’t like to share things about ourself to strangers. So, instead of asking their name, tell them your name first before asking them. Instead of asking them about their job, tell them your job first before asking them. People will feel comfortable and more willing to tell you if you share your story first.

3.) If you guys are getting along, ask for their social media.
If you are having a good time talking to him, make sure to add him on social media to keep in touch with them. For your information, most Chinese use WeChat, most Korean use kakaotalk, most Japanese, Taiwanese and Thai use LINE. If you have FB, you should have no problem because FB is used by most people. If you don’t have one, make sure to sign up a FB account to keep this friendship. Don’t be shy for asking their social media. Few years ago, there were few times that I met some really cool people when I was in overseas, they made my journey memorable however I was too shy to ask for social media. Until today, I am still very regret about not asking FB that time and lost touch with them. So, don’t be like me. 🙂

Last but not least,

If he/she is a jerk, give them respect and walk away.

Not all the time person you meet is a friendly guy. He might be a bad guy, or maybe he is a good guy in bad mood. If things are not going well, end the conversation nicely and walk away with respect. You are there to make friend, not start an argument. If there are other people around there, you might give them a good impression of being mature.




原创文章地址：http://learnenglishwitheric.com/ ... on-with-foreigners/

melodyc

不过最重要是：勇敢踏出第一步