外教亲授地道英语：和外国朋友聊啥不尴尬？（音频+讲解）

freemind

不知道大家有没有酱紫的经历：有时和外国朋友聊天不知道该说些什么？因为不知道想说的话题会不会是人家文化里不应该谈及的，问了会不会造成尴尬的局面。现在就请外教老师Alison来跟大家说一说，对于西方人，哪些话题是绝对安全的，甚至是受欢迎的？（不过要申明，人跟人终究是不同哒，这只是个指导，不能保证是“万金油”话题哟！）

点击听音频

【聊天话题讲解】

1. 首先，电影、餐厅、公众事件、假期和电视节目（films, restaurants, public events, vacations and TV shows） 这几个都是西方人乐于聊的东西，用它们作为聊天话题绝对没错，不用担心触到雷区~~此外，传说中外国人很喜欢谈论的天气也是可以拿来当话题的，不过有些人会觉得有点无聊就是了。

2. 其次大家要了解，西方人还蛮喜欢给朋友建议的，所以如果你拿某件事儿来问他们，他们会很乐意给你答案的哟~~比方说：

Do you know if anything good is playing at the cinema right now?
你知道影院里现在有上映什么好电影吗？（“电影院”英国人说cinema，美国人则说movie theater）

I really want to find a good Italian restaurant; any suggestions?
我很想找到一家好的意大利餐馆，你有什么推荐吗？

I saw an advertisement on TV last night for that new show, Prison Break. Have you seen it?
昨晚我在电视里看到那部新剧《越狱》的广告，你看到了吗？

3. 最后，要想把谈话继续下去，最好的办法就是多问问题啦！

比如你问，"Do you know any good Italian restaurants?"（你知道什么吃意大利菜的好地方吗？）对方却回答，"No, sorry—I don't really like Italian food."（对不起我不知道，其实我不太喜欢吃意大利菜……）那你可以接着问，"Oh, ok. What kind of food do you usually go out for then?"（哦~~那你一般出去吃哪种菜呢？）这样就能比较顺利地把话题继续下去啦！

【共通问题讲解】

下面是Alison老师对于同学们所存在的一些普遍问题的点评，包括我们在聊天提问时要注意哪些地方，以及大家共通的发音问题：

1. 有很多同学会用一点小恭维来开始聊天，比如“你头发剪得真好，哪儿剪的呀？”或是“我一直想买个这样的包包，你在哪儿买的呀？”这都很好，不过要小心，别让人家觉得你是在拿自己和他/她比较。比如，如果你说“你唱歌比我好多了！我要怎么才能改进？”或是“你的包包比我的漂亮，哪儿买的呀？”这样的对话会让西方人觉得有点不舒服。

西方人的习惯是不怎么在聊天中做比较，因为可能会让人觉得不礼貌。所以即便你是想用这个比较来抬高别人，西方人也会觉得有点唐突哟，这点得注意了。

2. 还有一些同学会问过于宽泛的问题，那样可能会让人家无从回答：比如问“我要去法国，给点儿建议呗？”或是“我要去eBay上买夹克，有啥意见不？”这些问题都要再细化一下才好~~

3. 最后我们看一下发音的问题：

首先，"Italian"这个单词，它的重音在第二个音节上。要发好这个音，你的嘴巴要张大，让那个[æ]音发出来。

其次，"advertisement"这个单词在英音和美音中的念法是不同的。英式的发音重音在第二个音节上，且卷舌的R音要弱化；相对的，美音的重音在第一个音节上。请大家注意区分一下哦~~

freemind

【讲义音频完整文本】

Popular Topics of Conversation

Hello everyone! This is Alison. When having conversations with foreign friends, sometimes it's difficult to know what to talk about. Something that is very common to talk about in one culture may feel strange and even uncomfortable for someone from another culture. However, it's important to remember that everyone is different, so there is no 'rule for conversation topics' that will apply to everyone. This is only a guide.

Westerners love to talk about experiences like films, restaurants, public events, vacations and TV shows. These are all safe topics, or good conversation starters that people will always feel comfortable talking about. The weather is also always an easy topic, but some people may find it a bit boring.

Westerners also love to give each other advice. Listen to these conversation starters as examples:
"Do you know if anything good is playing at the cinema right now?"
[British: cinema; American: movie theater]
"I really want to find a good Italian restaurant; any suggestions?"
"I saw an advertisement on TV last night for that new show, Prison Break. Have you seen it?"

One of the best ways to hold a conversation with a westerner is to ask a lot of questions. For example, if you ask "Do you know any good Italian restaurants" and they say "No, sorry—I don't really like Italian food", you can respond by saying "Oh, ok. What kind of food do you usually go out for then?" This continues the conversation.

freemind

【共通问题讲解音频及文本】

Common Problems

Hey everyone! This is Alison from HJ English. Today I want to talk about some of the common problems I noticed in this week's episode of "English Unraveled: The Basic". This week, we talked about good topics of conversation with native English speakers. It was very interesting for me, because I got to learn about popular topics of conversation among Chinese people too!

Some of you decided to start the conversation by asking about cultural differences. This is a great conversation topic, because you can begin by sharing something about your own culture. This way, both of you can learn from the conversation.

Many of you started your conversations with compliments like "I really like your haircut—where did you get it?" Or "I've been looking for a bag like that—where did you buy it?" This is a great conversation starter, but be careful not to sound like you're comparing yourself to them. For example, if you say "you're a much better singer than I am; how can I improve?" Or "your bag is nicer than mine—where did you get it?" This may make people feel uncomfortable. Westerners do not talk about comparisons very often, because it can be considered impolite. So even if you use the comparison in a compliment, it may make a westerner feel awkward about receiving the compliment. In general, people do not like to feel like they are being compared to someone else.

Also, some of the questions were a bit too general. For example: "I'm traveling to France; do you have any suggestions?" Or "I want to buy a jacket on eBay; do you have any suggestions?" Try to ask about more specific things, like "I'm going to France next month and I heard there are some excellent towns to visit outside of Paris—do you know of any?" Or "I want to buy a jacket on eBay, but I'm afraid of making a bad purchase. Have you ever bought anything on eBay?

Finally, let's talk about some pronunciation. The word "Italian" emphasizes the second syllable. To make this vowel sound, the mouth has to open wide so that the "ah" sound can bestretched out.
["Italian Italian Italian"]
The word "advertisement" is tricky, because the pronunciation is different between British English and American English. The British pronunciation emphasizes the second syllable and softens the R-sound.
["Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement"]
However, the American pronunciation emphasizes the first syllable.
["Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement"]

Practice saying the word "Italian" and the word "advertisement" in both British and American English, but in the future, remember that it's best to choose one accent and stick with it.