Networking 實戰篇 1: ??請別叫我「precious"

我說的不是美國電影「precious",而是中國同學發給我email里每次都少不了的一個詞：

Dear Heather,

Thank you for your precious time...

I will keep in mind your precious advice...

I will cherish this precious opportunity…

不勝枚舉。

美國同事朋友總是打趣問我，是不是中國同學看多了「Precious」這個電影，怎麼這麼鍾愛這個詞。想來想去，原因只有一個：我們的國粹之一是講話要有恭維成分，誇張的形容詞必不可少。於是，同學們在寫email的時候，心存感激地想告訴對方「謝謝您寶貴的時間，寶貴的建議，寶貴的機會」，殊不知，「precious」直譯是寶貴，但美國人通常用它形容很personal的東西，比如：

• Hows your baby? Oh shes precious
• That was a precious moment in my life
• Precious memories

用這個詞形容工作上的「寶貴」東西就會不倫不類。如果你想寫個感謝信，最基礎版不需要任何修飾也完全沒有問題，比如：

Dear Heather,

I wanted to thank you for meeting with me today. I appreciate your time and advice. I enjoyed the opportunity to discuss how I can be a good fit for the US Stress Test Team.

As discussed, attached please find my resume. I would appreciate if you could pass it along to the hiring manager for a review and I look forward to speaking with you again soon.

Best,

乾淨，簡潔，沒廢話。

你要是實在忍不住要恭維，請選對形容詞。比如：

Dear Heather,

I wanted to thank you for meeting with me today. I appreciate your (valuable) time and (candid) advice. I enjoyed this (great) opportunity to discuss how I can be a good fit for the US Stress Test Team.

As discussed, please find my resume. I would (sincerely) appreciate if you could pass it along to the hiring manager for a review and I look forward to speaking with you again soon.

Best,

Precious呢？還是留Precious 的記憶里，或者在家裡形容Precious 的男票女票吧。