A World Cup language lesson—for non-fans
The World Cup has a way of new making soccer fans around the world—even China, despite not having a team, has audiences who get up at midnight with beer and snacks, and get riveted by the TV for 90 minutes (or longer), only laugh or cry over the result all over social media afterwards…
Those who haven’t bought into the hype, though, might have had a rather lonely time in the bars or WeChat Moments this month, and it’s only going to get worse with the semi-finals. But don’t worry: as social animals, there’s always the option of faking it to gain acceptance from the tribe. With these simple tips below, you, too, can feign interest and find opportunity to join the soccer talk, even if you don’t know any rules or recognize the players: