Chapter One The United States of America

Case Study

A group of students in the Department were planning to go for a meal together somewhere and they were wondering whether Wild, one of the members in the Department, would like to go or not.

James said that they hadn’t decided yet. They were thinking of Wednesday. Wild said that it was a pity because he was afraid he had already got something fixed up. He said that most evenings were free except Mondays.

Case Analysis:

1. The process of setting on a time is normally like this: one gives or suggests a time, and then the other may find it unsuitable and suggest another time, and finally a time is fixed which suits both.

2. However, if a person doesn’t want to accept an invitation, things tend to be somewhat different.

3. An English native speaker’s explanation for not being able to go is usually short and not detailed, whereas a Chinese speaker’s explanation tends to be more detailed and longer to show that he has really got something important to do and he usually makes clear what he is going to do.

4. If a Chinese gives a detailed explanation to an English native speaker who issues an invitation, the English native speaker may feel that the detailed explanation is not really necessary.Conversely, the English native speaker’s short and not detailed explanation may strike a Chinese as a bit impolite if he is unaware of their customs.