Writing Emails to an International Audience
Some Useful Tips
和外国人通E-mail须知

        Email使国际间的交流变得方便快捷。人们可以用电子信件拉家常、联络感情， 可以用它来进行商务切磋交流，更可以用它来传递文件或音响图片。 但是人们从未太多地考虑不同文化背景的人对Email有不同的认识和使用习惯。随着工作和国际商务交流的增多，中国人不仅要和English native  speakers 打交道，同时也要和许许多多 non-native English speakers 书信往来。要真正变得 "email-savvy" (精通Email)，还得要研究一番各国文化习俗。

1. Ed or Edward? Sue or Suzanne? In general, most other peoples are more formal than Americans when it comes to names. It is often very confusing when, for instance, an American introduces himself as "Jack," but his business card clearly says "John." It is important to know that "Ed," "Sue" and "Jack" are nicknames or short forms frequently used in lieu of Edward, Suzanne and John. However, it is wise to address people as Mr. or Mrs. /Ms. /Miss so and so in your correspondence until you are perfectly sure the recipients are comfortable with their first names. Do not go on first name- or nickname- basis at the initial stage of the email correspondence.
美国人通常对名字的使用比较随便。他们常使用一些略称或昵称，比如把 Edward称为 Ed，把 Suzanne 称为Sue，或把 John称为 Jack。不过，在你还没有和某人完全熟识之前，最好还是称呼他/她为Mr. 或Mrs. /Ms. /Miss，别一开始就直呼别人的小名。

2. Some numbers and symbols are not always understood in other cultures. In addition to using RMB sign, also indicate that RMB stands for Reminbi, the Chinese currency on Mainland China.
有些数字和符号外国人是看不懂的，比如在使用RMB时，请指明它是 Reminbi--中国大陆流通货币--的缩写。

3. The British write 04-12-01 to mean December 4th, 2001; the same translates "April 12, 2001" in the U.S.  In much of Asia, it could mean December 1st, 2004. The ISO International standard is year, month, day. It would be helpful if only we substitute numbers for months with words (e.g. April, May and June), so it reads either December 4th, 2001 or 4th December, 2001.
英国人写日期的格式是日/月/年，美国人是月/日/年，而亚洲人则习惯于年/月/日。如果以单词来代替月份数字就不会造成误解了。

4. Avoid jargons/acronyms such as "PD" (i.e. Product design), "SOE" (i.e. State-owned Enterprises) and "HK" (i.e. Hong Kong). Many Chinese expressions such as "Three Good Students," "Gang of Four," "Before Liberation," "Self-Responsibility System," and "Spiritual Civilization" are not immediately understood and therefore would require some elaboration.
避免使用术语和缩写。同时，对于一些中国人常用的表示方法，例如"三好学生"、"四人帮"、"解放前"、"包干到户"、" 精神文明"等最好做适当的解释。
 
5. Always be mindful of time zones (in USA, for example, there are Western, Mountain, Central and Eastern Standard Times) when scheduling an appointment or a conference call in which foreigners are expected to participate. Better still, use the "9:00 a.m. my time, 8 p.m. your time" formula so that everyone is clear about the exact timing. Summer daylight saving time is often overlooked and should be accounted for to avoid confusion.
用email形式同外国人预定电话会议时要注意时区的概念，明确以谁所在的时区为准，夏天还要考虑到夏令时。

6. Idiomatic expressions can cause misunderstanding, not just among non-native English speakers or between native and non-nation speakers. A case in point, to Americans, "to table an issue" means to postpone or remove the discussion of the topic; to many English speakers influenced by the British English, it means to start discussing it because "the issue is now on the table." Whether to call it soccer or football really depends on your audience. Also, be careful with the statement "to bomb." In the U.S., it means "to fail", in Britain, it means "to succeed."
尽量少用含义不明确的俗语和习惯用法。写email也要照顾到英美之间的差异。
 
7. Salutations:
In Latin America, greeting a new acquaintance involves three names: a first, or "given" name, and a compound last name, comprising the father's name followed by the mother's name. Therefore, when writing to Carlos Barrios Rubio, you would properly refer to him as Mr. Barrios, not Mr. Rubio. 
不同国家有不同的称呼习惯。在拉丁美洲，有的国家习惯于把父姓与母姓连在一起，譬如墨西哥人Carlos Barrios Rubio，Carlos是小名， Barrios是父姓而Rubio是母姓。因此得称他Mr. Barrios。

In Brazil and Portugal, the formula is reversed: the father's name which comes last, should be used with a title, for example, Miss Kfouri, as in Carolina De Oliveira Kfouri (Here Oliveira is mother's name).
巴西和葡萄牙同样也用父母双姓，但是次序是母姓在前，父姓在后。

It is important to let your non-Asian friends know that in much of Asia, the first name is usually the last name, meaning the family name is placed first. Former President of Singapore Lee Kwan Yew, is not Mr. Yew, but rather Mr. Lee.
 亚洲国家则通常把姓放在最前面。西方人不一定了解这点。

For a Japanese teacher or professor, simply use the title "sensei." No names are necessary. Adults in Japan are politely addressed by adding the suffix "san" to their surname, e.g., Kizawa-san.
对于一个日本老师或教授，只须称呼sensei即可，不用加任何名字。称呼日本可以用 "姓氏＋san"。
  
Arabic names usually fall into the basic pattern of given name (i.e. first name), middle name (which is associated with a person's father), and surname. But there also may be titles to consider.  For example, in the name of King Fahd bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Fahd is his given name, his middle name "bin Abdul-Aziz" means "son of Abdul-Aziz," and Al Saud is the surname or family name. Traditionally most titled Arabs are addressed by their titles and given names, e.g., King Fahd. For those without titles, there is no general rule of address. One may use "Mr. + first name" formula or "Mr. + last name" formula.
阿拉伯人的名字通常是名在前姓在后，中间夹着父姓 (譬如bin Abdul-Aziz 意即Abdul-Aziz之子)。在称呼时用头衔加小名，或用Mr. 加名或Mr. 加姓。

In Malaysia, names have three units: a given name followed by Bin (for males) and Binti (for females); the father's given name comes last. Polite forms of address follow the given names; for men use Encik, for women Cik.
马来西亚对于男子的礼貌称呼是在名字后加Encik，对女子是在名字后加Cik。马来人只有小名没有姓氏 --取代姓氏的是某某人 (即父亲的小名)之子或之女。

In Thailand, people are addressed by their given names. Family names are long and are used mainly to denote family origin. The Thai word "Khun" is used as an honorific.
泰国人称呼人时使用名字而非姓氏，泰语Khun是用来表示尊敬的。

Try Monsieur, Madame and Mademoiselle (the French equivalent for Mr., Mrs. and Miss) when writing to French speakers.
对法国人，可以使用Monsieur, Madame 或 Mademoiselle (分别为先生、太太、小姐)。

Pakistanis have two names: a given name followed by a surname. The respectful form of address for a man is Sahab, which goes after the surname. The respectful form of address for a married woman is Begum, which goes before.
巴基斯坦人名居前姓居后。对男子的尊称是在姓后加Sahab，对已婚女子是在姓前加Begum。

The Italian for Mr., Mrs., and Miss are Signore, Signora and Signorina.
It is important to note that Signora applies to both married and unmarried women, unlike Mrs. in English which applies only to married women. A girl is addressed as Signorina. Also, the term Signore is almost always followed by the man's surname; it is used alone only by waiters or some other service people, and is comparable to Sir.
意大利对于Mr., Mrs.和 Miss 的说法是Signore, Signora 和 Signorina。
与Mrs.不同的是Signora既可以指已婚女子也可以指未婚女子，Signorina则用来指女孩。请留意Signore后面一定要加上男人的姓氏；若单独用Signore就有点像侍从小声称呼老板客人Sir。

8. Sexism may mean different things to different people. While it is safe to address a married woman as Mrs. Smith in the States, Smith being her husband's surname, it may constitute a sexist bias in Russia or some part of Asia where women do not automatically take their husband's name and often retain their own.
 不同的人对于性别歧视有不同的看法，在美国可以用已婚女子丈夫的姓来称呼她，但在俄罗斯和一些亚洲国家，妇女不从夫姓，硬把夫姓扯上会被认为是对妇女的歧视。

9. Keep it boring! Different countries use different software systems and many people have trouble reading rich-text, colored-screen formats. Quotation marks and apostrophes can come out looking strange. BLOCK CAPITALS ARE DIFFICULT TO READ, EVEN FOR NATIVE SPEAKERS.
 不要使用复杂的格式和色彩，有的软件系统可能不支持这些显示。有些符号会走样。尽量少用大写。

10. It is important to know that your correspondence in whatever form may be seen by or transmitted to others. A blind copy may well be forwarded.
 你的信件可能随时被他人传递，就连blind copy 也会被人公开传阅。所以写email送email都必须三思而后行。

11.  Check your spelling electronically or manually. Proof read  before you hit "send". Recently, A Chinese individual wrote to a British moving company saying, "I need to move Mr. Zhou's staff immediately." As it turned out, it was not Mr. Zhou's staff, it was Mr. Zhou's stuff that required moving.
 使用拼写检查功能以便修改差错，或在发送之前自己先过目一遍。有人把 "move Mr. Zhou's stuff" (搬运周先生的东西) 错写成"move Mr. Zhou's staff"  (把周先生身边的工作人员搬走)，一字之差，竟酿成笑话。