英语口语不好的人，多半平时讲话也表达不清自己。本期节目里，我尝试先用中文通顺地陈述一遍这个话题，再讲中文转换成英语时的一些规律和技巧，使语言更地道和精炼。

当然，你也可以纯粹把节目用作练听力和学发音。

<中文版>
我要讲的是害羞，这个性格很多人都不好意思跟人讲。

我爸妈说小时候我很开朗，上小学后就慢慢害羞了。小时候，害羞让我有很多尴尬的记忆，尤其是在饭桌上。我家亲戚多，来客时晚辈要向长辈敬酒。我最怕大家都盯着我，干脆什么饮料也不喝，也就不用敬酒了，要么就假装去厨房添饭溜走。不过近年看了很多书，所以现在没那么怕羞了。

比方说，书上说害羞是人们在陌生情景下的自然反应，很正常，而且也不见得谁一辈子都害羞。它跟人的生活环境有关。另外，我们常觉得害羞的人很可爱，但也不是所有人都这么想。例如，人们会觉得你冷淡加傲气。解决办法其实很简单，聚会时，面带微笑地环顾四周，身体呈开放的姿势，表示你欢迎别人过来搭讪。我个人觉得这招很管用。

害羞不可耻，也不是不可改变。随着对自己自信的增加，你自然而然就不会害羞了。

<英文版>
I want to talk about shyness, a personality trait that most people are not proud of revealing to others.

My parents say I used to be comfortable around people but grew shy during primary school. Well, in my growing up, there were tons of awkward experiences due to my shyness, a lot of which occurred at dinner tables. I have a huge extended family and it is customary for the young to propose toasts to the elderly at dinners. To avoid that focused attention, I would either refuse any drinks to disqualify myself as in the drinking game, or pretend to fetch a second serving of rice in the kitchen and never return to the table.

However, my shyness issue isn’t bothering me that much now thanks to the books I read in recent years. For instance, I learned that shyness is a common and natural reaction in situations that a person is not familiar with and it isn’t something one carries from womb to tomb. Instead, it is a product of the environment one lives in. Also, in social contexts, being shy is not always perceived as adorable; rather, it leaves a person misunderstood as being proud and cold. The solution is simply looking around with an open body posture and smiling eyes as a sign that you welcome others’ approaching you. I find this method extremely useful.

Shyness is not something shameful nor permanent. With growing confidence in yourself, it naturally fades away.