Personal advice • Module4C
1.2 Givingadvice
Someonehas aproblem, and asks usfor advice. But note that this gives us
neithera licence to runthat person's lifenor an opportunityto talk about
ourselves and howw e solveourown problems. The bestadvicecomesnotfrom
someone who hasall theanswers, but from someonewho haslistened with care
and empathy to the otherperson'sproblem.
A Work in a groupof four and read the letters below.
1 Discusseach problem.Do youfullyunderstandit? Whatdo youknow , and
wha t can youguessaboutthe writer?
2 Discuss the possiblesolutions.
3 Decide what advicestructu resyou woulduse.
S Each writean answer to a differentone of the letters.
Taskbank: Tasks17, 18 and 32r
CareersD T h is ma y notse em to he a problem,
butm y tlatm a tc is tootid y.She
arrangescansso thelabel s all face
th e samewayandst ra ightensthe
bathroommateverymor n in g. I I eI'
m oth er is th e same- shespe nds
hoursclean i ng andironing w hen
shevisit s. I'm notuntidy,hut th is is
hard tolivewith.f?] lIowca n Imakem y dau ghtersec
howuna cceptable herboyfriendis?
Everyonecom mentson h i s
a ppeara nce a ndasks whatm y
d aughter' seesin him .Ill' looks
d re a d ful,unsh av en an d withlo ng
h ai l'. He's unempl oy ed and has a
crim ina l record.Mydaugh t e r , w h o's
18, h a s h a devery th ingshe'sever
wanteda nd la cks for'nothin g. Aller
excelle ntresu lts atcollege,shenow
h a s a good jo b with prospe c ts.
In thetwoyearss h e ' sbe en going
s teady w ith th i s boy, s h e 'sd rop ped
herow n friends an do n lyseesh is,
whoaremuch o lder.
\ Ve've poi nt ed ou t to he r their
diff e ren tlife st yle s,bu t tonoavail.
\ Ve live ina n exc lus ivepart oftown
a nd myhus bandis a com pa ny
director. I don't wantto tellm y
daugh tern ot to see th i s boyagain a s
I' m afra idshemay le a veh ome.
Ple a sea dv isem e.~, I have ju sts tarted my Ilrstjoba nd
do noto bject t oworkin gover time
be causeIa mpre pa red 10 p ut in the
e ffo rttoget o n. Butfrom the
be ginningIha ve fo u ndthatI
re gulurlyworktill(i.50atni ght0 1'
la te r.This is hecause m y bossis
co mple tely di so rganiz e d and lea ve s
th e m os timpor tant Hemsu ntilve r y
lat eafternoon. As th em ostjunio r
person in thedepartment,Ife el
powerless 10 changethings.'~ Ia m halfwa y th ro ugha co ursea t
collegea ndI' msic k to deathof it.
:'\Iyparen ts bu lldozedm ein to
la k in g this pla ceandI' ve heen
unhappy sincethe be gi nni ng.I
re ali zethata degre ewill standm e
in goodstead, hut I wanttogive it
u p.Iknowthatthis means I will
hav ew a st ed Ihela s tyear, a ndco u ld
a lso je opa rdizeany future ch ances
o f h ighere ducation. But why sh o uld
I st ruggleon to pl ea se my parents?
AllI want to doisstartwork.Types of writing • 77