high and low context

Cross-cultural awareness

Direct and Indirect Communication Styles

Photo by Charles Deluvio

In many Eastern European countries, if you come to somebody's house and they offer you a cup of tea, it is considered impolite to accept immediately. You have to decline a couple of times, saying you don't want to bother the host, then eventually continue declining but with less emphasis, which means that you actually want a cup of tea. For a German who asks one time and expects to...