SPECIFIC FEATURES OF COMMUNICATION WITH AMERICANS AND ENGLISH

Many Russians dream of visiting the USA and the United Kingdom. It is entertaining to understand how people live on the other side of the world, get acquainted with their life, culture, mentality. Fortunately, now almost everyone speaks English, which erases the edges in the language barrier. But, having arrived in the country as a tourists, many people experience some discomfort when communicating. Nothing surprising. Americans are very different from us. And in order for a trip to this beautiful country to be comfortable, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the peculiarities of communication with Americans.

It is difficult to judge the national character of a typical American — America is a country of emigrants. For example, people from African countries behave completely differently than Chinese or Arabs. But still, there are general rules of behavior and some common features of people who have been living in the USA for a long time. We chose the most important things:

1. Losers are not respected and recognized here. The cult of leadership qualities, assertiveness, and the ability to defend their opinions has been built in the citizens of the country since childhood. Of course, Americans cannot be called soulless or indifferent. But no one will listen to your pitiful stories about your difficulties in life and unfair treatment. Communication with you will simply be interrupted. Americans are cheerful and confident. And they will never pretend that something is wrong in their life.

2. The peculiarity of Americans is individualism and respect for individual rights. Everyone decides for himself which books to read, what to watch, where to go and go. Everyone lives according to their plans, according to their views. Here no one does anything "for the company", as we do. Here it is customary to speak "on equal terms" with other people. Therefore, prim, obsequious or ingratiating manners are not welcome.

3. Attitude to time. The indigenous people of the country value time very much. Therefore, it is necessary to agree on any meetings, any events at least a week in advance. For the same reason, they do not come unexpectedly to visit. And they are very negative about being late for an appointment.

4. Competition and rivalry are the lifestyle of those striving to realize themselves. Americans are always in competition with others. They strive to be successful at work, successful in their personal life. And although they strive to do this in all countries, but in the USA it is done openly. They always rely only on themselves.

The very nature of British jokes is based on the synthesis of the imperturbability of the narrative and the emphasis on small insignificant details against the background of the general absurdity of the situation. It is these features that have gained fame for English humor, which is practically not called anything but subtle. It is quite rare that not the British understand such humor the first time. He is quite dry, sarcastic, sometimes gloomy and even creepy. As a rule, jokes are not very emotional, therefore, the essence is hidden deep. However, humor has helped the rest of the world to better understand the British and get to know them better. The British do not know any barriers in humor. They are able to laugh at anything that can only cause a smile. Politics, government, relatives, weather and of course the royal family are some of the most common topics of English jokes. A distinctive feature of the humor of the inhabitants of foggy Albion is self-irony. The British always laugh at themselves: at their personal qualities, appearance, character, and at national peculiarities, such as excessive slowness, politeness, equanimity or isolation. It is not customary to take offense at a joke in English-speaking countries, it is better to respond with a joke too. After all, for the British, the ability to laugh at themselves is considered a virtue. And the reaction of a foreigner to humor is a kind of test and an opportunity for further cooperation. If the British like to laugh at themselves, then everyone around them will have the same fate – to be ridiculed. Everything becomes an object of irony: the weather, political events, the barking of a neighbor's dog.

A characteristic feature of British humor is that the British joke about absolutely everything. No topic is taboo for them. There are following features in humour:

• The elephant jokes are so–called "elephant" jokes, which include especially stupid stories.

• Dry sense of humor – "dry sense of humor" or sarcasm and irony. The ultimate aerobatics of humor is sarcasm, sometimes balancing on the verge of cynicism.

• Shaggy-dog stories are stories whose comicality lies in the illogicality of what is said.

• To sum up, we want say that you could find special features in any country, and for the USA it is necessary to show your energy, your optimism and your success in life to integrate into American society. As for the United Kingdom, we can say that despite the fact that British humor is very difficult to understand, immersion in British culture (watching movies, reading books) will help in a short time to begin to understand it and even joke using the characteristic features of native Britons.

References:

1. Rich Hopkins. Go Ahead & Laugh: A Serious Guide to Speaking With Humor (Volume 1). – М.: , 2012. – 156 с.
2. Roger Sabin. Comics, Comix and Graphic Novels: A History of Comic Art. – М.: , 2001. – 240 с.