📘 Part 3: Social Interactions and making friends

This episode's vocabulary

• Convivial (adj.) - friendly and making you feel happy and welcome.
• Interest group (noun) - a group or organization with particular aims and ideas that tries to influence the government.
• Theme (noun) - the main subject of a talk, book, film, etc.
• Vulnerable (adj.) - able to be easily physically or mentally hurt, influenced, or attacked.
• Unsavoury (adj.) - unpleasant, or morally offensive.
• The pros and cons (phrase) - the advantages and disadvantages of something, especially something that you are considering doing.
• Observation (noun) - a remark about something that you have noticed.
• Icebreaker (noun) - something that someone says or does in order to make it easier for people who have never met before to talk to each other.
• Extrovert (noun) - an energetic person who enjoys being with other people.
• To crack a joke (idiom) - to tell a joke.
• Wry (adj.) - showing that you find a bad or difficult situation slightly funny.
• Barrier (noun) - anything that prevents people from being together or understanding each other.

Questions and Answers

M: In what situations would people be willing to get to know new people?

R: Well, I suppose, comfortable ones, broadly speaking. No one is in the mood to make friends if they're under pressure, are they? And they need to have things in common and a sort of convivial atmosphere to help things along.

M: How do people usually make friends?

R: I think that really comes down to their age, doesn't it? Kids will do that at school mostly, and adults will get to know people through work or shared interest groups. Aside from that, I'm not really sure.

M: And where do people go to meet new people?

R: Anywhere that lots of people gather who don't know each other, like a bar or a club. That could be a dance club or a club with a particular theme or activity, like outdoor sports.

M: What are the benefits and drawbacks of meeting people on social media?

R: Well, I suppose the benefits are that the range of your social network could expand beyond just your local community. You can talk to people who are further away. As for the drawbacks, I suppose that might leave you more vulnerable to interacting with people who are maybe a bit unsavoury or have very different expectations about your conversations because they grew up in a different culture. So there are pros and cons.

M: How do people usually start a conversation?

R: Well, lots of ways, really. It could be an observation about the weather or some common ice-breaking topic. More extroverted people might crack a joke or make some wry observation about the shared situation or context.

M: Why are some people unwilling to have conversations with others?

R: Oh, Lord. I mean, well, they could be stressed or angry or just not like talking to a particular person if they are nice, or if there's nothing they can get out of it.

M: Is it difficult for adults to talk with children?

R: Some of them, I imagine, especially if they're trying to talk about awkward or abstract topics or concepts or have no experience dealing with young people.

M: And is it easier to make friends for adults or children?

R: I don't know. I guess it depends on the strength of the relationship, to be honest. It's easier for adults to make friends with people who they have just met, for example. It's like a short-term relationship. Maybe in a workplace with a short-term contract. But for children, if they meet the same people every day, then it's kind of easy for them to just fall into that routine. So I think it will depend more on the context than the age, really.

M: Do you think that technology has made it easier or harder to meet new people food?

R: Well, if we think about it, it could be both. It's made it easier to meet people in an online space, but to physically meet them, it's maybe increased barriers because people go for this option sooner than... or they go for it more easily than the one that involves them tmakingan investment. So it could be both, and it could depend very much on your perspective of what meeting people should involve.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answers!

Discussion

M: So dear listener, social interactions between people. So we interact or communicate with each other. We make friends. Okay? We meet new people. We make friends with new people, and some people are not willing to get to know new people. So to be willing to do something, to want to do something. So we kind of meet new people or get to know new people, other people are willing to get to know new people. And like, in what situations? So broadly speaking, or generally speaking, people are willing to meet new people when they are comfortable.

R: Yeah, so that's just like a general idea. I can't think of a time when that would not be true, to be honest.

M: Yeah, like if people are comfortable, if they are not under pressure, they are fine with meeting other people. What did you say about this atmosphere? A sort of

R: Convivial atmosphere. An atmosphere that encourages people to be friendly.

M: Whoa... We need another sentence with convivial.

R: I mean, you can have a convivial atmosphere at a party. In fact, you should have a convivial atmosphere at a party. So that people can have fun.

M: So convivial, friendly and making you feel happy or welcome. A convivial atmosphere, a convivial host. Also, dear listener, you can say like, in what situations? Well, at a birthday party, at a wedding. I don't know, in the street. At a restaurant, some people are willing to get to know new people, you know? At a party, usually. People usually make friends according to their age. And you can say that it really comes down to their age, so it depends on their age, kind of according to their age. And then like children. What do they do? Children make friends at school. Adults get to know people through work, through shared interests, through social networks, and then Rory says, like, aside from that, I'm not sure, okay? I don't know.

R: It could be aside from that. Or besides that as well. Although, it's important to point out that's just for speaking. If you're going to do it in an essay, it should be aside from that.

M: Yeah. And you can say that people make new friends through dating apps, for example. But dating is like more about dating. But are there any apps which are not for dating, but kind of like to meet friends? I don't know, to kind of get to know new people.

R: I'm pretty sure that Bumble has been created with that express intention.

M: And what do you call them? Like not dating apps, but...

R: I guess social networking apps if that's the only thing they could be.

M: Yeah.

R: Social network expansion apps.

M: Lots of people gather together. So they kind of get together to meet each other in a bar, in a club, in, I don't know, in special communities, like when they play board games, for example. Like when they go to special, you know, classes, dance classes, or yoga lessons, I don't know, music classes. So when they go to a club with a particular theme. A particular theme? Like a particular topic.

R: Or an activity.

M: When we meet new people, we start a conversation. How do people do that? Well, they talk about the weather or some other common ice-breaking topic. So we kind of break the ice, so we choose to talk about something neutral. Like to break the ice. So you can say like first people should break the ice, and usually they talk about the weather, or, I don't know, food, or if you meet people at a conference, about the conference, and then, like more extroverted people, like more open people, might crack a joke. Crack a joke? Make a joke. Or make some observations. So make some... Notice something. And Rory, what adjective did you use before observation?

R: Oh, a wry observation.

M: Ooh... Funny, you mean?

R: Well, it's usually about funny or... Being funny or being ironic. But both of those are related to humour.

M: So wry. A wry observation. So if something is wry, it shows that you find a bad or difficult situation slightly funny. For example, a wry smile or a wry comment. But it's something positive, yeah? Like a wry sense of humour.

R: Well, it's usually positive if you're laughing at it. If, if you're on the end of it, then you might not be so happy.

M: Okay, for example, like let's imagine that we met at a conference, and after a long talk, after a long presentation, we kind of, we are standing with a glass of champagne, and I come to you, what can I say? Like, what wry observation can I make?

R: You could say anything, but I would probably say, like, well, that was a close brush with death by boredom, wasn't it? Or something like that. Close brush with death by boredom, so he came close to dying from listening to someone so boring.

M: So, and this would be a wry observation?

R: Yeah.

M: You see, dear listener? Quite funny, but like, yeah. Okay? Some people are unwilling to have conversations with other people. Okay. This is true. And Rory says that people could be stressed, they could be stressed out, they could be angry, they could be introverted and they could just hate other people.

R: It's always possible.

M: Then our typical questions about adults and children and the comparisons between them. We can say that children fall into the routine of getting to know other people. So for them, it's kind of a routine, so it's easier for them to meet new people. Fall into the routine of meeting new people. About technology, we can speak about increased barriers to meeting people offline, for example. So technology has... What verb can I use? Has made barriers? Or has...

R: Well, if they create barriers, it's just things that stop something from happening.

M: Yeah, like technology has created barriers to meeting people offline. When we meet people on social media, we can be vulnerable to interacting with some bad people. So to be vulnerable to doing something, what does it mean?

R: Well, it could be dangerous for them, or it places them in danger of something bad happening.

M: And vulnerable is C2, dear listener. It's proficiency. Yeah, it's a very good adjective. So, vulnerable - able to be easily physically or mentally hurt or to be easily influenced or attacked. So for example, I felt very vulnerable standing there in the dark all alone so I could be easily attacked. Tourists are more vulnerable to attack in dangerous parts of the city, for example. And when we talk to people online, we could be vulnerable. What did you mean when you said unsavoury people, you said?

R: Just people with bad intentions or people who are not very nice.

M: Unsavory. Unpleasant or morally offensive. So unsavoury reputation. And you can say that people are more vulnerable to interacting with unsavory people on social media. Rory, and what do you reckon like, what will happen in the future? You know, like any future trends. How will people meet new people? You know?

R: Oh, God. Well, hold on, people are using virtual reality now, so maybe they'll use these virtual reality headsets to add to the social network experience.

M: So according to Forbes... You know Forbes? So here's an article from a super person, and what are they saying? It's getting harder and harder to tell the difference between real people and computer-generated responses, dear listener. So maybe you are talking to a robot. Okay? On the phone or in the chat.

R: It's quite terrifying.

M: It is terrifying. Yeah... And this is seen in friend-seeking relationship-building dating apps. So on dating apps, there are robots, and people. Yep. This is crazy, yeah?

R: That is crazy.

M: Ooh, now these AI friends are created to provide emotional support. So like there are friends, but they are not friends. They are robots, dear listeners. Can you imagine?

R: That's a horrendous indictment of our society that people have failed so badly at providing friendship and comfort that we now have to build machines to do this.

M: And, they say, like this company, which is called iFriend. You can just Google it. iFriend.

R: Of course, it's called iFriend.

M: Yeah, and this is one of the startups that is changing the game, so changing the way people interact with each other because they provide digital companionship. Wow. So this iFriend helps you fill the void of loneliness by landing a comfortable ear like pretty much like artificial intelligence, not a real person. Wow. And this software is designed to understand your emotions in a supportive way. So, pretty much, dear listener, you just go there and talk to a robot, but it feels like you are talking to a human being. Oh, my God.

R: It's a brave new world.

M: Yeah. And Rory, tell me, is this Siri popular in Scotland?

R: I mean, I think it's popular everywhere. Anywhere where people have lots of iPhones.

M: Yeah. And also kind of people use it for learning languages. So Siri could be your friend, dear listener. Yeah. So these are the trends. This is the situation. Okay? Scary or not. Rory, are you scared?

R: I'm more scared now that you've told me all of this. Yes.

M: Thank you very much for listening! We are real people. We are not robots.

R: Yes, we promise that we're not robots.

M: Yeah, Rory is 100% real and Scottish and yeah, we are not artificial intelligence. Stay with us, and we'll get back to you in our next episode! Okay? Bye!

R: Bye!

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