A Comparative Study on Chinese and Indonesian Greeting Culture in Multicultural Society

摘要

Greetings is one of the most important part in starting a communication. When meeting someone, we tend to do an interactive activity such as saying or doing something as an act to establish a good social relationship. If not, communication activities are difficult to begin or cannot be carried out smoothly. In Mandarin and Indonesian, there are several terms used in greeting. Both China and Indonesia have its own culture of greeting which includes some daily expressions, and it is appropriate for both those who already know each other and those who have just met. However, in Mandarin and Indonesian have different terms, language styles and habits used in greeting. By using comparative study method, this article is expected to be able to help learners of Mandarin, especially in Indonesia, understands these cultural differences so that they can apply it to everyday conversation with both Chinese and Indonesian.