CHINESE

ENGLISH
GROUP 3
 ALPHABET
• Chinese does not have an alphabet but uses a logographic
system for its written language.

• In logographic systems symbols represent the words themselves

LEXICAL
Add oil

Paper Tiger

Lose Face
 PHONOLOGY
• Stress and intonation patterns are different

• Chinese is a tone language

• Faulty pronunciation of words

• Difficult to hear the difference between l and r

• Common final consonant in English

 GRAMMAR - VERB/TENSE

• An uninflected language and conveys meaning through

word order, adverbials or shared understanding of the
context.
 1. W h a t d o y o u d o ? ( i . e . W h a t a r e y o u d o i n g ? )
(wrong tense)
2. I w i l l c a l l y o u a s s o o n a s I w i l l g e t t h e r e .

Some typical (wrong tense)

3. S h e h a s g o t m a r r i e d l a s t S a t u r d a y . ( w r o n g

verb/tense tense)
4. S h e g o o d t e a c h e r . ( m i s s i n g c o p u l a )

mistakes:
5. H o w m u c h y o u p a y f o r y o u r c a r ? ( m i s s i n g
auxiliary)
6. I wish I am rich. (indicative instead of
subjunctive)
 WORD ORDER

- In Chinese, for example, questions are conveyed by intonation; the subject and verb
are not inverted as in English.

When you are going home?

English is a very hard to learn language.
Next week I will return to China.
 VOCABULARY
·      English has a number of short verbs that combine with
particles to form phrasal verbs.

take on, give in, make do with, look up to

 C U LT U R A L N U A N C E S
C H I N A OTHER COUNTRIES
SELF SELF
   
THE CHINESE LOOK MORE AT THE GROUP COLLECTIVE THAN AT AMERICA HAS BECOME KNOWN FOR ITS PUSH OF INDIVIDUALISM
INDIVIDUALISM. A PERSON FROM CHINA IS MORE PRONE TO LOOK WHICH HAS BEEN A SOURCE OF CONFLICT WITH OTHER
AT HOW THEIR ACTS AFFECT THE WHOLE INSTEAD OF HOW IT CULTURES THAT LOOK COLLECTIVELY.
AFFECTS THEM PERSONALLY.

TIME SENSITIVITY TIME SENSITIVITY

THE CHINESE DO NOT VIEW TIME AS AN ABSOLUTE BUT IF THE MEETING WAS TO COMMENCE AT 2:00, THEN ALL
MORE AS A SUGGESTION. CONCERN IS NOT EXPRESSED FOR A PARTIES ARE TO BE PRESENT AT THAT TIME.
MEETING STARTING LATE OR ENDING AT A DIFFERENT TIME
 C U LT U R A L N U A N C E S
C H I N A OTHER COUNTRIES
RESPECT RESPECT

CHINESE ELDERS ARE TREATED WITH RESPECT AND WHILE AMERICAN ELDERS ARE JUST ANOTHER MEMBER OF
DIGNITY (AS ARE CHILDREN), THE FAMILY AND ARE NOT PLACED ON AS HIGH OF A PEDESTAL

COMMUNICATION STYLES
  COMMUNICATION STYLES
THE CHINESE PREFER TO BE POLITE AND COURTEOUS, SHOWING  
DEFERENCE TO THEIR BUSINESS CONTACTS AND RESPECTING THEM. AMERICANS ARE VERY DIRECT
THEY CHOOSE THE INDIRECT PATH TO NEGOTIATIONS. IF YOU SHOW IN THEIR COMMUNICATION STYLES. THEY TEND TO BE
THEM THIS RESPECT AND POLITENESS, THEY WILL MATCH IT AND BLUNT, PERSUASIVE, AND HIGHLY AGGRESSIVE
YOU WILL FIND IT EASIER TO NEGOTIATE YOUR WAY TO A MIDDLE WHEN THEY ARE PURSUING A BUSINESS DEAL. THEY WANT
GROUND WHERE EVERYONE IS SATISFIED. TO HAVE THE UPPER HAND IN
EVERY NEGOTIATION
N O N V E R B A L C O M M U N I C AT I O N

GESTURES

PHYSICAL TOUCH
PERSONAL SPACE
T H A N K Y O U