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November 13, 2005
Conversational style
It is hard for people to talk on the phone if they have different conversational styles. It is because they are not able to see the gestures they make in order to "signal" the other speaker to start talking. Over the past week I observed two conversations. The one was with my parents in Mongolian, and the other with my friend who live in Boston in English. As I talked with my parents I noticed that I was taking longer pauses and taking more time to reflect and to think what I had to say. I was more patient and waited longer. I was usually the listener in those conversations on the phone. However, it was the other way around when I was talking to my friend. I was talking more and even interrupted few times when my friend was talking but excused myself and encouraged her to continue on. Nevertheless, I was the speaker and my friend, the listener. I noticed this before that I reflect on my cultural tradition to wait longer and be the "quiet" one when talking with elders and parents even after acquiring or learning different styles of conversations, like those with my friends. It is important part of our skill and knowledge to know what kind of conversational styles to use with various people.
Posted by lcisbold at November 13, 2005 10:04 AM