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Words and Relationships

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Words and Relationships
Jake Turner
COMM 200 Interpersonal Communication
Professor Janelle Harrison December 18, 2012

Words and Relationships As I read this article I was sitting close to my wife reading to her in order to get her perspective on this subject. After doing this I must agree with what this article says about couples and how they choose to use language styles amongst each other. After all using language is how we meet each other and grow closer together. As I have learned from this course so far, my communication skills with my significant other definitely should improve. However I do not agree with the results from the language style matching application. According to the site our communication was a .64 out a 1.00 which basically says that our communication styles are not that compatible (Bower, 2010). I think that there is more to being compatible with your mate then language styles alone. Although being able to share interests and being able to communicate are important, I just think that there is more to a successful marriage then what the author points out.
One part of the article addressed a scenario involving speed dating and it reminded me of what the textbook labeled as trigger words. Trigger words are words that create an immediate emotional response when you hear that particular word (Sole, 2011). When you are in that type of setting you are only given a short amount of time to make a connection with a person and attempt to build on what you have learned from that brief conversation. So these trigger words are what helps a person gain momentum with the other party in hopes of starting a relationship with someone. The author suggests that language style matches can help predict how successful a relationship can or won’t be. I do believe that having meaningful

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