The very simple rule is to always work from the outside in; the cutlery farthest away from your plate is for the first course.
To eat your soup, push your spoon away from you starting at the centre of the bowl to the farthest edge. Bring the spoon to your mouth and drink the soup from the edge – do not put the whole spoon in to your mouth. Do not slurp.
Work down one side of the spine at a time, from head-end to tail-end. Ease mouthful-sized pieces from the fish. Never flip the fish over to reach the flesh on the underside - lift the entire bone up and gently ease the flesh out from beneath. Small bones should be removed from the mouth with fingers and placed on the side of the plate. When in doubt, order a fillet. In some better restaurants the waiter will fillet the fish for you at the table.
Place the fork in the hand you normally eat or write with. The American way to cut meat is to place the fork in the other hand to secure the meat in place and place the knife in your coordinated hand to cut the meat. Then put down the knife and switch the fork to your regular hand to lift the bite-sized pieces to your mouth.
There are normally at least 2 forks at each place setting on the left side of the plate. In America, the salad is usually served as a first course so the small salad fork is on the outside and is used first. Many Europeans, and some Americans, eat the salad last. Therefore, the salad fork is placed on the inside of the two forks.
