Language/Afrikaans/Culture/Cultural-Etiquette
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South Africa: Cultural Etiquette
Cultural Etiquette South Africa has a mixture of many different ethnic groups, therefore no truly generalized rules can be made.
- Urban dwellers tend to be more direct than those living in rural areas.
- Handshakes are considered an appropriate greeting between members of the same sex. • Men and women also greet each other with a handshake.
- Women usually initiate the handshake first.
- Instead of arguing with strangers, Afrikaners either ignore the situation or give ambiguous answers/replies.
- People usually stand close to one another during a conversation.
- People tend to touch arms, shoulders, and hands to emphasize verbal language.
- Direct eye contact is normal although is refrained from when talking to elders as it is seen as disrespectful.
With the completion of this lesson, consider investigating these related pages: Where is it spoken, Why Use Proverbs in Afrikaans Conversations, Etiquette and Social Customs & History.
Source[edit | edit source]
- http://www.ritell.org/resources/documents/language%20project/afrikaans.pdf
- www.culturecrossing.com
- http://www.as-found.net/exhibitions/handshake-party/
Other Lessons[edit | edit source]
- Why Use Proverbs in Afrikaans Conversations
- Where is it spoken
- The Difference Between Proverbs and Idioms
- History