Maybe when waiting for others or just passing time, most people engage in small talk—usually about things which interest them such as sports or fashion or make-up and so on. It’s also a great way to make new friends or colleagues.
In this Podcast, you will learn:
(i) How to start a conversation about a topic which interests you
(ii) To talk about a subject which has appeal to you and others in your group
Dialogue: Three people are making small talk:
At the coffee shop
A: 你喜欢什么体育运动？Nǐ xǐhuān shénme tǐyù yùndòng?
What kind of sport you like?
B: 我超级喜欢篮球。Wǒ chāojí xǐhuān lánqiú.
I am a big basketball fan.
A: 我也是！你看昨晚的NBA半决赛了么？Wǒ yěshì! Nǐ kàn zuó wǎn de NBA bàn juésàile me?
Me too! Did you watch the NBA semi-final last night?
B: 当然看了。打得超级精彩，是吧？Dāngrán kànle. Dǎ dé chāojí jīngcǎi, shì ba?
Of course, it was very exciting, wasn’t it?
A: 你喜欢旅游么？Nǐ xǐhuān lǚyóu ma?
Do you like travelling?
B: 喜欢呀！我去年刚去了趟瑞典。我简直爱死那里了！Xǐhuān ya! Wǒ qùnián gāng qùle tàng ruìdiǎn. Wǒ jiǎnzhí ài sǐ nàlǐle!
Yes I do. I just went to Sweden last year. Absolutely loved it!
A: 今天天气真好！Jīntiān tiānqì zhēn hǎo!
The weather is so good, isn’t it?
B: 是啊，我最喜欢的就是昆明的夏天。Shì a, wǒ zuì xǐhuān de jiùshì kūnmíng de xiàtiān.
Yes, I love the summer in Kunming.
Chinese words and phrases mentioned in this Podcast:
体育运动：sport
非常喜欢：like it very much
篮球：basketball
半决赛：semi-final
当然: of course
喜欢：like
旅游：travel
去年：last year
瑞典：Sweden
简直：absolutely
天气：weather
夏天：summer
Cultural/Grammar note:
In Chinese, we usually use ‘趟’ to express how many times we go to a place, such as ‘一趟’ (once)’, ‘两趟’ (twice), ‘三趟’ (three times) and so on.
Mandarin Chinese learning resources we recommend:
