I’m in high school, and I recently immigrated to America (got here like 4 months ago). The cultural differences and language barrier make it really hard to make friends as I’m not as smooth or funny when speaking English and I’m always scared of saying the wrong thing.
I’ve had instances where people complimented me or asked me a random question, but I’m not sure if they’re trying to talk to me or they’re just being polite.
Small talk especially is very new to me and I’m scared I might misinterpret situations due to cultural differences.
How do I know what people’s intentions are?
Also, there’s a guy who sits next to me in class, and recently he started offering me help in class when he noticed I didn’t finish copying. Is it fair to assume he’s being friendly? Or is it just being nice?
1 comment
It’s hard to tell people’s intentions right off the bat. Some people talk because they’re uncomfortable with silence, but I think in a school setting most people talk to you more out of necessity/social interest. Not many talk to other people out of politeness at this stage in life. The guy offering to help you may have a curious attraction towards you.
This might be a “duh” piece of advice but I used to teach ESL students and we had to teach them how to do small talk as so many people panic and blanked out. So our school gave them a formula called A+?
(A answer)( + add more info )(? Ask a question back) So when someone asks you a question you answer it, add additional info, then ask them a question back so the conversation ball is back in their court.
Them: hey do you want to copy my answers?
You: A. Oh that would be helpful, thanks! + I’m still getting used to answering schoolwork in English. ? Are you good at this topic?
It doesn’t have to be the best answers in the world. It’ll help just to get through basic conversations which is what my students needed most lol