Could you please lend me your pen?
Section 1 Before You Read
GROUPWORK
1a If you need help with your homework,
how would you ask these people?
1b Discuss the language you used to
make this request.
Was it the same each time?
If not,discuss why not.
Section 2 While You Read
Could you please lend me your pen?
Asking for information or help is a very common
and necessary activity,
especially when we visit a foreign country.
So knowing how to ask for information
politely is important.
In English,"Where are the restrooms?"
and "Could you please tell me where the restrooms are?"
are similar requests
both are correct English,
but the first could sound rude.
It's important to use correct language,
but sometimes this alone is not enough
we need to learn how to be polite when we make requests.
In English,just like in Chinese,
we change the way we speak when talking with different people.
The expressions you use might depend on whom you are speaking to
or how well you know them.
If you say to your teacher,"Where is my book?"
this will sound rude.
But if you say,"Excuse me,Mr West.
Do you know where my book is?"
Your quesiton will sound much more polite.
On the other hand,
it might be alright to say "Where is my book?"
in some situations,
perhaps with people you know well.
And you would not usually say,
"Peter,lend me your pen."
A very direct order like this can sound rude in English.
Usually in English polite questions are longer and include extra language
such as"Could you please.,.."or "Can I ask..."
It sounds more polite to say,
"Peter,could you please lend me you pen?"
Sometimes,we might even need to spend some time
leading into a question or request.
For example,
if you stop a stranger in the street,
we might first say,
"Excuse me.I wonder if you can help me?"
or "I'm sorry to trouble you but,"
before asking them for help.
It might seem that speaking politely
is more difficult than being direct,
and in a way this may be true.
However,in order not to offend people,
learning about language etiquette is just
as important as learning grammar or vocabulary.
And doing this will also help you become better at English,
or any other language you wish to speak.
Section 3 After You Read
3a Look at the requests in the lefe-hand column, then
a) describe a situation when the request
would be suitable as it is,
b) make the request more polite.
3b Read the article again.
Match each paragraph with its main idea.
Section 4 Go For It!
Role play the following situations.
Think about the relationship between the speaker
and the listener.
Decide how to make the request.
1.A teenager wants to stay out later
and asks a parent about it.
2. A foreign friend is interested in your new
dictionary and asks about it.
3.Some students want to hand in their homework
later than the teacher asked for it.
4.You want to change the time you asked
a friend to come for a meal at your house.
If you have time!
Find more examples of language etiquette
from watching movies or reading books.
Share them with your partner.