Sunday, November 18, 2007

Americans Saying Thank You

A couple of ESL students with whom I've worked over the years have mentioned to me the fact that Americans say "thank you" a lot. Since I've heard this from English language learners from more than one part of the world, I tend to think that this could be a true generalization about us.

I'm reminded about this as I'm watching my all-time favorite reality show, "Amazing Race." Every one of the teams consistently says thank you to the cabbies (taxi cab drivers) and other people who help them.

I think that it's true that "thank you" does go a long way in the U.S., as well as "please." So these are two expressions I always be sure to teach the use of to my ESL students. They are useful "survival words."

--end--

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I noticed the French do this as well. When my husband and I visited Paris, we were warned to always say Bon jour and Merci. We mastered that, but butchered the rest! Our French was lousy.

I like your blog. I have always thought about becoming an ESL teacher. Now, I'm not so sure. Blogging takes up a huge chuck of my free time. But I do still like to read your blog. If I decide to teach one day, I'll have a great resource.

Anonymous said...

thanks for nice post