Differences in methods of communication between people from different countries are a reason for a majority of conflicts and miscommunication among nations around the world. An awareness of some traditions and specifics of communication of different nations can help to avoid the problems. For example, as an international student from Ukraine in The US, I noticed several differences in the cultural customs between The US and Ukraine. The most striking differences between the way people communicate in Ukraine and the way people communicate in The US are how they interact in public and how they manage their time. The reason is in contrast to The US Ukraine has a collectivistic society with polychronic time orientation.
One of the biggest distinctive characteristics of the method of
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In addition, Ukrainians express their emotions loudly and with active gesticulation, when American people try not to raise voice at each other. Sometimes the behavior of Ukrainian people causes resentment among Americans. Ukrainians as other Slavic nations are used to speak close to each other. It is the usual behavior for them to touch each other during the conversation; they believe it helps to forge a bond of trust between communicators. The traditional way of communication of the Eastern nations may even offend the representatives of the Western culture, where it is assumed to keep their distance in the conversation. However, In Ukraine there is such a common notion that “my space is your space”. In other words it is a demonstration of sympathy and friendly manner. Moreover, Ukrainians consider each other as brothers and sisters and they share everything with each other. There are several reasons of such behavior. The first one is based on that Ukraine is the Christian orthodox country and according to New Testament Gospel of John 17:10 “All I