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G l o b a l I n t e l l i g e n c e
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Understanding the Chinese
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Greetings!
This is the newest edition of our monthly newsletter for cross-cultural business.
This month's focus: China and the Chinese!
In this and future editions you'll find articles and links to help you improve international work, manage multicultural people effectively, and hit your protocol targets. We source our articles from experts in the cross-cultural field.
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Virtual Communication
with the Chinese
Jian Li, Ph.D.
Communication with the Chinese is becoming increasingly important as the two countries are brought closer by trade, immigration and increasing globalization. Today, China is the third largest trading partner of the U.S.
To many people, the term "inscrutable Chinese" still rings true. Chinese don't seem to respond to our questions promptly as we would expect them to. Learning some Chinese cultural values will help us to understand reasons behind
different communication styles.
to read more, go to:
Virtual Communication With the Chinese
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Translating Chinese Names
Jian Li, Ph.D.
If you see the name "Zhang Li" in a letter or email, how do you tell which part is the first name or last name? How do you tell if the person is a male or female? How should you address the person when writing back?
I still have trouble in discerning first and last names or the gender of a person when I see a name like "Zhang Li" in a letter or email although I'm fully bilingual in Chinese and English. Traditionally, Chinese names are family names (surnames) first, given names second, signifying the importance of the family. In most cases, Chinese surnames
are made of one syllable, that is, one Chinese character, such as Wang, Chen, Zhang, Li, etc. Less than one percent of the Chinese you encounter will have their family names with two characters. Most given names, on the other hand, are two syllables long. If I see a name, Zhang Lihua, it is safe to assume that Zhang is the family name, while Lihua is a given name. However, I won't be able to tell with much confidence if I see a name like "Zhang Li" in a letter or email. I would guess Zhang was the family name if the person wrote me from China, but I would assume Li was the family name if the person wrote me was a Chinese American. I would also be very cautious about these "assumptions", which may or may not turn out to be true. To play safe, I would write back "Dear Zhang Li" as it is presented.
When I am speaking Chinese, the surname invariably comes first. For example, I sign my name as "Jian" in my email communications with
friends whether they are Americans or Chinese. Most of them would address me as "Jian" in responding to my emails. However, I would introduce myself as "Li Jian" when we meet and most of them would call me "Li Jian" in Chinese. When a Chinese person who wants to show deference to me, he or she would call me either "Li Xiaojie" (Ms. Li) or "Li Laoshi" (Teacher Li) even if he or she has never been my student.
In business situations, it is more important for you to know the titles and the last names of your Chinese counterpart than their given names. Chinese people seldom address each other by their given names on formal occasions. Even good friends are likely to call each other by his or her complete name than just given name. If you know someone's title and last name, it is preferred to address the person by the title and the surname, such as "Director Li". If the person is a deputy director, you should still address the person as
"Director Li". In general, Chinese tend to drop "deputy" and pay respect to the person by "elevating" his or her social status.
How one addresses another is seen in most cultures as a key indicator of the levels of respect one wishes to accord. Learning the proper way of addressing people is even more important in China since it is a very status conscious society
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