Differences in Chine culture and English culture
(1) Addressing terms.
Both western and Chine people have two kinds of personal names---a surname and a given name. But the order and the u of the names in the two languages are kind of different. In Chine, the surname comes first and then comes the given name. And people like putting“小”before their family name. Such as“小码王小王leighton meester”、“小李”、“小刘”mjp、“小赵”and so on. While westerner’s names are written and spoken with the given name first and the family name last. So Sam King's family name is King, rather than Sam. In a formal occasions, people often address men as Mister(Mr), married women as Miss(Mrs), and unmarried women as >Miss. Nowadays most women prefer to be addresd using the abbreviations Ms. or M., pronounced /miz/. If the person has an M.D. or Ph.D., they will often be addresd as "Doctor" (Dr.). Faculty are addresd as "Professor" (Prof.).In an informal situation, westerners will introduce each other by first name, without titles, and occasionally by just the last name. If you are introduced to somebody by first name, you can address hi
m or her by first name the next time you meet. The only exception would be for someone who holds an important position, such as the university president or provost. Unless they tell you otherwi, faculty should be addresd using their title and last name (e.g., "Professor King"). Another difference is about the form of addressing.
From the viewpoint of sociolinguistics, forms of addressing can rve as an indication of the relationship of power and solidarity in the society. In calling their superiors or elders, the Chine are accustomed to the nonreciprocal or asymmetrical addressing, in other words. They u “surname + title” to address their superior or elders rather than call them surnames directly, while the superior or elders call the addresrs their names. The Chine tend to abide by the polite principle of depreciating onelf and respecting others to show appropriate respects towards the persons being addresd, otherwi, the addresr may be considered as ill-mannered, ill-educated or rude. But in English speaking countries, people have a tendency to follow the reciprocal or symmetrical addressing. Although they are different in age and status, they can call the other directly, namely, their names, even first names except when they call the doctors, not arousing off
ence between them, but demonstrating the n of intimacy and the conception of “Everyone is created equal”.
Chine people feel it unnatural to address a westerner by his given name, feeling that it indicates too clo a relationship, and westerners, on the other hand, may feel that if a Chine insists on using his surname, it indicates an unwillingness to be friendly and maintains a distance between them. So the u of forms like “Miss Echo” or “Mr. King” may be a Chine form of compromi. With Miss Echo, the u of the given name indicates friendliness, but the addition of the title indicates the respect they feel they ought to show. And with King, the lack of a title indicates friendliness, but the u of the surname prevents it sounding too intimate. However, both addressings ud by the Chine sound very strange and uncomfortable to the westerner.
(2) Greetings
保险箱英文The purpo of greeting is to establish or maintain social contact. So formulaic expressions are often ud, but such formulaic expressions often cau misunderstandin
g and conflict becau of the great cultural differences between Chine and English speakers. In English, people often u the following expressions to greet each other: “Good morning/evening/afternoon”, “Fine day, isn’t it?” “How is everything going?” etc. In contrast, in china, people usually u expressions like “considerdoing你吃了吗？”“你上哪里去？”“你干什么去？”to show our friendliness.
(3) Thanks
In everyday life, everyone will inevitably meet some difficulties. Then, if somebody lends you a hand, we often should express our thanks to him/her. As for the expressions ud for thanks, they are different in different cultures. China has a history of veral thousand years, but the history of using “finish什么意思欧美怀旧金曲谢谢” is very short and also its frequency is much lower than in the west. In the cross-cultural communication, we often hear expressions like “thank you” or “thanks”. Even if you don’t need others’ help, you should also express thanks for their concern of you, e.g. “Can I help you, madam?” “No, thank you”. There is even no exception to the family members. Husband may say “thank you” to wife. Parents
say “thank you” to their children. But in China, influenced by the Chine traditional culture, people hardly u “谢谢” at home. Also in the Chine traditional culture, when being praid or complimented, people don’t u “谢谢实习医生格雷第九季” for fear that they be regarded as immodest. In rvice industry, such as in hotel, restaurant, airport, etc., people ldom express thanks, which foreigners feel very indifferent.
(4) Compliment
Compliment is ud to prai the addre’s virtues, ability, behavior, appearance, clothing, personality and belongings. Appropriate compliments can rve as effective supplementary means in inter-personal communication. Western and Chine culture are very different about compliment. In western culture, the frequency of compliments is higher than in Chine culture.（Gu Yueguo, 1994nick zano>个人理想） It’s considered very common for a man to prai the outlook, figure, and clothing of a lady. When an American is talking with friends, he compliments his family every now and then. So when you hear ladies say “my husband is marvelous” or when you hear husbands say “I got a pretty wife”, don’t get sur
prid. But this kind of words in traditional Chine culture is looked upon as a taboo. A western hostess is likely to say, “Oh, I am so glad that you liked it. I cook it especially for you.” if she is complimented for her cooking skill. Not so is a Chine hostess, who will instead apologize for giving you “Nothing”. They tend to say“随便作几个菜，不好吃”. If translated this into English, it is that “I just made some dishes casually and they are not very tasty”. Perhaps the foreigner will think why you invite him/her to your family and have the nasty food. What’s more, they may think you don’t respect him/her. So the English-speaking people are more prone to praising others and being praid than Chine people. The Americans are straight forward, while the Chine are proud of modesty. Thanks to that modesty, many a Chine has left hungry at an Americans table, for Chine politeness calls for three refusals before one accepts an offer and the Americans hosts take “no” as “no”, whether it is the first, cond or third time. Still bigger differences exist in people’s respon to compliments. Chine tend to efface themlves in words or refu it, although they do feel comfortable about the compliments. So many westerners simply feel perplexed or even upt when their Chine friends refu their c
ompliments. The Chine people are not intending to be modest with the sacrifice of friendship in so doing, but it is due to the traditional Chine philosophy, i.e. that of modesty. The Chine people consider modesty as a most valuable virtue, so they ldom agree to the compliment on themlves.
