Language and culture are connected, without realising it, when you learn a second language, you also learn a little about its culture. Some would say your personality would adapt to the language you’re learning, too.
When learning a second language, one of the first things that’s taught is how to greet someone; “Hello.”, “It’s nice to meet you.”, “How do you do.”, “My name is..”, and so on. When saying hello, a gesture is given too. I read an informative article about different gestures from different countries; here’s the link if you want to read it all,
https://www.diversityresources.com/greeting-customs-around-the-world/
International greetings
In the USA, it is normal for men to shake hands when they meet, but it is quite unusual for men to kiss when they greet each other. Greetings are casual – a handshake, a smile and a ‘hello’ will do just fine.
The British often simply say ‘hello’ when they meet friends. They usually shake hands only when they meet for the first time. Social kissing, often just a peck on the cheek, is common in an informal situation between men and women and also between women who know each other very well.
French nationals, including children, shake hands with their friends and often kiss them on both cheeks, both upon meeting and leaving.
In Arab countries, close male friends or colleagues hug and, kiss both cheeks. They shake hands with the right hand only, for longer but less firmly than in the West. Contact between the opposite genders in public is considered obscene. Do not offer to shake hands with the opposite sex.
Hungarians like to use the friendly greeting form of kissing each other on the cheeks. The most common way is to kiss from your right to your left. When men meet for the first time, the casual norm is a firm handshake.
In Belgium, people kiss on one cheek when they meet, regardless of the gender or how well they know each other.
In Russia, the typical greeting is a very firm handshake. Assume you’re trying to crush each others knuckles, all the while maintaining direct eye contact. When men shake hands with women, the handshake is less industrial. It is considered gallant to kiss women three times while alternating cheeks, and even to kiss hands.
In Albania, men shake hands when greeting one another. Depending on how close the men are with each other, a kiss on each cheek may be common as well. When a man meets a female relative, a kiss on each cheek, or two per cheek, is common. With friends or colleagues, normally a light handshake will do. Women may shake hands or kiss each other on both cheeks.
In Armenia, by tradition, and especially in the rural areas, a woman needs to wait for the man to offer his hand for the handshake. Between good friends and family members, a kiss on the cheek and a light hug are also common.
Kissing culture
As you can see, in many places kissing when meeting is the culture, this is unusual to me, but then again, so was bowing, but now I do that all the time! Interestingly, with social distancing because of COVID 19, when meeting someone in a formal situation, the Japanese greeting of bowing is becoming more popular internationally.
So, whichever language you’re learning, knowing cultural differences will benefit your communication; this is what we teach in our programme. Just knowing words isn’t enough to communicate, cultural knowledge is important too. What you think is polite can be considered rude. Why did you kiss me!?
【あなたの心が伝わるあなただけの英語】
英語でのコミュニケーションをあなたらしい英語で。一人一人のレベル、能力、
興味に合った教材や方法を用いた英語レッスンプログラムをオンラインで学べます。
”あなたの英語”でコミュニケートしたい方は、まずは無料カウンセリングをご予約ください。
