Learn English – Will you be the friend

phrase-requestpoliteness

I used to meet foreigners at work in Taiwan and wanted to express my willingness to make friends with them, but I didn't know what to say or how to express, so I googled on the web and it usually suggested "Will you be my friend?", "Can we make friends?". Something likes that.

The first one sounds like I am begging for friendship. The second one sounds like "Can we make a robot?" to me. It sounds pretty weird for me, and bothered me for a long time.

I would like to know what are the proper ways to express the willingness to make friends with a native English speaker.

Best Answer

"Will you be my friend?" is the kind of thing children might say to each other. Adults rarely feel comfortable so openly asking for friendship. Alternatively, most people will suggest activities you can do together, for example:

Hey, let's go out and get something to eat sometime? I know this great restaurant.

or

Do you like noodles? I know this great restaurant.

Do you want to come over and hang out? We can watch TV or whatever. The game is on this weekend.

Have you seen that movie [X]? Why don't we go this weekend?

Why don't we grab a beer after work?

And so on. Of course, depending on your tone and other factors, a casual offer of friendship could be misinterpreted as flirting, but I'm sure that's the same in any culture.

Of course, some people are better at this than others, and more natural at making friends. If you are a friendly person, it often doesn't really matter what you say as long as your intention comes across.

Edit: I asked my wife and she offered:

Why don't we get together some time? We can do [suggested activity].

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