Perceiving the differences between the greetings of British and American people and Chinese people in meeting each other

I. Differences in greetings and communication

Meeting or meeting each other to greet each other, greeting is a habit of human beings ****, only the words and expressions are different. Greeting can effectively establish and continue human relationships. Chinese people say "Good morning to you" when they meet in the morning, but British and American people say "Good morning to you". When we meet in the morning, Chinese people say "Good morning!", but British and American people say "Good morning". These two greetings seem to have no difference, but in fact they do not. In Chinese, there are very few neutral and abstract greetings, and people speak of more concrete things when they speak. "Goodmorning" means "you get up early" and "Goodmorning" means a kind of blessing, which have different meanings. Besides, it is difficult to find equivalent words for "Good afternoon", "Good evening" and "Good day" in Chinese. It is difficult to find equivalent words in Chinese. In addition to the above greetings, British and American people also say ":Hello! How are you-" "Glad to meetyou" and so on. Where are you going -" "On the street -" "Have you eaten -" if directly translated into "Where are you going -" "Have you had a good time? Where are you going -" "Have you had your meal -" the British and Americans are likely to misunderstand that you want to restrict their freedom or you want to invite them to dinner. Therefore, you should not translate Chinese greetings directly into English greetings. For Anglo-Americans, who value privacy, Chinese greetings are sometimes too specific and interfere with privacy. Different languages, different societies and different cultures, greetings will have different forms of expression. Therefore, understanding the cultural differences between English and Chinese greetings is an important aspect of speaking good English and promoting cross-cultural communication.

Two, the differences in the terminology and communication

When people interact with each other, they always address each other in some form of language, thus forming the terminology. Appellative language is generally divided into kinship appellative language and social appellative language. Between the various languages, due to differences in customs and culture, the terminology is also different. First of all, there is a difference between English and Chinese names. Chinese people's last name before their first name, but the British and Americans are just the opposite. When socializing with British and Americans, it is important to understand what is the first name and what is the last name; it is important to understand that in the British and American custom, acquaintances can call each other by their first names, but not by their last names as a term of endearment. Chinese people have always attached importance to family relations and order of seniority, an Uncle in English can be translated into Chinese as uncle, uncle, aunt, uncle, etc. because of different family relations. In Chinese, brother, brother-in-law, sister-in-law and sister-in-law are clearly defined, while in English, only brother and sister are used. cousin in English can refer to cousin siblings in Chinese. The cultural differences between the two languages are large, and it is difficult to distinguish between relatives. Chinese people address others with relatives, such as Uncle Zhang, Auntie Wang, Grandma Li, etc., while this title is not in English, English commonly used Mr Zhang M, iss Wang, etc.. Chinese people often use positions, professions or titles as titles, such as Mr. Wang, Mr. Li, Mr. Chen, Dr. Liu, etc. In English, such titles are rare. In English, this kind of title is rare, and is only used for people who are engaged in a certain profession or in a certain position, such as Bishop Gray (Gray Bishop), Captain Simmonds (Captain Simmonds). In addition, Doctor, Father, General, Judge, Presi2dent, Prince, Queen, etc. can also be used in this way, the other are used Mr, Mrs, Miss plus family name to address. For ladies who do not know whether they are married or not, Ms, and Sir and Madam if they do not know their names, and sometimes they can be called by their first names to show equality. It is important to note that there is no such term as Teacher Wang or Teacher Li in English. The difference in terms of address is actually caused by the cultural differences on which the two languages are based. Chinese traditional culture attaches importance to blood relations, especially emphasize the differences between the ranks, advocating the order of the young and the old; Western countries advocate individualism, the pursuit of independence and equality, and does not attach importance to the family seniority, seniority and inferiority. This is the tour guide in the British and American countries must be highly valued and carefully scrutinized when people communicate.

Three, thank you language differences and communication

Thank you is a universal norms of etiquette, but in different regions or countries have different ways of expression, which is the cultural differences. Chinese people seldom use the word "thank you" directly when giving thanks, and say "hard work", "tired", "fast rest"; British and American people want to express their gratitude to anyone who gives them help and use the word "thank you" directly. The British and Americans should express their gratitude to anyone who gives them help, and use "Thank you" straightforwardly. Moreover, due to the different degrees of gratitude, "Thank you" also derives a number of variants, such as "Thank you verymuch." "Thank you very much indeed." "Thank you very much" and "Thank you very much". Thank you very much indeed." "Thank." "Many Thanks." "Ireally don't know how ot Thankyou enough. Ireally don't know how ot Thankyou enough." Intercultural communication is all about expressing yourself appropriately depending on the situation. When there is thank you, there is thank you. In Chinese, thank-you words are mostly "You are welcome, No thank you", which is equivalent to the English words You are welcome, Not at all or Don't mentoin it, etc. In Chinese, it is sometimes "It's okay, it's okay". Chinese sometimes uses "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter" as the words of thanks, which is equivalent to That's all right or That's ok in English, if they are directly translated as It Doesn't matter or Never mind, then they will be translated as It Doesn't matter or Never mind. If they are directly translated as It Doesn't matter or Never mind, it will cause misunderstanding, because these two English phrases are apology phrases rather than thank-you phrases. Chinese people also often use "This is what I should do" as a thank-you phrase, if this sentence is translated into This is what I should do or It's myduty, the British and Americans will not know what to do.