How to contribute to the discussion.

もう英語関係のノウハウ本を買うのはよそう！と思っていたのに、また買ってしまった･･･。中村澄子さんの「時間がない人ほど英語は上達する」です。

I was inspired by a book the other day. The book was written by a Japanese woman who earned her MBA degree at Yale university. She was a housewife when she started studying English. She had a young boy and a husband, but decided to go to America by herself.

The main story of this book is how to use time efficiently to study English. As a efficacy addict myself, there was nothing new to me. However, there was one thing that appealed to me. It was “How to behave in a discussion”. She participated in many discussions in America, and had a lot of presentations there. When Japanese people participate in a discussion, they are very quiet. On the other hand, foreign people try to speak as much as they can. In Japan, subordinate staffs are not supposed to speak in a discussion. We prefer to speak in descending order. American people think it is important to contribute to the discussion. This “contribute” idea is totally new to me.

Furthermore, there is a big difference in speaking style. Japanese people take air their time before answering questions and speak slowly. It is considered to be thoughtful. If a person speaks without a break, he/she is considered to be a rattlebrain. The author said it is important to speak rhythmically and respond quickly in America especially in a business meeting.

I thought it must be rude to speak in a discussion if I was not asked to speak. I realized that I should contribute to the discussion by offering my opinion in a positive way.

エール大学に単身留学しMBAを取得した著者の学習法です。効率的に時間を捻出する、という方法にはあまり目新しさはなかったんだけど、大学でのプレゼンテーションやディスカッションでの態度について参考にするべき事があって購入してしまいました。

ディスカッションの時に自分が発言することでグループに「貢献」する･･･というのは目から鱗でした。LinQのディスカッションでも、チューターさんから尋ねられもしないのにベラベラ喋るのは気がひけてました。日本人メンバーさんのみだと、お互いに譲り合って自然に順序よく話す雰囲気ですけど、外国の方がいらっしゃるといつ口をはさんでいいのか悩むんですよね。なかなか口を差し挟めないので、外国の方と一緒のディスカッションでは一番に話始めるように心がけるようにしてます。