什么是 small talk? 就是那種無(wú)意中碰到的比打招呼更進(jìn)一步的聊天，比如說(shuō)兩個(gè)人在排隊(duì)買(mǎi)火車(chē)票（去年買(mǎi)回家的火車(chē)票，俺排了半個(gè)小時(shí)），這兩個(gè)人都很無(wú)聊，等得也很不耐煩，所以他們就開(kāi)始了 small talk! That’s it.

Where will small talk happen? Everywhere in your life! 因?yàn)榘呈窃谝患?/span> American 公司上班，公司老板是 French ，不過(guò)也是講 English 的，經(jīng)常會(huì)碰到面（無(wú)事的時(shí)候碰到），比如說(shuō)在 pantry （茶水間）等，可能會(huì)發(fā)生一點(diǎn) talk 。不過(guò)一直不知道 how to talk ？

今天正好在 www.englishclub.com 上看到了關(guān)于 small talk 的一個(gè)小專(zhuān)題，所以稍微學(xué)習(xí)了一下。恩。 BTW ， English club 可是個(gè)好地方啊，這幾天一直在上面混，上面有好多好咚咚哦，而且?guī)缀跬耆际?/span> 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.

這一段介紹大家如果碰到老外的話(huà)，像我們這種對(duì)老外文化不懂的人來(lái)說(shuō)，去 talk 些什么東西？有幾個(gè) safe 的 topic ，像 weather ！總之，談 weather 就是沒(méi)問(wèn)題的。還有像時(shí)事、體育新聞等，上面都有詳細(xì)說(shuō)明的。以上這段話(huà)還說(shuō)明了一些我們不該 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?

更多內(nèi)容可以參考 http://www.englishclub.com/speaking/small-talk_conversation-starters.htm 。

Have fun.