Chapter 5Essential Skills: Listening and Note-Taking
Why ask the question if you don’t listen to the answer?
—Maryann Karinch
In 1978, Maryann and her boyfriend began a three-week backpacking trip through Mexico. She had no knowledge of Spanish when they arrived, although the boyfriend was fluent. He tried to teach her a few words and phrases, and then urged her to put them to the test. She went up to someone on a street corner and asked, “¿Qué hora es?” The man looked at his watch and told her what time it was. Maryann went back to her boy-friend and excitedly asked, “How did I do?”
“I don’t know yet,” he said. “What time is it?”
“Huh?” She was so excited about asking the question that she didn’t listen to the answer.
In a related blunder, I ...
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