Friday, February 10, 2006

When is it?

If you got message, "Let's meet in the evening," what time do you think it is? According to LONGMAN ADVANCED AMERICAN DICTIONARY, the word "evening" means the late part of the day between about 6:00 and the time when most people go to bed. However, most Japanese think that evening is between about 4:00pm and 6:00pm, and after 7:00pm is the night. Also, the idea about the morning is different. In Japan, morning is about 6:00am through 8:00am, then the day is going to be before noon. Therefore, if Japanese people got message, "let's meet in the morning," they would be surprised. This is only one example of cultural gaps. If foreigners are puzzled to react, it often means that they have troubles caused by a different idea not from English itself.

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