Лучшие эссе студентов МАХУ – победителей международного конкурса (для параллельного чтения на двух языках)
an island made the English look somewhat reserved and inhibited. Those who cannot escape from others physically, do that mentally and having everything conveniently located at hand, people have enough time to speak clearly and slowly. However, there are historical parallels, such as the development of the West by the Americans, Siberia by the Russians, as well as building the Empire by the British, determining their self-identification and attitude to other nations, which has a direct impact on Intercultural Communication.
Naturally, the common roots and the unity of the language establish the proximity of the British and Americans, but the differences between them, resulting from different historical destinies, are very significant and should be taken into account in the analysis of their Intercultural Communication. The Englishman D. Thomas admitted that when visiting America, he felt “the barrier of a common language”. Russian schools are supposed to teach British English as a foreign language, while youngsters receive examples of American English from the Net. As a result, despite the impeccable grammar and so much that is correct, there is so little that is right when Russian travellers try to trig a dialogue which proves that “doing as the Romans, when in Rome”, is impossible without basic knowledge of the local traditions, culture and Law.
English colloquial codes require an understanding of the differences in speech of social classes. All cultures have a social hierarchy, but class identification in England has nothing to do with money or occupation (contrary to Russia and America). Speech is all-important. A person with an upper-class accent, using upper-class terminology, will be recognized as upper class even if he or she is earning poverty-line wages, doing grubby menial work. Americans are inclined to call “correct” English the one used on TV. That seems to be a bit illogical as news reporters come from different parts of the United States and speak different dialects of American English. Meaning pronunciation, experts believe that it is unlikely that a non-native English speaker will get rid of an accent and for the English their social status will always be – an alien. So, Russian tourists happily keep practicing their Slavic [g] and [h] in every greeting in hope their accent will not frighten those who have a desire to communicate.
It may sound unexpected but strict grammar rules simplify communication making the English language very attractive to foreigners. For example, you can easily turn criticism into advice just choosing different infinitive forms. To promote better understanding English has done away with all that unnecessary fuss over nouns and adjectives: masculine, feminine and singular, plural… Another advantage of English is that it has a vast vocabulary since English has absorbed something from every language and culture with which it encountered throughout the history of its formation. One site gives 33 synonyms to “yes” (the Russian language dictionary contains 44 ones) and adds three more pages of words related to ‘yes’.
The right word at the right moment can make all the difference to a successful social encounter. Fortunately, there are two words in particular that will endear the visitor to Brits of all ranks and conditions. These most estimable of exclamations are “lovely” and “nice”, which can be approximately equal (in frequency of use) to American “really?” or “well”, while Russian tourists prefer “OK” (leaving the slang aside). All these words can express anything you want to put into them and emphasize it with your intonation: surprise, admiration, anger, approval, joy, grief, etc.
The English are not very ‘tactile’ or physically expressive. They perceive graceful gestures as a sign of theatricality (insincerity), femininity or a foreign origin. They rely on words, not given too much touching or gesticulating. Even handshakes used at business meetings worldwide lead to confusion. The “brash American” approach, “Hi, I’m Bill from Iowa,” particularly if accompanied by an outstretched hand and beaming smile, makes the English wince and cringe.
In American culture, in addition to its international function, a smile is a social sign of prosperity. The automatism of the American smile is so great that Hillary Clinton smiles at photographers even at Princess Diana’s funeral ceremony. Keep smiling is the motto of the American way of life: “whatever happens, smile.” At the same time, Americans find that at the initial stage of communication with strangers, Russian people are too sullen. “Russia scares me,” Muhammad Ali said, “people on buses look as serious as if they were going to have an electric chair.” Russian people may consider the constant American polite smile a manifestation of insincerity. That is why they do not smile in response to an accidental eye contact. Similarly, in England students are taught to keep face whatever happens, stay calm and not to make a fuss. The true Englishman faces doom and disaster with a stiff upper lip and does not bat an eyelid (the similar Russian proverb deals with a nose). “I get the impression,” said one frustrated American, “that at some fundamental level the English just don’t believe things could work properly, especially compared with America.” Americans expect good service and value for money – and if their expectations are not met, they get pissed off and sue somebody. English people mostly do not expect particularly good service or products, and when their pessimistic assumptions are confirmed, they say, “Huh! Typical!”
The English understatement is another trait that many foreigners find utterly bewildering (or, as the English would put it, ‘a bit confusing’). “I don’t get it,” said one exasperated tourist. ‘How the hell are you supposed to know when “not bad” means “absolutely brilliant” and when it just means “OK”?’ English humour (in comparison with American or Russian) is not cross culturally funny. Its real “defining characteristic” is the value English people put on humour in social interactions. In other cultures, there is ‘a time and a place’ to laugh. In English conversation, there is always an undercurrent of humour. Although the English may not have a monopoly on irony, they are acutely sensitive to the distinction between ‘serious’ and ‘solemn’. The tiniest sign that a speaker may be overdoing the intensity will be spotted and picked up on immediately, with scornful cries of “Oh, come off it!” To take a deliberately extreme example, the kind of hand-on-heart solemnity favoured by almost all-American politicians would never win a single vote in England. The same goes for the gushy speeches of American actors at awards ceremonies, to which English television viewers across the country all respond with the same finger-down-throat “I’m going to be sick” gesture. Russians also have a very skeptical outlook on what is said by politicians independently from the way they speak, as people have been cheated a lot. Traditionally Russian public figures give clever interviews, but their body language leaves a lot to desire, especially, when compared with American politicians who know exactly what to do with their hands, feet and the rest of the body to look and sound convincing and believable.
Back in 1872 Charles Darwin wrote about the fact that all humans express basic emotions (fear, joy, surprise, anger, sadness and disgust…) the same way. It is known that gestures help to strengthen interaction with others and much more likely to convey the meaning of speech to the interlocutor. But gestures on the “foreign territory” may not coincide with what you are used to. For example, a wink to Russians is a sign that the speaker is joking whereas for Americans it could be a signal that everything is OK.
The visually focused demands of the 21st Century communication even gave birth to a pictographic script like Emoji. It is flexible, immediate, infuses tone beautifully and unites people all over the world. There are the same sets of Cream White, Moderate Brown and Black Emojis on the Net which makes them universally acceptable. The typical American “zip your lip” image is placed next to the more Russian sign “don’t talk” encouraging people to use either of them independently from their country tradition.
Although the location of people in space cannot stand in the way while writing, it has its cultural specificity worth mentioning. Being spatially-psychological, the American concept of privacy means a personal space with a radius of at least half a meter. One American student who studied in Russia complained that she could not buy anything in the store without someone jumping in front of her. It turned out that she always kept such a great distance that the other buyers did not realize she was also standing in that very line (or a queue as it is called in Britain). Ironically, but restrained Englishmen hold closer to each other during conversation than open-hearted Americans or Russians.
Thus, mastering the system of nonverbal communicative means is no less