ESL Blogs

  Hello guys, as promised on my post "Catchy Blog Titles", from now on, I start the first of my up and coming  blogs,which the early topic is all about an overall view of the English behaviour for non-natives. It's intended to be like a brief guide, not a comprehensive one. So, I hope you get  to know a bit more about the acceptable behaviour in the English lands, whether you go there or not. As usual, corrections, suggestions and critics are welcomed, in order to enhance my blog writing more and more. So, feel at ease to do that for me! Thanks indeed!

 Are you being a polite enough fellow?

  First of all, I have to say to you English are a reserved people by nature, both manners, speech and dress. So, if you plan one day to travel to the English territory remember to take into  consideration and accept that willingly, since, it's an oustanding caractheristic of them. Most of English are known worldwide by 3 key words: politeness, self-discipline and their sense of humour.

  Talking about greeting traditions I can say in England they are full of do's and dont's. Sometimes they can even sum up greetings to a simple "Hi", "Hello" or "Good Morning", for instance, when arriving at work or school.

  The most usual way of greeting there, it's a handshake. But, it just occurs when you're introduced to a person for the first time. If you are introduced to someone earlier, don't hope that same person to remember readily your name later on. Be always ready to reintroduce yourself. In goodbyes, English hardly never skake hands. Informally, you can notice peeks on the cheeks only between a man and a woman or two women that are friends and don't meet themselves for a long time. Generally one peck is seen.

  In the bussiness world a lower rank person is introduced to a higher rank person  as well as a young is introduced to a older person and a man is introduced to a woman.

  "How do you do?" is a formal greeting and should be answered with "How do you do?" too, whilst shaking hands with somebody you meet first. Other formal greetings are: "How are you?" which should be replied in the following way: "I'm fine, thank you! And you?", "Pleased to meet you", answered "Pleased to meet you too", "Delighted to meet you", answered "Delighted to meet you too", "Glad to meet you", answered the same with "too" at the end. "Good Morning", "Good Afternoon" and "Good Evening" take part of the formal greeting vocabulary when it comes to wish somebody has pleasurable moments during periods of the day.

  In the informal greetings we have expressions like: "Hi", "Hello", "Morning", "Afternoon", "Evening"(=all these to say "Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening), "How's you?" (= how are you?), "Fine thanks. You?", "Thanks" (= Thank you) and "Cheers".

  Useful link about the topic: http://www.learnenglish.de/basics/greetings.html