How to Face the Gap between Eastern and Western Cultures共11页.docx

How to Face the Gap between Eastern and Western Cultures共11页.docx

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HowtoFacetheGapbetweenEasternandWesternCultures共11页

HowtoFacetheGapbetweenEasternandWesternCultures

　　Introduction　　Inmanyaspectsofourlife，weoftendividetheworldintotwoparts：

theeasternoneandthewesternone.TheformerusuallyreferstoAsiaandthelatterincludesmainlyEurope，NorthAfricaandAmerica.Wedividelikethisnotonlybecauseofthegeographicallocationdifferences，butalsoduetotheculturaldifferencestoalargeextent.Inthefollowingparts，youwillseesomeculturaldifferencesbetweenAmericaandChina.

　　PartIWhatleadstoculturaldifferences？

　　TheculturesoftheEastandtheWestreallydistinguisheachotheralot.Thisisbecausetheculturesystemsaretwoseparatesystemsonthewhole.

　　Theoriginoftheeasternculturesismainlyfromtwocountries：

ChinaandIndia.Bothofthetwoculturesaregestatedbyrivers.InChina，themotherriveristheYellowRiverwhiletheIndianoneistheHinduRiver.Thesetwoculturesweredevelopedforseveralthousandyearsandformedtheirownstyles.Whenthetwomotherriversgavebirthtotheeasternculture，anotherfamousculturewasbroughtupontheMesopotamianPlain――theMesopotamianCivilization.ThiscivilizationlaterondevelopedintotheculturesoftheAncientGreeceandAncientRome.Andthesetwoarewell-knownasthebaseoftheEuropeanculture.LiketheChineseculture，theEuropeanonealsocrossedwaters.WhenthecolonistsofEnglandsettleddowninAmerica，theirculturewentwiththemovertheAtlanticOcean.SotheAmericanculturedoesn'tdistinguishfromtheEuropeanculturealot.Atthesametime，thedifferenceofthelanguagesystemsaddstotheculturaldifferences.IntheEast，mostlanguagesbelongtothepictographiclanguagewhiletheWesternlanguagesaremostlybasedontheLatinsystem.Otherfactorslikehumanracedifferencecountsaswell.Butwhat’smore，duetothefardistanceandthesteepareasbetweentheEastandWest，thetwoculturesseldomcommunicateuntilrecentcenturies.Sotheygrewuptotallyintheirownwayswithalmostnointerferencefromtheother.

　　Tounderstandaperson，weshouldunderstandhisorhercultureaswellaslanguagetoavoidthecultureclashincommunication.ThefollowingaresomebriefintroductionsoftheculturaldifferencesbetweenAmericaandChina.

　　PartIIDifferencesinVerbalCommunication

　　1.Greeting

　　Greetingisthefirststeptoformaculture，becausepeoplebegintocommunicatewithothers.Theindividualsbecomeacommunity.

　　HowdoChinesegreeteachother？

Informally，ifwemeetafriendinthestreet，wealwayssay，“Hi，haveyoueatenyet？

”or“Whereareyougoing？

”.However，inAmericathesequestionsarejustquestions，notgreetingatall.Usually，Americanswilljustgiveeachotherasmileorsay“Hi”.EmbraceisAmerican’scommonwaytoexpresstheirwarmthandfriendliness.InChina，peopledon’tmakeembracestoexpressthosefeelings.QuiteoftenChinesewillshakehands.　　2.Addressing

　　Asfornamingtraditions，Americanputtheirgivennamefirstandsurnamelast.ButChineseputsurnamefirstandgivennamelast.TheAmericanwomenwouldsharetheirhusbands’surnamesaftergettingmarried.InChina，husbandsandwivesdonotsharethesamesurnames.

　　InAmerica，peoplecanaddresstheirfamilymembersbycallingtheirfirstnamesdirectly，eveniftheolderpeople.ButinChina，thatisnotallowed.Ifyoucallyourmotherorfatherbytheirfirstname，youwillbeconsideredrudeanduneducated.

　　3.Directnessandindirectness

　　Chinesepeopleliketospeakinindirectwayandconsiderit’srudetogetonthepoint.Weshouldnottoodirecttogivecriticism，makerequestsandexpressourneedsandopinions.Becauseinourculture，directnesswilleasilycauseembarrassmentorshametoanotherperson.Savingfaceisimportanttoeachperson，anditisuneducatedtocausesomeoneelsetoloseface.Thereforewedescribesituationsvaguelyandallusively，usingeuphemismsanddoublenegatives.Whencriticismisgiven，itisindirectbuteffective.Inourconversation“perhaps”and“maybe”areoftenused.

　　AsforAmericans，talkingdirectlyisregardedasoneoftheAmericanfeatures.Ifapersonisnotcandidenoughinaconversation，particularinabusinessnegotiation，hewouldbeconsiderednothonest.Hewouldeasilyloseconfidencefromhisfriendorevenworseloseapartnerinbusiness.

　　4.ConversationStructures

　　WhenAmericanshaveaconversation，itseemsthattheyarehavingaPing-Ponggame.Onepersonhitstheballtotheotherside，thentheotherplayerhitstheballback.Inthisway，thegamecontinues.Ifapersondoesn’treturntheball，thenthegameisover.Theconversationfollowsthispattern.Ifsomeonetalkstoomuch，theotheronemaybecomeimpatient.Similarly，ifonepersondoesn’tsayenoughtokeeptheconversationgoing，theconversationstops.Also，longsilenceintheconversationisnottolerated.

　　AsforChinese，it’snormalthatoneoftheparticipantsinconversationwillmonopolizetheconversation，andtheotherisonlythelistener.Longsilencebetweentheconversationistoleratedandunderstood.

　　5.Expressinggratitude

　　InChinesefamily，werarelysay“Thankyou”tootherfamilymembersforreceivinghelporservice.Neitherwillwesaysotogoodfriends.Ifyousayso，thecounterpartwillthinkyouaretreatinghim/herasastrangerandyouarenotsointimate.　　ButinAmerica，“thankyou”isoneofthemostfrequentlyusedexpression.Teacherswillthankastudentforansweringaquestion；husbandwillthankhiswifeformakingacoffee.

　　6.SensitiveQuestions

　　What’sconsideredsensitiveinChinacouldbeconsideredcommoninAmerica.Forexample，divorceorsexisacommontopicinU.S.culture，butitwillariseembarrassmentinChina.Chinaisatraditionalcountry.Sexisaforbiddentopicinpublic.Incontrary，thequestionsbelowwhichareverycommoninChinaareconsideredtabooinaconversationwithAmericans：

　　1）Howoldareyou？

　　2）Areyoumarried？

　　3）Howmuchisyoursalary？

　　4）Howmuchdoesyourhousecost？

　　5）Howmuchdidyoupayforyourclothes？

　　PartIIIDifferencesinNonverbalCommunication

　　1.Timeconception

　　American’slivingbeatisquitefast.SoAmericansconsidertimeisquiteprecious.So，whenAmericansacceptaninvitation，theywouldtrytheirbestnottobelate，buttheyalsodon’tgoearlytotheinviters’，asthisisconsideredtobeimpolite，anditseemstodisturbtheinviters’preparation.InChina，weshouldalsonotbelatefortheinviters.However，inordertoshowourthanksandpoliteness，wewouldgototheinviters’housetohelpthempreparethemealsandthenwewillhaveahappytimetogether.

　　2.RelationshipwithStrangers

　　Ihadneversay“hi”tostrangersinChina，butIshouldsmileandsay“hi”tostrangersinAmerica，becausethatwillbeconsideredrudeifIdon’tsayanything.Americansarecharacterizedasfriendly，tendtosmileandtalkeasilywithotherseveniftheyarestrangers.Forexample，peoplewaitinginlinesoftenstartaconversationwitheachother.Awomanmaylearnaboutamanwhowasstandingbehindinaline.Inabout8minutes，thewomanmightknowthatthemanwasmarriedandhiswifewasgoingtohaveababy；hewasunhappywithhisjob；heandhiswifeweretryingtofigureoutthewaytoleadabetterlife.ThisisrareinChina.Howcanapersontrustastrangerenoughtochatfreelyandrevealpersonalinformation？

Chinesepeopleremainreservedandcarefulwhentalkingwithstrangers.Wewillbecautiousandwillnottalktoomuch.Manyparentsalwaysremindtheirchildrennottotalkwithstrangers.

　　3.Relationshipbetweenparentsandchildren

　　Americancultureisanindividualculture，whileChinesecultureisacollectiveone.Peopleinthetwoculturestreatandeducatetheirchildrendifferently.Chineseparentsregardtheirchildrenastheirpersonalproperty.Childrenwillbepunishedorevenbeatenwhentheymakeseriousmistakes.Inthedailylife，Chineseparentsmakealmostalldecisionsfortheirchildren.ThatexplainswhyChinesechildrenaremorelikelytoacceptwhatisgiven.　　4.Therelationshipbetweenold-agedparentsandchildren

　　Asurveyshowsthatonly23.8%oftheoldagedpeopleinAmericaliketostaywiththeirchildren.Mostoftheoldagedpeopleprefertostayaloneorstayinretirementhouses，probablybecauseoftheideaof“privacy”and“independence”paredwiththeAmericans，Chineseoldagedpeopleprefertostaywiththeirchildren.InChina，itisbelievedthatthechildrenhavetheresponsibilitytosupporttheirparentsorevengrandparents.DuetothegreatinfluenceofConfucianism，Chinesealwaystreattheelderlyandtheirparentswithrespect.FilialobedienceisveryimportantforChinese.Thosewholettheirparentsstayinretirementhousewouldbescoldedas“coldblooded”andwouldbedespisedbyothers.Inrecentyears，thisideahaschangedalittle.Moreandmoreoldagedpeoplechoosetostayindependently.Inthisway，theyarefreefromtheburdenofthehouseworkandcanenjoytheirrestlife.

　　5.Friendship

　　Americansappreciatethefreedomtohavemoreprivacy.ManyforeignersfeeldisappointedatAmericansbecauseAmericansdonotphoneorvisitasmuchastheforeignersexpect.Theymaysay“LetmeknowifthereisanythingIcandotohelpyou”.IftheAmericansdonotreceiveaspecificrequest，theymayfeelthatthereisnothingtheycando.InChina，ifsomeoneisill，hemayexpect“sympathycalls”orfrequentvisitsfromhisfriends.Andhistruefriendswilltrytoprovethemselvesrealfriendsbygivingthispersonmorecareandcomforts.Ifnot，thefriendshipwillbeeasilyinfluencedandweakened.ButforAmericans，ifhisfriendscallhimeverydaywhenheonlyhasacold，hewouldbeuncomfortable.AnAmericanmayfeelthatafriendneedspriva