ibunka TB_U8

1 Mark , American, professor, lives in Japan, has lived in Mexico and France Short answers like, “No, I don’t” seem rather cold to me. It feels like the person answering wants to end the conversation. By not adding something, like a question or more information, there seems to be no interest in communicating.

TRUE FALSE

→ Mark feels that giving longer answers is part of active communication.

☑

□

2 Ulrike , German, accountant, lives in Japan If I don't feel like continuing the conversation, I'm more likely to answer quite dryly and briefly. I think most Europeans give longer answers to show that they are open to conversation, or simply say, "No, what about you?"

TRUE FALSE

→ Ulrike says that Europeans give long answers because they only want to make the conversation about themselves.

☑

□

3 Ulrike , German, accountant, lives in Japan But in Japan, when people give an answer as short as, "No, I don't", it doesn't necessarily mean they don't want to talk. You have to "read the air" to pick up on other signs that encourage discussion.

TRUE FALSE

→ Ulrike believes that in Japan, people who give short answers are showing that they don’t want to talk.

☑

□

4 Takato , Japanese, engineer, has lived in Australia and the UAE Living abroad, I found that Australians give pretty long responses, but those I met in the UAE (including Arab people, Indians and Bangladeshis) tend to reply quite minimally.

TRUE FALSE

→ Takato experienced two similar response styles in the two foreign countries he lived in.

☑

□

118

UNIT 8 | COMPREHENSION