英語長文章：How to Talk to Anyone

作者：Leil Lowndes
出版社：Contemporary Books, Inc.
中譯版：跟任何人都可以聊得來：巧妙破冰、打進團體核心，想認識誰就認識誰。，李茲文化

• 要如何跟老外輕鬆自然的打開話題？《跟任何人都可以聊得來》這本書除了社交方法的教學外，還提供了對美國文化與習俗詳細的觀察，讓你的話匣子更深厚！
• 書中的一流社交方針，讓你能夠自然且頻繁地開啟話題；而且內容非常易懂，只要每天看個幾頁就能輕鬆征服！

預估閱讀時間：03:15
文章難度： ★★★★★

How to Talk to Anyone is basically a bulleted list of conversational techniques, and can be read quickly and conveniently as a result. Each of the book's points has its own section that shows how it works and how to remember it easily, and the points are quite diverse but include sure-fire and easy ways make small talk (a sort of master class on how to talk about the weather), how to pick up and use lingo or expressions from different social groups (buzzwords), and how to look and feel more confident in daily life. 

《跟任何人都可以聊得來》這本書條列出清晰的的對話技巧，可以快速又方便地閱讀。書中列舉的每一項技巧，都有解釋功能與記憶方法的專屬區塊。這些技巧雖然琳琅滿目，但也包含了簡單又保險的找話題方法（像是「第一次聊天氣就上手」等內容）；以及讓你在日常生活中更有自信的方法。 

Presented in the form of a to-do list with accompanying visualizations and notes, How to Talk to Anyone does a lot to make its content easy to read and memorable. It's a breeze to get through. While this book is extremely useful, I've heard it suggested that this book is the “newer, better” How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

《跟任何人都可以聊得來》在如何讓書好讀又好記這方面做足了努力，讓讀者可以不費工夫地讀完整本書，像是用「待辦事項清單」的格式呈現，輔以視覺化的內容與筆記。書中的內容非常的有效，我甚至聽過有人評價他為「更新、更好的」《卡內基教你掌握「攻心溝通兵法」的38堂課》。

Do not be fooled -- the classic text on friendliness and influence is still a mainstay for a reason, and holds in it foundational skills and styles that are worth reading on their own merits. Reading texts on related social skills is a vital practice for getting a feel for how to use them, as well as on which key points different authorities on the subject disagree. 

但請別誤會，卡內基這本關於人際關係與影響力的經典，至今仍是中流砥柱也不是沒有原因的，它的基本技巧與風格非常值得閱讀。在實際應用它們之前，閱讀社交技巧相關的內容，是很重要的練習，它可以讓我們更進入狀況。即使這點在各方面的權威尚未取得共識。

This book's biggest strength is that it is designed to be totally friendly to the mind. It's written in readable, usual, everyday English so as to be accessible to a wide audience. In addition to being welcoming to students of English, it also provides tremendous insight into American culture and custom. The strategies held in this book make an excellent bridge into being able to engage people in conversation more frequently and naturally, and they are therefore skills easy to grow with a little time and attention. 

本書的最大優勢是它整體淺顯易懂的設計，易讀的日常英語讓本書能夠廣泛地被大眾接受，除了對英語學習者來說非常友善外，它也提供了一個窺視美國文化與習俗的極佳視角。本書採用的策略讓讀者能夠自然且頻繁地開啟話題，而且能用最短的時間與精神來學習這些技巧。

In reading a book such as this one, it is good to counterbalance the reading with some study into the culture that it comes from. A book like Erin Meyer's The Culture Map, for example, provides a lot of insight towards cultural differences and cross-cultural communication that is invaluable to books of social skills, granting an even better view into how to apply the ideas held within. This book is quite convenient to steamroll through by reading a few pages every day, and its social guidance is top-notch -- just remember to use your newfound powers for good, not evil. 

閱讀這類的書籍時，最好能搭配其他關於該文化的讀物。例如Erin Meyer的《The Culture Map》這本書就提供了許多關於文化差異、與跨文化溝通的洞見，與社交技能類的書籍搭配閱讀，能產生的效應無可限量，讓人發展出書中技能更好的應用方式。這是一本只要每天看個幾頁就能輕鬆征服的書，而且提供了一流的社交指導。請記得好好使用你學到的新技能，而別用在壞事上。

文/ Max Power

收錄於英語島 2018年7月號
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