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Understanding Different Cultures

6/17/2014

3 Comments

 
The English Student, ESL teaching ideas, ESL blogs, ESL websites, fun ESL websites, www.theenglishstudent.com, learn English online, understanding cultural differences, cross cultural communication, cultural etiquette, ESL business Engllish, working across cultures, Chinese etiquette, French etiquette, Korean etiquette,
A few years ago, a Japanese student I was tutoring shared an interesting cultural experience with me. She had attended a dinner at an American friend's home. While he was still preparing the dishes, some of the other friends began to eat. The problem was, in her culture it's impolite to begin eating if your host hasn't started, so she sat there waiting patiently for him. However, this made the host think that she didn't like the food that he made. This is the difference between cultures. If we don't understand, then we could possibly insult people, even when we're not trying to be rude.

Although we're just learning English, it's also important to understand culture 
because culture and language are very much intertwined. To learn a language better, we must become part of the culture too!

Of course Chinese, French, and Korean aren't the only important cultures to know, but I'm hoping the image above will show you that every culture has its own differences and you should be aware when you travel abroad, meet new people, or do business.

In your culture, is it OK to eat before your host eats?
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3 Comments
jeronimo
2/5/2021 07:42:40 am

not because you have to wait for your host

Reply
James T McKim, Jr.
3/20/2022 11:24:06 am

I love this graphic. Might I have permission to use it in a book I'm writing?

Reply
South Carolina Face Sitting link
1/12/2023 08:36:20 am

Thankks for writing

Reply



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