Here below listed are the important aspects about Unit Four.

 

1. Cross-Cultural Conversation

Cross-cultural communication refers to a hybrid branch of academia combining cultural anthropology sociology and international studies that is focused on ways to facilitate understanding across borders and cultures. In addition to spearheading tactics for streamlining communication across various language groups, it also highlights the many hurdles and misunderstandings in the way of true global understanding. The more a person becomes well-versed in the many ways in which communication can fail between members of disparate cultures, the more equipped he or she will be to establish and maintain healthy communication with people from starkly different backgrounds.

(1)Clues to World Cultures

Greeting:

There are some body movements when people greet each other. Since people in different countries possess different personalities and characters, the body movements employed by them for greeting differs from each other. Handshake is a common etiquette for China and the world today. It can be used in various occasions regardless of social status and gender. In English countries, it is very popular that people give a kiss or an embrace when they meet their friends. The part of the face at which they kiss is also different. Some kiss on the forehead, some on the cheek, and some on the back of the hand. It varies by age, gender, status and intimacy. Chinese people,  relatively introverted and conservative, are under the belief that it is improper for unfamiliar men and women to touch each other, and an embrace or a kiss is so intimate that can only occur between people with a close relationship. Consequently, traditional Chinese prefer handshake to hug or kiss when greeting. On the contrary, Europeans and Americans always tend to be more open and outgoing. Embrace and kiss is a kind of meeting etiquette which is quite popular in the Europe and the United States, just as common as handshake in China. In short, it is required whether in Chinese or western culture that we avoid using inappropriate greeting words such as unpleasant ones or words that involves privacy or are easy to be misunderstood.

 

(2)Table culture

The different of the philosophical thoughts and the various kinds of social factors make some differences in Chinese and Western table manners. In China, a banquet, whatever the purpose, there will be a kind of form. Everyone sitting around the table and the delicacy is put in the center of the table. Not only it is a good taste, but also it is a communication medium for people. People toast each other and let food each other. It embodies the mutual respect and the virtue of humility. This way is easy to communicate with others. However, the western table manners are more cumbersome and canonical. Every people has his own service plate, no matter what dish has, they eat by themselves. Westerners drink also depend on their own thoughts, such as Whisky, Cocktails, Brandy, they can drink what they like. It embodies the respect of personal willingness. In this paper, we will talk about Chinese and western table manners and finding out the reasons. The purpose is to improve our intercultural communication ability by means of doing the research on the differences dietary culture between China and west in table manners.

 

1. (3)Gestures:

Gestures are the silent language of every culture. We point a finger or move another part of the body to show what we want to say. It is important to know the body language of every country or we may be misunderstood.

In the US, people greet each other with a handshake in a formal discussion. The handshake must be firm. If the handshake is weak, it is a sign of weakness or unfriendliness. Friends may place a hand on the other's arm or shoulder. Some people, usually women, greet each other with a hug. Space is important to Americans. When two people talk to each other, they usually stand about 2.5 feet away and at an angle, so they are not facing each other directly. Americans get uncomfortable when a person stands too close. They will move back to have their space. If Americans touch another person by accident, they say, "Pardon me" or "Excuse me". Americans like to look at the others in the eyes when they are talking. If you don't do so, it means you are bored, hiding something, or are not interested. When you stare at someone, however, it is not polite. 

For Americans, thumbs (拇指)-up means "yes","very good" or"well done". Thumbs-down means the opposite. To call a waiter, one might put up one hand to head level or above. To show you want the check, make a movement with your hands as you are signing a piece of paper. It is all right to point at things but not at people with the hand and index finger (食指). Americans shake their index fingers at children when they scold them and pat them on the head when they admire them. 

Learning a culture's body language is sometimes confusing. If you don't know what to do, the safest thing to do is to smile.