Chapter III: Some suggestions for giving and responding to compliments in

English and Vietnamese equivalents

3.1 Some suggestions
3.1.1 What do we compliment on?
- From the result of the study, it is necessary to notice that the Vietnamese
people, who live in neighborhood relationship and collectivism, compliment
topics are abundant (except complimenting on a girl sexy beauty).
the English living in their individualistic environment, they avoid
mentioning the personal topics such as age, money...
- The second noticeable point is that if S want to compliment on English’s
ability, they should emphasize on achievement or work accomplished which
was obtained through efforts.
when talking with a Vietnamese, the compliment on talent is highly
appreciated.
3.1. 2 .How do we give a compliment?
- Sincerity is the key to give compliments.
Voicing his favorable perception or reaction to someone or something is
usually best simply stated. A true compliment comes from the giver’s heart
and impacts the receiver’s heart. Compliments are often remembered long
after they are spoken. They can lift, heal, and inspire great things.
-> in Western culture, they highly evaluate the compliment which uses the
first personal pronoun “I”. For example: “A beautiful shirt! I like it a lot”.
- Compliments should be appropriate with the setting.
EX: You should tell some one who has just presented successful in a meeting
that “Well done! Your presentation was very good”.
- Choose words carefully. a compliment in good taste and the right words at
the right time is always welcome.
3.1.3. How to respond to compliment.
the compliment’s variety depends on cultural concept, it is necessary for the speaker
to focus on cultural factors.
- Vietnamese addressees like to show the modesty and humble so that rarely
they accept the compliment for the first time. If they do, they also often scale
down it or attack some comments after that.
- it is normal when accepting compliment in English.
=>if he/she is a Vietnamese, we should know how to speak to avoid being
considered as a boastful person.
If he/she is an English, the directness is really highly evaluated.
 3.1 Suggested teaching application
In modern language class room, many methods have been applied. Teachers tend to
emphasize the role of communicative skills by providing cultural factors in lesson.
There are some suggestive activities for teaching English by teaching students how to
give and respond compliments
1. Activities
* Activity 1: Role-play

Step 1: Provide some expressions of paying and responding to compliment

for student practice speaking individually.
a. Giving complements
Ex:
That’s a very nice ...(dress).
Great job on the …(presentation).
You look very good in … (that new hair-do).
That … (tie) looks great on you.
This dish is delicious, my compliments to the chef.
b. Responses to compliments
How kind of you to say so.
Thank you.
I’m glad you like it.
It was nothing really. (an expression of modesty and humility)
Step 2: Provide top three compliment formulas (Manes and Wolfson 1981, pp.
120
1. Noun Phrase + is/look + (really) + Adjective
E.g. Your blouse is really beautiful. Your hair looks great!
2. I + (really) + like/love + Noun Phrase
E.g. I really like your dress. I love your new apartment.
3. Pronoun + is + (really) + Adjective + Noun Phrase
E.g.That's a really nice rug. That's a great looking car.
Examples:
Isn't your ring beautiful!
You (really) did a good job!
You (really) handled that situation well!
Nice game!
Step 3. Provide sample dialogue for students to practice in pairs.
Dialogues
Staff: What a beautiful dress, Ms. Elliot.
Guest: Thanks, I'm glad you like it.

Staff: Your new hair-do looks absolutely gorgeous, Mrs. Simpson.

Guest: How kind of you to say so.

Guest: My compliments to the chef. This linguine is superb.

Staff: Thank you ma’am. I’ll be sure to let the chef know.
Step 4: Practice using the above expressions by having a dialogue similar to the
ones above
With a partner, one partner takes the role of the guest and the other the role of the
staff. For additional practice, switch roles.
 Practice the dialogue several times, trying to use all of the expressions noted above.