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According to the latest research in the United States of America, men and women talk such different languages that it is like people from two different cultures trying to communicate. Professor Deborah Tannen of Georgetown University, has noticed the difference in the style of boys and girls conversations from an early age. She says that little girls conversation is less definite than boys and expresses more doubts. Little boys use conversation to establish status with their listeners. These differences continue into adult life, she says. In public conversations, men talk most and interrupt other speakers more. In private conversations, men and women speak in equal amountsalthough they say things in a different style. Professor Tannen believes that, for woman, private talking is a way to establish and test intimacy. For men, private talking is a way to explore the power structure of a relationship. Teaching is one job where the differences between mens and womens ways of talking show. When a man teaches a woman, says Professor Tannen, he wants to show that he has more knowledge, and hence more power in conversation. When a woman teaches another woman, however, she is more likely to take a sharing approach and to encourage her student to join in. But Professor Tannen does not believe that women are naturally more helpful. She says women feel they achieve power by being able to help others. Although the research suggests men talk and interrupt people more than women, Professor Tannen says, women actually encourage this to happen because they believe it will lead to more intimacy and help to establish a relationship. | 
