Ways of participating in discussions and meetings Cách tham gia các cuộc thảo luận và các cuộc họp Vocabulary agenda chương trình nghị sự bring up nêu ra, đưa ra encourage khuyến khích figure out đưa ra, nghĩ ra go ahead tiến hành initiate khởi xướng participate in tham gia vào point of view quan điểm solution giải pháp solve giải quyết tape record ghi âm It is not always possible to follow the conversation in a group discussion or meeting. You can be more prepared if you know certain phrases to get into a conversation and if you try to use them. You can also remind people, both directly and indirectly, that you are a non-native speaker of English and that group discussions or meetings are sometimes difficult to follow. The following list includes ways to help you participate in and understand meetings and group discussions: q Find a person who can help you understand a meeting or group discussion while it is going on and after it has ended. q Tape record meetings and discussions whenever possible. q If it is a meeting at work, for example, have your supervisor show you the agenda before the meeting starts. q Know and use phrases for getting into conversations. q Be willing to participate even if you are not used to speaking up in a group. ACTIVE PARTICIPATION ¬ Initiate: Begin discussion, bring up new ideas and topics, and make suggestions. ë I have an idea about how we could solve the problem. ë May I make a suggestion? ë One solution to the problem might be to talk to Mr. Waxman about it. ë Perhaps we could begin by discussing our problem. ë Could I suggest that we get everyone’s opinion on that? Ask: Ask people for opinions, information, and explanations. ë Ms. Wright, could you tell us what you think? ë I’m not clear about this. Could someone explain it to me? ë I missed the explanation. Would you mind repeating it? ë Mr. Thomas, would you mind telling us a little bit more about your experiences with this type of problem? ë Does anyone know some more about this? ® Offer: Offer opinions and give information when needed. ë I believe that there isn’t much more we can do. ë In my opinion there are only two choices. ë It seems to me that the only solution is to lower the prices. ë My feeling is that we should go ahead and buy the product. ë I can show you the numbers, if that will help. ¯ Repeat: Repeat ideas, information, and explanations for the rest of the group when something has not been understood. ë Can I repeat that for anyone? ë I’m not sure if everyone heard. Let me repeat that. ° Summarise: Summarise information to make sure that something has been understood. ë So you’d like us to discuss this at the next meeting? ë You mean we all need to meet one more time before we can decide? ë If I can summarise what we’ve been talking about … ë Let me see if I understand … ë To summarise, we all agree that it is best to wait until we have more information. ± Encourage: Encourage people to speak by being cooperative and by accepting different points of view. ë Do you have the same opinion, Henry? ë I think some people here probably disagree with this. I’d like to hear what they have to say. ë I know Fred has a different point of view. I’d be interested in hearing it. ë I hope we can all talk about this, even though some of us may disagree. ë Maybe we can figure out a way to make everyone happy, even though we disagree on the subject. John, you haven’t had a chance to give your thoughts on this. What do you think? . Ways of participating in discussions and meetings Cách tham gia các cuộc thảo luận và các cuộc họp Vocabulary agenda chương trình nghị sự bring up nêu ra, đưa ra. khuyến khích figure out đưa ra, nghĩ ra go ahead tiến hành initiate khởi xướng participate in tham gia vào point of view quan điểm solution giải pháp solve giải quyết tape record ghi âm