Video: Assertive-Passive-Aggresive

Here in this link you have a video I made with some students for an activity and it's about three situations: Two aggresive people talking about football, an aggresive and passive people talking about a late report and the last one, two assertive people, one asking about dating with the ex-boyfriend of her friend.

Assertiveness

It's important to state your own opinion when a discussion is taking place, but also be really carefull when stating it. You must be assertive to avoid misuderstanding or problems.

1. First, make eye contact with the other speaker and use a calm tone of voice; be polite (ask him how he is) and relaxed because there is no need to be nervous.
2. Use a formal languaje and a coloquial style. This means there is a respect and close connection to the speaker resulting in a very calm and quiet situation.
3. Never think his opinion is wrong because that may lead into problems, such as misurderstandings, aggresive and awkward situations.
4. On the other hand, if he's wrong with a fact then you should say it and why, using as many arguments as possible. But using several arguments doesn't mean you have to speak a lot. Try to concrentrate as many as possible.
5. Finally, say goodbye to the speaker politely and reflecting a very good mood.

Being assertive is very important because it will barely give you any kind of problems.

Communication with foreigners

Talking with people from other countries can be somehow difficult in some cases because you have to adapt to the situation in order to make a succesful conversation. Here are some tips as a help.

1. Foreigners have different accents, so they will pronouce some words in a different way, as well as your own accent, so in this case, you need to pronounce as precisely as you can.
2. Some specific words in some countries are never known because they may have never heard it, so in that case, use not only a phrasal verb to give a better definition, but also every way of non-verbal communication, such as gestures, postures, etc.
3. Althought this is not a common point, some foreigners talk faster and that may cause to a understanding. In that case, don't feel shy to ask him if he can speak a little slower.
4. If it's not a teacher, boss, etc, you can use a coloquial language. A classmate may not understand cultivate words and a phrasal verb may cause the conversation to be more difficult.
5. Finally, make sure to be assertive (you can find more tips about this in another post)

This can make your english skills more efficient, so don't hestitate to talk to a foreigner and give it a try.