你是搭讪闲聊的大师吗？ Are you big on small talk?

Hello, I’m Neil. Welcome to 6 Minute English and with me in the studio is Rob.
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语节目，我是主持人Neil,今天我的搭档是Rob。
Hello, Neil.
你好Neil。
How are you today?
今天怎么样？
I’m fine, thanks. How are you?
不错啊，你呢？
I’m very well, actually. The weather has been nice lately, hasn’t it?
我也不错，今天天气也挺好的，不是么？
Yes, it has. The winter has been mild this year but... according to the forecast there might be some snow in parts of the country next week... And, you know, that’s good because I love snow and we haven’t seen much of it for quite a while. It’s only rain, isn’t it I...
是啊，这个冬天天气一直很温和，不过看天气预报说下周部分地区会有降雪。是的，下雪也挺好的我很喜欢，而且雪景难得一见。总是下雨，我...
OK! OK! Enough! Enough now or they’re going to think it’s true that British people only talk about the weather!
好啦好啦，听众快要相信英国人总是喜欢聊天气了。
Right.
好吧。
In this programme we’re talking about conversation and how to start talking with people you don’t know. In short: how to make small talk.
今天的节目我们就来说说怎么和不熟的人开始聊天的技巧。简单的说就是怎么搭话闲聊。
Right. Well, small talk is what we call a polite and informal conversation about things which aren’t really important or meaningful when meeting people socially - like at a party, for example.
恩是的，small talk指的就是人们在相聚时一些处于礼貌的非正式交流形式，比如派对上人们相互闲聊。
And in this programme you’ll learn some vocabulary about communication. But first, a question: Rob, when do babies usually start talking? Is it when they are…a) 9 monthsb) 16 months orc) 18 months
今天的节目也将介绍相关词汇。首先，问题来了。Rob，你知道孩童们多大开始讲话么？选项有：a） 九个月b）16个月c）18个月
Well, I know they start making noises at quite an early age. And I guess if that’s talking, let me say (a) 9 months.
我知道孩子们很早就开始哭闹咿咿呀呀。恩，说话的话，我猜是九个月。
OK. Well, we’ll have the answer to that question at the end of the programme. Small talk is a social skill. Some people feel awkward - it means they feel uncomfortable, embarrassed - when they go to a party and don’t know many people there.
好的，答案将在本期节目末尾揭晓。闲谈是一种社交技巧。有些人觉得尴尬，awkward指的是觉得不自在不舒服，尤其是身处于很少熟人的派对上。
Liz Brewer, the author of ’The Ultimate Guide to Party Planning and Etiquette’, knows a lot about what to do on these occasions. Etiquette is the set of rules which indicate what behaviour in a society is acceptable and what is not.
Liz Brewer， 着有《派对礼仪行动指南》对于这种情况驾轻就熟。Etiquette指的是一个社会中是非行为的一系列标准准则，
Yes, the author knows a lot about etiquette. Let’s listen to her advice.What expression does she use to describe the act of attempting to start a conversation with someone?
是的，这个作者对于礼仪了解深刻，来听听她怎么说。她使用了哪个词来描述与他人开始对话的呢？
【Liz Brewer, author of ’The Ultimate Guide to Party Planning and Etiquette’】You walk into a room, there’s a sea of faces, well... (the) first thing we do is... it’s the weather.We do it because we are in fact breaking the ice. That is a code. That means ’I want to talk to you’. It’s an easy subject, it’s not too penetrating. We’re very private people, we don’t like to give too much information. So we are on safe ground. We start off with the weather. If that goes well, we then take it one step further.
【Liz Brewer，《派对礼仪行动指南》作者】当你走进一个房间时，面对着一张张面孔，好吧，第一件可以聊的事情——是天气。我们可以通过交流天气来打开僵局，这是一种交往密码。交流天气的实际含义是我想和你聊天，而且天气很浅显，易于交流。人们现在都很注重隐私，并不想透露给陌生人过多个人信息。所以谈话需要从不痛不痒的话题开始，比如说天气。如果聊天气聊的很顺利，我们可以进一步沟通。
Liz Brewer talks about breaking the ice.It means approaching someone you don’t know and starting a friendly conversation with them.
Liz Brewer 提到了breaking the ice。breaking the ice指的是在我们不知如何行动是，用一个友善的话题打破沉默的僵局。
And when you break the ice, talking about things which are not specific is the best way.You don’t start a chat asking straight away where people live or what they do for a living.
当你打破僵局后，交流一些不那么私人的话题是最佳选择。不要直接地一上来就询问别人的住址或者职业。
And, as the author said, we are very private people. Private describes someone who doesn’t like to give away their personal information, opinions or share their feelings. So we need more time to open up to people we’ve just met.
是的，正如这位作者所说，人们都很注重隐私。Private指的是人们不想透露过多的个人信息，或者不想表达太多的个人情绪。所以我们面对刚刚认识的人，还需要时间来慢慢敞开心扉。
Good. So now you know what to do at a party when you don’t know the other guests.
是的，现在你知道了当你不认识周围人时如何开始聊天了。
But, Neil. There is one particular situation I’m not sure how to deal with. This is when I forget the name of the person I’ve been making small talk with.
恩，但是还有一种情况我不知道该怎么办。我有时候忘记了之前交谈过的人的名字。
Yes, I know what that’s like. You might not feel comfortable about allowing the person to realise you didn’t really catch their name. It might sound rude.
我也不知道为什么，就是觉得让别人知道你忘记了他的名字是一件很失礼的事情。
Yes, that’s right. I don’t want to sound rude - which means ill-mannered or unpleasant. The person I’ve just managed to approach might think I don’t care.
是的，我们都不想这样失礼，rude指的是粗鲁无礼。也许这个人会觉得我并不在意他所以忘记了他的名字。
Let’s see what tip author on etiquette Liz Brewer has for us. Which words does she use instead of "I have forgotten"?
来看看Liz Brewer能给我们什么样的建议吧，注意，她用哪个词代替了我忘记了？
【Liz Brewer, author of "The Ultimate Guide to Party Planning & Etiquette"】You can say "Oh, just your name... it has just slipped my mind for the moment". And they say "Paul", (you say) "Oh no, no, no, I know you are Paul, it was the surname". Or they give you the surname and then you add the other. As I say, small talk is a code towards getting information and going further. Once you feel comfortable, then you can have these wonderful in-depth conversations. Those are the kinds of things you want to probably do later.
【Liz Brewer，《派对礼仪行动指南》作者】你可以说，“对了，你是...啊，就突然一下子明明你名字还在我脑子里就是说不出来”然后他们就会接话“Paul”，（你马上接上）“是的是的我知道是Paul，我就是想不起来你姓什么”然后他们就会说出他们的全名。正如我所说，闲聊可以不断获取到更多信息。当你觉得交流不错后，就可以开始下一步更深入的闲聊了。可以是你接下来想做的事情。
Liz Brewer says "your name has just slipped my mind", it’s a gentler way of saying that they’ve just forgotten the person’s name. And pretending that you knew the person’s name but you want the other name is a clever trick.
Liz Brewer 使用了your name has just slipped my mind，这是一种礼貌的说法，表示刚刚记不得某人的名字，然后假装你记得这个人的名字只是记不住他的姓氏，这个技巧很巧妙。
Yes, it might sound like you forgot the name, but not completely. And this author shows that you have to interact with people in a charming way.
是的，听起来你记得了一半，只是忘了其中一部分。而且作者这个方式很有趣，容易和人熟络。
Yes... well, my co-presenter... your name has just slipped my mind for the moment…
是啊，对了我的搭档，你名字是什么来着我一下子突然记不起来了。
Come on, Rob. You know! You know it’s Neil.
够啦，Rob。你知道的我是Neil。
Yes, it is Neil. I’m just practising my social skills there.
是啊你是Neil，我只是想炫一下我的沟通技能。
Well, I’m afraid you have to practise some other time because... well, I don’t want to sound rude but we are running out of time. Let me give you the correct answer to the quiz question now.
好吧，也许你有其他机会来练练手，时间到了，我可不想因为拖延被听众认为失礼。来揭晓本期问题的答案吧。
Yes. You asked me "When do babies usually start talking?" and you gave me three options.?
是的，你问我，孩童第一次讲话是多大，然后你给了我三个选项。
Yes, and the options were 9 months, 16 months or 18 months.
是的，选项分别是9个月大，16个月大和18个月大。
And I went for the first one, 9 months. Was I right??
我选了第一个，9个月大。对不对？
You were wrong. The correct answer was (c) 18 months. Now, according to the website webmd.com, there are some milestones in speech development. At 6 months, your baby begins babbling with different sounds. For example, your baby may say "ba-ba" or "da-da". And then, after that, at 9 months, babies can understand a few basic words. At the age of 18 months babies say up to 10 simple words.
不对，正确答案是c）18个月大。来自医疗网站webmd.com的调查显示，在孩童语言学习的时间上有几个明显的里程碑。从6个月后，孩童能够咿咿呀呀学着发出声音，比如，你的孩子可能会发出baba或者dada的声音。然后，在九个月时候，孩子可以明白一些简单词语的含义。在十八个月的时候，孩子开始说话，能够表达10个左右的单词。
Ah, interesting stuff. And we are still learning words now, aren’t we?
好有趣。好吧，今天我们也学习了一些词汇，不是么？
We are. Well, enough of this small talk. Let’s remember some of the words we used today, Rob.
是的，闲聊够了，来回顾一下今天的词汇吧。
They were:small talk；awkward；etiquette；breaking the ice；private；rude；slipped my mind 。
他们是：闲聊；尴尬的；礼仪；打破僵局；私人的；失礼；我忘了，
small talk；
今天的节目就到这里，我们下期节目再会！
awkward；
再见！