The chapter how conversation works describes the basics of conversation. The author compares conversation to the game of chess as he believes in chess people often make moves and seem to follow certain rules as the dialogue proceeds. Similarly, when people talk, they take turns to respond to each other comments and try to add some insights in what they are talking about. Similarly, they should also be aware of when to speak; when to remain silent; when to proffer information or hold it back; when to stay aloof or become involved. Although the general rule of conversation is followed uniformly throughout the world, there are differences in the some aspects of the rule. One of the aspects is “Taking conversational turns.”
In United States, people take turns while they are speaking. Often people wait for the other to stop speaking and take turns to share their thoughts. There are often explicit markers showing that a speaker is about to yield the floor, and indicating who should speak next (I think Tyler should speak now). Often signal such as finally, last but not least are used to indicate the speech is coming to an end. However, in other cultures the way people speak differs significantly. In Nepal and India, people tend to not wait for the speaker to finish and jump right in between the conversation. People often tend to speak together overshadowing the comments of the person and creating a sense of heated conversation.
I experienced the similar differences after moving to the United States. In Nepal I was use to talking when someone else was not finished with their speech, however, in the United States, if you speak while somebody else is speaking, it is considered rude. Thus, it was a learning experience for me to hold my thoughts until the speaker had finished his speech. Also, contributing to the dilemma was my inability to recognize when the speaker was going to finish his speech. Often when learning a new language, it is hard to recognize the tone of a person and also be aware of the explicit markers that bring an end of a speech.
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