Compelling Conversations for English Teachers, Tutors, and Advanced English Language Learners

“Do you want to know how to start a conversation? Ask a question, and listen.”

Robert Bly (1926- ),  American poet and activist

That’s not a bad starting point, is it?

Workplace Communication Tip 3: Politely Make Suggestions

Style matters – especially when we talk with our co-workers, consumers, patients, and supervisors. English language learners, immigrants, and far too many English speaking workers sometimes forget this basic principle of workplace communication.

Consider the difference in how these requests sound.

Shut off the TV!

Please turn off the TV?

Could you turn off the TV?

Would you please turn off the TV?

Close the door!

Shut the damn door!

Close the door; I need some privacy.

Would you please close the door; we can’t hear ourselves talk.

Could you get the door?

Can you close the door?

Sometimes, especially in an emergency, it is appropriate to warn other people with a short command.

Call the police!

Help!

Shut the door!

Volume, tone, and context help us recognize an emergency. Imperatives, or short command sentences, are powerful communication tools in these situations. The speaker gives an order; we listen.

I. When would it be appropriate to give a warning on your job? Please give 3 examples.

1.

2.

3.

But, usually, we also make our requests that are not emergencies. We can – and should- give suggestions in a kinder, gentler way. Unfortunately, too many people pretend that everything that annoys them is an emergency and speak in a rude, impolite way to co-workers. This sort of harsh speech can even be abusive.

We can, however, use many words to make quick requests and polite suggestions:

May Can Could Would Should Might

II. Please write a request that you might give or hear at work with these words.

1. Can ______________________________________________?
2. May ______________________________________________?
3. Could _____________________________________________?
4. Would_____________________________________________?
5. Should_____________________________________________?
6. Might _____________________________________________?

Adding the word “please” makes your requests and suggestions sound nicer too!

Ask more. Know more. Share more.

Create Compelling Conversations.

Visit www.CompellingConversations.com

“Own only what you can always carry with you; know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.”

Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), Russian writer and Nobel Prize winner

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, an exceptional writer of rare courage, died today. English teachers, lovers of literature, and people of conscience will find his long obituary in the International Herald Tribune worth reading. Solzhenitsyn, like so many other intellectual and artistic figures, found refuge in the United States when he was exiled from his homeland for his writings. ESL, especially EL/Civics students, will also find his biography of considerable interest.

While far too many western leftists preferred to close their eyes to the nature and brutality of the Soviet slave labor system, Solzhenitsyn wrote novels that detailed the misery and repression created by the communists. His writings also made it impossible for even the most naïve leftist intellectuals to deny Stalin’s gulags – and how millions looked away. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970, but the Soviet authorities naturally prevented him from accepting his award. He spent 20 years in prison camps for his writings.

Do you have English language students from Russia? Do you know immigrants and refugees who spent their youth under the Soviet system? How did living under a communist dictatorship distort human relationships? Solzhenitsyn’s writings, once censored, may help you better understand some of the historical and cultural factors that have influenced your students and their worldviews.

Personally, I found working with Russian refugees and immigrants a very eye-opening experience. The more you learn about the old Soviet system, the more you appreciate the American tradition of individual rights and political freedom. Solzhenitsyn wrote in his 1967 novel, The Cancer Ward, about the consequences of silent conformity with Stalin’s crimes. “Suddenly all the professors and engineers turned out to be saboteurs — and they believed it? … Or all of Lenin’s old guard were vile renegades — and they believed it? Suddenly all their friends and acquaintances were enemies of the people — and they believed it?” Everyone, as in Nazi Germany, knew and didn’t want to know.

Free speech and free press remain under siege – in the United States, often from self-righteous idealists. Solzhenitsyn’s writings serve as a powerful rebuke to coercive utopians, and illuminate the power of personal choices under the most severe stress. ESL teachers, especially EL/Civics teachers in adult education, need to emphasize the beauty, rarity, and wisdom of the first amendment guaranteeing free speech and a free press.

English language learners might also find Solzhenitsyn’s strong nationalism of interest. He didn’t believe that western democracy worked everywhere, considered many parts of American culture to be corrupt, and advocated rebuilding a distinct Russian society. The tensions between universalism in American Bill of Rights and some versions of multiculturalism can and should be openly discussed in our English classrooms.

I chose Solzhenitsyn’s quote for the dedication page of Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics to remind myself – and others – to look beyond material possessions. We need to stay awake and remain sane – even if our society begins to sprout social cancers and asking simple questions becomes dangerous. Solzhenitsyn provides a model of courage and resistance to tyranny.

Ask more. Know more. Speak more.

Create Compelling Conversations.

Visit www.CompellingConversations.com