In English, small talk usually revolves around things like the weather, weekend plans, or holidays. But in Chinese, chitchat often doesn’t work in quite the same way.
SBS Simple Mandarin helps you understand everyday Chinese in Australia, speak Mandarin with more confidence, and better connect with Chinese culture. Click to view all episodes.
In English, you might already be familiar with the idea of small talk.
“How are you?”
“Nice weather today.”
“Busy week?”
These kinds of conversations don’t usually carry much information, but they help get a conversation started smoothly.
But if you look at Chinese conversations, you’ll notice something quite different: chitchat in Chinese is often not just about avoiding silence.
In this episode of SBS Simple Mandarin, we explore Chinese chitchat and look at how it differs from English small talk, while also learning some of the most common expressions used in contemporary Chinese online language.
View the original Chinese version for more.
