中西时间观念的对比分析.ppt

Americans believe time is a limited resource, they try to conserve and manage it. People do all they can to squeeze more life out of their time. American lifestyles show how much people respect the time of others. When people plan an event, they often set the time days or weeks in advance. Once the time is fixed, it takes almost an emergency to change it. If people want to come to your house for a friendly visit, they will usually call first to make sure it is convenient. To outsiders, Americans seem tied to the clock. People in other cultures value relationships more than schedules. In these societies, people dont try to control time, but to experience it. Chinese, for example, view time as a cycle. They find it easier to go with the flow than Americans, who like plans to be fixed and unchangeable. Chinese sense of time abundance The Chinese nation’s concept of time is rooted in the culture of farming time; time has a close relation with the nature. Time is really fleeting, but it also circle like the constantly changing of four seasons, and the sun and the moon cycle alternately, it will come back soon; so people usually think that the lost time could be back. This kind of view of time shaped people a sense that time is rich, and also nurtured a habit of leisure and slow living habit. Cases Time for Chinese is more flexible and more human-centered. They usually schedule several activities at the same time They usually put interpersonal relations above the schedule The big shot usually is late American future orientation the westerners (especially the Americans) were influenced by the Christian “original sin”, tending to believe “men at their birth, are naturally evil. So most of them choose the futuristic time orientation. Such as: A.“跟上时代”(keeping up with the time) B.“关注未来”(keeping an eye on the future) as the action guidance. C. It was widely believed that equality in opportunities for everybody, insignific