Differnce Between Chinese and English Greeting
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- Date Submitted: 04/28/2011 05:45 AM
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The Differnce between Chinese and English Greeting
Have you ever found the confused countenance from the foreigners when Chinese people said "Have you finished your dinner ?" or "Where are you going ? " to show friendly greeting ? Actually , it is an interesting cultural diversity that causes this embarrassing situation.
In China, it is a friendly and well-intended greeting way to ask people whethter they have had their dinner or what and where they are going to do . One way to explain this "habit" is that in the 1950s , millions of Chinese suffered a lot from starvation and therefore they used to greet in this way to show their care for their fellows. The westerns,however,would view these words as an oral invitation or think that the Chinese are trying to interfering their private life.Thus, the westerners always feel upset when their Chinese friends frequently ask them these questions.
Futher more,when Chinese people came across their friends ,they would also like to put up their hands on others' shoulders,especially the males.As for the westerns,they prefer to keep a certain distance with others even intimate friends and may percept the hug as a rude behavior.
In a word,it is the cultural diference that leads to the varied ways of greeting beteen Chinese and the foreigners.Since the cultual diferrence is inevitable,we have to learn more about foreign cultures and adapt ourselves to their customs when communicating with foreigners.In this way,misunderstanding will disappear.
Have you ever found the confused countenance from the foreigners when Chinese people said "Have you finished your dinner ?" or "Where are you going ? " to show friendly greeting ? Actually , it is an interesting cultural diversity that causes this embarrassing situation.
In China, it is a friendly and well-intended greeting way to ask people whethter they have had their dinner or what and where they are going to do . One way to explain this "habit" is that in the 1950s , millions of Chinese suffered a lot from starvation and therefore they used to greet in this way to show their care for their fellows. The westerns,however,would view these words as an oral invitation or think that the Chinese are trying to interfering their private life.Thus, the westerners always feel upset when their Chinese friends frequently ask them these questions.
Futher more,when Chinese people came across their friends ,they would also like to put up their hands on others' shoulders,especially the males.As for the westerns,they prefer to keep a certain distance with others even intimate friends and may percept the hug as a rude behavior.
In a word,it is the cultural diference that leads to the varied ways of greeting beteen Chinese and the foreigners.Since the cultual diferrence is inevitable,we have to learn more about foreign cultures and adapt ourselves to their customs when communicating with foreigners.In this way,misunderstanding will disappear.