Spoken discourse: English versus Chinese

We learnt that there are differences between English and Chinese narratives. They are in line with the Chinese focus on the community rather than the individual in contrast to Western society. With such a belief, the Chinese prefer to blend in instead of stand out. Also, they tend not to make direct statements to avoid sounding offensive. These are reflected in their narratives with English narratives placing a greater emphasis on the characters and the Chinese, i.e. giving names to individual characters in the story. Another is the English narratives making more direct statements than the Chinese ones.

Here's a memorable quote from the movie 'Miss Congeniality' which I feel highlights the importance of cross-cultural understanding in spoken discourse.

Gracie Hart: In Hawaii don't they use aloha for hello and goodbye?
Miss Hawaii: Yeah, so?
Gracie Hart: So if you're on the phone with somebody and they won't stop talking and you say, ok take care, aloha, don't they just start over again?