American Culture Post
From what I’ve seen on this app, many people
know that Americans make a lot of small talk. However, it seems that a lot of people don’t know when or how to engage in small talk. That’s completely understandable, so let me give you some tips to help😊 •not all Americans like small talk. In general, people will be polite back but if someone doesn’t reply or replies quickly, they may not want to speak. That’s okay, nothing against you. You’ll likely be able to tell who doesn’t want to
•don’t ask personal questions. When talking with a stranger we may ask them how their day was or talk about the weather or a current event or holiday. However, don’t ask about things such as age or relationship status if they don’t bring it up or if it doesn’t occur naturally. NEVER talk about money. It’s considered very rude to discuss money. I would avoid politics when talking with a stranger as well. To help you understand, here’s a conversation I had the other day at work when I was ringing someone up.
Customer: “how was your day today?”
Me: “I’m doing good, how about you?”
Customer: “I’m doing good.”
Me: “are you guys just doing some shopping today?”
Customer “yeah, we’re aren’t from here so we wanted to check it out and just look around.”
Me: “that’s fun. You said you were from out of town?”
Customer: “yeah”
Me: “were are you guys from?”
Customer: “oh we’re from Arizona”
Me: “oh wow so you’re really from out of town.”
Customer: “yeah😂”
Me: “well, here’s you’re bad and your receipt. Have a good night and I hope that you have a good time in California.”
Customer: “thanks, have a good night.”
See how I didn’t really pry but when she brought something up, I asked more personal questions? If you aren’t sure whether or not the person will feel comfortable with your question, you can say “... if you don’t mind me asking.” For example, “where are you guys from, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Since this topic is rather complex, I’ll make another post to follow it up.
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