Generally speaking, it is tough for people to fully understand each other, especially when they have distinct cultural background. First, I’m eager to share a few experiences pertaining to the topic. Once when I took an English course in China, my tutor who was an Austin big boy asked me what my girlfriend name was. I felt offended because his question was totally a sudden and the content was private. Then I replied him ”what do you want ”, though I knew my reply was so rude that we may have conflicts. And he stared me as if I was an alien. Funny? No. I realized that we misunderstood each other because of our background. After this embarrassing incident, we avoided talking about our personal stuffs. That experience alarmed me to be careful when communicate with foreigners. Difference is beauty sometimes, however it may result in unpleasant consequences.
How to maintain communication without hurting others feelings? I believe there are two principles we have to follow. One is keep an open mind and put differences aside for a while, the other is never talk anything related to secrets and private stuffs. We don’t even offend our friends who have same background by asking those questions, so why shall we be so curious about foreign friends’ personal stuffs?
I believe with intelligence and enough respect, we can handle well with cross cultural communication.
Yeah，I hope we can all have an open mind and avoid those conflicts in the world~your paragraph has a clear topic and your words are so precise, hold on to it!
ReplyDeleteWell,I think your embarrassing experience due to misunderstanding. As far as I know, Americans are quite open and they will not feel shy or offended when talking about private life. And it's your choice whether to accept this culture. Anyway I agree that it's better not to refer to these private topics when you are not that familiar with the other person.
ReplyDeleteWell, your English tutor was quite a funny guy. I guess he was joking. I can't imagine there can be a culture in which people are used to ask others' girlfriends' name when they are not familiar. I quite agree with you that we should avoid sensitive questions. I also think that it is necessary to think twice before getting angry when such things happen.
ReplyDeletewhen we hang out with a person from another different culture, there is actually no need to put on jacket of security,we need to get to understand and accept the existence of the differences.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the need to have an open mind. There is no need to be rude. If you think that the information asked is private, then say so in a polite manner. No one cam fault you for that.
ReplyDeleteI think you teacher perhaps did not ask that question on purpose, it is a question that he regards as a normal topic. Though different countries have different cultures, I think if we respect each other, it will not cause any big problem.
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