Conversations in Class A2_book1

Sounding Natural

The Golden Rules

TRANSLATION OF THIS TEXT

GOLDEN RULE 1

GIVE LONGER ANSWERS BY ADDING EXTRA PIECES OF INFORMATION

When someone learns a foreign language, it is sometimes difficult for them to be friendly or natural, even if their vocabulary and grammar are sound. Why is this? One reason is that we unconsciously follow the commu nication style of our native culture. Cultural habits are deeply ingrained, because culture is unconscious; it is just what we have learnt as “the proper way” as we grew up. While this is normal, it can lead to communication pro blems. An important part of successfully communicating in another language is learning how the "communication codes" in your native language are different from the “codes” in the language you are learning, and how to over come these differences when you speak. One of the aims of this textbook is to help you manage these differences by practicing what we call the four ”Gol den Rules” of natural English conversation. The Golden Rules are simple and practical solutions for overcoming the culturally-based differences between English and Japanese speaking styles. Following these simple rules will dramatically improve your English conversation skills. You will need to practice many times to be able to follow these Golden Rules without having to think about them. It's like emergency training; if you don't practice the basic survival drills beforehand, chances are that you won't be able to react quickly and appropriately when an emer gency happens. Just understanding them intellectually will not make you a better English speaker. In every class, you will have simple conversations on topics of your daily life. With this textbook you will practice vocabulary and sentence patterns, but you will also have the opportunity to put the Golden Rules into practice. If you do this, you will find that your English conversations will be smoother, friendlier, and more natural. GOLDEN RULE 1: GIVE LONGER ANSWERS BY ADDING ONE OR TWO EXTRA PIECES OF INFORMATION

In Japanese culture, people often give short answers to questions they are asked during a conversation. This is especially common when you don’t know your speaking partner well. But in many English-speaking cultures, short answers usually send the message “I don’t want to talk to you.” This means that you may sound a little unfriendly.

Do you have a part-time job?

No.

Take a look at this example.

We can see here that Sarah is surprised by Ken’s very short answer. She feels that Ken doesn’t really want to speak with her. How long and how deep your answers are depends on your native language and culture. In Japanese conversa tion, replying with just “No” (as Ken did) would be fine as a first step. It is common to give very short answers, espe cially when talking to a senpai , or when in the presence of a group, such as in a classroom. In these situations, people understand that giving short answers may mean that you want to show respect, or that you are being mo dest, and therefore that you want to let the other person lead the conversation. Even if there is no group around, and two people are of a similar social standing, they tend to give short answers like this if they don’t know each other well. These conversa tions are made up of many questions and short answers, as people try to find things they have in common.

GOLDEN RULE 2: VARY YOUR QUESTIONS

GOLDEN RULE 3: DON’T ALWAYS WAIT FOR A QUESTION- TALK ABOUT YOURSELF

GOLDEN RULE 4: WHEN ASKED A QUESTION, DON’T REMAIN SILENT FOR MORE THAN A FEW SECONDS

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The Golden Rules