到底应该如何跟外国友人交朋友呢？.

　　Editor’s note: Chinese people are more than happy to make foreign friends, but the process is not so easy. Most foreigners who want a genuine Chinese friend often get annoyed when they feel they are being treated as a tool to improve someone’s conversational English.

　　编者注：中国人非常乐意结交外国朋友，但是这个过程却不那么容易。大部分想要一位真诚的中国朋友的外国人在感到他们被当做提高口语的工具时都会感到十分生气。

　　Our blogger from UK, who goes by the online name of seanboyce88, has compiled a list of some don’ts when it comes to making a foreign friend. If you have anything to add, feel free to leave your comments.

　　我们这位网名为seanboyce88的英国博主编辑了一个在与外国人交朋友时不应该做的事情。如果你想要添加东西，随意留下你的评论。

　　The Don’ts:

　　不应该做的事情

　　Don’t stare

　　不要盯着看

　　As a foreigner living in China, especially in the northeastern city of Harbin, one of the first things you come to notice is the "Asian Stare" as I have come to call it. Sometimes they just drop everything and stop to stare. It’s like you have just walked out of the house naked. For me, this is a very disconcerting feeling. I have noticed this is especially particular to Harbin, where I live. In more culturally diverse cities like Beijing and Shanghai, such occurrences occur less often. However, if you stare at me like I’m the new iPhone 7, I can assure you I will not want to be your friend and will instead run away for fear that you are going to tap my face repeatedly in a bid to play the new Angry Birds game.

　　作为一个生活在中国的外国人，尤其是哈尔滨这一东北城市，你需要注意的首要事情之一就是我所说的“亚洲凝视”。有时他们干脆什么都不做了，只顾着盯着看。这就好像你光着身子从屋里走出来。对我而言，这是一种十分不安的感觉。我注意到这在我生活的哈尔滨尤为突出。在文化更加多元的城市，比如说北京和上海，这种事情往往更少。然而，如果你盯着我看就好像我是新款iPhone 7，我可以确信我不想做你的朋友，相反我会逃跑，我担心你为了玩新的愤怒的小鸟这一游戏不停地敲击我的脸部。

　　Don’t use foreigners for language practice

　　不要用外国人们来练习语言

　　Many Chinese people are looking to learn English. For many, finding a foreign friend, in particular a British, American, Australian, or New Zealander, is a big advantage. It’s a quick step to speaking fluent English and it can often be fun. More importantly, it is free of charge (or maybe the price of a coffee). However, when we come to China to make friends we want to make genuine friends. It doesn’t feel that genuine when your opening line is "You speak English, can you teach me?" If you really want to make friends with a foreigner, take an interest in what they are doing, take an interest in them. Remember, we are all people and we shouldn’t be using each in this way.

　　很多中国人很注意学习英语。对于他们而言，找到一名外国朋友，尤其是英国人、美国人、澳大利亚人或新西兰人是一大优势。这是说一口流利英语的速成方法，通常会很有意思。更为重要的是，这是免费的(或者也许只是一杯咖啡的价格)。然而，当我们来到中国，我们希望结交真诚的朋友。当你开口就是“你说英语，你能教我吗?”，这让人感觉不真诚。如果你真的想要和外国人交朋友，对他们正在做的事情感兴趣，对他们感兴趣。记住，我们都是人，不应该这样互相使用。

　　Don’t be too forward

　　不要过于急性子

　　Sometimes I have found myself in situations in which I have begun chatting to a Chinese person in the street randomly and they all of a sudden ask, after 10 seconds of conversation, "Can I get your phone number?" To me, it feels like something is not right. This is how thieves operate. Now, I know that it’s just over-eagerness to make a friend, but remember, this sort of attitude makes many foreigners nervous.

　　有时候，我发现当我开始在街道上随意与一个中国人开聊时，他们就会在10秒钟后突然问我，“我能知道你的电话号码吗?”对我而言，这是不对的。小偷才会这么做。现在，我知道这只是太想交朋友了，但是记住，这种态度会使很多外国人感到紧张。

　　Don’t talk about them when within earshot

　　不要在他们的听力范围内谈论他们

　　This one I feel is downright rude. Stating why he is white or dark-skinned when we can hear you is very upsetting. Try not to guess our nationality either. Believe me, not all black people are from Africa (and p.s. Africa is not a country, it’s a continent) and not all white people are from America.

　　这一点我感觉是十分粗鲁的。当我们能够听到你的谈话时，你却谈论为什么他这么白、为什么他这么黑，这非常令人烦恼。也不要试图猜测我们的国籍。相信我，不是所有黑人都来自非洲(另外，非洲不是一个国家，而是一个大陆)，也不是所有白人都来自美国。

　　Don’t generalize

　　不要一概而论

　　Chinese people are proud of their country, as they should be, but don’t forget that so are we and we don’t like to be lumped together as one country called "The West." We have many different and proud cultures and countries.

　　中国人为自己的国家感到自豪，这是他们应该做的事情，但是不要忘了我们也是这样，我们不喜欢被集中到一块儿成为一个被称为“西方”的国家。我们有很多不同且引以为傲的文化和国家。

　　Don’t take pictures of them without permission

　　不要未经允许就拍照

　　Do not, under any circumstances, try to take a picture sneakily without the person knowing. It’s not a zoo and we are not animals. It is extremely rude.

　　任何时候都不要试图在别人不知道的情况下偷偷拍照。这不是动物园，我们不是动物。这是相当粗鲁的。