You Just Don’t Understand: Third Post (Imagination)
Near the end of the last chapter there was a quote from a woman saying that a particular event was one of those moments when she knew that she hadn’t imagined her husband because he had thought in a...
View ArticleYou Just Don’t Understand: Fourth Post (Understanding)
I really like that Tannen is not asking, or even suggesting, that people should change the way they talk to each other. She encourages people to understand the way that each other views conversation....
View ArticleYou Just Don’t Understand: Fifth Post (Folk Tale)
Tannen spends a great deal of time in this study talking about listening. It kept reminding me of a folk tale that I know about a boy who climbs a hill to discover how the wise man who lives there got...
View ArticleYou Just Don’t Understand: Sixth Post (Conflict)
The discussion of conflict and intimacy was really interesting to me. I see conflict and arguments as one of the most fascinating parts of intimate relationships. For me, arguments don’t necessarily...
View ArticleYou Just Don’t Understand: Seventh Post (Interruption)
I’m not sure about interruption. Tannen seems to be saying that it depends more on the intention behind the interruption than how it sounds. It’s interesting, but hard to use in practice.
View ArticleYou Just Don’t Understand: Eighth Post (Society/Politics)
Tannen’s discussions of women’s real disadvantages in conversation are interesting, but I was particularly fascinated by a cultural comparison that she made. She pointed out that American society is...
View ArticleYou Just Don’t Understand: Ninth Post (Good English)
What I noticed the most about the eight conversations from the study that Tannen discusses is that the majority of the subjects fail to speak very good English. Their speech is a mish-mash of broken...
View ArticleYou Just Don’t Understand: Tenth Post (Nature)
Tannen is right that people need to work to understand each other better, but that is much easier said than done. Most people believe that their way is the obvious, natural way but I am increasingly...
View ArticleYou Just Don’t Understand: Eleventh Post (Final Thoughts)
Tannen’s afterward was interesting. Not only did she clarify and amend some of what she had said in the book, but she also addressed some of her own frustrations with responses to the book that she...
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How To Be a Friend: Thoughts
This is actually a really good book about friendship and related issues for really young kids. It discusses a wide range of topics intelligently and simply with clear, simple illustrations. The...
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