Social customs differ from place to place in the world. Misunderstanding will surely arise if we are not aware of these differences.

There are many differences in social customs between Americans and Chinese. The most obvious is that people are very informal in social situations in the United States. For example, they call each other by their given names

when they meet for the first

time, including the young to the old. In China, however, this will be regarded as quite impolite. Another difference is in topics in conversation. It is quite all right to ask a Chinese the cost of his possessions while it is quite rude to do so in the United States. The Chinese do not care much if they are asked about their age, their political and religious beliefs whereas these kinds of topics are usually avoided in conversations in the United States.

There are certainly many other different social customs between Americans and Chinese to which we should pay much attention in the study of the English language. Only those who have an awareness of the culture of another nation can have a better command of its language.