The Confucius Institute at Yeditepe University in Turkey held an online lecture, "Intercultural Communication with the Chinese"
On April 5, 2022, the Confucius Institute at Yeditepe University held an online zoom lecture called "Intercultural Exchange with Chinese." The study was given by Zu Xiaomei, a professor at Nankai University. More than 20 people, including Ebru Ilter Acarcay, Turkish Director of the Confucius Institute at Yeditepe University, Zhang Huijing, the Chinese Director, Li Weili, the Deputy Director, and teachers and students from our school and other schools attended the lecture.
First of all, Professor Zu Xiaomei took his own experience as the starting point and pointed out that understanding a country's cultural values is the basis for good intercultural communication.
Afterward, Professor Zu Xiaomei explained the meaning and characteristics of "culture." She used vivid daily life examples, ancient Chinese sayings, and traditional Chinese stories to help students understand the abstract Chinese cultural values and the differences between Chinese and foreign cultural values. Based on the differences in cultural values between China and foreign countries, Professor Zu Xiaomei proposed intercultural communication with Chinese people from six aspects, including "meet and greet," "gift-giving," "eye contact and body contact," and "response to compliments."
Finally, in the free question and answer session, Professor Zu Xiaomei and the students discussed the changes in the cultural values of the new generation of young people in China and Turkey.
At the end of the lecture, Li Weili, Deputy Director of the Confucius Institute at Yeditepe University, pointed out that students often do not understand certain behaviors and practices of Chinese people due to cultural differences between China and Turkey; this lecture analyzes the differences between Chinese and foreign cultural values to help students better understand Chinese culture, to conduct good intercultural communication.