Language Similarities

The article tells us that our language style is important to any relationship and I was not aware of language style matching until this class. Simon Garrod has noted, "That unconscious mimicry of speech rate, emotional tone and mannerisms by a conversation partner increases how much that person is liked" (2010 para. 7). I have noticed that after a while we start to mimic our significant other but I did not know that it was a natural form of communication. My fiancé and I have been together for a while and over that time our pronunciation of some words are identical. It is nice to know that this happens to other couples, we normally pick on each other about it because it is funny to us. I like the fact that my fiancé and I are on the same page with language style because of the connection it brings to the relationship.

I enjoyed reading this article and learning that it is a good sign if you and your partner have the same language style. You usually will hear that opposites attract more than anything else and that is true on some things; however, that does not seem to be the case with language styles. It is hard for me to be in tune with someone that is very technical. I love the challenge that it takes to communicate with that person but for a romantic relationship it would not work, I do not want to have a dictionary and thesaurus with me at every conversation. I already feel inferior to other people that use proper communication, when I am still learning and should already know it.

The language style matching test was fun and although it can not be considered a very accurate assessment of compatibility, I do agree with it. Our language style score was 0.84; which is slightly above average for the email scores. My fiancé and I are in tune with our verbal and nonverbal forms of communication. The first day that we met we were able to click on a conversational level and that was very important to me. I normally get bored with a conversation fairly quickly and with him I was not. I was interested, laughing, and having a good time talking with him. Over the years our conversations have gotten more meaningful and I assume that is because we have similar language styles.

Nathan Miczo, Chris Segrin, and Lisa E Allspach wrote an article for Communication Reports and that report tells me that if we have good social skills and communication then that will aid us having a fulfilling intimate relationship (2001). I find that