A: Do you know the new neighbor that moved in a week ago?

B: Um…do you mean the handsome guy that live in the third floor?

A: Yeah, it’s him!! He’s so cute! What’s his name?

C: He’s name is Eric. I’ve talked with him yesterday. But he’s quite of quiet and
    he seldom talk with people; it makes me feel that he’s not friendly.

B: But he has a dog for pet. I think people who love animals could not be an
    unfriendly guy. Maybe he is a shy person and he gets so nervous that he
    doesn’t talk too much or he’s a person who can’t express himself clearly.

A: I’ve seen an article which talks about different personalities before. It
    discussed several characteristics of people, such as bossy, optimistic,
    thoughtful, bashful…and so on. Perhaps he is a bashful person.

C: Oh, I’ve seen that article two days ago. It’s a very interesting report.

B: Really? What’s the content exactly about?

C: For example, bossy people would tend to lead. And most of their friends are
    people who don’t have much thinking; they are easy to compromise with
    everything.

A: Bossy people like to make decisions for others and they don’t know when to
    stop as they start. Therefore, they don’t have many friends.

B: I agree. Bossy people often want to control other people. They seldom think
    in others’ shoes. I don’t like that kind of person. By the way, what about the
    rest of personalities?

C: Optimistic people. Speaking of them, most of us may think that they don’t
    worry about anything. However, they are just like us would care about bad
    things. The only difference between us is that they would think much more
    optimistic than we do.

A: When we are feeling sad or depressed, optimistic people can encourage us
    and give us nerve. Chatting with them could give you a comfortable feeling.
    And that’s why they’re welcomed wherever they go.

B: The commonest byword they said is tomorrow will be better.

C: Yeah, I can’t agree more.

A: Third, thoughtful people. They tend to carefully considering the affect of their
    actions or caring toward other people and always put others’ thinking at first
    place.

C: Thus, they’re also easy to get hurt. Because they are very sensitive, they
    easily mind about popular apprehension to them. So we have to treat them
    cautiously.

B: My friend, Anna, belongs to this kind of people. Although getting along with
    her isn’t very easy, nevertheless, she’s still my best friend.

A: Last, bashful people. They are introvert when they first meet strangers. But
    once they are familiar with you, they’ll let you know the real him or her.

C: One characteristic of bashful people is that they don’t talk too much. They
    often do things more than what they talk. As the result, sometimes we might
    misunderstand their behaviors. In addition, they are good listeners in groups.

B: Wow, I see. So that’s the reason why A would think our new neighbor, Eric,
    belongs to bashful people, right?

A: Exactly!!

C: Um…Perhaps you’re right. But if Eric really is a bashful person, then how
    could we make friends with him?

B: Well, It’s my show time!! I’ve taken a class which is teaching people how to
    make friends with strangers these days. Maybe I can show you some tips for
    making friends and improving your social skills.

A: That’s interesting. I am not good at talking with strangers. Maybe I should
    learn some skills.

C: That’s just helping me make friends with Eric. And I don’t want to
    misunderstand him.

B: OK. The first thing is we should change our mindset. Don’t wait someone talk
    to you. We can take active way to express our benevolence to a stranger.
    And remember to remain relaxed, if you are too nervous, it will be more
    difficult to build rapport with others.

C: To relax can avoid stammering. Let others easily understand what we are
    talking about.

A: Sounds difficult. Talking with strangers let me feel strange. It still less get
    rid of nervous to face them.

C: Therefore, you should practice more; you will get accustomed.

B: C is right. The next one, talk about others’ situation. Make them feel
    interested. And let him know you are listening. Then feed back what you’ve
    heard and refer back to others’ comments later on. When you talk or listen to
    others, the eye contact and attentiveness is important.

A: I have similar experience. Some people only talk themselves, and then I don’t
    have patience to listen. It makes me so bored.

C: I think eye contact is necessary. One of my friends has a bad habit. When I
    talk to him, he doesn’t look at my eyes, and it let me feels I am not
    respected and I am ignored. Although I know he is listening, I still feel
    uncomfortable.

B: So we should take care of this: to see things through other people’s eye.
    Observe what others need. For instant, when you eat lunch, after finish you
    can give napkins to others, this will make people feel you are cozy and
    thoughtful. And treat others with polite, respect and so on. Or smile at
    everyone to be friendly.

A: Everyone should learn these skills. That will be helpful in your life.

B: The last one is expressing how we feel and think. The interaction would get
    us to know each other. Making friends with others is not so difficult. But the
    shy people have to spend longer time to practice.

C: Now we can visit our new neighbor, Eric, to show our favor to him. And tell
    him the social skills. I hope he would be loquacious.

A: Um…, I wouldn’t do it. I will feel embarrassed and I have no idea what to say
    to him.

B: Hey, try and practice. And we will go with you, don’t be afraid.

A: OK. I will try. Should we bring some gift for him?

B&C: Wow. You learn so fast. That’s great.

***********************