Phil Hello, this is Question and Answer of the week, I'm Phil.
Jiaying And I'm Jiaying. 本期节目要回答的问题来自听众 Janice。问题是这样的:
Question Hi, I'm Janice. I'm a student in English studies. I'm confused about the uses of 'communication', 'exchange', 'association', and 'interaction', which are all connected with '交往' in Chinese. So, what are their nuances and how do you use them in different situations? Thank you.
Phil So, communication – this is the most general word, and we use it to talk about the act of sharing information with someone. This can be anything from whispering in someone's ear to broadcasting to millions on TV.
Phil 'A communication' can be used to refer to a letter or a message – either spoken or written. It's something that's sent or published, rather than a conversation. Listen to these examples.
Examples We received a communication with details of their bid last night. (我们昨晚收到了一个关于他们投标细节的通信。)
Have you seen the latest communication about the event? (你看到关于这次活动的最新消息了吗?)
Phil Yes, an exchange is between two people. We can talk about 'an exchange of letters' or 'an email exchange', but we often use it to talk about a bad-tempered conversation – 'an angry exchange'.
“An exchange of letters(一系列书信往来)”;“an email exchange(一系列邮件往来)”;“an angry exchange(一次争吵)”。听两个使用了名词 “exchange” 的例句。
Examples We've had an email exchange about it, but we couldn't come to a decision. (我们已经就此事通过一系列电子邮件交流过,但我们无法做出决定。)
I don't know what that exchange was about – they weren't happy with each other! (我不知道他们那次在争吵什么,他们都很生对方的气!)
Jiaying 我们来看名词 “interaction”。
Phil When we use 'interaction', we're really focusing on how people relate to each other. We might talk in general about 'social interaction', which is all about being with other people.
Examples My interactions with the company have always been difficult. (我与这家公司的往来总是不太顺利。)
I don’t know that person – I've never had any interaction with them. (我不认识那个人。我从来没有和此人有过任何交往。)
Phil So, while 'communication' is general and can be one-way, 'an exchange' is more specific and two-way. 'Interaction' is also two-way and can be more general than communication.