ThedifferenceBetweenAmericanandChinesefamilyculturePleasegivemesomespecificanswersinEnglish.Thankyouverymuch!

Question

The difference Between American and Chinese family culture
Please give me some specific answers in English.
Thank you very much!

Answer 1

The differences between Chinese customs and American customs
鈥淐ustom is the great guide of human life鈥?wrote Scottish philosopher David Hume.Knowing the customs of a country is,in effect,a guide to understanding the soul of that country and its people.As a foreign language leaner,we should know the culture in our target language鈥檚 country.Only in this way,we can really learn the language well.
People express their culture through traditions in food,clothing,recreation,and ceremonies; through the education system and institutions of learning,including museums and libraries; and through the arts,encompassing the visual,literary,and performing arts.As a result,we will talk about the differences from some aspects.
First,I will mention the addressing.In China,we will put the family names before our given names,and then in order to express our politeness,we would like to add 鈥渟ir鈥 or 鈥渓ady鈥 or their title after the name.On contrast,in America,people would like to put their family names after their given names and first names and they will put Mr.,Mrs.,Miss,Ms,Dr.or Prof.before their names.It is foremost and first for us to know these differences so that we won鈥檛 make misunderstandings.
It is great honor to meet an American friend ,but don鈥檛 be frightened by their warm embrace.This is their common way to express their warmth and friendliness.In China,people don鈥檛 make embraces to express those feelings.Quite often we will shake our hands.We should learn the proper way to express our friendliness in different countries.
And then we will talk about time conceptions.In America,their living beat is quite fast,so they consider time is quite precious.So,when they accept an invitation,they would try their best not to be late,but they also don鈥檛 go early to the inviters鈥?as this is considered to be impolite,and it seems to disturb the inviters鈥 preparation.In China,we should also not be late for the inviters.However,in order to show our thanks and politeness,we would go to the inviters鈥 house to help them prepare the meals and then we will have a happy time together.
To open a conversation,people in different countries have different ways.In China,when people meet their friends by chance,they will say.鈥 Where are you going?鈥 or 鈥 have you eaten?鈥 and then they will go on talking about other things.But if you do this in America,you will be misunderstood that you want to invite him or her.Americans would like to say,鈥 beautiful day,isn鈥檛 it?鈥 to open a conversation even sometimes it is raining.It is not because the Americans can predict the weather but for the sake of customs.
Let me come to the aspect of eating.Chopsticks are used for all meals in China.Food is placed at the center of the table and may include more than one type of main dish to be eaten with rice.All the food will be shared by all the persons and won鈥檛 be divided into several helps.While in America,they would use forks and knives for their meals.Every person has his own dishes and they won鈥檛 share one dish together.They think this is quite hygienic and they will enjoy their meals comfortably.However,what they eat is not so healthy,because they would like to eat a lot of meat and something with high calorie.Maybe it is good for them to obtain more fibers and keep a healthy body.
Finally,I would like to mention something about the difference in marriage.Besides the ceremony for marriage has obvious difference----Americans will hold it in a church,while Chinese will hold it in a hotel inviting their relatives and friends to have dinner----their marriage notion has quite a lot of differences,too.Above all,I would like to give a case to you.A 28-year-old girl,who was studying in New York,said she never thought his husband wanted to divorce with her without any specific reason after their one-year marriage.She asked him why he did so.He said he didn鈥檛 love her any more.Then she questioned him didn鈥檛 he always said he loved her a lot.He said,鈥 At that time I loved you,so I married you; but now I don鈥檛 love you any longer,so I want to divorce with you.鈥 She was very angry and thought he had cheated her,but in her husband鈥檚 opinion,he treated her so honestly that he would divorce with her.In this story lies a different marriage notion.Americans pursuit the true love,no matter they are married or not.Once they find there is no love between the husband and the wife,they will choose to divorce.In China,however,people pursuit the completeness of the family.They think divorce is the last way to solve the family problem.We think we have the responsibility to keep the family peaceful and complete and give a harmony environment to our children to grow healthily.They every couple should head the way that husbands and wives should finish their lives hand in hand.
From all these aspects,we can think of many differences in values,such as the notion of social statues,collectivism and socialism,the treatments to children and so on.In fact,we cannot say which one is right,which one is wrong,as we all know Americans and Chinese are not in the same group,people on the opposite side of the globe can never achieve the thousandth part of the group on the other side of the globe.What we should do is to learn the difference,and then we can really learn the language well.