节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-01-02
难易度:Low
关键字:gesture, complicated, factor, approach, Afrikaans
(Music).
Hello, everybody.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
My name is Steve.
Now most of you grew up with a certain way of saying hello.
That's right.
In Western cultures and many parts of the world, we often first think of shaking
hands.
But that's not always the case around the world.
For example, if you're in Greece, you might not know what to do if someone slap
your back on introduction.
Or you might be surprised if a Maori person bumped their nose with yours to say
hello.
Or my personal favorite, the people of Tuvalu may press their cheek to yours and
smell you deeply.
Hmm. I hope you've showered.
So if you're planning on traveling, you would be wise to study the different
greetings found around the world.
And we can start by looking at our reading on page 12.
Greetings!
Saying "hello" in other languages is not as easy as you think.
All over the world, friends greet one another when they meet.
They might bow, hug, kiss, shake hands or gesture, depending on their culture.
People also use special words or phrases to greet one another.
Sometimes they use a simple word, like Hello, Hi, Hey, or Howdy in English.
Other languages have similar greetings, like Hola in Spanish, Hallo in German,
Haai in Afrikaans or Ciao in Italian.
But most of the time, the way people say hello is a bit more complicated.
(Music).
Hello, friends.
(Chinese).
Hola, amigos.
(Thai).
Ciao.
There are many ways to say hello all around the world.
Hello. My name is Ryan.
Hey. My name is Kaylah.
And today we are talking about Greetings.
That's right.
Greetings is when you say hello or meet someone for the first time.
So see that saying "hello" in other languages is not as easy as you think.
That's right.
If you have not seen someone today or in a while, you would greet them.
But there are so many different ways to greet a person.
You know, all over the world, friends greet one another when they meet.
That's true. And in every single different kind of culture, people greet.
They say hello, or they might have other phrases that they say depending on
where they live.
Or they might bow, hug, kiss, shake hands or gesture, all depending on their
culture.
Exactly. So you say, Kaylah, that they are "gesturing" when they greet someone.
And that means that you move your body, maybe your arms, your legs or your head
in order to say something.
It has meaning.
OK. Ryan, in Western, American culture, what is the most common way you greet
someone?
Well, usually in Western cultures, people shake hands; and that's true in most
other parts of the world too.
But you know, there's all kinds of ways to greet each other.
In America, we definitely shake hands.
But maybe in France, you would kiss your friend on the cheek.
So depending on the culture, it's even different in Western and different
Asian... Eastern countries as well.
Exactly, yeah. And you can also say different things around the world.
People use special words or phrases to greet one another as well.
That's right. Sometimes they would use a simple word like Hello, Hi, Hey or
Howdy in English.
That's right, yeah. In English, there are many ways you say hello or hey.
I think you said that earlier in the show, or "howdy." Where would you say
"howdy"?
Well, "howdy" is kind of an old Western American thing.
If you think cowboys and Indians, it's a little bit country.
So maybe farmers or cowboys would say it.
So we say it a lot where I come from with cowboys.
Yeah, usually in Southern America with the cowboy area.
Of course, these are all words or phrases that you can say when you're greeting
someone.
That's right. And these are just English examples.
So as you can imagine, there are all kinds of examples around the world.
We say "hello" at least four ways in the English.
And that's... Ryan, that's really just saying hello.
That's not even a welcoming phrase.
Exactly. And a phrase is referring to a group of words together, maybe like a
sentence.
Sometimes it could even be shorter than a sentence.
But you say these words in order to greet someone.
That's right. Other languages have similar greetings, though.
That's right, like Hola in Spanish.
I think we said that one earlier.
Or there's Hallo in German.
That's right. So they kind of sound like hello.
So these languages that are kind of around the same genre,
English as well as Spanish and German, there are pieces of Spanish in German in
English.
So that's why they sound very similar.
There's another one here: That's Haai in Afrikaans or Ciao in Italian.
That's right. That "Haai" in Afrikaans is pronounced very similar to the way we
would say Hi in English.
But of course, it's in Afrikaans, a different language.
That's right. This is the language that is spoken in South Africa.
They often speak English as well.
So there are two main languages.
Although there are all kinds of languages in South Africa, these are the top
two: English and Afrikaans.
Now Afrikaans is kind of like Dutch.
That's right. It's very similar to the Dutch language.
So maybe they would say Hi in Dutch too.
You know, I've never been to Holland. I don't know.
I don't know either.
But of course, as you heard me say at the beginning of this episode, we said
Ciao as well.
That is Italian.
But most of the time, the way people say hello is maybe a little bit more
complicated.
So far we've talked about just single words.
That's right, yeah, or words or phrases.
You just say something, it's the same time... or the same way each time you meet
someone.
So in English, you can say hi, hi, hi no matter what the person is doing or what
time of day it is.
That's right. Or we talked about motions: a gesture, a kiss, a bow, a handshake.
These are all very simple ways to greet someone as well, and often those can be
done at anytime during the day.
That's right. But like Kaylah said, it can be a bit more complicated.
And in most parts of the world, it probably is.
Now when something is "complicated," that it means it involves a lot more.
It has maybe more pieces or more parts you have to remember.
Yeah. And that can make it a little bit more confusing, especially when you are
in a different country trying to meet someone for the first time.
That's right.
So it can be a little difficult to understand when you visit a new culture.
But today we're going to talk about ways you can understand the culture,
understand greetings depending on where you are.
We're going to talk more about it after the break.
Before we go, let's see today's skit.
An alien.
Ah. Earth! I am finally here.
I have traveled millions of miles to arrive here.
Oh. Well... how wonderful you have finally arrived.
So, aren't you going to greet me?
Well... I... want to, but I don't know how.
What? You Earth people are very strange.
You don't know how to greet someone?
Yes, I do.
But people greet each other in different ways around the world.
Ah. Well, I suppose that is true.
How you greet people depends on the culture.
Right. So should I bow to you or hug you...?
No, no, no. No bows, no hugs.
Should I shake your hand or...?
No, no, no. No shaking hands, no gestures.
Oh! Should I kiss you?
No! Please! No kisses.
Don't touch me.
Or a simple word?
Yes. Yes, a simple word might be nice.
But should I say hello or hi?
How about "hola"?
Or "hallo"?
Uh, no. I am not Spanish or German.
I could say haai or ciao.
No. I am not Africans or Italian.
How can I greet you?
What should I say or do?
Well, it depends on many factors: uh, time of day, age and sex, whether I'm
arriving or sitting or working, if I'm older or younger or even human.
That is complicated.
Iknow.