How to Make Friends

Friendship is a very important human relationship and everyone needs good friends. Good friendship has many benefits. It offers companionship, improves self-worth and promotes good health. There are times in our lives such as when we have recently moved into a new town, or changed our jobs or schools. Such changes often leave us without a friend.【小题1】But for many of us the process is difficult and requires courage. Below are some helpful suggestions on how to make and keep friends.

1. Associate with others.

The first step to making friends is associating with other people. You can go to public places to meet new people. Besides, you will need to make yourself known by becoming an active member of such places.

2. Start a conversation.

Starting a conversation is the second most important step in making new friends.【小题2】 You can always start the conversation. Being able to make small talk is a very useful skill in relating with other people.

3. 【小题3】

Choosing friends with common interests is important in building friendship as these interests would always bring you and your friend together. Hanging out will always be a pleasant experience.

4. Let it grow.

It is a good thing to stay in touch. However, try not to press your new friend with calls, messages or visits as this would likely wear him or her out and finally you may lose your friend.【小题4】The best friendships are the ones that grow naturally.

5. Enjoy your friendship.

The best way to enjoy your friendship is to allow your friends to be themselves.【小题5】Try not to change them from who they are to what you want them to be. Become the kind of friend you will want your friend to be to you.

   What can help you make a fortune in the future？Graduating from atop university might not be enough. A new study from the University of Essex in Britain has shown that the more friends you have in school，the more money you'll earn later.

The idea that popularity could have a serious influence on one's earning potential（潜力）shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. The researchers noted that if you want to get ahead in life，social skills and networking are easily as powerful as talent and hard work.

"If a person has lots of friends，it means that he or she has the ability to get along with others in all kinds of different situations，"said Xu Yanchun，17，from a high school in Shenzhen，who totally agreed with the recent finding." Also，friends always help each other. They not only create wider social circles for you but lift your mood when you are occasionally in low spirits，"said Xu. She believed that all this helps you "earn a higher salary".

Maybe that's why some people think the younger generations are in the age of Friendaholism. A woman even complained that the networking website Facebook's 5，000-friend limit was too low for her large reserve（储备）of social contacts.

But what does a friend mean？Should friends be regarded as a form of money？

"Call me uncool，but I think of a friend as an actual person with whom I have an actual history and whom I enjoy actually seeing. It seems，however，that this is no longer the meaning of a friend，"said Meghan Daum，who works with the Los Angeles Times in the US.

Daum disliked the idea that quantity trumps quality in the age of Friendaholism. Although she agreed that social ties grease（给……加润滑油）the wheels of life，she also warned，"Too bad one thing money can't buy is a real friend."

   Living and dealing with kids can be a tough job these days, but living and dealing with parents can be even tougher.

If I have learned anything in my 16 years, it is that communication is very important, both when you disagree and when you get along. With any relationship, you need to let other person know how you are feeling. If you are not able to communicate, you drift apart. When you are mad at your parents, or anyone else, not talking to them doesn’t solve anything.

Communication begins with the concerns of another. It means that you can’t just come home from school, go up to your room and ignore everyone. Even if you just say “Hi” and see how their day was for five minutes, it is better than nothing.

If you looked up the word “communication” in a dictionary. It would say “the exchange of ideas, the conveyance (表达)of information, means of communication such as a letter or a message”. To keep a good relationship, you must keep communication strong. Let people know how you feel, even if it's Just by writing a note.

When dealing with parents, you always have to make them feel good about how they are doing as a parent. If you are trying to make them see something as you see it, tell them that you’ll listen to what they have to say, but ask them politely to listen to you. Yelling or walking away only makes the situation worse.

This is an example: one night, Sophie went to a street party with her friends. She knew she had to be home by midnight after the fireworks, but she didn’t feel she could just ask to go home. That would be rude. After all, they had been nice enough to take her along with them. Needless to say, she was late getting home. Her parents were mad at first, but when Sophie explained why she was late, they weren’t as mad and let the incident go. Communication is the key factor here. If Sophie’s parents had not been willing to listen, Sophie would have been in a lot of trouble.

Communication isn’t a one-way deal: it goes both ways. Just remember: if you get into a situation like Sophie’s, tell the other person how you feel-listening is the key factor to communication.