中西方的幸运数字与忌讳数字

CulturaldifferencesinpolitenessbetweenwesternandChinese

Culturaldifferencesinpolit11.GreetingandParting

InChina,Whenpeoplemeetacquaintancesorfriends,

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

1.GreetingandParting

InChi2WesternandChinesecultureshavediversewaystodealwithleave-takings.

Westernpeoplealwaystrytomaketheirleavingsoundreluctantbyfindingsomereasonsandapologizeforittomaketheleavingacceptableforbothparties.Theyoftensignalseveraltimesbeforeleaving.

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

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

WesternandChineseculturesh3中西方的幸运数字与忌讳数字4中西方的幸运数字与忌讳数字5

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

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

East&WestChineseuse“title63.ComplimentsandResponseForexample,ifahostessiscomplimentedforhercookingskill,howshewillresponseinwestandchina?3.ComplimentsandResponseFor7East&WestAChinesehostesswillapologizeforgivingyou“Nothing”.Shewillsay“Ijustmadesomedishescasuallyandtheyarenotverytasty.”Anwesternhostessislikelytosay,”Oh,Iamsogladthatyoulikedit.Icookitespeciallyforyou.”

East&WestAChinesehostesswil8Whatwecanseefromit?TheAmericansare“straightforwardness”,theChinesetakepridein“modesty”.Intheresponsetocompliments.Chinesearetendtoeffacethemselvesinwordsorrefuseit,althoughtheydofeelcomfortableaboutthecompliments.

Whatwecanseefromit?TheA94.ThanksandResponses

InChina,“Thankyou”isnotfrequentlyusedbetweenintimatefriendsandfamilymembersbecauseitmayimplyacertaindistancebetweentheaddresserandtheaddressee.“Thankyou”iswidelyusedinEnglishtoshowgratitudeinsuchcasesasbeing

invited,helped,givenagift,etc.

4.ThanksandResponses

InCh105.AskingPersonalAffairs

PeoplefromChinadonotregarditasaskingpersonalaffairswhentheyaskothersname、age、maritalstatus、wages、personallife、beliefandpoliticalpoints.Itisregardasconcerns.Whilethewesternswillthinkyouviolatetheirrightofprivacy.5.AskingPersonalAffairs

Pe11East&Westwhenwetalktothewesterns,wemustavoidaskingsomequestionslikethis:“Howoldareyou?”“Areyoumarried？”“Howmanychildrendoyouhave？”“Howmuchdoyoumake？”“Doyougotothechurch？”

East&Westwhenwetalktothew12InthecultureofBritishandAmerica,itisveryimportanttoconsultatimebeforeyouinvitesomebodytoattendabanquetortakepartinsocialactivities.Esp.inAmerica,invitesomebodymeansyouareborrowtimesofothers.Sotheyrespecttimeverymuch.WhileinChina,peopleareprefertoanuninvitedguest.

6.InvitationInthecultureofBritishand13Differentculturalfactorsmayresultinculturaldifferences.1.CulturalBackground2.Differentvalues3.IndividualismandCollectivism4.Family5.Nationalism

…Differentculturalfactorsmay14SomethingaboutwesternfamiliesWesternfamiliesadvocateequalityindailylife.Thehusbandandthewifeusuallyhaveanequalityvoiceindecision-making,andoncertainmatters,thechildren,too,haveavote.Inthewestern,mostoldpeopledonotlivewiththeirchildrenorrelatives.Iftheyhaveenoughmoneytheywillbuyhouseorapartmentsinplaceswhereotheroldpeoplelive.Iftheydonothealthyandstrongenoughtolivealone,theywouldratherliveinnursinghousesforoldpeoplethanbetakenbytheirchildren.Thereforethey