WhenformerAmericanPresidentBillClintontraveledtoSouthKoreatovisitPresidentKimYoungSam,herepeatedlyreferredtotheKoreanpresident’swifeasMrs.Kim.Bymistake,PresidentClinton’sadvisersthoughtthatKoreanshavethesamenamingcustomsastheJapanese.Clintonhadnotbeentoldthat,inKorea,wiveskeeptheirfamilynames.PresidentKimYoungSam’swifewasnamedSohmMyongSuk.Therefore,sheshouldbeaddressed(称谓)asMrs.Sohm.
PresidentClintonarrivedinKoreadirectlyafterleavingJapanandhadnotchangedhisculturegears.HisfailuretofollowKoreancustomsgavetheimpressionthatKoreawasnotasimportanttohimasJapan.
InadditiontoKoreanssomeAsianhusbandsandwivesdonotsharethesamefamilynames.ThispracticeoftenpuzzlesEnglish-speakingteacherswhentalkingwithapupil’sparents.Theybecomepuzzledaboutthestudent’scorrectlastname.PlacingthefamilynamefirstiscommonamonganumberofAsiancultures.
Mexicannamingcustomsaredifferentaswell.Whenawomanmarries,shekeepsherfamilynameandaddsherhusband’snameaftertheword“de”,whichmeans“of”.ThisaffectshowtheyfillinformsintheUnitedStates.Whenrequestedtofillinamiddlename,theygenerallywritethefather’sfamilyname.ButMexicansareaddressedbythefamilynameofthemother.Thisoftencausespuzzlement.
Hereareafewwaystodealwithsuchdifficultsituations:don’talwaysthinkthatamarriedwomanusesherhusband’slastname.RememberthatinmanyAsiancultures,theorderoffirstandlastnamesisreversed(颠倒).Askwhichnameapersonwouldprefertouse.Ifthenameisdifficulttopronounce,admitit,andaskthepersontohelpyousayitcorrectly.
小题1:ThestoryofBillClintonisusedto_____.