As someone who studied English and teaches it, there is a tendency to want to correct the mistakes that I commonly hear in everyday conversation. I usually don't to avoid being annoying. However, here I offer a mini-lesson on the difference between sympathy and empathy, because I hear them misused a great deal.
Empathy is identifying personally with what someone else may feel, which usually comes from a similar experience you have had yourself. Dictionary.com defines it this way: "the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another." Sympathy, in contrast, is acknowledgment or recognition of another person's feelings. A literal example of this is: When a woman complains about the pain she has from wearing high-heels all day long. If a man says, "Oh, you should wear more comfortable shoes," he is sympathizing with her. But if he has worn high-heels himself all day, and personally understands the pain of wearing them, he can empathize with her. Another example is: That a man can sympathize with the pain of a woman giving birth, but he can never empathize with a woman in that way, because men cannot give birth themselves. Usually we use sympathy and empathy in situations when someone is suffering emotional pain, which makes it a little more difficult to distinguish between empathy and sympathy. But I hope my examples help you to make the distinction and to use the words more properly next time. :)
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Language is organic. It is like a living creature whose growth needs continuous nourishment from various resources. For a tree, nutrition comes from water, sun and rich soil. For English nutrition comes from reading, writing and practice. Irvine's challenging academic environment requires students to strive in their growth to thrive in articulate writing and speaking. At the same time, southern California's friendly and relaxed environment provide the ideal situation for ESL learners to learn and practice their English. This blog is here to assist and provide resources to encourage students to grow in their English knowledge and thinking. We hope you enjoy! .
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