I’m sure that almost everyone who has ever studied some
English has realized that Britons are very polite (and... also that they are
always complaining about the weather). I’ve been in London for one week, and I has been warned about the amount
of times they say “sorry” is the same as
they say “hello” or “goodbye”. Maybe this is strange because in Spain we are
not like that.
The Spanish people make up any excuse when they arrive
late: "The subway did not pass", "I forgot my wallet at home and
I had to go back" or "the dog swallowed the alarm". In the
United Kingdom the alarm isn’t delayed five minutes. They are not late, because
punctuality is their sixth sense. They have it all.
After doing a few searches on Google and having asked
several British friends, I have not found any exact reason why they act that
way. I guess it's because the United Kingdom is a very traditional and
conservative country. Correct manners are in their DNA. It is like asking
Spanish people why we are so close, or why we like so much partying.
Obviously, these are all stereotypes. As there are
Spanish who do not like going to parties, there are also Britons who are not so
polite.
Some British are fed up of pretending they are always
happy and having to please people, because of the stereotype "All British
are polite".
Sometimes because they feel that they have to be
polite, they are prevented from saying what they truly think.
In some countries the clients think that employers do
not need to be thanked, but why not? It’s so easy, and we can contribute to do
the day of that person a bit better.
As a conclusion (from my point of view), we have to start to thank
people and family..
Do you think it is better not to hurt people’s
feelings and be polite or to let people know the truth?
Cristina Centeno Garrido EPD 11 (Group 4)
Interesting, Crisitna. We'll talk about this in units 4 and 5. Great! However, there IS a reason why cultures behave differently, so we'll try to understand this in class. Good point regarding when or when not to use "thanks". Maybe it is because "sorry" and "thanks" have, indeed, different meanings and conventional usage in different cultures? What do the rest think?
ReplyDeleteMariola
Regarding politeness I would rather not describe any country as more polite than another. From my view, politeness is understood just differently even from one person to another within the same country. Does it mean that impolite people don't exist? No indeed, anyone that breaks the rules against the expected behaviour, as you say, is considered impolite. Very interesting, on the other hand, the debate around who you truly are - self-image, expectations and faces. About that topic, tho, Mariola will probably enlighten us the following weeks.
ReplyDeleteÁlvaro Rguez.
Interesting! there are many ways of being polite, indeed. We'll refer back to this issue on Monday.
DeleteGreat article. I think that being polite is a part of British culture and tradition. I don’t know where it comes from but it's always nice being asked questions like “how are you?” or “what are you doing?” in any culture. As the saying goes “Do what you want them to do with you”, I always try to be polite, but I end up looking like I'm from another planet. For example: Every time I’m waiting in the queue of the bus I say “good morning” or “hi!” and some people will reply to you but most of the time does not happen. It’s a strange situation. It may not be implicit in Spanish culture but I think that these social rules should be part of every culture. To be polite does not mean to not hurt people’s feeling; it means to respect yourself and the others. We should practise what we preach!
ReplyDeleteAmanda Maruny
Yes, indeed! However, politeness goes beyond greetings; it is much more complex than that. It is about adapting the language to fit the cultural expectations of others (and ours) at the same time. It is constant negotiation of social rapport with others. Good starting point, Amanda.
DeleteIt’s very interesting this topic and i think that’is so important to talk about this.
ReplyDeleteBristish people are known like very polite people and they always try to be very correct with everybody and in every situation. In my opinion this is an stereotype beacuse we have to keep in mind that each language has a big importance in how people are. So every language is speak in a different way and in English it is necessary to used certain phrases that in Spanish, for example, we don’t need to use.
In conclusion, they aren’t always thinking about being so self-conscious about manners, it’s just the way that language is used and for people from others country this can seem as they are very polite.
Hi! I think this is a great topic to talk about! So interesting, because we all have those type of issues when we go abroad, especially if it's the UK, where people seem to be very polite as they talk, even in their everyday life. Great job Cristina!
ReplyDelete