British people are famous for small talk. You might have heard stories of Brits talking to complete strangers for hours at a bus stop or on a long plane journey but never introducing themselves or sharing any personal information. Brits can talk to a shop worker every day for years just using small talk.
英國人很喜歡閑聊，你可能聽過說英國人在汽車站或者飛機場與一個完全陌生的人聊天可以聊上一個小時， 但是他們從來不介紹自己和分享個人信息，他們能夠每天與一個商店服務員閑聊。
To become good at small talk you must know which topics you can use but also the topics you cannot. Small talk is VERY cultural so you need to understand what British people like talking about and what they think is taboo. You don’t want to make the other person angry by asking questions about a taboo topic.
要想成為一個善于聊天的人，你必須要知道哪些話題你能說，哪些話題不能聊。聊天是一種文化，所以你需要知道英國人喜歡聊什么以及他們不喜歡什么。你也一定不想聊一些別人討厭的話題惹人不高興，對嗎？
This blog post explains some common taboo, not taboo and risky smalltalk topics to help you become a better small talker.
下面的內(nèi)容就展現(xiàn)了一些常見的禁忌以及敏感話題，讓你成為受歡迎的聊天達人。
Taboo topics
禁忌話題
Jobs工作
We Brits don’t like to be asked very personal questions so don’t ask too much about what people do, how they do it, where they do it and who with. In some countries shop staff ask many questions about why you are in the country, where you are from, where you live and even who you work for. Keep your distance and only give very basic answers like “I work in IT” or “I work for myself”. The other person will usually understand you don’t like the questions and should change topic.
英國人不喜歡被問及個人問題，所以不要問太多關(guān)于他們是干什么的，在哪工作以及同事是誰。在一些國家商店工作人員問很多問題，關(guān)于你來自哪，住在哪，甚至是你的工作。保持距離同時給一些過得去的回答，像我在IT行業(yè)工作，我為自己打工。和你聊天的人就會明白你不喜歡回答這樣的問題，而應該換一個話題啦。 ?
Salary薪水
Your salary isn’t that important in England and neither is your job title. People don’t really care about how much money you make or your job title. I have seen directors, managers and student interns chatting and smoking and all using first names. I think we have an idea about people’s salaries but also believe that people who work hard should get more pay. When we hear of a president on a high salary we see that as normal but we would never ask him how much he or she earns. If someone does ask you, try saying “enough” or “it’s OK”.
在英國，你的薪水和你的職位并不重要。人們真的不關(guān)心你賺多少錢以及你的職位。我看到過很多董事、總經(jīng)理以及學生都是使用自己的名字來抽煙聊天。我認為，我應該有個關(guān)于薪水的共識，就是努力工作的人應該得到更多的工資。當我們聽說總統(tǒng)拿高薪的時候這是很正常的，但我們永遠不會問他賺多少錢。如果有人問你,試著說“夠了”或“沒關(guān)系”。
Address地址
Your home address is very personal and you shouldn’t give it to just anyone. It’s OK to say which city you live in and even sometimes your area but the street and your house number are very important. Small talk is just about talking because we don’t like silence. It’s not for finding out lots of information about the other person. I’ve worked with many colleagues but have never asked or known their home addresses.
你的家庭地址是很私人的信息，不應該告訴任何人。告訴別人你生活在那座城市或者哪個區(qū)域是OK的，但是不要提及街道以及你家庭的門牌號這些重要信息。閑聊的時候我們盡量不要保持沉默，但是不是要談論別人的個人信息，我和很多同事一起工作，但是從來不問他們的家庭住址。
Family家庭
It’s not very common to see marital status or family members on British CVs but it is in other countries. Again, like address, it is just too much information. Yes, people can see from a ring on your finger if you are married and probably guess if you have kids. Some people may mention their wife or kids and then it’s OK to mention yours. You may even see people exchanging photos of their family during a long conversation on a plane or train. One reason is because the 2 people will probably never see each other again.
與其他國家不同，在英國CVs上很少會介紹婚姻狀況以及家庭成員出現(xiàn)，像家庭地址也是非常多余的信息。大家會通過你手上的戒指來判斷你是否結(jié)婚是否有孩子。有一些人可能會提到他們妻子和孩子，你也可以提到你的家人。你也許會看到有些人在機場或者火車站聊天過程中互換他們的家庭照片，一個原因很可能是他們可能再也不會見面了。
Not taboo?
你可以談論的話題
Complaints
抱怨
Brits love complaining. It’s the national hobby for most people. Many Brits think everything is expensive so you can complain about high prices. They are sometimes right too. Every year, the ticket prices for some trains and the underground go up. Transport can be a problem in the UK because the system is old. Complain about how late, early, full or empty buses, trains or roads are.
英國人喜歡抱怨，對于大多數(shù)人來說這是民族愛好。很多英國人覺得每一樣東西都很貴，經(jīng)常抱怨昂貴的價格。他們的抱怨有時候是正確的，每年，火車票和地鐵票的價格都在逐年上漲。英國的交通比較老舊，為英國人提供了抱怨的聊天話題，比如，抱怨火車不準時、旅客太多、火車和汽車的車廂以及路況等等。
New places
新鮮的地方
A good way to make small talk is to talk about new places in the area. Maybe you know of a new shop, a cafe or restaurant. You could tell the other person about it. If they haven’t been, they will be happy to hear about it.
Try the simple question “have you been to the new…?” or make a simple statement like “there is a good new restaurant” and don’t forget to add a small question at the end to keep the conversation going. You could try “Have you been?” or “Do you know it?”
一個很好的聊天話題是談論某一地區(qū)的新地方，比如你知道的新商店、咖啡館以及餐廳。你可以很輕松的與對方聊這些內(nèi)容，如果他們沒去過，他們將非常高興聽到這些內(nèi)容。
你可以嘗試開口問一些簡單的問題，“have you been to the new...?”或者以陳述的方式如“there is a good new restaurant”,之后可以加一些小的問題讓聊天繼續(xù)下去，你可以嘗試加一句“Have you been?”或者“Do you know it?”
American politics
美國政治
American politics is a safe topic as many of us know about it and we don’t vote in US elections. Many Brits follow American politics and know about Trump and Clinton. You could ask what the other person thought about the presidential election if you have talked for some time. Don’t start a small talk conversation with this topic though.
Be careful though as this topic might move into UK politics and that can be sensitive.
對于英國人來說，美國政治是一個非常safe的聊天話題，美國大選不需要英國人投票。很多英國人關(guān)注美國政治，他們了解特朗普和希拉里。如果你已經(jīng)和對方聊了很久，你可以問他們對于美國總統(tǒng)選舉的看法，但不建議在一開始就談論這個話題，因為這個話題聊久了會涉及到英國的政治，比較敏感，所以談論起來要小心為好。
Weather
天氣
We complain about the cold weather and also the hot weather. The weather changes a lot in the UK so there is always something we don’t like so this is thebest topicfor smalltalk. British weather is terrible but interesting. You could probably just talk about this for at least 3 hours. A day can start off cold then get hot and sunny, have some light rain, heavy rain, pour down (rain a lot and heavily), the heavens will open (a downpour) and then a mild westerly breeze will turn into a gale (a strong wind) and finally it will brighten up. As you can see, we have a LOT of vocabulary for the weather too.?
英國人會經(jīng)常抱怨天氣冷或者天氣熱。因為英國天氣多變，總有大家不喜歡的一面，所以這是閑聊的最好話題。英國天氣很糟糕但很有趣，你能夠談論這個話題長達3個小時。一天當中，剛開始比較冷，然后又變暖和出現(xiàn)陽光，還會有一些小雨和大雨，甚至一場傾盆大雨，隨后有溫和的微風，隨后變成大風，然后天會放晴。（你可以學習到很多關(guān)于天氣的單詞）
希望以上的聊天tips對于英語學習者有所幫助。
