06 Difference in Manners

06 Difference in Manners 

           My mother passed away when I was eight. When my father remarried, it was to a lady from England. As I was still a kid at the time, I did not notice how much of a shock our family culture and mannerisms were to her. Culturally, I was raised by two parents from Utah and northern Nevada. They brought their culture and manners with them. I was also brought up in Texas. This added different dimensions to my personal culture and manners. Neither of these cultural mannerism were what my step-mother’s British upbringing gave her. There were definitely some adjustments made on both our parts.

    Once again, I will be pulling a lot of information from Professor Ivers of BYUI. The transcript I will be using is found here: https://content.byui.edu/file/3b9f9a3b-1633-41fd-a1cb-371052401ec8/1/Differences%20in%20Manners.html. He gives out a lot of great examples of the differences in cultural mannerisms. 

    One of the examples Professor Ivers brought up was that of staring and personal space. In the USA, it is considered rude to stare at someone, doubly so if staring at someone different. Professor Ivers gave an example his wife experienced in Bolivia on her religious mission. When she got on a train or bus, everyone turned to stare at her. She has red hair and blue eyes. Her difference was what drew their stares. Other people would also come right up close so they could get a better look. In the USA, we are conscious of our personal space. In Bolivia, it is considered good manners to stare, and personal space is a lot tighter around the person than we are used to. 

    In Middle Eastern cultures it is considered bad manners and quite rude if you show or point the bottom of your boot or shoe toward someone. Professor Ivers stated how, when questioned, Afganistani soldiers who had turned on their American compatriots used the fact that when the other soldiers laid down to rest, their feet were pointed in their direction. This was considered a grave insult. The soldiers had to go to training to help them understand the cultural differences.

    Like the soldiers, it is important for us to understand the differences in manners our students will have to deal with. Often, they will have come from foreign countries and only understand the manners they have been taught. It might be hard for them to understand our culture. It will be up to us to help ease them into our societal mannerisms. It will be hard enough for them to learn a new language without adding the stress of miscommunicated cultural manners confusing them.