June 23, 2014　=========
☆ empathy　　共感
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Native speakers often confuse sympathy and empathy. Empathy describes the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Sympathy describes feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else’s misfortune.
Have you seen the Disney animation, Frozen? Part way into the movie, Anna meets Hans, and they fall in love. Their song, “Love is an Open Door” is a perfect example of empathy (in my opinion!) They’ve both experienced similar pain in the past about not knowing where they belong, and finally they have met someone who understands and has empathy for their situation.
In fact, I guess a lot of great music is good because of empathy. If the singer felt sympathy rather than empathy, the song wouldn’t be as good, because it would be a song about feeling “pity” rather than understanding each other. What do you think?
Bye,
Chris