http://www.englishforums.com/search/pro.htm?q=tag%3aIdioms+tag%3aUsing+EnglishSearch results for 'tag:Idioms tag:Using English' matching tags 'Idioms' and 'Using English'en-USCSMOD (Build: 3273.32735)http://www.englishforums.com/English/AddressEmailsLetters/3/hvzpq/Post.htm#606015Mon, 19 Jan 2004 10:02:11 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:606015usenet nq 2 As I said in my earlier reply politeness doesn t cost to modern idiom of everybody using first names for everything nq nq 1 When did this start in Britain In some older books I noticed that people address each other even friends by their last name nq This indicates how you shouldn t rely on old books or old style guides in using English Fashions and usages can change remarkably quickly I m just about old enough to remember when schoolboys would address each other by their surnames but that seems to have long gone now I wonder if primary school children even know each others surnames now Whenever I ve been inside primary schools recently material displayed in the classrooms seems only to use first names I m still put on edge by people who address me by my first name in a business or professional context but that s becoming increasingly the norm now It s meant to be more friendly but my reaction is always here s someone tying to create a false sense of friendship that doesn t yet exist probably because he wants to get something out of me Usage here however is changing so fast that there are plenty of contexts where just ten and certainly twenty years ago use of title and surname would have been absolutely standard but now appears stilted or over formal In my work as a university lecturer I find many students address me from the start by my first name which would never have happened when I was a student In general I find it s stuydents who have come through the British school system who do this while students from other countries tend to be more formal I think there s a good reason to keep a certain formality between student and lecturers particularly since I will need to sit in judgement on them and award them marks or possibly fail them but other members of staff seem to encourage this informality and think it helps create a friendly atmosphere It seems that German society has maintained a formality in addressing each other that British society has lost Maybe it s to do with your having a language which maintains a polite and informal second person or maybe it s something particularly German The over use of titles by Germans e g the use of her husband s title when addressing a woman has sometimes been thought humorous by Brits even in those days when we were more formal about titles ourselves My advice is that you keep on doing what makes you feel comfortable But since your English is so good you might want to drop something into your written communication that reminds people you are German Then people will think not Oh isn t this person being so stiff and formal but Oh he s German and they tend to be a little more formal than us nq 2 In much the same way Mr is a polite salutation included her correct title Mrs in brackets after her signature nq nq 1 Isn t this sometimes necessary to give the other person the opportunity to use the appropriate form It s often difficult to guess from the name whether someone is male or female especially with foreign names I ve been addressed more than once as Mrs or Ms nq Yes I deal with admissions for my university department and many of my students are of non European origin I still maintain the formality I note that quite a lot of university staff don t of replying to students when writing by title and surname but I get a great many communications which are just unfamiliar Asian first name plus surname so I have no idea which title to use Matthew Huntbachhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/PemmicanAndMike/bgnn/post.htm#6881Thu, 04 Sep 2003 02:12:47 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:6881mike in japanI came to Japan two years ago I was asked by an acquaintance to come and manage his English school but between having been asked to come and actually coming my acquaintance and his partner had a terrible row and closed their school I had already made all the necessary preparations to come I had sold virtually everything I owned found people to take over my business clients etc etc so there was no turning back in my mind The acquaintance and I started a small new school After eighteen months or so it became clear to me that my new partner was not putting any effort whatsoever into that school so I bought him out renamed the school Mike s and relocated it to much larger premises By Japanese standards the new premises are quite large I m growing the school slowly but steadily All Japanese must learn English during their six years at junior and senior high school Unfortunately for them they have so little exposure to English in day to day life that very very few ever develop their Engrishu to a useable level however most remember quite a lot of grammar As a result my job is primarily to coax them into losing their fear of using English You see when using the Japanese language it is extremele important to use the correct honourifics so that the listener will not be offended by any percieved lack of respect Everyone is conscious of social status This attitude causes them to be quite if not extremely fearful of making mistakes lest they offend I should also mention that in addition to Japanese born students I also have students from Mongolia Korea China and Brazil I often think that I probably learn as much about their cultures as they learn about using Engrishu To sum up I reckon that as a teacher I have it pretty easy because the emphasis here is not on grammar so much as it is on pronunciation vocab and idioms and also on encouraging my students to immerse themselves in the English language Students are also very polite courteous and very thoughtful and kind It s quite enjoyable Wow I could write so much more but I m sure it would be more interesting for everyone to hear more information from others