Personal Space

a. British people like a lot of space around them.

b. They tend not to make physical con­tact of any kind with strangers and feel very uncomfortable if anyone stands too close to them. They will instinctively draw away if anyone comes too close.

Whenever

Shaking Hands

One example of the British 'keeping their distance' is the infrequency with which people will shake hands with one another. British people do not shake hands with one another very often at all.

Making Polite Requests

a. In making polite requests, British people tend to use very indirect language, using the conditional tense and negatives.

b. For instance, 'I don't suppose you could open the window, could you?' rather than 'Please open the window.'

Please and Thank You

a. 'Please' and 'thank you', are probably the three most important words in the British-English vocabulary.

b.. In many languages and cultures such fundamental importance is not attached to these words; one can be perfectly polite without uttering them. In Britain almost the first words children are taught are 'please' and 'thank-you' (or 'thanks' or 'ta').

c. What happens if you don't use them?
In a hall of residence dining room, for example, if one says 'Chips' or 'Can I have chips?' or 'Let me have some chips', the chips will almost certainly be served. However, the facial expression and body language of the person serving will give a clear indication that they are unhappy, offended or do not like dealing with this particular student. The student may see this negative reaction but not be aware what has gone wrong. S/he may see that staff are more friendly towards British students and may assume that staff simply do not like foreigners. It is far more likely that 'please' and 'thank-you' were omitted from the exchange and that the British person was reacting to this.

Smiling

a. Some students say that British people smile a lot, compared to many national groups - often for no particular reason.

b. The British smile as a greeting, smile when asking for something, smile on receiving it.

c. But it is easy to see how this could be misinterpreted by someone in whose culture smiles are used only to ex­press genuine warmth.

d. Yes, if you are from a culture which uses smiles even more, you may not find that the British smile very often. Many students commentthat they do not find people in shops, banks, at reception desks smile enough to make them feel welcome.

Greetings

As has already been said, British peo­ple do not shake hands very much. In Sheffield people may greet each other by smiling or saying 'hallo'/'hi'/'are you all right?' etc, nodding or raising their eyebrows or, if they are close friends, hugging or kissing each other on the cheek(s). (Heterosexual British males usually do not hug, hold hands with or kiss other men.)

Humour

a. Every culture has its own sense of humour, jokes and rules for establishing friendly communications. It is not pos­sible to learn these quickly or easily.

b. British jokes and good humour rely heavily on a shared knowledge of British culture, politics, colloquial language, me­dia and other areas which are unfamiliar to newcomers or even to some people who have been here for several years.

c. Informal relationships among British students and between British students and staff can therefore exclude many international students. Most British people do not realise at all that they are doing this.

d. British humour also relies heavily on teasing or 'leg-pulling', as it is known.
This can take the form of picking on as­pects of an individual's personality and exaggerating them in fun.

e. Sarcasm and plays on words are also common.

f. British humour can seem offensive or insulting until you get used to it.

g. Try not to be offended; if you do find it difficult to tolerate, tell the person concerned that you feel very uncomfortable with his/her jokes.

h. Jokes about race, sexuality or gender are generally considered unacceptable.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-30