Chapter 4. Cultural Differences in Everybody Conversations(6)
9. Miscellaneous social amenities
9.1 The term “please”
E: use it more frequently than Chinese.
9.2 Gift giving and responses
E: at many occasions, English people just give a card, a bunch of flowers, a bottle of wine, or a bottle of perfume. Don’t give them expensive gifts, for they will not know how to return the kindness. And when they receive the gifts, they will unwrap it in the giver’s presence and say a few good words about it . such as “this vase is very nice, I’ll get some flowers for it/ this is really what I want/what beautiful flowers, I’ll put them in the sitting-room.”
9.3 Conversations at the table
E: these are the best dishes we can supply. Please feel at home and help yourselves. We should compliment with the following sentences:
This is really delicious/this meat is beautifully tender/this dish is very tasty
Response with
Thank you. I’m glad that you like it/ would you like some more of this dish/thank you/ yes, please/ no, thank you.