social-interaction-customs

TheCoursePaperforInterculturalCommunication姓名：潘建猛学号：20106772专业班级：制药工程01班Title：socialinteractioncustoms一、IntroductionNowadays,thewholeworldisintheprocessofglobalization,theabilityofsuccessfulcommunicationisquiteneeded.However,what’stheskillofcommunication.Tobepoliteisanimportantpartofcommunication，especiallywhenwetalktoothers.It’snaturaltomostpeopleduringcommunicatingwithothersinthesameculturetousetheirownlanguage.Butwhenspeakinganotherlanguage,especiallyinadifferentculturewhichyouknownotthatmuch,it’simportantforonetobeawareofthedifferentmeaningsofthesamesentence,andthiswasmostlydecidedbycustoms.Asweallknow,socialcustomsareveryimportantpartofculture.Nocommunicationisdonewithoutinvolvingsomecustomrules.Customsvaryofcoursefromculturetoculture.Theincidentsreferedaboveshowshowdifferenceliesinculturalconversions.Anditcanleadtodifficultiesinthecommunicationbetweenpeoplewithdifferentculturalbackgrounds.Suchdifferencecancausemisunderstanding,unsatisfactoryinteractionandevenafight.Andthisiswhysometimeswordsthatmeantoshowpolitenesscanmakepeoplefeelveryembarrassed,courteousbehaviorscanalsobemisunderstoodasabsurdandvulgar.Therefore,studyinginterculturalcommunicationmannersandknowthedifferencesbetweenothersisessential.Theinterculturalcommunicationisnotonlyimportantinpeople’scommunication,butalsoessentialinotherarea.Forexample,whenwenegotiatewithclientinbusiness,it’simportanttofindouttheforeignclient’slikesandexpectationsandit’salsoimportanttoavoidbeingoffencetotheirvisitorthroughignoranceorassumptions.Solearntobepoliteininterculturalcommunicationisveryimportant.二、Difference（一）DifferenceingreetingAsagestureoffriendliness,ifapersonoffersyouhishand,youshouldshakeit;however,shakinghandsisnotanecessityinmostgreetings,especiallyinformalones.Manytimesmenaretheonlyoneswhoshakehandsinamixedgroup.Itiscustomaryforamantoshakeawoman'shandonlyifsheoffersherhandfirst.GreetingsandfarewellsinAmericaareusuallyshort,informalandfriendly.Studentsmaygreeteachotherwith“hi”,“howareyou?”And“what’sup?”Thefarewellcanbeasbriefas:“Seeyou”or“comebysometime”Friendshipsarealsocasual,asAmericansseemtoeasilydevelopandendfriendships.（二）ThedifferenceingratitudeandthanksChinesepeopledifferfromthepeopleinwesterncountriesintheaspectofgratitudeandthanks.InChina,weoftenthankourteacherforhisorherhelpinourstudy,butweneverdosotoourparents.Inourmind,weareusedtotakingitforgrantedthatpeoplewhoareveryclosetousdoforus,suchasourfamilies.Whenweareold,it’sourchildren’sdutytotakecareofus.Wedon’thavetosaythanks.Inourtraditionalcustoms,thereisnoneedtoexpressthanksforthesmallfavorsthatothershavedoneforus.Weusuallytendtorepeatthetermsofthanksmanytimestoshowourcourtesyandheartfeltthanksespeciallytothosewhomwearenotfamiliarwithandforwhatwethinkareimportantfavors.Butinwesterncultures,itisverycommontosay“thankyou”toothers,evenbetweenparentsandchildren,husbandandwifeandforeverysmallandmostordinarything,suchastheteacherwillthankthestudent’sanswertohisorherquestion.Theythinkthatthereisnoonehavingtheresponsibilitytodothingsforthem.So,whoevertheyreceivehelpfrom,theyhavetosay“thankyou”toexpresstheirgratitude.Sotheythankpeoplealldaylong.Thisisquitedifferentfromus.Wealwaysthinktoomuchthankswillmakethe“thanks”priceless,sothatwejustsayitinimportantoccasions.However,inthewesterncultures,itisquitenecessarytosay“thanks”toexpresstheirgratitude.Because,intheireyes,helpshouldberespectednomatteritisbigorsmall.（三）ThedifferenceininvitationWhenitcomestoinvitation,thedifferencesarequiteapparentbetweenchinaandwesterncountries.Inwesterncountries,theinvitationswithnospecifictimeandplace,suchaslet’sgettogethersoon,arejustexpressionsofgoodwillratherthangenuineinvitations.ButweChinesealwaysmeanwhatwesay.Ifwesay“let’sgettogethersoon”toothers,it’sthetrueinvitation.Whenwesendaninvitation,wemostlikelytosaysomethinglike:Docome.Pleasedocome…WhiletheAmericanswhovalueindividualfreedomalothatetoimposeanythingonothers,whichtheydon’tlikethemselves.Therearealwaysdifferentopinionsonwhoshouldpaythebill.Inwesterncountries,theyagreeongoDutch.Butinchina,it’snormalforinvitertopaythebill.Alsoacommonpointexistsinbothcultures.Ifanythinghappensthatpreventsyoufromtheacceptedinvitation,you’dbetterletthehostknow.（四）ThedifferenceinfriendshipFriendshipsoftenformaroundsharedinterests,work,study,andplacesofresidence.Ingeneral,Texansliketoexpresstheirideasandopinions.ByaskingthemquestionsaboutlifeintheUnitedStates,youwillunderstandtheculturebetteraswellasestablishrapport.Itwillbetemptingforyoutospendtimewithpeopleofyourownnationality,sincetheysharemanyofthesameproblemsyouhave.However,someinternationalstudentsspendsomuchtimetogetherthattheirEnglishhardlyimproves.Theyformtheirowngroupinaforeignenvironmentanddothingstogetherthattheyenjoybackhome.OncetheyleavetheUnitedStatestheyreallyhavelearnedlittle.Theyhavenotmadenewfriendsorseenwhatisforeignandenjoyednewthings.Asaninternationalstudent,itwillbeuptoyoutobeginconversationwiththosearoundyou.Youcantellbythewaythatapersonrespondswhetherheorshewouldliketocontinuetheconversation.Texansareusuall