📖 Reading Text
Even after decades of cooperation in business and politics, America and Japan still trip over a seemingly simple concept: the apology. Neither culture appears to fully understand what the other means or expects. For instance, most Americans were unmoved by Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda’s effusive apologies in 2010, after widespread reports of malfunctioning Prius accelerators. Japan, for its part, bristled when a U.S. submarine commander didn’t immediately apologize after colliding with and sinking a Japanese fishing boat off Hawaii in 2001.
The confusion over the meaning of and occasion for “I’m sorry” extends beyond those countries; indeed, it seems that virtually every culture has its own rules. In India, other researchers have noted, that apologies are far less common than in Japan. In Hong Kong, they are so prevalent and ritualized that many people are inured to them.
In an initial survey of U.S. and Japanese undergraduates, the U.S. students were more likely to say that an apology directly implied guilt. The Japanese students were more likely to apologize even when they weren’t personally responsible for what had happened. Perhaps for this reason, they apologized a lot more—they recalled issuing an average of 11.05 apologies in the previous week, whereas U.S. students recalled just 4.51.
Statistical Insight: U.S. students participating in a study apologized 4.51 times in the previous week, while Japanese students apologized 11.05 times.
In a second study, we looked at the utility of apologies for repairing trust. We asked undergraduates from both countries to imagine that they were managers and showed them a video in which an applicant for an accounting job apologized for having deliberately filed an incorrect tax return for a prior client. The Japanese students were more willing than their U.S. counterparts to trust the candidate’s assertion that she wouldn’t engage in such behaviour again and to offer her a job. We believe that this is owing to Americans’ inclination to associate apologies with culpability.
The finding that Americans link apologies with blame is in keeping, we’d argue, with a psychological tendency among Westerners to attribute events to individuals’ actions. Thus it makes sense that in the U.S., an apology is taken to mean “I am the one who is responsible.” It also stands to reason that in Japan—which, like many other East Asian countries, has a more group-oriented culture—apologies are heard as “It is unfortunate that this happened.” Researchers who’ve compared apologies in America and China have found a similar pattern: U.S. apologies serve to establish personal responsibility, while Chinese ones focus on the larger consequences of the transgression.
Only with a deep understanding of such differences can executives make effective use of the apology as a tool for facilitating negotiations, resolving conflicts, and repairing trust. And misunderstandings over apologies are just one aspect of a broad semantic disconnect between East and West that’s too often ignored in the rush to globalization. Managers would do well to tune in to other cultural nuances that are easily lost in translation.
📷 Understanding
Look at the picture and answer the questions. Apologising is a crucial social skill, but its meaning varies significantly across different cultures, particularly between Western and East Asian societies.
Q: What does the picture say?
➡ It says, 'I'm sorry' which expresses an apology.
Q: How do you apologise? Talk to your friends.
➡ We apologise by saying 'I'm sorry'.
🔍 A. Vocabulary: Meanings from the Text
Find the words/phrases from the text for the following meanings based on the first letter given:
| Word/Phrase | Definition / Meaning |
|---|---|
| trip over | to have difficulty saying something clearly or correctly |
| effusive | showing too much emotion |
| bristled | became annoyed or offended |
| inured | accustomed to do something |
| culpability | the fact of being responsible |
| assertion | a statement saying that you strongly believe something to be true |
| attribute | to say or believe that something is the result of a particular thing |
| semantic | connected with the meaning of words and sentences |
| nuance | a very slight difference in meaning |
🔗 B. Sentence Matching
Match the first halves in column A with their endings in column B:
| Column A | Column B (Correct Match) |
|---|---|
| Americans didn’t show | iv. sympathy to Akio Toyoda’s effusive apologies. |
| People are accustomed | iii. to an apology in Hong Kong. |
| Japanese use an apology | v. to repair their damaged relationship. |
| American participants seemed | i. less interested in a second research. |
| Researchers found | ii. similar patterns in East Asian countries. |
❓ C. Comprehension Questions
a. Why did Japan become annoyed with the US submarine commander?
b. How do Americans and Japanese perceive an apology?
c. What is the average result of an apology in Japanese and American students?
d. What was displayed in a video show?
e. Who was the respondents of the second study?
f. How can the executives apply an apology?
📝 Grammar I: Present Continuous Tense
A. Underline the Verb Forms
Hello everybody! Look at this nice picture. Here is one of the moments I prefer when we are all together on a nice Sunday afternoon. But let me introduce myself! I’m Bob, I am standing in front of my father who is reading the newspaper.
Mum is listening to her favourite songs on the radio. My two sisters, Rose and Sally, are playing with their dolls. My grandfather is having a nap and granny is drinking a cup of tea. The cat is running after the birds as usual and only my cousins are doing real activities; Ken is watering Mum’s flowers and Mike is cleaning the windows.
B. Sentence Completion (Verb Forms)
Show Solved Sentences (a-n)
- Be quiet! The baby is sleeping.
- It is raining cats and dogs here in the Monsoon season.
- John is busy. He is working at the moment.
- Please keep quiet, I am listening to the radio. You know I listen to the news in the mornings.
- What time does the first bus leave for Kathmandu?
- I usually don't wear a scarf, but today I am wearing one because it's unusually cold.
- She is travelling to Dhangadhi next weekend.
- Pasang is in the classroom at the moment. He is studying History.
- These days most people write emails instead of writing letters.
- What sort of clothes do teenagers wear nowadays?
- What are you doing tonight? Would you like to come and watch the game?
- You look worried. What are you thinking of?
- She usually drives a taxi. But today, she is driving a lorry.
- These kids are not doing what I’ve asked them to do.
Reading II - JetBlue's Apology
A. Vocabulary: Definitions Matching
Match the words in column A with their correct meanings in column B.
| Word (Column A) | Correct Meaning (Column B) |
|---|---|
| disrupt | iii. to make it difficult for something to continue in the normal way |
| crewmembers | v. all the people working on a ship, plane, etc. |
| hinder | iv. to make it difficult for somebody to do something or for something to happen |
| inconvenience | ii. trouble or problem, especially concerning what you need or would like yourself |
| emerge | i. to come out of a dark, confined or hidden place |
B. Comprehension Questions
1. Who has written the letter?
2. Who is it addressed to?
3. How long has JetBlue been serving its customers?
4. What was the main cause of inconvenience to the passengers?
5. What sort of service does this company promise?
6. What does the JetBlue Airways Customer Bill of Rights contain?
C. Travel Reflection
Have you ever faced any problem when travelling on holidays or to another village or town?
Travelling to a different place, whether for a holiday or to visit another village or town, can come with its fair share of problems. One of the most common issues faced by travelers is the lack of familiarity with the new environment. This can make it challenging to navigate around the area, find suitable accommodation, or locate essential services such as hospitals and pharmacies. Additionally, travelers may encounter language barriers, cultural differences, or encounter unexpected events like natural disasters or political unrest. All these factors can contribute to making travel stressful and unpleasant. However, with proper planning and research, many of these problems can be mitigated, and travelers can enjoy their trip with greater ease and comfort.
Verb Tense Transformation
A. Correct Verb Forms: Sophiya's Daydream
Sophiya sits in the classroom. Her teacher stands in front of the class teaching. But, Sophiya is doing something else. She is daydreaming. She is not in the class. She is dancing on a stage in front of hundreds of people. She is wearing a beautiful costume. She is tapping and twirling. She is spinning on one leg.
She is kicking her feet. She is leaping and flying through the air. The audiences are standing on the floor. They are clapping and are shouting “Bravo! Bravo!!”.
“Sophiya?”
“Sophiya?” her teacher is calling. He is not teaching anymore.
“Yes?” Shophiya feels a bit embarrassed. Her cheeks get red.
“Are you feeling okay? You shout ‘Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!’ in the class.”
“Sorry! I am just enjoying the class so much ‘Bravo! Bravo!’.”
B. Sentence Completion with Relevant Verbs
Show Completed Sentences (a-l)
- A: We are going to the cinema tonight. / B: Do you want to go with us?
- A: I go on holiday two or three times a year. / B: That's great! And where do you go this year?
- I think it's better to stay. It is raining and we don’t have an umbrella.
- Who is that man? Why is he looking at us? What is he doing?
- Tomorrow, I will visit my doctor in the morning.
- Where's John? He is recording to a new song in this room.
- Rita was working hard all day yesterday but she is not doing it today.
- Nitu is reading a story at the moment.
- The plane is taking off the runway now. You are too late.
- I told you that I won't be with you anymore. You're simply not a team player.