The concept of cultural differences

1. Differences in traditional habits

Americans place great emphasis on freedom and have a strong sense of individualism. This is well known. But one thing that impressed me deeply is that Americans attach great importance to laws and regulations. While emphasizing personal freedom, they do so on the premise that they do not violate laws and regulations. The Chinese also emphasize freedom, but their awareness of observing rules and disciplines is relatively weak. For example, in domestic public places such as buses, subways, and offices, we often find many young people smoking, listening to music, talking loudly, and even going shirtless. Why? Because he believes that this is his freedom and that others have no right to interfere. As for whether these actions will affect others, he does not care too much. Young people in the West often engage in these behaviors in public places, but they only see signs with slogans such as "No smoking" and "Please do not make loud noises", or someone tells them that smoking or making loud noises is prohibited. Most Westerners will consciously put out their cigarettes and lower their voices. As for listening to music in public places, wearing earplugs has become a habit, so as not to disturb others.

Understanding the differences in traditional habits between China and the United States, many problems can be easily solved. For example: Chinese people like to be lively when eating in restaurants, and even have many marathon negotiations. When they arrive at the restaurant, as soon as the wine glasses are touched and they are happy, the business is concluded. Why? We Chinese people mix work and life without distinguishing between them. Eating and drinking with guests is also work. Playing guessing games, drinking happily, and eating lively will achieve the goal.

Americans are different. They keep their work and life very separate. Work is work and life is life. Eating and tasting wine is enjoyment. Work is rarely discussed when eating, and they generally do not take the initiative to talk about work. Talking business at the dinner table. Therefore, when Americans eat and drink, they do not want to be lively, but only want to enjoy themselves. There are not many people, and most of them are in twos and threes. They taste slowly and chat in low voices. No one forces you to drink or not. You decide how much to drink. He will not give it to you. Pour wine.

Chinese and American people have the habit of giving each other gifts when relatives and friends meet for the first time, but the gift-giving traditions of Chinese and Americans are quite different. When Americans give gifts, they usually choose unique small works of art, small handkerchiefs, small cards, etc. The value is not important, as long as they are commemorative. Americans generally do not give cigarettes or alcohol. When giving gifts, Chinese people mostly choose famous cigarettes, famous wines, famous teas, health products, etc. The value is too low. When accepting gifts, the traditional habits of China and the United States are obvious: when Americans receive a gift from the other party, they say "thank you" and like to open the box on the spot, try it on, praise it, say it is suitable, and they like it very much. . When Chinese people accept gifts, they like to deliberately decline them by saying "no" or "no" to show politeness. Americans cannot refuse when accepting a gift. Refusal means that the gift is not good or the value is too low, and you don’t like it

2. Differences in language

History of Chinese Civilization It has a long history, and in the long-term development process, a unique language has been formed. Chinese language emphasizes seriousness, euphemism in speech, emphasis on wording, and seriousness in cadence and punctuation. Therefore, most officials hold speech notes when speaking. Why? I’m afraid I’ll be laughed at if I say something wrong! Therefore, many officials would rather speak big words, empty words, and clichés than say the wrong things. They strive to make people sound comfortable and are afraid that the audience will think that they are not good enough.

The United States is different. They developed it relatively late. They were only founded more than two hundred years ago. American English was developed on the basis of English.

Compared with Americans, the Chinese are relatively lacking in on-site expression skills. Many of us have participated in interviews or served as examiners. I have also interviewed many people and found that many of us Chinese are not very good at expressing ourselves on the spot. I once hired a subordinate who graduated with a bachelor's degree and was knowledgeable, but he was not good at expressing himself and was timid. Every time he reported on work, he would only speak a few words. When you asked him about the details of his work, he could not answer the question. Later, I asked him to prepare a piece of paper and write a brief outline, and each report would be conducted around this outline. I think this is not because we Chinese are stupid, but because we lacked such exercises during our studies.

For another example, when we introduce ourselves in many social situations, we will introduce our age and place of origin. Some people even introduce their address and fiancée, and some introduce the scenery of their hometown. Everyone is welcome to visit and so on. Americans generally do not introduce these contents when introducing themselves. They think this is their own privacy. If they don’t tell it, you shouldn’t ask.

This is the difference in language and communication

3. The difference in interpersonal relationships

We Chinese are very good at interpersonal communication and have made friends from all over the world. Everyone thinks that it is better to have more friends. Walk. Therefore, whether you are doing government work, going shopping, or discussing business, you all hope to find friends. If you have no friends, ask your friends to find friends of friends. Why? Because Chinese people believe in friends and value favors, even advertising is paying more and more attention to word-of-mouth publicity.

If you have a friend who works in a government department, it will be much more convenient for you to do things. Entrusting a friend to do things can not only provide a warm reception, save you a lot of trouble, and get things done quickly, but you can also get discounts, spend less money, and you don’t have to pay the normal fees. Follow the process and handle special matters. We returned to our hometown many years ago and registered our marriage at the civil affairs department. While we were waiting for nearly twenty minutes, the staff applied for marriage certificates for their friends without paying the processing fee. They also enthusiastically sent them out. When we applied for the certificates, they were His cold face, without a trace of smile, looked like he was interrogating a prisoner. A handling fee of 100 yuan was charged. Later, a classmate at the Administrative Service Center told me that the fee for applying for a marriage certificate at that time was 10 yuan per piece. It's a pity that we were so happy at the time and rushed to take wedding photos that we even forgot to ask for the receipt, so there was no way to complain. This is the difference between doing things with friends and doing things with strangers. I believe readers can list many similar examples.

Generally speaking, Americans' interpersonal relationships are relatively simple, human relationships are relatively weak, and people pay more attention to the law. Canada is a neighbor of the United States, and some of its traditional cultures are close to those of the United States. A friend of mine from Shenzhen immigrated to Montreal, Canada a few years ago. Her husband’s brother is a grassroots official in the city. She told me that there are many Chinese people in Canada, but there are very few friends who seek help from her husband’s brother. Why? She said it was not that he was unwilling to help, but that the Canadian prosecutors were very strict in supervising this and did not dare to help. On the other hand, the vast majority of Canadians were of British and French descent, and Chinese accounted for no more than 4%. Europeans have a strong sense of autonomy. They would rather spend more money than bother their friends. If you go through the back door to do things, you will be looked down upon. This is a sign of your own incompetence.

On the contrary, from buying home appliances, cars, and houses to paying taxes, paying fines, and negotiating business, as long as we can find friends, many of us will try our best to find friends to coordinate. , If you don’t have a relationship, you will suffer a loss. If you have a friendship, you don’t have to be easily laughed at and laughed at for your stupidity. If you find a friend, the friend has power and ability but does not help, and the friend cannot refuse directly. This is the complicated interpersonal relationship in China. Is it hard to make friends? It's hard to make good friends, that's why it's even harder to make good friends.

In addition, as mentioned earlier, Americans keep work relationships and personal relationships relatively separate. They think it is normal to have differences and conflicts at work, but work differences do not affect their personal relationships. They do not Will bring conflicts at work into life. For example, members of the U.S. Congress often argue fiercely over some bills and hold different opinions. However, they argue in person and do not make sarcastic comments behind their backs. They downplay their differences as long as they leave the meeting room and do not use work issues to make personal attacks or attacks. Retaliation. Of course, conversely, it is difficult for them to use personal feelings to influence their work. They will not support your views or give up their own positions at work just because we are friends. Many years ago when I was working in an American company, I often encountered similar examples. Once I saw two American executives slamming the table in a conference room. One threw documents all over the floor, and the other grabbed the door and threw them. Go, but after the meeting I actually saw them chatting and drinking coffee together. This situation is almost impossible to happen in China. Why? Because we Chinese intertwine work relationships with personal relationships. If the personal relationship is good, the work relationship will be better, and it is easy for each other to get along and cooperate with each other. On the contrary, if the work relationship breaks down, it will be difficult for the personal relationship to remain intact.

Four. It is the difference in social education

I personally believe that a person’s growth should be an effective combination of family education, school education and social education. Mao Zedong did not receive higher education, but this did not prevent him from growing into a national leader; Bill. Gai Xian did not finish college, but he built his software empire. This shows that family education and social education are also important components of education, Mao Zedong and Bill. Although Gai Xian and others have not received higher education, social experience and social education have helped them grow.

China has attached great importance to school education since ancient times, and great educators and thinkers such as Confucius, Laozi, and Xunzi have emerged.

"Everything is of inferior quality, but reading is of high quality." This shows how much people value scholars. But for social education, we don't attach much importance to it. "Everyone sweeps the snow in front of their own door, and doesn't care about the frost on other people's tiles." For example: when they see ignorant children deliberately damaging public facilities, spitting at will, killing birds, insulting others and other bad behaviors, as long as they are not their own children or the children of relatives or friends, most people choose to remain silent. , no wonder, over time, children who leave their parents and teachers lose discipline and restraint, which indirectly contributes to the development of their bad temper and bad behaviors; when they grow up, they bring these bad tempers and bad behaviors into their work and life He refuses to listen to other people's well-intentioned advice and education, and keeps going his own way, often saying things like: "Do you care?", "None of your business," "This matter has nothing to do with you," "Please, please "Mind your own business"... In this way, when we don't want to discipline other people's children, we can't, and the children won't obey, forming a vicious circle. For a long time, we have attached great importance to school education, despised family education, and ignored social education.

If in the 1960s and 1970s, if you encountered disruptive and undisciplined elements, people would report them. At that time, everyone had a strong sense of social management, and "nosy" people Many, now it has been downplayed. Everyone thinks that this is the government's business, other people's business, has nothing to do with themselves, just educate their own children well.

Relatively speaking, the United States pays more attention to social education. Whether in a park, on the street, at a station, or at a dock, as long as they find you lost, passers-by will take the initiative to beat you up and ask if you need help; if you take your dog into the park, there will be "nosy" people pointing at the signboard to remind you ; When your child is playing in the pond, passers-by will warn him that it is dangerous; if you smoke on the train, someone will point to the warning sign to remind you that if you continue to smoke, he will call the conductor... In short, There must be someone to educate you, and his words may not necessarily sound good to you, but they can help you grow! Americans believe this is a civic duty. When Chinese people see this kind of behavior, most of them choose to tolerate it. They tolerate it if they can, and give in if they can. They don't seem to see it. No one is willing to educate you. They think that if they educate you but offend you, they will not benefit, so they are so lenient. What to do.

5. The difference in social etiquette

Telling is one of the important etiquettes in social interactions.

China’s feudal rule lasted for more than 2,100 years, emphasizing the distinction between superiors and subordinates, with a strong sense of hierarchy and particularity in titles. No matter in formal or informal situations, most people call their bosses by their titles. Few people dare to call their bosses and superiors by their first names. People who don't know their titles are mostly addressed as Mr. or Miss. As for our parents and principal, we dare not call them by their first names in person, otherwise we will be scolded for being immature, uneducated, and rude. In China, if you are looking for an official to do something, you must pay more attention to the name you call him. Not only the surname but also the title must be correct. You must not make a mistake. If you call him wrong, he will think that you are not looking for him. If you call him by his first name, he will be unhappy and think you don't take him seriously and don't respect him.

As of now, the United States is China's largest export destination, and China is the United States' second largest trading partner. Business activities between the two sides are becoming more and more frequent. In business management, only if we understand the differences between Chinese and American cultures can we better formulate policies and carry out work according to local conditions. Moreover, the better you understand the other party's culture, the easier it will be to tolerate the other party's culture, and it will be easier to strengthen communication with the other party, seek common ground while reserving minor differences, understand each other, and respect each other. "Gentlemen are harmonious but different", this is the view of Confucius.