A World Guide to Good Manners

How not to Behave Badly Abroad Travelling to all corners of the world is getting easier and easier. We live in a global village, but this doesn’t mean that we all behave in the same way. Different people of different countries have their own way of life.

Greetings

How should you behave when you meet someone for the first time? An American or Canadian shakes your hand firmly while looking you straight in the eyes. In many parts of Asia, there is no physical contact at all. In Japan, you should bow, and the more you respect the person, the deeper you should bow. In Thailand, the greeting is made by pressing both hands together at the chest, as if you are praying, and bowing your head slightly. In both countries, eye contact is avoided as a sign of respect.

Clothes

Many countries have rules about what you should and should not wear. In Asian and Muslim countries, you should not reveal the body, especially women, who should wear long sleeved tops. In Japan, you should take off your shoes when entering a house or a restaurant. Remember to place them together facing the door you came in. This is also true in China, Korea, Thailand and Iran.

Food and drink

In Italy, Spain, and Latin America, lunch is often the biggest meal of the day, and can last two or three hours. For this reason many people eat a light breakfast and a late dinner. In Britain, you might have a business lunch and do business as you eat. In Mexico and Japan, many people prefer not to discuss business while eating. Lunch is a time to relax and socialise, and the Japanese rarely drink alcohol at lunchtimes. In Britain and the United States, it is not unusual to have a business meeting over breakfast, and in China it is common to have business banquets, but you should not discuss business during the meal.

Doing business

In most countries, an exchange of business cards is essential for all introductions. You should include your company name and your position in a bussiness card. If you are going to a country where your language is not widely spoken, you can get the reverse side of your card printed in the local language. In Japan, you must present your card with both hands, with the writing facing the person you are giving it to. In many countries, business hours are from 9 or 10 am to 5 or 6 pm. However, in some counties, such as Greece, Italy, and Spain, some businesses close in the early afternoon for a couple of hours then remain open until the evening. Japanese business people consider it their professional duty to go out after work with colleagues to restaurants, bars, or nightclubs. If you are invited, you should not refuse, even if you do not feel like staying out late.

Extra tips

Here are some extra tips that help you when you travel

1. In many Asian cultures, it is acceptable to smack your lips when you eat. It
    means that the food is good.
2. In France, you should not sit down in a cafe until you have shaken hands with
     everyone you know.
3. In India and the Middle East, you must never use the left hand for greeting,
    eating or drinking.
4. In China, your host will keep refilling your dish unless you lay your
    chopsticks across your bowl.
5. Most South Americans and Mexicans like to stand very close to the person
    they are talking to. You should not back away.
6. In Russia, you must match your host's drink for drink or they will think you
     are unfriendly.
7. In Ireland, social events sometimes end with singing and dancing. You
    might be asked to sing.
8. In America, you should eat your hamburger with both hands and as quickly
    as possible. You should not try to have a conversation until it is eaten.

Using a Single Language is Better Than Multiple Languages

For the motion:

Mr. Chairperson, respected teachers, and friends!

I would like to thank Mr. Timilsina for giving me an opportunity to express my opinion on the burning issue ‘the fewer the languages there are, the easier the life will be’. Every year, several languages die out. Some people think that life will be easier if there are fewer languages in the world. I support this view. As we know, the development of recent technology has a significant role to create a global village. People from any part of the world can communicate easily through the Internet. Due to the international importance of the English language, most people are reluctant to use their first language and are learning English. This shows that people prefer learning the language that helps them to communicate in the global village to their own language. Mr. Chairperson, using the same language would certainly aid understanding and global fraternity. People can communicate with one another without any problems. It unites all the people as global citizens. If everyone speaks the same language, there will be a clear understanding between not only countries but also people throughout the world. It would promote learning, the 􀃀 ow of information and ideas. For example, students don’t have to translate the text into their mother tongue to understand. Ladies and gentlemen, economic growth is also possible by using single language as it can minimise various costs such as the cost of communication, translation, interpretation, etc. We won’t need interpreters in international conferences, seminars and workshops. Participants can easily express whatever they like in the language of common understanding. Thus, it can minimise the communication barriers and help international business, resulting in a healthier world economy.

Not only this, if a language is intelligible for all, members of security forces can easily investigate and understand national and international criminal plans. It may help in solving international and intercultural security problems too. To conclude, I strongly claim that using a single language as a lingua franca strengthens our fraternity, integrity, security and global understanding, in addition to helping international business and economy.

Thank you.

Against the motion: 

Mr. Chairperson, respected teachers, and friends!

Thank you, Mr. Timilsina for giving me this platform to present my view on the issue. As we know every year several languages die out. With their death, the knowledge inherent there dies too. Though the previous speaker argued that the fewer the languages are, the easier the life will be, I strongly disagree with his arguments.

Mr. Chairperson, language influences our thought and our thought influences reality of the world around us. It means we perceive the world as per our linguistic background. Language also carries culture. Cultural and linguistic diversity have a reciprocal relationship. Therefore, there are obvious disadvantages of having only one global language. Firstly, it would mean that all other languages would eventually disappear and, along with them, their cultures too. Each culture is unique with its own way of life and own

perspective of the world. Cultural diversity boosts tourism because it attracts tourists from different parts of the world. The loss of languages results in the loss of cultures and the loss of cultures leads to the collapse of the tourism industry because there would be no reason to travel for pleasure and interest if, all over the world, we have the same language and similar cultures. This finally leads to decline of the national economy of the countries which rely on tourism industry.

Mr. Chairperson, using fewer languages also creates identity problems. The ethnic groups without their own language and culture lose their linguistic and cultural identity. Variety in literature is only possible through linguistic and cultural differences. It is impossible if we have a single global language. Likewise, each language has its own taste and own distinct quality. For example, the Sanskrit language is said to have musical quality. All these qualities get lost if people start using a single language all over the world. Furthermore, the fewer the languages are in use, the less the vocabulary in practice. Therefore, the less vocabulary in practice, the less imaginative and creative work is possible.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to ask Karma if he could understand all the varieties, i.e. dialects of his mother tongue. As we know, even the dialects are often unintelligible to all the speakers of the same language. Then, how can we think about the use of a single language all over the world? Is it practical? Is it possible? I think debating on such issue is just a waste of time.

Thank you.