CulturaldifferencesinpolitenessbetweenwesternandChinese

1.GreetingandParting

InChina,Whenpeoplemeetacquaintancesorfriends,

wealwayssay,“Haveyoueatenyet?”Whatareyougoingtodo?”InEnglish,peopleoftenemploythefollowingexpressionstogreeteachother“Goodmorning/evening/afternoon.“Fineday,isn’tit?”Howiseverythinggoing?”,etc.

WesternandChinesecultureshavediversewaystodealwithleave-takings.

Westernpeoplealwaystrytomaketheirleavingsoundreluctantbyfindingsomereasonsandapologizeforittomaketheleavingacceptableforbothparties.Theyoftensignalseveraltimesbeforeleaving.

Suchas,1.“IamafraidImustbeoff,Ihaveto…”2.“Well,it’sbeennicetoseeyouagain.Idoenjoyour

talkandthelovelydinner,butImustbegoingsoon”.3.“Thankyouverymuchforaskingmeover.Ihopewe’llbeabletogettogetheragainbeforelong…”

2..AddressingInChina,thesurnamecomesfirstandthenthegivenname.

Whilewesternersnamesarewrittenandspokenwiththegivennamefirstandthefamilynamelast.

East&WestChineseuse“title+surname”toaddresstheirsuperiororeldersratherthancallthemsurnames,whilethesuperiororelderscalltheaddresserstheirnames.otherwise,theaddressermaybeconsideredasillmannered,illeducatedorrude.Inwest,

Althoughtheyaredifferentinageandstatus,theycancalltheotherdirectly,namely,theirnames,evenfirstnames.Theydemonstratethesenseofintimacyandtheconceptionof”Everyoneiscreatedequal”

3.ComplimentsandResponseForexample,ifahostessiscomplimentedforhercookingskill,howshewillresponseinwestandchina?East&WestAChinesehostesswillapologizeforgivingyou“Nothing”.Shewillsay“Ijustmadesomedishescasuallyandtheyarenotverytasty.”Anwesternhostessislikelytosay,”Oh,Iamsogladthatyoulikedit.Icookitespeciallyforyou.”

Whatwecanseefromit?TheAmericansare“straightforwardness”,theChinesetakepridein“modesty”.Intheresponsetocompliments.Chinesearetendtoeffacethemselvesinwordsorrefuseit,althoughtheydofeelcomfortableaboutthecompliments.

4.ThanksandResponses

InChina,“Thankyou”isnotfrequentlyusedbetweenintimatefriendsandfamilymembersbecauseitmayimplyacertaindistancebetweentheaddresserandtheaddressee.“Thankyou”iswidelyusedinEnglishtoshowgratitudeinsuchcasesasbeing

invited,helped,givenagift,etc.

5.AskingPersonalAffairs

PeoplefromChinadonotregarditasaskingpersonalaffairswhentheyaskothersname、age、maritalstatus、wages、personallife、beliefandpoliticalpoints.Itisregardasconcerns.Whilethewesternswillthinkyouviolatetheirrightofprivacy.East&Westwhenwetalktothewesterns,wemustavoidaskingsomequestionslikethis:“Howoldareyou?”“Areyoumarried？”“Howmanychildrendoyouhave？”“Howmuchdoyoumake？”“Doyougotothechurch？”

InthecultureofBritishandAmerica,itisveryimportanttoconsultatimebeforeyouinvitesomebodytoattendabanquetortakepartinsocialactivities.Esp.inAmerica,invitesomebodymeansyouareborrowtimesofothers.Sotheyrespecttimeverymuch.WhileinChina,peopleareprefertoanuninvitedguest.

6.InvitationDifferentculturalfactorsmayresultinculturaldifferences.1.CulturalBackground2.Differentvalues3.IndividualismandCollectivism4.Family5.Nationalism

…SomethingaboutwesternfamiliesWesternfamiliesadvocateequalityindailylife.Thehusbandandthewifeusuallyhaveanequalityvoiceindecision-making,andoncertainmatters,thechildren,too,haveavote.Inthewestern,mostoldpeopledonotlivewiththeirchildrenorrelatives.Iftheyhaveenoughmoneytheywillbuyhouseorapartmentsinplaceswhereotheroldpeoplelive.Iftheydonothealthyandstrongenoughtolivealone,theywouldratherliveinnursinghousesforoldpeoplethanbetake