My understanding is that empathy is feeling what others feel while sympathy is understanding what others feel without actually feeling the feeling yourself.
Honestly I would rather have sympathy than empathy because I have enough of my own feelings to deal with, I don't need to feel others feelings on top of that....BUT I think it is very important to UNDERSTAND how others are feeling.
I honestly don't think you can be taught empathy...I think it just happens with some people who tend to be more emotional in the first place. I do think that people can learn to be sensitive to others & learn to observe others emotions & be understanding of them.