CiC3-TB

N OTES FOR PAGES 10 & 11

more natural in English. If you like, download and print out the full transcript of this audio track from cic-multimedial.com. Following along a hard copy may help some students take in this information. English transcript of audio track 1-4 In Dialog 1, you probably noticed that while Taro's English was correct, he didn’t sound friendly. His answers were short, and he never spoke about himself except when answering a question. At the end he remained silent because he did not know how to say what he wanted to say. If this conversation had taken place in Japanese, it wouldn’t have been so shocking. In Japanese, it’s often okay to sound hesitant and let your partner lead by asking many questions, especially if that person is of higher status, older, or doesn’t know you well. However, in English, speaking in this way makes you come across as uninterested and uncooperative. In Dialog 2, Taro gave longer answers, volunteered information about himself, and found a way to avoid long silences. His conversation partner, Andy, found it easier to get the conversation going and ended up having a positive impression of Taro. Now, is the speaking style in Dialog 2 always better than the one in Dialog 1? Not necessarily. Each way is appropriate for its culture. Saying one way is better than the other at all times is like saying that driving on the right side of the street is best in all countries. All cultures have their own particular ways of doing things. When you speak a different language, you are temporarily in that language’s world, a world often governed by a different set of rules, or “cultural codes”. Our cultural habits are very deep and largely unconscious, so you’ll have to practice a lot in order to be able to apply English cultural codes when it matters, during real-time conversations outside of the classroom. On the following pages, you can look forward to a more detailed explanation of a few key differences between English and Japanese communication styles and how to overcome them. These solutions are so important that we have called them the “Three Golden Rules of English Conversation.”

Golden Rule 1: Avoid silence Here is one way you can go through pages 10 and 11 with your students. It will take about 15 minutes to complete and also serve to introduce students to the Conversation Strategies reference section in the back of the book. 1. Ask your students a rhetorical question: So, everyone, what do you think is one of the biggest differences between English and Japanese? Chances are no one will answer, so let the silence grow. After several quiet seconds go by, say Yes! That’s right! It’s silence, and how it’s interpreted. To see what I mean, check out the manga here on page 10… 2. In pairs, have the students read the manga aloud, followed by the Japanese text below it, all the way to the middle of page 11. 3. After students finish reading, summarise the key point in easy English: Let’s look at this situation from Mayu’s point of view. As you can see, there could be several reasons why she was silent, but none of these reasons are so bad. Bob, on the other hand, was not doing so well! For him, the silence was very uncomfortable and frustrating. He imagined the worst. How can we avoid this situation ? 4. Have students read the AFTER manga aloud in pairs as well as the bit of text below it. 5. Comment on the AFTER manga: See what Mayu did? Just by using a few key expressions, she was able to avoid any difficulty. These kinds of expressions are called “conversation strategies.” There are many that you’ll be learning in this class. 6. Direct students to the Conversation Strategies section in the back of the book, and have

Notes for Teachers: Let’s Get Started! 21