"Cheshire-Puss,
would you tell me, please,
which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal
on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don't care much where--" said Alice.
"Then it doesn't matter
which way you go," said the Cat.
-Alice in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll

You may be surprised that it is necessary to learn how to give directions. After all, you have been doing it all of your lives. However, there is a right way and a wrong way to do everything, and we should take note of some basic principles in this area as well:

• “Go straight ahead. You can’t miss it.”
  The recipient of these directions might be happy to know that she’s moving in the right direction. However, she would have been even more happy to receive additional information, such as how far to continue walking, or some landmarks before arriving at her destination.
• “It’s the next-to-the-last stop on the bus."
  How is that poor person supposed to know when he's reached the penultimate stop before he reaches the last stop? Your guideline will simply send him to another person. You have not provided any real information.
  This is a variant of “It’s the exit on the freeway before a certain city.” There’s no way of knowing when you reach that exit until you’ve passed it and arrived at the following exit.
• “Just keep going and ask somebody. Everybody knows where it is.”
  The poor fellow asked you for information, but all you’ve told him was that his request is not important to you. That was rude. You would not like that to happen to you.
• “Douzieme à droite.”
  Different regions have standard but meaningless and unhelpful directions. In Paris everybody seems to give directions like the movement of a knight on a chessboard (the first quotation).
• “Yashar, yashar, esser dakot.”
  In Jerusalem, directions move like a rook on that same chessboard.
  No no matter which way the poor fellow turns he’ll receive similar directions. He would have appreciated specific landmarks along the way.