I could say most of Asian language are pretty much in common, at least one thing for sure, the way we answer "Yes" or "No".
My Asian friends and I often confuse American from this kind of situation...
"You didn't sleep last night?"
"Yes"
"Oh but you look very sleepy."
"Yes, I didn't sleep last night."
"..I thought you said you slept."
"No, I said yes, I didn't sleep last night."
"...."
And so on...
Alright, here is my tips for Americans when you are in this conversation.
Don't pay attention on Yes or No, just focus on what he or she says after that. Such as,
"You didn't sleep last night?"
"Yes, I didn't sleep." >> Ignore "Yes" then you find out that he or she didn't sleep.
And to be fair, I have little tips for foreigners like me too.
Think before you answer, if there is "not" in your reply,
then you need to say "No", like this...
"You didn't sleep last night?"
(Thinking : oh..I did "not" sleep last night so I need to say...)
"No, I didn't sleep last night."
Anyway, be open-minded when you talk to someone from another country.
We are trying to speak your language, hopefully....
haha.. so now you should sleep, then tomorrow you can say 'Yes' ngai ja :)
ReplyDeleteWe practiced this topic in my ESL classes this week. It is incorrect to answer "yes, I didn't / can't / won't" or "no, I did / can / will." This seems to be the best guide to answering negative questions, like in your example above. We spent so much time on this during the week....I really hope the students remember some of the rules!
ReplyDeleteSo, here's a quiz ;0 ;0
Which of the following are grammatically acceptable?
--Tigers can't swim??
A. No, they can
B. No, they can't
C. Yes, they can't
D. Yes, they can
I also faced this problem many times. Thank you for blogging this. It's the way American can understand who we are and what we're talking about. Actually not just American, but whoever speaks other languages than Thai!
ReplyDeleteI also have this problem too. It always make american that I'm talking to confuse about my answer that is yes or no, have or haven't, does or doesn't.
ReplyDelete