And what about speaking?

Right, well people from "open" cultures are more likely to interrupt or speak at the same time as the other person. In "closed" cultures, one person starts speaking only when the other has stopped. In a place like Japan, people never interrupt each other. They also wait for a while before speaking, so there is more silence.

Finally, what about manners. What differences are there?

Well, Japanese and British people might seem more polite than Americans and people from Latin cultures. British people usually use "please", "thank you" and "I'm sorry" more often. In Britain, it is very important to say "please" and "thank you", even for the smallest things. If you don't, it sounds very rude. In other cultures, like Latin cultures, to say "please" and "thank you" all the time sounds a bit false.

I see. Well, thank you very much Dr Groot. That was fascinating. I'm afraid we'll have to stop there. Tomorrow we'll be...

Exercise 4 Listen and match the pictures with the dialogues.

dialogue 1(formal)

Excuse me? Could you pas the lemon and salt, please?

Yes, certainly. Thank you. You're welcome.