和老外交往容易犯的六个错误 - 德化论坛

Cultural Differences 中西对比

There is a table which compares Chinese and English native speakers with respect to certain cultural conventions. 中西差异的实例，不得不看。

Situation1

英国人对家人的帮忙会说谢谢；而中国人认为帮助家里人是一种义务，所以无需言谢。

Interactions: help between family members

Conventions: politeness

Chinese Conventions: one's own obligation, no need to thank or be thanked

British and American Conventions: Expect polite expressions like 'please', 'thank you', etc.

Situation2

外国人觉得中国人对待他们是十分友好的，但是有时候会问出一些令他们感到尴尬的问题，比如问他们的年龄和工资。

Interactions: conversation between people meeting for the first time

Conventions: conversational topics, privacy, taboo, openness, directness

Chinese Conventions: Many Chinese people tend to ask about age, marital status, and even salary when first meeting one another. To them, these are open conversational topics. Knowing a person's age helps them use appropriate terms of address, such as 'Lao Wang', 'Xiao Li', or kin terms such as 'uncle' or 'aunt', etc. And Chinese people pay a lot of attention to family life, so naturally talk of family members features as a common topic. As to salary, since there is a national system of salaries, people usually don't consider it a secret and they talk about it openly.

British and American Conventions: In Britain, weather and sports are common topics. Some taboo questions: age, marriage and salary. These are considered too private or too personal to talk about when first meeting someone.

Situation3

中国人结伴出游的时候，如果买什么东西，去买的人一般都会按照人头购买，即便有人客气地说不要；和外国人结伴出游，如果你客气地推说不需要某样东西，那么对方真的就不会给你买。

Interactions: offering refreshments or drinks

Conventions: politeness, individual decision

Chinese Conventions: When a Chinese offers refreshments or drinks to his colleague, his colleague often declines the offer politely, because he doesn't want to trouble the person who offers and it also shows his politeness. Normally the person who offers still prepares or buys refreshments or drinks, and this will be expected by his colleague. Sharing food and drink when going out together is common among colleagues and friends.

British and American Conventions: Respect one's own decision, 'yes' means one wants it, 'no' means one doesn't, politeness is usually shown by the expression 'thank you' or 'please'.

Situation4

当外国人听到中国人称呼他们为“老外”的时候，他们心里是不高兴的，因为他们觉得自己并不老，且很健康。而当他们听到中国人管外国小孩也叫“老外”的时候，他们才明白“老”其实是对某个人的尊称，比如老张，老王。

Interactions: using 'Lao' to address someone

Conventions: politeness, respect, directness, intimacy