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