Friendly No

Episode #58:  Friendly No

Hello, this is BLT Eigo, brought to you by BLTnetwork.com. I’m your host and English Coach, David Hylton.

The other day, one of my students asked how they could say “no” to their American friend in a nice way.  That’s a great question because if you say “no” in the wrong way…well, it could hurt someone’s feelings.  I’ll demonstrate the wrong way and right way to do this.
First, the wrong way.  May I have a volunteer, please.

(Yes, I’ll do it.)

Great.  Here’s Bruno, our very big and scary security officer.  Say “hello” to our audience, Bruno.

(Hello.)

OK…. Now Bruno, ask me a question and I will respond with “no.”

(Do you like me?)

Uhhhh…. no?

(That’s too bad….) <punch, crash>

Bruno, stop! I mean YES…. YES, I do!

(OK.  Much better.)

Bruno, maybe you’d better go and uh… find some bad guys or something.

(No, I’ll stay and help.)

Right… So answering just “no” can sometimes make the other person very… upset.  Let’s try a more friendly way to answer.  Uh, do you have another question, Bruno?

(Yes.  Do you want some of my cheesecake?)

Cheesecake?  Uh… no thank you.  I don’t really like cheesecake.

(Would you like some apple pie?)

Uh…. no, not really.  I don’t really like pie.

(That’s too bad….)

WAIT!  Of course I can try a small slice.  Thank you.

(OK.  Much better.)

Ummmm…. nice and uh…. crunchy…. kind of a nice charcoal flavor…. Thank you, Bruno…. what an amazing experience.

(You’re welcome.)

OK everybody remember to say “no”  nicely and explain why you said “no.”

Thanks for joining this episode of BLT Eigo.  See you next time right here on BLTnetwork.com.  Bye.

Check out the previous episode: http://eigo.bltnetwork.com/2009/04/27/slipper-slip-up/
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Tags: conversation, david hylton, English, free English, humor, Japan, Obuse, polite no, say no