We are constantly asking for and giving help to friends and strangers. We all do this. And we know that not everybody will accept our assistance. We also know that we cannot use the same language with everybody. This will vary from person to person. Sometimes we offer direct advice to close friends but some other times we understand that we have to use open advice.
So it is important to pay attention to the context and not only to the person we are about to help (this is, whether the person is a family member or a close friend). People in need of help can be in a difficult situation; they can be emotional when they come to us for advice. If this is the case, using open expressions will help creating a more relaxing environment. We can even take the conversation to a positive closure by using leading questions like Have you considered…, How about… or If I were you… You can even use personal examples to empathize with the person seeking advice. If you put yourself in his or her shoes, your advice will definitely be more useful.
About you
Read the text again. Think about how you give advice in Chinese. Think also about the differences between giving advice in Chinese and in English. Write your thoughts in the space below:
In China, we ( )
When speaking in English, we ( )