In Business English, Is it normal to address a client as "Mr." Or "Ms" if you don't know their last name? Should you only use it to address a teacher or universitiy professor?
And I also wanted to ask how common is using "sir" and "madam" or is it sort of old school?
I've always read on Reddit that Americans tend to dress very casually (or even sloppy) outside of work compared to Europeans like the French, Italian, or Spanish. However, have you found that some Europeans like the Scandinavian to be more similar to American for how they generally dress? For example in Sweden, the "normal clothes" for them are always jeans and t shirt with a sweather/hoodie layered on top. If it's cold, then a functional jacket and gloves. Even Button-down shirts are often considered unnecessarily formal outside of work. What do you think?
Hi! I’m hoping to get some insight on a genealogy discrepancy. I was born and raised in Thailand and my family tree is fairly well documented.
My maternal grandmother had a French-Canadian grandfather (he was part of North American trader/missionary group that came to Thailand in the late 19th century) and a non-Chinese Thai grandmother, making her technically 25% European. Naturally, I expected to see French/British Isles markers in my DNA.
However, my recent 23andMe results show roughly 7.5–8.5% Spanish/Portuguese, and 0% French.
I also know the rest of my family history, three of my grandparents are of Chinese/Vietnamese (Hainan) descent, and my other maternal great-grandparents were Thai. Given the history of European travel in this region during the 16th-19th century, could this be a case of misattributed ancestry, or is there a reason French-Canadian DNA might be read as Iberian/Spanish-Portuguese by testing companies?
How do locals react to someone who is totally different looking to most people? I’m 174-175cm (5'9" in the US/Canada?) from a country in SEA. I never got any issue in my home country because the average height for a young man here is roughly 5'7"-5'8".
However, for Gatineau I read young (French-Canadian) men there is about 187cm (6'2') tall on average, except you are of Irish or Jewish descent from Ottawa.
I’m sure it’s different region by region but how do locals see foreigners and people who look is completely different to them?
I saw all those historical pictures of average Thai people (both nobels/aristocrats and commoners) that captured by Western photographers in Thailand (or Siam back then) back in 1850s-1950s. I noticed that most Thai generally looked more like your average Southeast Asian (like from non-Chinese Indonesians) than today that seem to look more like Chinese/East Asian or like they are mixed with the Chinese/East Asian..
In much of European countries, there is considerable debate regarding immigrants from the Middle East and their ability to integrate into host society. Such as Sweden, Denmark, or Germany, it feels like even if someone has held citizenship for 3–4 generations, they are still often viewed as "Turk/Syrian/Arab" rather than 'ethnic' Swedish, Danish, or Dutch to the local society. In contrast, it seems like in the US, once someone becomes a citizen and pledges allegiance, they are accepted as "American" by both the government and society at large.
Why is this the case? Sure, no where is perfect, but this is what I noticed.
I’ve been comparing the regional dynamics of Thailand to the history of France, and I’m curious if anyone else sees the parallel.
In France, you have historically distinct regions like the Basque country, Brittany, or the Occitan in the south that were culturally and linguistically very different from the central Parisian core. Yet, through centuries of extreme centralization, these regions were integrated into a unified French national identity.
It feels like Thailand also follows a similar trajectory like the South Shows deep cultural and historical ties to the Malay-Indonesian sphere. The North/Northeast has strong linguistic and cultural roots connected to the Tai-Lao, Khmer, and Southern Chinese spheres. Bangkok serves as the "Paris" the seat of the centralized power that defines the modern national identity.
Despite the fact that these regions are as culturally distinct from one another as a Breton is from a Provençal in France, Thailand maintains a very centralized administration out of Bangkok that promotes a singular "Thainess."
Do you think Thailand’s approach to national unity is essentially a "French-style" centralization of diverse regional cultures? Or are the regional identities in Thailand fundamentally too different to be compared to the French model?
I read that outside the US (or English-speaking Canada), France is the secord largest exporter of Rap or Hiphop music in the world and probably the largest in Europe.
Rap is also the most famous music genre among young people in France meanwhile even Rap is originated in the US, the most famous music genre among young Americans are still Pop with Rap/Hiphop being the second or third.
In much of European countries, there is considerable debate regarding immigrants from Turkey and their ability to integrate into host society. Such as Sweden, Germany, or the Netherlands, it feels like even if someone has held citizenship for 3–4 generations, they are still often viewed as "Turk" rather than 'ethnic' Swedish, German, or Dutch to the local society. In contrast, it seems like in America, once someone becomes a citizen and pledges allegiance, they are accepted as "American" by both the government and society at large.
It also seems that people with Turkish origin tend to be very educated and apart from their surname, their children tend to be no different to their fellow Americans.
Why is this the case? Sure, no where is perfect, but this is what I noticed.
I’ve read that most French-Canadians, such as the Quebecois and Acadians, are still descended from 17th century French settlers unlike their Anglo-Canadian counterparts who are more mixed with other Europeans (not just the British or Irish). However, whenever I’ve met people from France, they seem to have more Mediterranean or Southern European features, think about the (stereotypical) Spanish, Portuguese, or Italians whereas French-Canadians look more like people from the British Isles (I have met several people from Quebec with red hair and very fair skin like the stereotypical Irish/Scottish).
Of course, I am genuinely curious about the historical migration patterns and potential genetic drift here not trying to generalize everyone's appearance.
Of course, It's a huge stereotype and generalization, but directeness is relative. Compared to the average Japanese person, that is probably very true.
But have you found other countries to be similar? For exampke, at work if a Thai boss doesn't like your idea or action they might simply say "I don't think that's a good idea" (พี่ไม่คิดว่า นี่เป็นความคิดที่ดีเลย) or "Just do it like that!" (เอ็งก็ทำแบบนั้นดิ!) without intending to be offensive. Whereas native English speakers (esp. the British) tend to use modal verbs to be polite, saying thing like "That's a very interesting idea, but I don't think it's a good fit for this" or "I see that you very billiant idea, but it's not quite right for this project." Or in friendly setting, many Thai people might say "Are you fatter/thinner?" (คุณอ้วน/ผอมขึ้นเปล่าเนี่ย?) or "you look too thin/fat" (พี่ว่า เราผอม/อ้วนไป) to your face as a friendly banter.
Of course, It's a huge stereotype and generalization, but directeness is relative. Compared to the average Japanese person, that is probably very true.
But have you found other countries to be similar? For exampke, at work if a Thai boss doesn't like your idea or action they might simply say "I don't think that's a good idea" or "Just do it like that!" without intending to be offensive. Whereas native English speakers (esp. the British) tend to use modal verbs to be polite, saying thing like "That's a very interesting idea, but I don't think it's a good fit for this" or "I see that you very billiant idea, but it's not quite right for this project." Or in friendly setting, many Thai people might say "you look fatter/thinner" or "you look too thin" to your face as a friendly banter.