Apologise Or Say Sorry?

[farangteachercliche]

A student of mine was given a test by her employer regarding what would be appropriate to say in a given situation. I would just like to double check the with the TV teachers and, if possible, get an explanation:

Situation 1: You are late for an important meeting, do you you apologise or say sorry?

Situation 2: You break a glass in a restaurant, do you apologise or say sorry?

Any assistance greatly appreciated.

[Ijustwannateach]

The answers in both cases are "it depends." It depends on who is present and what style of relationships you have with them. Even in an important meeting in the States, co-workers could be quite informal with such apologies and excuses. In fact, the quicker the apology is over the sooner the meeting can proceed- "sorry, everyone, heavy traffic" could be the extent of it. Unfortunately, in many places in Asia, if one is late you must interrupt the entire proceedings dramatically with the story of your life as an apology- it's always annoying dealing with students coming in late- "I'm very sorry to be late, teacher, I was curling my hair and suddenly the..." "Yes, yes, thanks, just please sit down and let's get on with it."

I would guess that the test-writer is an Asian who imposes those values onto the situation- more of a cultural thing than an English thing- and the "apology" is supposed to be in situation 1, and you "say sorry" in situation 2. This shouldn't really be part of an English test, but TiT.

"S"

[farangteachercliche]

Thank you - ijustwannateach!

I came to the same conclusion as yourself in the 'it depends' part and the final answer, however the answer was actually the other way around. As a result my student failed her test by 1 mark and is required to take the English course provided by her workplace again.... at her expense!

Edited November 2, 2007 by farangteachercliche

[Scott]

At the risk of sounding really stupid, what exactly is the difference between apologizing and saying your sorry?

[PeaceBlondie]

I think the words or phrases are essentially similar or synonymous in English. I think because of face saving, most Thais are even worse at apologies than we Westerners are, and we're lousy at admitting our mistakes.

In some parts of the native English speaking world, there may be huge differences. Americans tend to blend phrases which Brits don't. "I will do that" and "I am going to do that" are examples, as are "You are able to do that" and "You can do it" or "Excuse me" and "Pardon me" - identical in the USA, but with definite nuances of difference in the UK.

Here, from my fancy new Brit dictionary: apologise: to say that you are sorry....

I suspect the employer in Thailand learned his English from some pedant, but just tell them mai bpen rye.

[mrtoad]

At the risk of sounding really stupid, what exactly is the difference between apologizing and saying your sorry?

I was thinking the same. What a load of BS from the employer. Clearly a money making scam.

[kelvinj]

An apology implies an acceptance of fault on your part, as in the case of breaking a glass, saying sorry does not. However this does not mean that you can simply say sorry for being late for a meeting, if you overslept it would be your fault and an apology would be appropiate, if there was a traffic accident and your taxi got stuck in a traffic jam, it's not your fault and saying sorry would be OK.

[lannarebirth]

It's not an english test it's a culture test. I;m not sure I'd want to work for the company that requires it.