Jingjing: Mark, can I ask you a personal question?

京晶：马克，我可以问你一个个人问题吗？

Mark: Sure, if it's not too personal.

马克：当然，如果不是太涉及隐私的话。

Jingjing: Not to worry. I'm wondering: was it easy for you to make friends when you first came to China?

京晶：别担心。我只是想知道：你第一次来中国时，交朋友容易吗？

Mark: Yeah. Chinese people are really friendly. And, where I was working, most of the people were the same age as me.

马克：容易啊。中国人非常友好。而且在我工作的地方，大多数人都跟我的年纪相仿。

Jingjing: You were lucky. I have a friend who's going to go live abroad for a year or longer. She's worried about feeling lonely there.

京晶：你很幸运呢。我有一个朋友即将去国外生活一年或更久。她担心在那里会感到孤单。

Mark: What2018/7/26's she going there to do?

马克：她要去那儿做什么？

Jingjing: She's going to do a Master's program.

京晶：她打算去读硕士课程。

Mark: Well, that'll keep her pretty busy. Plus, she can form a study group with schoolmates doing similar research.

马克：嗯，那会让她很忙的。另外，她可以与一起做相同研究课题的同学组成一个学习小组。

Jingjing: That's true. But she's not the kind of person who likes to keep her nose in a book all the time.

京晶：那倒是。但她并不是那种喜欢埋头苦读的人。

Mark: Neither are most students. It's common to be in the library near closing time, and to look around and see people you know from classes, and go out for a beer in the evening or plan a hike for the weekend.

马克：大多数学生都不是。去图书馆学习，快关门时看看四周有沒有在课堂上认识的人，晚上出去喝喝啤酒或计划周末去远足是很普遍的事。

Jingjing: Let's hope she's as lucky as you were.

京晶：希望她和你一样幸运了。

New words : 习语短语

a personal question 私人性质的问题

asking for information that might be private

a study group 学习小组

a small number of students working together on a research project or reviewing information from a course

keep her nose in a book 埋头苦读书

always reading and studying

Dialogue 2

Jingjing: Mark, I'm still curious if you can tell me any dos and don'ts about making friends.

京晶：马克，我还是很好奇, 能不能跟我说说关于结交朋友時应该和不应该做的事 。

Mark: Well, I'd recommend avoiding the “we can be good friends” line. I think people become friends without talking about it. Using the word “friend” too early makes it awkward.

马克：嗯，我建议避免说“我们可以成为好朋友”这类用词。我觉得人们成为朋友时是不会说这些的。过早使用“朋友”这个词会让人感到有些无所适从。

Jingjing: That's interesting. Any other ideas?

京晶：很有意思。还有其他建议吗？

Mark: Sure. Use social media. Let's say her school organizes a small sightseeing trip. She should post pictures. That way, her new contacts on social media can see she's an outgoing person.

马克：当然。使用社交媒体。比如，假设她的学校组织了一次小型观光旅游，她应该发布图片，这样，她在社交媒体上的新联系人就可以看出她是一个外向的人。

Jingjing: Yeah, if you have friends already, it's much easier to make more new friends.

京晶：是的，如果你已经有了朋友们，那么结交新朋友就会容易很多。

Mark: Exactly. Also, it'd be good to do things with groups of people, rather than just one or two.

马克：没错。此外，比起跟一两个人，与一群人一起做事情更好。

Jingjing: Why is that?

京晶：为什么？

Mark: With one person, the relationship could too quickly become intimate or boring. With two other people, she's at risk of being a third wheel.

马克：只跟一个人的话，这种关系可能会很快久变得亲密，或者无聊，跟另外两个人在一起，她就有成为电灯泡的可能。

Jingjing: But with a group, couldn't she become a wallflower?

京晶：但是和一群人在一起，她不是会有可能成为在群体里那个害羞不说话的人嗎？

Mark: That might happen. But at least she'd still have the chance to pick up a lot of the local language.

马克：那也有可能发生的。但至少她有机会学习到很多当地的语言。

Jingjing: And, again, she could post pictures of the event and make it look like those are all her friends.

京晶：然后，她可以又再发布活动的照片，这样看起来好像全部人都是她的朋友似的。

Mark: Right. The trick is to go out and do something with a group of people once or twice a week.

马克：对。诀窍就是每周要一群人一起出去一两次做些什么。

Jingjing: What if she's still feeling lonely?

京晶：如果她还是感到孤单怎么办？

Mark: She'll feel homesick and desperate at times, to be sure. Everyone goes through that, and can't find much help among locals or even other expats.

马克：她肯定时不常地会想家，会极度渴望相交朋友。每个人都会经历这些，而且在当地人甚至其他外籍人士中也找不到多少帮助。

Jingjing: That sounds a little grim.

京晶：这听起来有点严峻。

Mark: It doesn't have to be. Let's hope she puts most of her focus on her studies.

马克：也不一定是这样。希望她把大部分精力都放在她的学习上吧。

Jingjing: Let's hope so. Thanks for sharing your ideas!

京晶：希望如此。感谢你分享你的想法。

New words : 习语短语

dos and don'ts 应做不应做之事

practical advice, what to do and what not to do

line 常见社交用词

something that gets said too often in conversation

a third wheel 电灯泡

a person who goes out with two people who know each other very well, and feels unwelcome

a wallflower

在人群中因害羞而不说话的人

a person at a party who sits at the edge of the room and doesn't talk with anyone

homesick 想家，思乡

feeling sad while living away from home

desperate 绝望的，极度需要的

when a person needs friends so much that they might accept a bad friend